DURAN DURAN ANNOUNCES ALBUM/SINGLE RELEASE DATE AND ALBUM ARTWORK

Duran Duran are coming back with new music this fall!!! The band made a statement on their website announcing the release date for their upcoming album Paper Gods. Before we get to that, they also announced that their first single from the album will be Pressure Off ft. Janelle Monáe, available for purchase at all participating digital retailers and DuranDuran.com this week. NOW Paper Gods will be released September 18th in the U.S. and September 11th in all other territories with pre-orders available this week. The album artwork (pictured) is created by LA-based artist Alex Israel and it's pop-tastic! Here is what Duran Duran had to say about the albums inspiration:
"We found a whole new level of inspiration on this album,” says Rhodes.
“We’ve allowed ourselves the time to make music that we can be proud of,” adds Le Bon . “I judge what we release by my favourite albums — Horses, Harvest, Let It Bleed, Blue, Transformer, Aladdin Sane. Those are classic albums. The only rule is it’s got to be music you can live with for the rest of your life.”
Nile Rodgers, Mark Ronson and Mr Hudson co-wrote, and produced the track Pressure Off and Only in Dreams. The former harks back to the funk-infused sound of Duran Duran’s 1986 album Notorious, which was also co-produced by Rodgers.
“Notorious was a strong touchstone for the band,” says Roger Taylor. “All You Need is Now definitely reflected our earlier albums, but our starting point here was Notorious. We’re fortunate to be able to be inspired by our own back catalogue – not many bands can say that."
You can read more and check upcoming performance dates on their website HERE. Can't wait!!!

THROWBACK THURSDAY: DURAN DURAN

I hesitated to post a Throwback Thursday about Duran Duran because they are still rocking it out to this very day, but with such a long and rich history, I figured it's okay to do a little looking back. Duran Duran formed in the late 70s in Birmingham, England. Initially considered part of the British New Wave of the early 80s, Duran Duran quickly shed that name and outgrew most of the groups associated with that moniker in both sound and style. To say that they caused a stir when hitting US shores is a gross understatement. Panties were flying and boners were popping up where ever these boys went and their hits flooded the charts. The boys are the ONLY artists to chart at #1 in the US with a Bond theme, 1985's A View To A Kill, and were pioneers in the art of the music video, practically taking over MTV during its formative years. From Rio to I Don't Want Your Love, Come Undone to Reach Up For The Sunrise, Duran Duran assaulted the charts all over the world and inspired musicians ever since their arrival. This fall the men have a new album coming out produced by Mark Ronson and Nile Rodgers. Can't fucking wait!!! Until then, here are some of DD's greatest VIDEOS of all time, up to their excellent 2010 single produced by Mark Ronson All You Need Is Now. Some may be slightly NSFW, so beware, whore!!! Enjoy.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOY GEORGE!!

80s pop star, gay icon and self-proclaimed (then un-proclaimed) drag queen Boy George is 50 today!! It seems like only yesterday I was super-confused by the cover of Culture Club's Kissing To Be Clever album. Why was that male voice coming out of that painted lady? ha. Well George rode that persona, along with one of his band members, all the way to the top of the charts. Now, sure, he later became addicted to heroin and (recently) handcuffed a male escort to a wall and beat him with a metal chain for allegedly hacking his computer, but that doesn't make him a bad person. I mean, who HASN'T done that, right? Just like his fellow superstars from the 80s Madonna, Prince, George Michael, et al, George is still kickin', having released new music, Ordinary Alien - The Kinky Roland Files, last fall and he appears on Mark Ronson's album Record Collection. Here are some of my fave Boy George/Culture Club moments throughout the years.