Oh, god, yeah, I should mention that my wonderful sister Ingrid bought this book for me as a surprise (I'd coveted it for a while, but it's rare and can be pricey). The copy was marked as being in "acceptable" condition, which... well, look, it was clearly well-loved by its original owner. Pages had fallen out and were glued back in the wrong order! Photos were scribbled out! It's sort of a mess, but I love it so very much.
Great review! Makes me want to hunt down this book. Neil Gaiman lives in Minneapolis--my adopted hometown!
So I've seen "A Diva's Christmas Carol" and "Sugar Town," and I've always been curious about the "Flintstones" film solely because of John Taylor's role. I don't know if I could bring myself to watch it though...it looks pretty wretched.
The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas is dreadful, of course, but y'know... it's almost worth seeing, if nothing more than for the sight of John Taylor and Alan Cumming looking dreadfully embarrassed while playing a prehistoric version of the Rolling Stones. Don't go to any trouble to find it, but if you've got Netflix, you could do worse than pop it in your queue.
Alan Cumming and John Taylor? Add me to the list of potential viewers.
I still can't believe that Neil Gaiman wrote a Duran book! I'm sure that's just called "paying the bills."
+1 on admonishing AT and NR on their sexist quotes. Let's hope 30 years has changed things. But also "I could fume about this, but instead I think I’m going to sit back and quietly marvel at the cognitive dissonance required for Nick Rhodes to get all snotty and dismissive at the idea of anyone venturing outside the arbitrary boundaries of established gender roles." The book should have had his ridiculous quote next to his a photo from his wedding.
Tracy, yeah, I know it's ridiculous to hold thirty-year-old quotes against anyone, but... sheesh, Nick and Andy, I hope you both feel very embarrassed by all this now. Nick especially. Given all the cool stuff he did with playing around with gender roles during this time (exhibit A: his wedding photos), he should've known better.
Anonymous said…
Enjoyed reading this book report, Morgan. Makes me wish I could get Gaiman's book.
As for Nick's and Andy's comments on gender roles, in their defense, they were spouting off how they were raised. And you're right: it was ironic for Nick for say women should stick to being feminine with all the looks he sported in the early 80s. I hope they have both grown with the times and are more open about who women should be.
I have also had issues with their broadcasting of naked/skimpy women. I can understand the guys like the view, but they're showing these naked girls to their fans, who were predominantly teenage girls! And now 30 years later, they were still at it (Sunrise). All of them have daughters. How would they as fathers like it for others to treat their baby girls as sex objects? (Ok, I'll get off my soapbox here.)
Lisa -- yeah, Nick and Andy's unfortunate comments on gender roles were definitely a product of their time and their upbringing. Like you, I would hope (and expect) that their thinking would've evolved considerably since then. Their assumption that women have a certain place in society (particularly Nick's snotty comments about finding the idea of women firefighters "very silly") bothers me more than the female nudity in their videos. Even in something as hyper-sexualized as the uncensored Girls on Film video (which was made before the band members had any reason to expect that young girls would be one of their major fan bases), I'm not sure they're treating women (just) as sex objects; it's a video about their personal sexual fantasies, sure, but the women in that video aren't passive.
Also, I think there's a balance to the exploitation, since they themselves fully exploited their own sex appeal; after all, both Rio and Save a Prayer feature the band members dressed only in skimpy Speedos. I'm not going to go too far out on a limb to defend their portrayals of women in their videos, because you've got a valid point... but at the same time, I don't have much of a problem with it, at least not to the extent that I have a problem with Nick and Andy flat-out stating that they don't think women should behave in what they consider to be a non-feminine manner.
I have been enjoying your Duranalysis so much, I was literally crying, CRYING, with laughter over your Sing Blue Silver review, the part where Nick is complaining about the lighting and Roger gives a thousand yard stare. And Andy said he hardly ever drinks. Hilarious. Then I got to your book reports and I suddenly remembered I own this book, and dug it out of my box of Duran possessions from back in the day. I am a librarian so I am aware of Neil Gaiman although I haven't read his work. And I had no idea this was such a rarity. I am wondering how my 14 year old self came upon it. It's in pristine condition.
Laurie, thanks so much for commenting! There's so much amazing material in Sing Blue Silver that made it a joy to review. I love that you just happened to have a pristine copy of Gaiman's book on hand--it's pretty hard to find, and it's usually in terrible condition.
I'm quite surprised I didn't cover this with my strawberry Bonnie Bell lip gloss. Maybe it could fetch a pretty penny on Ebay. However, unless my kids were starving I don't think I could ever bear to part with it.
Anonymous said…
Your posts are absolutely hilarious, Morgan! I literally Laugh Out Loud every time I go on your website! I put some links below to some videos I think you would really like and maybe even inspire some duranalysises. You might have already seen them but if not I hope you enjoy them.Thanks for all the great posts!
Duran Duran First Known Interview 1981 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSkCc3iO9qA
Tiswas Interview Duran Duran Early 1982 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3ef7DZ4OHY
Pop Quiz - 1984 - Duran Duran v Spandau Ballet - 28th December https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57PrbB9cMvg
Duran Duran: The Raw & Uncut Interview – 1986 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab7OEd8IAuM
Comments
Excellent book review!
Heh, you never mentioned the heavily-used (and heavily-discounted) state that the book actually arrived in...
So I've seen "A Diva's Christmas Carol" and "Sugar Town," and I've always been curious about the "Flintstones" film solely because of John Taylor's role. I don't know if I could bring myself to watch it though...it looks pretty wretched.
I still can't believe that Neil Gaiman wrote a Duran book! I'm sure that's just called "paying the bills."
+1 on admonishing AT and NR on their sexist quotes. Let's hope 30 years has changed things. But also "I could fume about this, but instead I think I’m going to sit back and quietly marvel at the cognitive dissonance required for Nick Rhodes to get all snotty and dismissive at the idea of anyone venturing outside the arbitrary boundaries of established gender roles." The book should have had his ridiculous quote next to his a photo from his wedding.
As for Nick's and Andy's comments on gender roles, in their defense, they were spouting off how they were raised. And you're right: it was ironic for Nick for say women should stick to being feminine with all the looks he sported in the early 80s. I hope they have both grown with the times and are more open about who women should be.
I have also had issues with their broadcasting of naked/skimpy women. I can understand the guys like the view, but they're showing these naked girls to their fans, who were predominantly teenage girls! And now 30 years later, they were still at it (Sunrise). All of them have daughters. How would they as fathers like it for others to treat their baby girls as sex objects? (Ok, I'll get off my soapbox here.)
Lisa (lschow310)
Also, I think there's a balance to the exploitation, since they themselves fully exploited their own sex appeal; after all, both Rio and Save a Prayer feature the band members dressed only in skimpy Speedos. I'm not going to go too far out on a limb to defend their portrayals of women in their videos, because you've got a valid point... but at the same time, I don't have much of a problem with it, at least not to the extent that I have a problem with Nick and Andy flat-out stating that they don't think women should behave in what they consider to be a non-feminine manner.
Then I got to your book reports and I suddenly remembered I own this book, and dug it out of my box of Duran possessions from back in the day. I am a librarian so I am aware of Neil Gaiman although I haven't read his work. And I had no idea this was such a rarity. I am wondering how my 14 year old self came upon it. It's in pristine condition.
Duran Duran First Known Interview 1981
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSkCc3iO9qA
Tiswas Interview Duran Duran Early 1982
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3ef7DZ4OHY
Pop Quiz - 1984 - Duran Duran v Spandau Ballet - 28th December
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57PrbB9cMvg
Duran Duran: The Raw & Uncut Interview – 1986
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab7OEd8IAuM