Arts ©Entertainment
Duran Duran says ‘Thank You’ to favorites
By Rainbow Rowell
Senior Editor
At the beginning of the decade,
many people wanted to let the vault
of the 1980s slam shut, sealing
Duran Duran inside, said
keyboardist Nick Rhodes.
The band needed to bring Duran
Duran into the 1990s, and the way
to do that, Rhodes said, was to
produce great songs.
This week, Rhodes, Simon
LeBon, Warren Cuccurullo and
John Taylor released “Thank You”
with eight feet planted solidly in
the 1990s.
On “Thank You,” Duran Duran
covers some of the bandmembers’
favorite songs.
“We had all the songs in the
world,” Rhodes said in a telephone
interview.
When choosing and recording
the songs, they tried to preserve
what they loved about each song,
while still bringing something new
to it. And, Rhodes said, they tried
to pick songs that LeBon could
sing.
They didn’t want their versions
to compete with the originals.
Above all, they didn’t want to spoil
them.
“There are a lot of cover songs
that are diabolical...” Rhodes said.
“They sound like they shouldn’t
be played in elevators.”
One might think recording cov
ers would be easier than original
music, but Rhodes said just the
opposite was true. When record
ing one of their own songs, the
band can adjust lyrics and music if
necessary.
“But with a Bob Dylan song,”
Rhodes said, “you can’t say ‘Hey
Bob, forget about the brass bed.’”
The band started recording cov
ers while working on their 1993
album “Duran Duran” (nicknamed
“The Wedding Album”). At that
time, they recorded Velvet
Underground’s “Femme Fatale”
and the Doors’ “Crystal Ship.”
“Femme Fatale” made it on to
their 1993 album, but Duran Duran
decided to save “Crystal Ship” and
record an entire album of covers.
Besides Duran Duran’s admira
“There are a lot of cover songs
that are diabolical...” Rhodes said.
“They sound like they shouldn’t
be played in elevators.”
One might think recording cov
ers would be easier than original
music, but Rhodes said just the
opposite was true. When record
ing one of their own songs, the
band can adjust lyrics and music if
necessary.
“But with a Bob Dylan song,”
Rhodes said, “you can’t say ‘Hey
Bob, forget about the brass bed.’”
The band started recording cov
ers while working on their 1993
album “Duran Duran” (nicknamed
“The Wedding Album”). At that
time, they recorded Velvet
Underground’s “Femme Fatale”
and the Doors’ “Crystal Ship.”
“Femme Fatale” made it on to
their 1993 album, but Duran Duran
decided to save “Crystal Ship” and
record an entire album of covers.
Besides Duran Duran’s admira
tion, the 11 songs on “Thank You”
have little in common. In addition
to the Doors and Reed, the band
salutes Public Enemy, Sly & the
Family Stone, Dylan, die Tempta
tions, Elvis Costello, Grandmaster
Flash & Mele Mel, Iggy Pop and
Led Zeppelin.
It’s tough classifying the album
as either alternative, pop or some
thing else. Rhodes saidhe felt many
of the songs would be perceived as
alternative, but some alternative
format radio stations thought dif
ferently. Still other songs such as
Iggy Pop’s “Success,” he said, are
— “forgive the pun” — more pop.
“We’re an impossible band to
tie down to a sound,” he said.
One of the most surprising tracks
for Duran Duran to cover is Public
Enemy’s “911 is a Joke.”
“It was an interesting choice for
us because, quite obviously, we’re
not from the same culture as Pub
lic Enemy,” Rhodes said.
The album does have one Duran
Duran song, “Drive By,” which
features LeBon poetry set over
music from “The Chauffeur,” a
too often overlooked song from
1982’s “Rio.”
“Drive By” evolved from live
performances of “The Chauffeur”
during “The Wedding Album”
tour. Because it was their own
song, Rhodes said, they felt they
had license to tear it apart and
rebuild it again.
“The Chauffeur” hearkens back
to a time when Duran Duran was a
four-man phenomenon. With hits
like “Hungry Like the Wolf,”
“Wild Boys” and “The Reflex”
and millions of screaming fans,
the band was on top of the world.
At one point, Duran Duran
couldn’t even hear themselves per
forming in concert because of the
roaring crowds of adolescent girls.
They couldn ’t understand what was
attracting the young women,
Rhodes said, but they turned it to
their favor.
You can’t pick your audience,
he said. You can’t say you will
only appeal to arty types or to five
tortured poets.
See DURAN DURAN on 13
it was an interesting cnoice ior
us because, quite obviously, we’re
not from the same culture as Pub
lic Enemy,” Rhodes said.
The album does have one Duran
Duran song, “Drive By,” which
features LeBon poetry set over
music from “The Chauffeur,” a
too often overlooked song from
1982’s “Rio.”
“Drive By” evolved from live
performances of “The Chauffeur”
during “The Wedding Album”
tour. Because it was their own
song, Rhodes said, they felt they
had license to tear it apart and
rebuild it again.
“The Chauffeur” hearkens back
to a time when Duran Duran was a
four-man phenomenon. With hits
like “Hungry Like the Wolf,”
“Wild Boys” and “The Reflex”
and millions of screaming fans,
the band was on top of the world.
At one point, Duran Duran
couldn’t even hear themselves per
forming in concert because of the
roaring crowds of adolescent girls.
They couldn’t understand what was
attracting the young women,
Rhodes said, but they turned it to
their favor.
You can’t pick your audience,
he said. You can’t say you will
only appeal to arty types or to five
tortured poets.
See DURAN DURAN on 13
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Duran Duran released “Thank You” this week. Clockwise from top: John Taylor, Nick
Rhodes, Simon LeBon and Warren Cuccurullo.
—
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Cable comparisonreveals
few company differences
By Gerry Beltz
Senior Reporter
It’s hard for Lincoln cable customers to
judge how their cable service measures up
to other cable companies because most
people don’t have a choice.
Comparing Lincoln with Omaha cable
reveals a few small differences.
Both Cox Cable in Omaha and
Cablevision in Lincoln have the lion’s share
of their respective cable markets (60 per
cent for Cox, 80 percent for Cablevision).
Cablevision does have competition, said
Rick Kiolbasa, Cablevision regional sales
manager.
“We do have competition on how people
spend their money,” he said. “The direct
Competition is further off, but still coming.”
Wireless cable will come to Lincoln this
summer, Kiolbasa said, and there are al
ways satellite systems. Twenty percent of
Lincoln’s residents don’t subscribe to cable,
he said.
Having the big piece of the cable pie in
a community has some universal advan
tages, Kiolbasa said.
“It certainly cuts down on confusion,” he
said. “Everyone knows who to call, every
one has the same thing on the same channel.
“It’s easy for us, for the paper that does
TV listings and for the city.”
Norton agreed.
“With our size and being spread out over
a lot of customers,” he said, “we can be
more up to date with technology, and we
can keep growing to meet the needs of our
customers.”
Like customers of almost every busi
ness, UNL students like Matt Topping, a
freshman general studies major, wished die
cable companies could give “lower prices
and better deals.”
Kim Kathol, a business administration
junior, said she’d like more choices.
“They should make it so you can just
select the channels you want,” Kathol said,
“like only one channel of HBO. It would be
cheaper.”
Prices between Cablevision and Cox
Cable are close, Kiolbasa said, because the
government regulates cable companies.
See CABLE on 12