I’m going to start out this blog post with a confession. I think I suck at being able to keep up with fandom and have thought that for quite awhile. Years ago, when I first noticed it, I blamed it on teaching. After all, who can check in with the world while they are in front of students for hours on end?! Then, when I wasn’t with kids, I had to get ready to be with kids, which left little time to do much else. This means that any “free” time I had was after work but that always felt super limited, too, between keeping up with household tasks and being there for my parents. Now, though, I’m spending my days politically organizing. I don’t have “classes” anymore and have far less work that goes “home” with me. Yet, I still don’t have time for much social media commenting or even just keeping up with everything. So I suck. Maybe I’m just not good at multi-tasking. I don’t know. If anyone has any tricks to share, please send them my way.
The reason I am sharing all of that is not so you all feel sorry for me but to provide some explanation on how I am going to use my every-other-week Tuesday blog posts for awhile. I’m going to focus on not just catching up with the latest interview or article on Duran but also what I think about it. Yes, I’m giving myself the space to focus on something Duran. Don’t worry about the Memorabilia Medley theme. I have not forgotten about it. I’m just pushing it to the side to give me permission to check into the latest news in Duranland. I hope that is cool with everyone.
I decided to start with the most recently posted interview from the band’s twitter. In this case, it is a podcast from Alan Carr featuring Simon. You can find it here. That being said, I thought I would take a listen and let you all know what I thought. Please note that these “interactions” as I’m calling them will not be a full transcription. I recommend listening to the podcast yourself for that. No, these will be more about my thoughts/reactions to what I heard (or read or watched).
I wonder if I should have checked out who the heck Alan Carr is before I started listening. Clearly, he is a comedy podcaster as he begins with calling Simon to check in like he is heading onto a flight. The funny line is that he called him Simon the Good due to Bon meaning good. I never thought about his name that way but it makes me laugh. I suspect that you all know why. Anyway, the podcast could be divided between Duran related questions and travel questions. Based on the topic of the podcast, there were a lot more travel questions.
Band Related Questions/Comments
Alan did ask Simon about the album, including about the reviews, making of the album, the video for Anniversary and upcoming shows. A lot of what Simon said did not feel new to me but I enjoyed it, nonetheless. I thought it was interesting that he does not read any reviews because he would have to read both good and bad ones. (I’m not sure why but okay.) As for the making of the album, I had read/heard about how they thought the album was almost done when the pandemic hit but then everything stopped. Alan mentioned that the album has a lot of “energy” which seemed weird to him since it was made during a pandemic, when you are supposed to be blah. I thought that was an interesting point.
Simon did say that he thought the idea that the album was melodramatic was a fair comment. He described the lyrics for the song, “Wing,” as his most dramatic since the song is about self-loathing while having optimism that you could get out of that state. He noted the line, “And I pray to consequence if my voice you hear for a better man to be in my head.”
Alan and Simon did discuss the video for Anniversary quite a bit. Simon stated that Nick was super excited to work with celebrity look-a-likes, which does not surprise me in the least. Simon loved the Queen the best, especially when she won at poker with 5 queens. That said, he found the scene with Putin and Daniel Craig by the pool to be particularly entertaining. I cannot disagree. Alan made a note that the band has always demonstrated a sense of humor and noted A View to a Kill. Again, I cannot disagree.
Travel Questions/Comments
I have to admit that I was not as interested in this section. I would much prefer to listen to details and insight on the band and the album. That being said, I did note a few questions and comments that I found to be interesting.
In multiple questions about where Simon likes to travel, Simon talked about how much he loved being by the sea and sailing, which is shocking to no one. Alan heard about Simon’s near-death experience during his race around the world in the mid-1980s for the first time. (Interesting. I thought everyone knew that story.) One tidbit that he shared that I didn’t know was that he had to remove his pants to get freed as his pants were hung up on something. That sounds like Simon.
Other places that Simon mentioned that he likes to go to included some places in the Caribbean, Australia, Italy, the English countryside, and even Vegas. In most cases, again, he likes to be in places near the water.
There were questions about hotels. Simon likes space so that he is able to completely open his suitcases but does not like ironing boards because he would never do his own ironing. (Spoiled much, Simon?!) That being said, he likes to give tips, including some embarrassing large ones, which I can appreciate.
Overall
While I found the general style of the podcast entertaining, I have to admit that I wished I learned more about the album. I didn’t mind the travel focused questions but I wished for less specific location information and more insights into how Simon travels. There were questions that I would have liked to have been asked. I know that Simon is a relatively active guy but what sort of sports like activities does he prefer on vacation? When he does relax, what does that look like? What is he like on a plane? On a road trip? Does he sleep in? They mentioned room service. Does he prefer that over going out?
Did anyone else listen to it? What did you think?
-A
