Like clockwork, it seems to me that every February someone, somewhere, somehow shares something about that famous Rolling Stone magazine. You know the one. It was first published this month almost 40 years ago in 1984. This prompted me to go ahead and take out my copy to read it all over again. I feel like each time I read it I get something new out of it. For example, I forgot that the article begins with Simon having a fashion emergency with his buttons ripping off pants before a show. How very Simon as it seems like he has had a lot of those moments over the years!
To put the magazine in context, this magazine was published on February 2, 1984 at the heart of the Sing Blue Silver Tour, at the height of Duran-mania. While this magazine would be exciting in and of itself, it is also one of the first times that the band was called the Fab Five. To no surprise, then, a lot of the article focuses on the band’s newly found fame and what lead to it, including MTV and their location-set videos.
The part of the article that did not make me cringe when I first read it back in the 1980s but does now is the lengthy discussion surrounding image and how “good looking” they are. In fact, the vast majority of the meat of the article is about that and how they embraced it. Now, when I read it, a lot of the quotes from the band are an attempt to be humorous. I have to wonder if that is a deflection, a defense, which I can understand. How tiring it must have been to have what you do pretty much ignored. I remember feeling equally annoyed whenever people ignored the quality of the band’s music (and still do!). (Not that I don’t appreciate their looks or their videos but there is more to them than just how they look in a video.)
All of that being said, I like having an actual copy of the magazine as it functions as a time capsule. How was Duran Duran treated in the media in the 1980s? I have a means of knowing by having this. On top of that, reading through this brought back a lot of the excitement of the 1980s hysteria that I will always remember so fondly.
Anyone else own a copy of this? Are there any other magazines that you own that really capture a time in Duran Duran history?
-A
Not including all of the teen magazines I had
Duran Duran Special: Tiger Beat Star Presents – May 1987. Still have this one, but it’s in bad shape.
Time Out: I cut the cover and the articles to save (I collect clippings from magazines on various things). I also ordered the poster.
John Taylor and Nick Rhodes, Tiger Beat Star: There were two magazine called John Taylor and Nick Rhodes with different material. The first one someone stole from me at school and the second from Tiger Beat I still have but in bad shape.
Max Mag (2)JT: I had two of these, they were torn and tossed. .
People – 26 August 1985. kept the cover and the article, tossed the rest.
Star Pageant – Winter 1984. This one I thought was called Simon because it says that on the cover and mostly about him. L
Tiger Beat Rock! Wish I still had this no idea what happened but I moved a lot during my 20’s.
Zap Mag: Another pullout of John.
I also have three books about DD but had more. Most are the flimsy teen idol ones, I’d love a coffee table one like I have that U2 put out about 12 years ago.
You have some great magazines in your collection! Very cool! -A
Unfortunately some are in very bad shape but it was so cool to have them or still have them. Our local drugstore used to carry a wide assortment of magazines and there was this really cool record store that carried all kinds of magazines. I loved going to stores and finding a DD magazine and buying it.
*sigh* I loved going to the stores that had magazines as a kid. I would go with my mom and plant myself at the magazines the entire time. I would try to read as much as I could. Sometimes, I was lucky enough to be able to buy one. In those situations, I would spend the time trying to decide which one was the best. Do I go for the one with the most posters? Best posters? Longest article? I miss those dilemmas! -A
I do too. I once spent my entire birthday money on buying magazines and my parents weren’t happy. I miss those days but my pocketbook nor my storage conatiners probably thank me.
I couldn’t post the entire thing I wrote but basically I got the information from this fandom link: https://duranduran.fandom.com/wiki/Magazines. I looked there to find several of these because it’s been so long since I had many of them.