I’m sure by now you are wondering if sleep deprivation has finally warped my brain but stick with me! I think there are two big commonalities between Duran Duran’s career and campaigning. (There are commonalities with teaching, too, but I’ll keep it simple.) First, I think there is an emphasis, fair or not, on numbers. Numbers are often used to determine success. Second, there seems to be a level of intensity that goes and goes and goes and then stops. Now, obviously, other careers, I’m sure, also could fit these commonalities but I’m sticking to what I know.
Campaigns are obviously about winning an election. This, of course, is done by having the most number of votes. This isn’t new. Yet, of course, there are countless types of numbers given by the media, by the results and more. As a staging location director, I had to report numbers every 4 hours to the campaign. What I reported might have changed but reporting did not. These numbers I reported were used to determine if things are looking good or not in any given area and if there needed to be a shift in resources. Success isn’t necessarily determined by just numbers, though. For example, President Obama won his re-election and we can determine how many votes he received but we can’t know how excited those voters were. The same is true for Duran Duran and their history. For years, for decades, their success was determined by how far up the chart the single or album reached and for how long. Success could be determined by how many copies of a particular album was sold. Many Duranies still focus on this. Do the numbers really tell us if they are successful or not? For example, Duran sold a lot of copies of Seven and the Ragged Tiger but do we think it was as successful as AYNIN? It is easy on paper to determine 7&TRT to be more successful than AYNIN. Yet, some fans, I’m sure, would argue that AYNIN is way more successful. Numbers are easy. They seem objective and clear. Yet, I don’t think they tell the whole story.
I guess I’m wondering this because I have been thinking about how I have experienced both the highest of highs with victories on election night and the lowest of lows on election night. Were the numbers really all that was to it? I don’t think they are. For example, I lost the recall election in June, according to the numbers and according to who is still governor. Yet, could I or should I think of it as just a loss? I don’t think I can. Yes, I didn’t get those numbers, those results I wanted then but I gained other things. For example, our voter lists were seriously cleaned up, which helped this Tuesday’s election. I also got to know some new people, including people who were essential for Tuesday’s election. Would that have happened without the earlier election? I doubt it. Plus, did I learn anything from the previous election? I like to think that I did. I know that the campaigns here did. Am I more proud of the wins? Not really, actually. I am proud of the elections that I worked the hardest on. I’m the proudest when my team really came together with a strong community spirit. Likewise, I wonder if the members of the Duran feel the proudest of the albums that did the best, commercially, or do they feel the proudest of other albums based on other criteria besides the numbers?
The other thing I noticed just a few days after Election Day is the very strange feeling of…going 90 miles per hour for weeks and then, suddenly, coming to an abrupt stop. I swear I have whiplash. Is this how some or all of the members of Duran feel after a tour?! Don’t get me wrong, I’m not on vacation or anything. I have a ton of work to do since I have a ton of grading to do for my actual paying job as grades are due and conferences are coming up. Yet, it still feels like I’m shaken to the core by the sudden stop. As much as I wanted, needed, pleaded for the end, it still feels SO weird to me. To be honest, I’m feeling a bit empty, a bit lost. I shouldn’t. Heck, I’m excited to get caught up at work and I’m VERY excited to get back on track with our projects here at the Daily Duranie. I’m sure that with time and some very much needed sleep, I’ll feel like myself again. I wonder how the band does it.
Maybe this blog just proves that I think too much. Maybe it proves that no matter how crazy the real world is to me, I can and always do relate things back to Duran Duran. Maybe that is what I should do—combine my two loves, politics and Duran. Could one of the members run for office? I heard John was going for his US citizenship. While he might not be qualified to run for president, there are plenty of offices he could run for. I would be happy to be his campaign manager!!
-A
Amanda,
great topic! In fact it is not easy to answer to that. Of course numbers of selling and position on the charts are a proof of success. At the same time, we are in a different era it is impossible to juge realy by the number of cd sold because nobody sell as much as back then for all the reasons we all know. I am sure the guys are more proud of certain songs that weren't as successful as other. We can see it by some choice like playing Before the Rain live. Superb song the best from AYNIN with Leopard. But not the more commercial and surely they would sell less if it was a single than Safe to name one. But it is way more artistic. You can see it daily with your competition between songs on Facebook. People always prefer the one they hear a lot like Sunrise or the one that got a video like… Sunrise (poor video by the way). Those songs are commercial. That band have many faces two specialy apparent, groovy songs to dance and have fun and very artistic ones darker that usualy aren't the ones you will dance on them. It's like they are at the same time Pink Floyd and Lady Gaga 😉 I realy think we should appreciate them more for their artistic part than for their commercial part but both are cool and one make more money. I imagine it's like politic, the one who get more votes is the one who win. But sometimes it can be surprising how much votes a bad politician can still get. Probably because he goes with more popular ideas than inteligent ones. But on that particular race the best song won over the easy one.
What I find most fascinating is that for some people – numbers mean everything. My engineering husband, my son, and countless other people I can think of are excellent examples of that. Then there are the other people – the ones who tend to seek and find more of the emotional component. For me, these differences are as clear cut as knowing whether or not you are left or right brained. (hey…is that a correlation there?!?)
As I said before, sales are important because naturally, it takes money to keep the engine going. That said, I think there is something far less tangible but every bit as important to be found in success. Maybe it comes with working hard on a project, maybe it comes with the amount of heart and soul put into something…and maybe it's seeing the reaction from fans who have been with you the entire way. Maybe in the end it is those successes that really keep someone going? I really can't guess what works best for the band. However, I can share a personal anecdote that I tend to consider when this subject comes up:
My oldest is turning 16 in January, and she's starting to look at colleges and universities. She is sort of at a crossroads right now, because while she enjoys Musical Theater, she knows the road to success there is very difficult. It isn't as easy as learning your craft and being an “expert” in the field – there are thousands, if not millions, of expert actors and actresses out there that are either unemployed or working as waiters and waitresses. On the other hand, she is a fantastic math and science student. Those subjects come to her with the greatest of ease. She knows that she could go to a good university, major in math or biology and end up with a great job behind a computer somewhere (she doesn't want to be a doctor). The trouble is, her heart just isn't in it. She knows she'd be successful, but as she asked me just last night on the way home: isn't there more to life than just earning a living even if you're bored to death while doing it?
My husband, who is the engineer and my son, who is the budding computer programmer around here, both say that she should major in science or math and learn to love it – that she'd enjoy it once she saw how much she could do with her degree(s). I tend to fall on the side that if she loves acting and musical theater enough that she would be happy sleeping in her car to do it, then she knows what she's got to do. It's a risk, but one worth taking if it is what she really wants.
Interesting.
-R
It is funny that you mention Sunrise. In the early albums, people did not choose the commercial songs. They chose the album tracks. Since the Wedding Album, they chose the singles. Fascinating.
-A
It is funny that you mention this battle Heather has between her interests of Musical Theater and Math/Science. I feel like I have the same battle within myself. I keep thinking about what I want to do when I grow up. I have two interests. One is a much further dream. The other is less so but I might not enjoy as much. Decisions…
-A