Wallpaper in my Room

Duran Duran have been a relative constant in my life since I was about eleven. For me personally, the music came first. It was only later in the same year of my discovery (of the band) that I actually saw what they looked like. Up until then, I had my imagination doing the work. (I was so wrong. I can’t remember what my mind had decided they looked like now, but I do remember how completely wrong I’d been.) I remember being shocked that they weren’t American. I have no idea why that surprised me, although once again, I was only eleven. Prior to Duran Duran, a single Shaun Cassidy poster was on the backside of my bedroom door and I had one Rick Springfield poster on the sliding door to my closet. I still listened to kid albums with my younger sister (Chipmunks, anyone??), and I think I had difficulty straddling those years between youth and tween. (as opposed to youth and teen…*sigh*)  Those were my awkward years, no doubt. I think that I’ve remained a pretty loyal fan since then, though. Recently, Amanda and I had a discussion regarding some research that her brother had forwarded to her. This research concerned the various “categories” of fans, and I find myself thinking back to the conversation every time I begin to blog…so here goes:

I have never really been the type of fan to collect every single thing every printed on the band. I had my fair share of posters and pin-ups until we moved just after I’d graduated from high school and went off to my college, but I don’t think I came close to owning every single article written on them or interview they’d completed. I tried to stay up with the news, bought their albums on vinyl and/or later CD (and probably even a few cassette tapes in there although I hated the quality), but I was no collector. I just loved their music. Sure, I liked the bands looks – but for me it was their music. It was really only later on, when I was grown and had my own money, that I began to collect special things (to me). I own most of their music on vinyl at this point, although there are still things to add to the collection. I still don’t collect their interviews in magazines, although there have been a few special interviews and things that I’ve kept. For example, I have an article that was written on them in the OC Register (My local newspaper) when they came to the Pacific Amphitheater in 2003 for the reunion show.  I bought a few really old posters of them that I now have up in my walk-in closet, but again, I bought the posters that were special to me as a kid. (Found those on eBay!) Ask me about all of the remixes though, or bootlegs to shows… chances are, I don’t have them. Merchandise or t-shirts? I have some of the things I really want, but I have never felt OCD about needing everything. That said, I *do* own two Duran Duran hoodies now thanks to Amanda and my sister, and I adore them. Let’s just say I wear them a lot!  Other things like photos and those precious picks and drumsticks? Well…I still don’t have photos with the band, although sure, I have plenty of pictures from being at shows. You know, I remember in 2003 when the band first came back to California for the reunion shows. I saw them at the Pacific Amphitheater, but then I saw them at the 4th and B Theatre in San Diego. 4th and B is this tiny little theatre that reminded me a little of the House of Blues. It was a GA show, so I had my chance to get up close. As we walked into the theatre that night, my husband handed me a disposable camera. He was afraid to bring our nice camera for fear of it being confiscated by security, but he wanted me to have the chance to take pictures. I was thrilled. THRILLED. I couldn’t believe I was going to have pictures of the band. Finally! I still have those pictures, and they are by far the most blurriest, horrible photos I’ve ever taken. I’ve never shared them with anyone, but man am I proud that I have them! Funny. I know other fans who have had plenty of opportunities to have pictures of themselves with the band. They ask for a photo every single time they see them. I know a lot of people wonder why they feel like they need to do that. I think that for them, it’s simply what they like in the same way I like collecting vinyl. Would I ask for a photo every time I saw them if I had the chance? I have no idea. Someday I’d like the opportunity for just one…and then I’ll let you know. I know other people who go to shows and collect drumsticks and picks as though they are trophies, and for those people – they really ARE trophies. I have a couple picks myself. Yes, they are from Dom. Yes, I am glad I have them and that he gave one to me himself! For me personally though, that’s enough. So am I a “collector fan”? I suppose in some ways, but not extremely so.

I don’t think that I was really much of a casual fan, either.  A casual fan is someone who likes hearing them on the radio.  They might even buy an album if they like what they hear, and if they have the time and are able, they’ll go to a show if it’s convenient. I didn’t just sit passively when they came on the radio, and I certainly didn’t just say “Oh, they’re pretty good.” when asked about them. I loved Duran Duran, and I had no difficulty in owning up to that when I was younger. I very much wanted to go to their concerts, but at the time my parents just didn’t have extra money for such things, and they were extremely protective. “No daughter of mine is going to go and hang out at rock concerts at the age of twelve, Rhonda Lynn.” That was my dad’s favorite line when the subject would come up. I could practically recite it for him… just change out the age with each passing year/tour. At the time, I don’t really think I gave a lot of thought to what type of fan I really was, only that I was very much a big fan! There was a time though when I only listened with one ear as to what they were doing, and that was during the mid to late nineties when I was busy learning how to be married and be a parent. This was also when I bought Medazzaland, heard the album through one time, and proclaimed that the band had moved on without me. That was a pretty sad day for me.  I felt dejected and almost angry that yes, I’d finally grown up. That was it? My childhood love over?  Wow.  So that is what it meant to grow up. I wanted no part, thanks. Of course, that whole “growing-up” thing was completely shattered the night that I went to see the band back at the House of Blues in Anaheim in 2001. I’ve told the story here countless times. I didn’t want to go, but Walt insisted (foolish man). We went, and at first I really just wanted to stand in the back. So we stood by the bar, but something crazy happened when they got on stage. I felt this overwhelming need to get as close as possible, and the floor wasn’t even completely filled – so I just hurried down the steps to the floor and got about twenty feet away from Simon. The rush I felt was incredible! We all know it went downhill from there, right? I kid you not – it was like giving an addict crack again, and I apologize for that analogy but I swear it was like feeding the addiction again. And now? Well, I think it’s pretty clear that I’m no casual fan. This blog, if nothing else, is probably evident of that.

Research says that there are very, very few hardcore fans out there…and that is fans across the board, in any and all types of fandom. There are plenty of casual fans, those who will go to shows but maybe not drop everything to be involved. There are less “collector fans” out there, but there are still many of them. Hardcore fans, the ones who take their fandom and do something productive; the fans who clearly live and breathe and attach part of their own personality to whatever it is that they are a fan of and vice-versa – are hard to come by. In my own well-educated-but-certainly-not substantiated-by-any-amount-of-research opinion, I think that there’s something within the personality that creates a hardcore fan, and a small part of me wonders if it’s not really the same thing that creates addiction. I’m no psychologist, but I think there might just be something to that whole “addictive personality” thing. Just so YOU, dear reader, are clear: being a hardcore fan does not mean the “best” kind of fan. There is no “best”. These categories are simply that: categories of fans, and I still say that the line between fan and fanatic is blurred at best. What does interest me though, is why fans are the way they are. What makes someone into that “hardcore” fan? Why do some fans really feel that need to collect whatever it is that they collect? Why will some fans stop at nothing to do everything possible and still others are good with a show or two? Is it really because one fan is more “hardcore” than the other – and more importantly (to me) – how do those fans see one another? Fascinating. That’s why I keep studying.

What kind of fan are you – and how do you see some of the other types of fans I describe?

-R