Martin Hutchinson talks to Duran Duran bassist John Taylor as the band prepares to play Newcastle

EIGHTIES band Duran Duran are back, not just touring the UK, but also with a new album. The recently-released Paper Gods soared into the charts and is another outstanding success from the band that gave us the hits that almost define the decade.

These hits included the likes of Rio, Planet Earth, The Reflex and Hungry Like a Wolf to name but four. The new album was co-produced by the band and Nile Rodgers, who played some guitar on the album.

The band, formed in Birmingham in 1978, still boasts four of the original five members in vocalist Simon Le Bon, keyboard player Nick Rhodes, drummer Roger Taylor and bassist John Taylor. And according to John, the new album has been well received.

“Yes,” he says. “Among the fans, the reaction has been really positive. In fact, they appear to love it which is a good sign.

With new material, you want to score a bullseye with the core fans, but the album will be a pleasant surprise for other people as well. I think it’s an interesting album, definitely ‘old school’, but it needs a bit of attention.”

During the live dates, the new album will be featured quite prominently.

“It’s always about bringing the new music to the audience, but using the songs that everybody loves as the vehicle. The new music is the cherry and we hope that those who haven’t heard the album will hear the new tracks and leave the concert wanting to hear the whole album,” says the 55-year-old bassist.

John feels that the bands’ setlist will have something for everyone.

“We’ll always do the stone cold classics that everybody wants to hear and the new music, and that’s pretty much the basis for what we do. Sometimes it’s nice to dig into the more obscure numbers, but that’s hard to do on the arena tours, it’s an expensive night out and you have to give the fans what they want to hear.”

However, John and the rest of the band are committed to introducing the fans to their new material.

“It’s a shame that a lot of music fans appear to have given up on new music and prefer to keep to the old, but we do like to give them something new. That’s our task – to blow their minds.”

Duran Duran also recorded the theme to the James Bond film A View to a Kill, which was a massive hit, with the new film Spectre just having been released, had the sales figures for the song gone up.

“I don’t follow all that sales’ stuff, I really don’t know. But it’s always good to have a bit of a push. I’m so glad though that we had a part in the Bond story. I’ve always been a big fan of the Bond films,” John says.

With more than 30 years of music making behind him, it is hard for John to pick out any specific songs that could be classed as the "ultimate" Duran Duran song, or even a favourite, but after some thought he comes up with an answer.

“I’d say that there are several songs on the new album that I feel are the ultimate Duran Duran experience. But if I had to pick, say, two songs, I would go for the title track of the new album Paper Gods and Rio.”

The band have just completed an American tour and John loved it.

“They were some of the best shows we’ve ever played. It’s always interesting to see the audience, and sometimes it can be a bit scary, but it was just great and the crowds were amazing. We just had the best time – in fact the band is having a good time right now. We are in the honeymoon period of a new album at the moment – it’s a bit like delivering the manuscript of a book after two years in the studio, so we are keen to play live.”

And on the approach of the Newcastle performance he adds: "You can connect with the audiences and see people who keep coming back to see us. We see a woman in the audience who was coming to see us at the start and now she brings her grand-children. It’s great.”

Duran Duran also have a new single coming out, the second off the new album, and they have picked What Are The Chances to follow up Pressure Off, which gained significant airplay.

But after the tour?

“I’m not entirely sure. We’ll be going back to the States in the spring, but I’d be perfectly happy to tour this album all year.”

  • Duran Duran, MetroRadio Arena, Newcastle, on Saturday, December 5. Box Office: 0844-493-6666 or metroradioarena.co.uk