The New Influencers: Duran Duran

Kids, without them, there'd be no Scissor Sisters, Killers, Strokes, and even little Franz Ferdinand. Or at least, they'd sound quite a bit different. Now, thanks to the help of Justin Timberlake, the wolves are hungry again, and their sights are set upon a Red Carpet Massacre. Don't run! Dance!

By Matt Diehl

Simon Le Bon, left, Hotel Rivington, New York City.

Don’t call it a… oh, go ahead. Welcome to the Duran Duran comeback. Yes, again. And we’re fine with that.

“Our manager phoned to ask, ‘Would you be able to take a call from Justin Timberlake?,’” Duran’s famously dapper frontman Simon Le Bon recalls. “I said, well, I’m a bit busy, but if he feels he must… Okay!” Le Bon’s tongue, of course, is planted firmly in cheek—except about the Justin Timberlake call. The ex-boy-band triller-turned-force got in touch after his partner-in-crime, superstar producer Timbaland got drafted to produce the new romantic/new wave icons’ upcoming album, Red Carpet Massacre (Timbaland’s protégé Nate “Danja” Hills also got in the mix).

According to Le Bon, Timberlake pitched himself as the ultimate fan in late night, whiskey-soaked tête-à-têtes also attended by significant others Jessica Biel and Le Bon’s wife Yasmin.

“Justin said, ‘I want to be there and make sure you make a record your true fans like,’” Le Bon says. “He told us his favorite songs when he was 13 were ‘Ordinary World’ and ‘Come Undone.’ But he didn’t need to convince us. This was a dream team—it raised our bar so high, and it also changed the style. I got the chance to learn from two masters. Maybe they learned something from me, but I’ve definitely learned from them.”

Indeed, just as Eno makes U2 sound more like U2, Timberlake and Timbaland distill the classic Duran Duran sound to its essence, yet make it feel more moderne than ever. Then again, these dashing futurists have always been ahead of their time: time has just finally caught up, as the Duran Duran influence percolates throughout the best contemporary pop, spanning the Scissor Sisters and the Killers to the Strokes, VHS Or Beta, and Franz Ferdinand.

As such, Red Carpet Massacre is firm evidence the band is living in the moment—sexy is back, y’all, and it’s got a posh English accent. “Bands today understand the values we stand for—our general concepts of art,” Le Bon clarifies. “Everything we do has to have class, be meaningful, and above all, make you dance and want to have sex. On one level, we’re really an experimental band, and this is one of our most important albums.

“Duran Duran’s ethic is to always do something new, and on this album we pushed through to new countries. But really, there’s nothing better than going to a party and hearing your song playing. It’s the best thing.”

Photo by Michael Schmelling