In a recent interview with the Grammys, Duran Duran drummer Roger Taylor spoke about the versatility of the band that most fans don’t recognize. When asked whether some fans ignored the ‘darker side’ of some of the band’s tracks like ‘Night Boat’ the drummer replied:
“I think that was overlooked in the early ’80s. We had a young female audience that used to come to the gigs and scream for most of the shows. We used to walk out and start with ‘Is There Something I Should Know?’ and as the curtain would rise, it would just be a deafening high-pitched squeal. We really struggled to hear what we were playing, to be honest with you.”
Roger shared that they were recognized for their synth-pop sound until some fans caught up with the other side of their sound that was much darker. He added:
“I think people assumed that we were just a teen band that was just releasing these quite poppy singles. There was always what I call the dark side of Duran, and I think it took a few years for people to really appreciate that, that we had another side musically.”
The drummer shared how the band split in terms of their influences and how that helped to create the Duran Duran sound. Roger gave the example of a track that was original to them by sharing:
“Andy [Taylor] loved AC/DC, Nick [Rhodes] wanted us to sound like Kraftwerk, John [Taylor] and I wanted to sound like Chic. So we just had this mash of different influences that somehow created something very original. When I listen to ‘Hungry Like The Wolf,’ that couldn’t be anybody else. Although we were trying to be other people at the time, I think we created something that’s very original.”
You can read Roger Taylor’s interview with the Grammys here and listen to ‘Night Boat’ as well as ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’ below.
