SIMON LE BON

So your December show, Simon. It’s called Overnight Sensation. Is that a big hello to irony?

It actually works on a number of different levels. We were indeed something of an overnight sensation - but a number of people had written us off so it was something of a two fingers. Also it’s a line in one of the songs on the album.

Does criticism hurt?

You try and arm yourself against it so ‘hurt’ would be the wrong word. It can be frustrating, but we played to 75,000 people in Boston the other night and that felt electric, so what does one person’s, or even one magazine’s opinion count against that?

If, heaven forbid, the Duran Duran back catalogue were on fire, which song would you rescue first?

Ordinary World. No, Come Undone. That was a birthday present to the wife, so it’d have to be that one.

Which one has earned you the most money?

Do you know, I don’t know. Probably Ordinary World. That was our biggest worldwide smash so… mind you, The Reflex has been around ten years longer so, who knows? You’d have to talk to my accountant.

OK. Were the eighties essentially ridiculous?

No more so than any other decade. I think we’ll look back on the 90s as ridiculous. All that pomposity. All these artists with cattle prods stuck up their arses. There’s one particular American female artist that actually sounds like she’s got one stuck up there, but I’m not naming names.

Do you think that some of the Verve/Radiohead school of 90s miserabilists could do with a sharp injection of pseudo-sexual, aspirational, Duran-type imagery?

It’s an interesting one. I think the Verve could do with more than one bloody song, but in Radiohead I do hear a great, brooding sexuality. They’re incredible.

Who are Duran Duran’s successors?

There’s a line to be drawn to The Spice Girls. There’s a similarly young, predominantly female audience around them, though obviously theirs is a lot younger. But it’s a similar thing. Young girls exploring their own sexuality vicariously through five cartoon figures.

Were you cartoons?

In a sense, yeah. It was a bit planet freakout. But we were dressed up in those slightly pretentious post-punk outfits so it looked a bit more deep and meaningful.

NICK RHODES

How is the Nick Rhodes state of mind?

State of mind? Gosh. What a frightening thing. I’m still living New York time, trying to discover a British daylight cycle, which is somehow eluding me. Breakfast is a complete mystery. It’s very odd eating fruit when my body is telling me I should be eating pasta. I’m also thinking about credit bills that are just about to come in. What a miserable state of affairs. Plastic is a very dangerous thing. I was, after all, born to shop. And all these invitations are making me socially confused. I class the importance of invites in order of how thick they are and how much gold they have around their edges.

How did you feel about your 80s title: “the most pretentious man in pop”?

Delighted. Pretentious? I should jolly well think so!

Have there been any pretenders to your throne since?

I think Jarvis has given me a good run for my money.

Isn’t he a bit thrift store?

I know what you mean, it’s a different vibe but it’s a good one. That whole Britpop thing seems to have gone a bit awry now, though, doesn’t it? I think there were too many pudding bowl haircuts. That really is never a good thing.

Does criticism hurt?

No, of course not! Most of it has come from spoilt jealous little people that know nothing about music. It’s unnecessary, spiteful, inane bitchiness. It’s peculiar to England, but not to Duran Duran. I don’t know whether that condition of building you up to knock you down is a genetic thing or part of an island mentality. But it’s nihilistic, whichever way.

If, heaven forbid, the Duran Duran back catalogue were on fire, which song would you rescue first?

I’d set EMI on fire personally and rescue the whole lot of them. We were unceremoniously ripped off. We all got shocking deals, but then you consider the fate of R&B and black artists, Chuck Berry selling songs for £50, and you can’t complain. The record industry is quite obviously a void in terms of any semblance of morality. Mind you, I remember Ben Elton telling me that he would only get paid £26 from the BBC every time Blackadder was shown, so it wasn’t only us.

Do you think that some of the Verve/Radiohead school of 90s miserabilists could do with a sharp injection of pseudo-sexual, aspirational, Duran-type imagery?

They could do with learning how to have a bit more fun. At least Fatboy Slim seems to have figured that out.

Is the Nick Rhodes pout still in place?

It’s trying its best. Born to pout. That would have been my solo album. If I were Bruce Springsteen.

Bruce was born to swagger.

He was, yes.

Have you kept your outfits?

Oh, yes. I’ve got everything in storage. Very early on in my career David Bowie told me he kept everything that he had worn and being a fan as a child I obviously wowed at the whole idea of all those outfits, so I’ve kept all my own ever since.

Do you occasionally have a rummage?

Excuse me?

A rummage?

Only the other day I wore a suit that had been designed for me in ’86. It went down rather well.

Did it look a bit McQueen?

Exactly!