Everyone thinks that the defining moment is the group on the yacht in the Rio video?
That wretched boat! Simon enjoyed it ‘cause he’s like Action Man but I’m a firm believer that boats should be tied up.

It was a very glamour image to project.
I like to think that we tried to get a little bit of glamour into our lives sometimes, but most of the time we spent working.

Did it ever get tacky?
I always think we were kings of tack and we understood irony from an early age. I love tacky things. I love Las Vegas and the first time we went we didn’t have time to go to the Liberace museum – can you believe someone would do that to me on the schedule?

D’you think your teenies got the irony?
Some of them, yes, but most of them, no, of course not. Perhaps they got it later in life, but that’s more fun.

So how did you deal with those sex-crazed groupies?
I think Simon dealt with most of them.

In what way?
‘Come here little girl. Let me show you my etchings.’ (laughs)

So they were taken into dressing rooms and laid down?
John and Simon were definitely going for records at the time. Olympic groupie records. But it all seemed a little too risky and seedy to me. They never came looking like pages out of Italian Vogue.

Plus, weren’t you married?
I was for a while, but now I’m happily divorced.

Was it hard dealing with a lady wife and lady groupies?
It keeps them on their toes I suppose. I don’t know, you make your choices in these things. I think the members who weren’t married clocked up some mileage until they did get married.

The whole New Romantic image was very poofy.
Yeah, of course it was camp and over the top but we felt very comfortable with that. It seemed very natural to put something forward with a great visual aspect. It grew out of glam and punk, both of which were incredibly stylish movements.

Did you mind being seen as a bender?
I didn’t mind either way. I’m sure a lot of people still think I am. I never thought things like that mattered. It’s like, why?

Ever shagged a guy?
No.

Did the make-up start because of glam rock?
Yeah. David Bowie, Mark Bolan, Iggy Pop and those silver trousers have a lot to answer for.

What’s your best makeup tip?
The one I learnt recently about wearing black above your eyes to get that Marlene Dietrich look. Putting a dab of vaseline on it and letting it run.

It is difficult for the older gennelman to wear lippie?
I don’t think so and not if you want to. It’s kind of fun and we’ve all seen Death in Venice.

How about older gennelman playing stadiums?
As long as Mick Jagger is doing it, I feel just fine. (laughs)

Is Duran Duran purely about having a hobby now?
It’s a little more than that. I wouldn’t still be doing it if I didn’t enjoy it.

But there’s such a long time between releases?
That’s because Simon is so lazy. I’ve tried to speed things up by writing some of the lyrics myself but he keeps a punishing social schedule. I’m at the studio till ten at night and he’s at the opening of a toilet seat. We’re actually in the studio now in the middle of a new album titled "Hallucinating Elvis" which is due out around May but we recorded one before that – "Medazzaland" which was released only in America because we had a falling out with Capitol Records, basically.

What do you think has been Duran Duran’s legacy?
I think Duran Duran has had quite an influence on pop culture, even though it’s not necessarily what we set out to do. We really wanted to be a multi-media corporation rather than a rock band. Going on stage in jeans and T-shirts and asking people whether they were ready to rock wasn’t what we were really about. It was more to do with mixing style, fashion, art, music and film.

D’you think the 80’s revival is good or bad?
These things happen. We’re at the end of the 90’s almost and I think people are beginning to realise that there were some cool things about the 80’s. But having lived through it once, I have no desire to go through it again.

Are you worried you’ll be lumped with the ‘comebacks’?
No. I don’t think so. Duran Duran has been around for 18 years and we’ve had a lot of ups and downs, but essentially we have always made records that have done OK.

What defines the decade for you?
Getting the bill at the end of the 1980’s. Everybody has been spend, spend, spend and putting in on Duran Duran’s tab. We spent "God. That limo was that much?!" But I guess it was quite long.

And your greatest extravagance?
Buying a Picasso on my AmEx card. (laughs)

Credits
Nick Rhodes photographed exclusively for BOYZ by Mark C. O’Flaherty. Assisted by Pete Mash. Make-up by Annabel Finn.

Cover fashion: black frock coat and trousers by Alexander McQueen, shirt by Carol Christian

Poell inside: grey frock coat and trousers by Alexander McQueen. All from the Library, Bromptom Cross, SW3