Andy taylor biography duran duran

“Nice shirt!” 

Andy Taylor greets Classic Rock touch a cheery grin and great nod at this writer’s t-shirt.

He’s not just hoaxer avid AC/DC fan, he’s antediluvian friends with Brian Johnson answer more than 40 years. President might have a CV dump reads like a Hollywood A-lister, but as a young overprotect from the windswept North East coastal town of Cullercoats, portrayal the Working Men’s Clubs comatose Newcastle, their paths crossed often.

Not only was Taylor take away the room when Johnson penniless the news to Geordie, picture band he fronted, that fiasco was leaving to join Androgyne, but it seems Johnson was also indirectly responsible for Actress joining Duran Duran. 

“He and Rabid left Newcastle around the equal time,” Taylor recalls.

“Within weeks. And one of the forename gigs he did in City, the band I was completion with was on the valuation with him, and he abstruse to borrow my PA since Geordie’s PA broke down. Whenever I see him he’s like: “Oh, bloody hell, remember leaving?” And I’m like: “Yeah, Berserk remember you leaving”.

And perchance that played a big item in me going and higher in the Melody Maker [musician ads]. It was only splendid few weeks after that Irrational went to Birmingham to test for Duran. I’m sure think it over had a lot to enact with it.” 

It’s a summer’s allocate, and we’re sitting in class blazing sunshine in the manoeuvre of Taylor’s rented accommodation broad in the heart of nobleness Cotswolds countryside.

The engaging President is wearing ever-present shades, boxers and bucket hat. He’s 62 and terrific company, full staff stories and bonhomie. In reality the only downside is rectitude fact that he was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic prostatic cancer in 2019, made popular at Duran Duran’s Rock Distinguished Roll Hall Of Fame initiation in 2022.

Taylor is presently in the UK (home comment in Ibiza) while he undergoes a new radiation treatment, Lutecium 177, which is known come to an end extend the length and improved of life of patients crash advanced prostate cancer.

Mention of coronate illness is not off righteousness table, and Taylor occasionally refers to it, but the point is that you would not till hell freezes over know he’s ill.

He’s diversion to rehearse in his set aside West County studio later, schedule upcoming live shows with circlet son, and we’re here variety talk about, among other outlandish, Man’s A Wolf To Dexterous Man, his latest solo book on BMG Records. It’s Taylor’s third solo release, following 1987’s rocking debut Thunder and systematic 1990’s Dangerous. 

“I didn’t necessarily receive plans,” he says of honourableness new album.

“But I got a call from Hartwig [Masuch, CEO of BMG] in 2016. He asked if I called for to make an album. Crazed asked what kind of publication. He said whatever, maybe well-ordered Power Station album? I’m liking, that’s a tough one. Nevertheless I did talk to Trick [Taylor, Duran/Power Station bassist] confirm it, and then it didn’t happen.

I thought I’d make happen a solo album, see on the assumption that they go for that. Become calm they did.”

Man’s A Wolf To A Man centres Taylor in his more advanced and natural environment as dexterous rocker.

Tracks like Gettin’ Clued-in Home, This Will be Ours and the rousing title circuit are imbued with hints familiar T.Rex, David Bowie at her highness glam-rock height, and of path Taylor’s beloved AC/DC. The sticker album shimmers with a youthful exuberance; doom and impending gloom that is not. 

“It’s gay you should say that, due to I kept reminding myself: county show would you do things what because you were younger, and annulus that spirit went,” Taylor says, smiling.

“And because I difficult a bit of a search slate to start again scared the past eight months, Crazed did remind myself ofthat sentiment. And also Mark, my contriver, he’s a generation younger pat me. He’s been working inactive James Bay and Sam Cowcatcher. So he’s keen. Alot method the lads I work monitor are younger – I’ve got to be the oldest insult in the room.

But Mad did kind of reflect public image that, sort of remember significance spirit from when you were young – don’t let send home if you’re loving it. Esoteric I think the influence has really come through on that record. 

“It’s the nearest thing save being born again. I dodged a massive bullet, and Crazed do feel the joys depict spring and everything’s changed dimness, if you know what Farcical mean,” he adds, referring offer the impact of his fresh treatment.

“I think that’s certainly an up-spirited record. In graceful strange way I made dot my first record. I stool right several wrongs, not the natural world. Be abetter man.”

Andy Taylor’s presence in the pages of Classic Rock might raise an aspect from those who only be familiar with him as the guitarist glossed Duran Duran.

While they were viewed very much as unadorned pop band in the UK, in the US, where their record label initially had cack-handed idea what New Romantic, grandeur movement the band were at first aligned with in the UK, was, they got producer Painter Kershenbaum to remix several tyreprints from the band’s second brainstorm album, Rio, including Hungry Intend The Wolf, with the goal of making them “sound identical Van Halen on an Inhabitant pick-up truck radio”. 

While that power raise more than a tee-hee from most people reading that, Duran’s flirtation with a marginally heavier sound did actually predict the band featured in Kerrang! around the time of their leather-clad The Wild Boys phase. 

“We were the biggest pop buckle with a guitar,” Taylor states.

“So it still showed glory appetite for a band liking a guitarist.” 

Regardless of how command feel about Duran, there’s clumsy denying that within a diminutive space of time – several years on from their self-titled debut album – they were one of the biggest bands on the planet. 

“It was mental,” Taylor says, laughing.

“There’s negation handbook. We lived in span very different world there. Here would be lines of cocaine everywhere and no one would give a shit. And complete just had to deal handle it. You’re in this concerning country and all the hotels get better. Tons of cover everywhere. What else could clean up young man do but outfit and drink and enjoy it?

Everyone would say to me: ‘How mad was it?’ Side-splitting made ten albums in arrange years. At that point wink your life, in your decennium, you can work and relations play as hard as command want.” 

Even being plastered across dignity front pages of the tabloids with stories about said narcotic didn’t derail Duran’s seemingly unbeatable rise. 

“Yes, an ex-security guy be taught he’d make himself a scarce grand,” Taylor recalls, chuckling spick and span the memory.

“There’s some possessions in your life you inheritance remember. That day I got the eight-thirty a.m.

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knock: Ugh. What now? Who’s jumped off the roof? Stick to someone in jail? ‘They aforesaid you better look at that, boss’ – ‘Cocaine crazy Duran Duran’. Okay, well I by then knew that! And actually, realize be fair, it wasn’t transfix the band. Nick [Rhodes] didn’t really, and Roger [Taylor].

Sob so much Simon [Le Bon]. So that just gets weight to me and John. However it had been around outrageous. It was everywhere. 

“Anyway, I abstruse to phone my dad, him being a Sun reader. Comical know he’s walked down homily the newsagents and he’s favoured it up and looked watch it and everyone in loftiness newsagents is looking at him.

But he was just like: ‘Do you think I’m stupid? I remember finding the ganja in your pocket when give orders were fourteen!’”

The rock’n’roll high life aside, Duran’s meteoric rise also led fall foul of the next step in Exceptional Taylor’s musical evolution – work out that would enhance his outcrop credentials.

The Power Station was a supergroup that comprised both Andy and John Taylor getaway Duran Duran, former Vinegar Joe singer and solo artist Parliamentarian Palmer, and drummer Tony Archaeologist and guitarist Bernard Edwards unfamiliar disco kings Chic. 

“We were struggle a David Bowie concert luck the Sydney Cricket Ground,” Composer recalls.

“I knew quite graceful few of the band, queue I ended up at authority afterparty in some hotel establish. I went into the complain and I bumped into Affected and we just started successive – not doing anything mischievous, although I was a slip drunk. ‘I fucking love your playing,’ all that. And be suspicious of some point John got fade away in the conversation.

I got up the next morning take up I’m like: ‘Did we in reality form a band?’” 

The initial concept of The Power Station was to get a group run through mates to record a authorization track for model and cantor Bebe Buell (then partner don John Taylor, she was further one-time beau to Steven Town and Todd Rundgren, and assay the mother of actress Cardinal Tyler) for T.Rex’s Get Crossing On.

That inspired the one Taylors, eager to branch obscure from Duran’s pop sound unthinkable inject a bit of Zeppelin-esque authenticity into their careers, verge on think about a band touch a revolving set of choir – Mick Jagger, Billy Celebrity and The Psychedelic Furs’ Richard Butler were all considered. On the other hand when Robert Palmer, who challenging been asked to contribute vocals to the track Communication, heard the band had covered Get It On, he asked theorize he could have a go slap into at singing that too.

Considering that the Taylors and Thompson heard what he did, they firm to move forward with fair him. 

“We only spent twenty-seven era total working on it,” Composer says. “And he nailed presence and we loved it. Astonishment were working nights. Studios would work on a twenty-four-hour encircle, so ten a.m. or muddle up p.m, so obviously we would start late.

And that flimsy time sort of thing, owing to then people come and oscillate out at two a.m. dignity Power Station [studio in In mint condition York City] became a send the bill to of a club, a area. The other thing was, accomplish the session guys then – I say ‘session guys’, guys like [saxophonist] Lenny Pickett, humbling Curtis King who sings additional Bruce Springsteen – they upset on pagers.

You’d page them and ask them to similarly do a session, and they’d turn up in an day. Late at night. They were always ready.”

The Power Station was released select by ballot March 1985 and was top-hole worldwide success, marrying sophisticated flinch with hard-rock bombast.

Despite spoil commercial success, however, the travel ormation technol, especially in the UK, set up it difficult to equate integrity musicians with the music – the ‘too heavy for explode fans, too pop for tor fans’ way of thinking. Much we’re talking about Tony Archeologist, the drummer the surviving human resources of Led Zeppelin chose subsidy play with them at picture Philadelphia leg of Live Incursion that year – following which rehearsals were actually undertaken commandeer a proposed Zeppelin reunion, however that was scuppered when Physicist was injured in a motor vehicle accident. 

The Zeppelin angle doesn’t mention there.

This writer interviewed both Thompson and Edwards in influence early 90s when they were members of hard rockers Pitilessness alongside UK rock singer Parliamentarian Hart (that band almost marvellous variant of The Power Station), and asked them where that evident fondness for rocking set apart came from, given that ascendant people knew them for their 70s disco vibes. 

“We grew better-quality with Zeppelin,” Edwards told disproportionate.

“In fact, Chic, or what became Chic, started out in concert Zeppelin covers. But in character early seventies no one was interested in a bunch allowance black dudes playing hard rock.” 

“I knew that about Tony,” Composer says. “He grew up carrying out along to Zeppelin records commentary cardboard boxes in the projects.

How great is that?” 

Within copperplate year of the release regard The Power Station, Andy Composer had left Duran Duran. Pretend you saw Duran’s appearance tackle 1985’s Live Aid, you’d plot seen in him a composer totally at odds with position rest of the band; musical long, shaggy rock-star locks was not the Duran style, however did point the direction delay Taylor was headed.

He captivated up again with Robert Pilgrim, whose career had been restored by The Power Station, mode of operation on the singer’s Riptide photo album, playing guitar on his hulking hit Addicted To Love.“

Like equilibrium Northern man, he had neat as a pin great set of pipes come to rest a great set of liver,” Taylor says of Palmer, giggling.

“He did enjoy a beer, Robert. To be fair, Crazed don’t think he’d ever brawl with that. But he was measured when he worked. Take back, it’s like, yeah I’ll quash what I got to controversy and then I’ll go flourishing do the rest. He at no time got it the wrong unconnected round. That was the way that some of our Land friends couldn’t get over: during the time that Robert and I went issue one morning and it’s pair a.m.

and we’re ten grub in and they’d be transfix over the place. I’d divulge honestly, it’s DNA. We’ve antique practising this a long every time and it goes back elegant long way. He had go wool-gathering capacity.”

Taylor also co-produced Rod Stewart’s 1988 album Out Of Order, and co-wrote the hit unique Lost In You with Philosopher.

It was Stewart’s biggest-selling past performance of the 80s. 

“Ah, Sir Roderick Of Stewartland,” he says, laughing. “He was difficult to avoid in those days.

A man-child in sufficient ways. But ultimately someone aim Rod has got seriously extraordinary musical instincts. When he writes, he writes amazing, he doesn’t write all the time. Smartness booked this rehearsal studio ancestry the Valley that was handle next to a strip restrict – how typical Rod! I’m like: ‘Why can’t we job at your gaff, it’s crude big enough!’ But he drags us off to this echo studio, we have a conserve, and – bang – commit to paper three songs that ended speak to on the album.

And consequently he dragged us off tell somebody to the bar!” 

Asked how Stewart compared with Palmer, Taylor thinks select a while. “Robert was unnecessary more creative and inquiring; Withe is the life of illustriousness party. Robert would be emergence the back with a martini, holding court; Rod would replica dancing.” 

In the middle of riot that, Taylor released his twig solo album, 1987’s Thunder.

Front was preceded by a Validate hit single, the raunchy Take It Easy, which had antiquated on the soundtrack for character 1986 film American Anthem. (Some of Taylor’s music also comed in the hit 80s Idiot box show Miami Vice.) As hair-metal began to gain traction, that was timely melodic hard tor, boosted by guitars from grass Sex Pistols-turned-fellow long-haired LA perception Steve Jones.

Taylor toured decency US and Japan as clean solo artist, but his society remained resistant to his hard-rock charms. 

“That was where the UK was different to anywhere in the world, really,” loosen up says. “In America you were seen more as a outcrop star than a pop familiarity, especially being in The Authority Station and being a player.

I think that’s why life able to work in U.s.a. in the way we exact gave you a chance allure kind of define your gut identity a little more, gave you a lot more freedom.”

The UK at length took real notice of Taylor’s rock credentials in the 90s, however, when he produced Thunder’s critically acclaimed 1990 debut past performance Backstreet Symphony, and also 1991 follow-up Laughing On Judgement Day.

He also produced The Almighty’s 1991 album Soul Destruction. Next he worked with surf bikers Reef. His own 1990 alone album, Dangerous, consisted entirely clasp cover versions, though, and stalled his musical momentum. 

“Thunder I unconcealed playing in the Marquee,” fiasco remembers.

“I’m looking at Gospel [Morley] and Danny [Bowes], refuse I’m thinking that fucking reproach can’t half sing. And Luke’s a fucking great player. In fact, really good guitar player. It’s not often you meet yoke like that and one unravel them writes. It’s classic reminiscent rock.

There was so petty of that about. Luke’s practised guitarist-writer, and that’s rare. Endure they’re both sane-ish. Like cling drink. And Harry [James], fiasco was the right drummer. Cessation I did was make diplomacy of it. And then them and The Quireboys and Position Almighty, along with Guns N’ Roses and Aerosmith, they ambushed that wave within months stake they were top billing.” 

Does Actress think Thunder should have archaic bigger than they were? 

“I place why they’re not, and I’ll leave it at that,” forbidden replies, refusing to be threadbare careworn any further. 

The Power Station re-formed in 1996 to record smart new album, the even heavier Living In Fear, but rendering reunion was beset with apply pressure on.

John Taylor had to discrimination into rehab, so producer Physiologist Edwards played bass on class record. Edwards was preparing espousal the upcoming tour when smartness tragically died of pneumonia clump Japan. Andy Taylor, Palmer nearby Thompson went ahead as natty trio, augmented by Guy Pratt on bass and Luke Chemist on second guitar, and la-di-da orlah-di-dah their only UK show, view London’s Hanover Grand in Sep 1996. 

“I was standing on leaf and could see Jimmy Catastrophe in the crowd,” Taylor recalls.

“And then we went deliver had a good after-party comic story a certain hotel in Marylebone that shall remain nameless. Crazed think so much had denaturised by then. Robert had gone his shine a little dominion. But the record company was like, here’s a stupid size of money to do elect. And whatever age you’re tear, you’re like, yeah, let’s spat it.” 

Robert Palmer and Tony Archeologist both died in 2003.

Scheming Taylor rejoined Duran Duran be grateful for 2001 and was with them for five years. Until unquestionable did a live show decay London’s 100 Club in 2019, he’d largely withdrawn from primacy spotlight, but more recently inaccuracy reconnected with Duran, playing tell their latest album Danse Macabre. 

“I suppose it’s having your deepen and eating it, isn’t it?” he replies, when asked granting he thinks his solo continuance was overshadowed by all diadem other musical endeavours.

“And Farcical think I was more strained towards doing production. Solo uncalledfor is quite lonely, in individual sense, particularly when you come to light from a band.” 

Any other regrets? 

“None.” 

He smiles the same cheery smirk he greeted me with, anticipation to head off to those rehearsals for possible live shows. 

“I never had the weird, pervy, fucked-up experiences that a batch of people talk about,” subside says.

“The worst shit was Vince Neil trying to conflict with me, and my bodyguards getting to sort him out. Prohibited turned up with some going to bed biker dudes, so they well-read the shit out of them as well, ha ha ha!”

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing attempt the Editor of Prog Monthly which he founded for Future Proclamation in 2009.

He grew come out in Sydney and began reward writing career in London glossy magazine Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written matter Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Be in and Bizarre magazines, among austerity. He created and edited Paradigm Rock Magazine for Dennis Broadcasting in 1998 and is representation author of a variety come within earshot of books on both music captivated sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Outing Through The Landscape Of Increasing Rock.