Are Duran Duran re-forming

A.� Duran Duran never actually split up�- they've just enjoyed varying line-ups and occasional breaks from touring and recording. But the Duran Duran line-up that enjoyed such massive success in the heyday of the New Romantics is back together again and�working on a new album.

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Q.� So who is in the band

A.� Duran Duran have always retained the services of vocalist Simon Le Bon and keyboard player Nick Rhodes, and they are rejoined by guitarist Andy Taylor, bassist John Taylor and drummer Roger Taylor, which for most fans represents the 'original' line-up of the band -�and no, the Taylors are not brothers, in spite of various tabloid newspapers' insistence that they are!

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Q.� They must go back a while to have been New Romantics

A.� They do. Duran Duran date from 1978, forming in Birmingham with Nick Rhodes and John Taylor, who played guitar at the time, along with Simon Colley on bass, and Stephen Duffy on vocals. You don't need to be a trivia buff to know that the band took their name from a character in the Jane Fonda film Barbarella, and they started gigging in the Birmingham nightclub of the same name. Duffy and Colley left within a year, and Roger Taylor joined as drummer, replacing the electronic drum machine the band had been using. John Taylor switched to bass, and guitarist John Curtis joined, although his tenure was equally brief.� As many musicians had done before, the band placed an ad in Melody Maker, which netted guitarist Andy Taylor. Andy Wickett left in 1979 and, by 1980, Birmingham University drama student Simon Le Bon completed the definitive line-up.

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Q.� Were Duran Duran successful from the start

A.� More or less. Duran Duran found themselves in the right place at the right time. With their acknowledged Bowie and Roxy Music influences, the band were ready to lead the next major youth cult which rose up in defiance of the nihilism of punk�- the New Romantics.

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Q.� Everyone knows the New Romantic idea didn't last long.

A.� True, but Duran Duran were shrewd enough to shift their musical and more importantly their visual image away from the foppish end of the trend, and embrace a more mainstream pop sensibility which coincided perfectly with the far more durable musical conduit which emerged at the same time�- MTV.

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Q.� So they were kings of the pop video

A.� They were.�The famous 'yacht' video for Rio became a template for the concept of 'pop song as visual artistic statement' and together with the follow-ups including Wild Boys the band became almost inseparable from their image as millionaire playboys with seven-figure video budgets. The system worked, and Duran Duran became major pop stars throughout the first half of the 1980s.

Q.� What happened after that

A.� After the pinnacle of artistic success�- the offer to produce the theme tune to the James Bond film A View To A Kill, the band saw their song 'adjusted' by long-time film theme composer John Barry, rescuing it from possible derision and giving the band yet another hit single. From there, the band could have looked forward to either of the traditional routes followed by bands in their career position. In fact, they neither imploded in public acrimony, nor slithered into obscurity, rather they split into two separate entities.�Andy and John Taylor formed The Power Station with vocalist Robert Palmer, and the remaining Durans created Arcadia, both bands meeting with a degree of success.

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Q.� Was this the beginning of the end

A.� For most bands it would have been, but Duran Duran have proved to be nothing if not durable. When Roger Taylor announced he was taking a year off in 1986, no one, possibly including him, realised that he would not return for�15 years.�Although the band have offered him the chance to rejoin with every album they have made since that time, Roger Taylor has always refused. The departure of Andy Taylor for a solo career of fitful durability, and a more successful stint as a producer, reduced the band to a trio. In 1986, the Notorious album and single showed healthy signs of life in the charts, but the mega-success days were definitely over for Duran Duran.

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Q.� Where did they go from there

A.� Duran Duran appeared to have vanished, until they popped up again with the Duran Duran album in 1993, which saw a brace of hit singles, Ordinary World and Come Undone, which charted well in the UK and the US, and gave the band a platinum album. A serious blip occurred on 1995 with the all-covers Thank You album which was poorly received, critically and commercially, prompting John Taylor to depart a year later. Duran Duran was now down to a nucleus of Le Bon and Rhodes, with guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, who had joined as a session player, being declared a full member of the band.

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Q.� And finally

A.� After a couple more indifferent albums, Warren Cuccurullo has returned to his original band, Missing Persons, and Duran Duran have finally managed to do what their fans have always wanted: the classic line-up have reformed, and are currently recording an album set for release next year.

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Q.� Surely they're all a bit too old for this pop star stuff now

A. It depends on what you think of as 'too old'. Keith Richards has always cited his idol Muddy Waters, still playing until his death, and seeing no reason not to do the same. Obviously it would be undignified for Duran Duran to attempt to go head-to-head with the current crop of boy bands, on which their style and image have had such a defining effect. More likely they will call on their vast experience as a recording and live band, with their considerable reputation and respect as survivors in both areas, and produce the kind of timeless pop music that will ensure that their old, and hopefully some new fans will appreciate.

Q.� Could there be a tour as well

A.� Quite probably. Although all the Duran Duran members are well beyond the level of playing their hits because they need the money, the impetus that has kept the spirit of the band alive, and persuaded them all to write and record together again will no doubt send them back onto the arena stages of the UK and the US, to show the young pretenders just how it should be done.

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by� Andy Hughes