What's on: Duran Duran

After an absence of seven years, the legendary Duran Duran are undertaking a series of concerts in support of their new album All You Need Is Now, which topped the download chart ahead of its physical release in March.

Four of the classic line-up, Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor will perform in front of 150,000 people in 11 arena concerts at the start of a world tour that will last well into next year.

“There’s a lot of world to get around,” says founder-member Nick Rhodes, explaining why it’s taken so long to play in the UK.

“A tour can be 18 months to two years. We got that seven-year itch and we thought we could cover the country better by playing more shows than last time.”

Duran Duran (named after a character in the cult movie Barbarella) was formed in Birmingham in 1978 by keyboard player Nick and bassist John Taylor.

By the time the band signed for EMI in 1980, the line-up had settled with the addition of Le Bon on vocals, drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor (none of the three Taylors are related).

Their first single, Planet Earth, reached number three and paved the way for a massive run of success.

Hit singles like Rio, Girls On Film, Hungry Like The Wolf, Save A Prayer and The Reflex, along with acclaimed albums like Seven And The Ragged Tiger, led to 80 million record sales, Grammy and Ivor Novello awards and a place in music history.

The band was instrumental in pioneering the use of innovative pop videos, something that is a source of pride for Nick Rhodes.

“Yeah, but because of what we created visually with the songs.”

He adds: “It was fortuitous that video came out at the same time, and we looked at it ‘cos we were interested in multiple art media.

“It was bliss and we had a lot of fun. We managed to do some cool experimental things and some funny things as well.”

Duran Duran were one of the few bands to top the charts on both sides of the Atlantic with the same song, to whit The Reflex, and they topped the charts in Britain with Is There Something I Should Know.

They topped the US charts again with View To A Kill, the James Bond film theme, and to date the only one to top the charts.

The new album, All You Need Is Now, is said to be a return to the band’s early sound.

“It certainly draws from our roots and the beginnings of Duran Duran,” Nick says.

“Mark Ronson (the producer) came in and told us the sound we had back then had come round again, so we used all the old elements to write contemporary songs, and it soon became evident that it worked.

“The feeling behind the album was that we wanted to make songs that were as strong as we’d ever written.

"A couple of songs early on were a bit ‘defining’, for instance the level of energy in Being Followed has elements of View To A Kill and Hold Back The Rain.

“The melodies were fantastic, and then we hit the lyric hurdle.

"We worked very hard on them and they were written three or four times before we were happy with them.”

Returning to the tour, Nick is very enthusiastic about both it and the album.

“Once we’d finished the album, there was a sense of relief and pride, and the tour is our reward for finishing it.”

That’s not to say the album will be forced upon the audiences.

“It’ll be a substantial presence cos it’s a particularly strong record; but I believe in playing what people want to hear.

"If I went to see a band and they didn’t play their hits, I wouldn’t be happy.

“What I will say, though, is that we’ll be mixing up the songs and hopefully there’ll be a few surprises — after all, we have a 30-year catalogue to pick from.”

And following the tour, Nick is also upbeat about the band continuing to work together.

“Now that we’ve made it so far, I think we’ll carry on. The album was a joy to make and I think we’ll carry on as long as we enjoy it and as long as the audiences want us to.”

* Duran Duran play the Liverpool Echo Arena on Friday, May 23 and Manchester Evening News Arena on Friday, June 3.