Andy Taylor has left Duran Duran (again)

The last couple of weeks, speculations about why Andy not joining the Duran Duran East European and American mini tour at duranduran.com message board have been very varied. Firstly it was heard that he was ill.. later it was rumoured that he was actually quitting the band. A poster at the board even provided this 'ad' as a joke:


During that time, this issue has been endlessly discussed at the board, including reactions of any kind, not to mention drama and stuff. I admit I like to drop by the board since I am, more often than not, amused by these posts, especially the snarky - but witty - ones. Finally, an official announcement at duranduran.com confirmed the 'news':

To Our Fans



We know that there has been a tremendous amount of speculation over
the past few weeks regarding Andy Taylor's continued involvement with
the band and we are sorry that we've been unable to provide you with
more information until now. The past five years have been an incredible
journey for us all - and having the original five back together was
something that we had wanted to see happen for some time. As of last
weekend, however, the four of us have dissolved our partnership and
will be continuing as Duran Duran without Andy, as we have reached a
point in our relationship with him where there is an unworkable gulf
between us and we can no longer effectively function
together. Although obviously disappointed and saddened about this, we
are excited about the next chapter of the Duran Duran story and look
forward to seeing you all soon.



Simon, John, Nick and Roger

[posted 10/25/2006 U.S.A.]

There it goes; 1985 repeated all over again. More reactions came in and the board gets busier than ever. Some demand to know exactly what the problem is. Andy disagreeing the music direction of Timbaland, Duran Duran's current producer, and Andy not getting along with the colaboration with Justin Timberlake are the most popular speculations. Well, it has always been evident that Andy is more a hard rocker than the rest of the band. The bolder sound of Power Station seems like where he really belonged (while, in the same era, Arcadia seems to be the 'alternative' soul of DD).



Then there was the question of who will replace him as the guitarist. Bring Warren back! No more Warren! - these cries have been heard a lot lately. I personally don't mind who will take Andy's place as long as the band is still intact and is making more music. But of course some posters at the board have also speculated that it won't be long until DD fall apart completely, again. One more album and then gone. The board doesn't lack nasty posts and threads (trolls, attention whores and drama queens are everywhere, mind you) - however, I never take this kind of posts seriously.




I regret that Andy fell out of the band again, of course, because for
me 'the Fab Five' is the line up of Simon, Nick, John, Roger and Andy.
But what happens happens; they're a band who will develop their works,
not a static entity. More importantly, it's up to them how to go about
their business (i.e. making profit), so who am I to agree or disagree about the kind of music they will produce? If I don't like it, I won't buy it; it's as simple as that. True, I'm not as attached to DD now as I was in my teenage years, but I still diligently update myself
with whatever is going on there. Can't fight my schoolgirl
sentiment, apparently.



Anyway, regretable as it may be, I fare Andy well to pursue his own musical notion and I just hope to hear the new DD album soon (they've been postponing it long enough!). Thanks to Andy for all the music, the fun memories and the rocking performance! I'm glad my first and only DD concert (May 31st, 2005, at Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam) was performed by 'my' version of the original line-up! Cheers, all!





Images are horked from DD.com message board
(Teajay is one of my favourite photographers there)