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Wildlife Greeting Cards

Wild Boy - My Life in Duran Duran
by Andy Taylor
Grand Central Publishing
ISBN 0-446-50930-2
Published September 2008 - Hardcover - 336 pages - $26.99

British pop group Duran Duran were so huge in the 80s and then, nothing.  I always wondered why they just stopped.  Perhaps they burned themselves out.  Living in London at the time (mid-eighties), I did hear and read about the group a lot.  Mostly about Simon Le Bon, being their lead singer I suppose.  I remember the band being one of Princess Diana's favorite groups, which Andy Taylor mentions but then doesn't touch on the concert the Princess' two sons threw for her at Wembley Stadium ten years after her death.  Guitarist Taylor tells his side of the story, along with his own personal background, and in particular, how his mother left home when he was about eleven.  It devastated him and his brother but he worked through it, thankfully.  His story of how he got into music is not unusual - loved the guitar - took a little intuition here and there - did other work to save for a better instrument - joined a band and went to Germany for gigs and a little work.  That's how it's done, more or less.  He talks about the excessive attention from young female fans they received, the parties, the drugs and booze (phenomenal stories), the travel, the arguments and disagreements within the band, the concerts, the record deals, the fame (good and bad), being in at the beginning when MTV started, and their reunion among so much more.  They were no angels to be sure, and their experiences involved plenty of good and bad.  I'm so tired of celebrities and their drugs and drinking followed by pity parties.  This is no pity party.  Andy Taylor is not a whiner and fully acknowledges his part in taking drugs and drinking.  He's honest and humble.  Question: A hyena in Malibu?  I don't think so.  Also, married very young, Taylor's been married to his only wife for around 25 years.  Remarkable.
Conclusion - Interesting, and a lot of speculation cleared up.  You just never truly know what's going on at the time.