A little (musical) time travel

Let me tell you a little story .....

Once upon a time, not so long ago ( but longer than she wants to admit ! ), there was a young teenage girl. She was just a normal girl, trying to get through school and life as best she could. When things became difficult, she took comfort in reading books ( she loved reading ), and listening to music. Money was tight in her family, so she didn't own that many records, but she loved listening to the radio, and she was content (most of the time) doing that. One Christmas, her Mum gave her, as well as the usual books and smellies, an extra special present - an album from a particular popular band she knew the girl liked . The girl listened to it .... and just fell totally in love with it . It became her favourite, and the band that made it her favourite band. She followed the band from then on, their music forming the soundtrack to her teenage years .... the background sound to homework, the music she danced around her bedroom too before going out .....

Time moved on, and so did the girl. Her life changed - school became work, her teenage years turned into her twenties and thirties ... she grew up and became an adult. Responsiblities and commitments came her way, she fell in love and got her heart broken. New experiences came along, the world opened up to her ... but she still enjoyed losing herself in a good book, or drifting away from her problems through a magical tune. She listened to lots of different music now, her mind opened to a whole world of new sounds and artists .... but there in the background was still THAT album and THAT band from her teenage years ... and she still loved it. The band were not as popular as they once were, but they were still around performing and producing music, and she continued to follow and listen, their music a link back to a simpler time in life ( not that she realised they were at the time.... ) and a continuing source of new elements to her life soundtrack.

Then one day, after quite a long period of time, the girl ( now a woman), saw on the internet that her favourite teenage band were releasing a new album. She was curious about it, but wasn't sure she would be buying it - their last album was a bit of a disappointment to her ; a case of trying a little too hard to be current and up to the minute ... to her, it just wasn't them .... or the version of them she liked. She was interested in them, but not as much as she used to be - she had the music she liked from them on CD ...... perhaps she would skip this release if it was anything like the last one. Then she found that there were tracks from the new album posted on the net, and her curious nature got the better of her ... perhaps she would listen to just one or two ... so she did - and found she loved them. It may have been a new album, but the music took her straight back to the first time she heard them ... the years melted away, and she was that teenager dancing around her bedroom again. Her life had become a bit dark and depressing lately, so anything that would take her back to a happier time, a simpler time , could put a smile back on her face ... could transport her away from here and now ( even if it was only for an hour or so ) could only be a good thing ... Perhaps she would be buying this album after all ....

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If you hadn't already guessed, I am/was the teenage girl dancing around her bedroom , and the band I have mentioned is Duran Duran. I remember one Christmas my Mum giving me the "Rio" album as a present ( I must have been about 11 ), and me totally falling in love with it. I enjoyed the music, - the pop tunes like Rio and Hungry Like The Wolf which were being played endlessly on the radio, but also and almost even more, the slower "album" tracks like The Chauffeur. I followed them all through my teenage years , when they were the biggest band on the planet, and continued through the lean years of the 90's and early 2000's ( yes, I've even got Thank You, Medazzaland and Pop Trash ! ), although my petite obsession with the Maestro and his music meant that they faded to the background more then ( but were still there ). I was happy when Astronaut came out ..... and equally disappointed when I heard Red Carpet Massacre ... so when I heard about All You Need Is Now late last year, I wasn't sure I wanted to get it. Those doubts faded away when I heard those extracts on the Net .... as I said before, it was as if the last 30 years melted away. The music isn't a direct copy of Rio though .... it has its spirit, its sense of youthful exuberance, but this is tempered by better musicianship and more mature themes .... the end result of Thirty more years experience of Life. I really like what I have heard ( my favourites must be Girl Panic for its sheer pop energy, The Man Who Stole a Leopard and Before The Rain - a new Chauffeur ?). I cannot wait for the album to be released in physical form in March ( at the moment only avaliable as a download from iTunes ), so I can indulge in some more musical time travel .....