by: Sandy Lender
Genre: Entertainment
Release Date: August 10, 2024
Publisher: IYF Publishing/Dragon Hoard Press
Best-selling, award-winning author and life-long Duranie, Sandy Lender, offers a delightful guidebook to the fun and sometimes wacky events that bring a fandom together. 100 THINGS DURAN DURAN FANS SHOULD KNOW & DO DURING THIS LIFE is a unique, positive, optimistic, totally new take on exploring nostalgia alongside your BFFs with the supergroup that continues to provide the dance track for so many people’s lives.
This non-fiction foray into Duran Duran history is unlike any biography you’ve read before. Instead of dry stats and facts, it’s a reminder of the joy and positivity that comes from obsessing over a shared musical interest. Herein you’ll find a series of random acts “to do” and trivia you might have forgotten to celebrate. To-do: Dive in and celebrate again!
Why I’m a John Girl
You were so kind to ask who my favorite member of Duran Duran is. You know how no one asks us about our favorite color or dinosaur anymore? Just because we’re grown-ups? It’s almost like that these days. At this stage in my life, only fellow Duranies I meet at concerts ask about my favorite member of the band, so I was delighted at seeing it asked during an online book tour. I love it.
As the Duranies say, “I’m a John Girl.”
This means, when released to the general admission section of a concert hall, I break left as I run for the stage. I don’t remember now which tour had John positioned on the right side of the stage, where Nick and Warren/Dom/Andy are supposed to be, but I remember vividly being on the phone with one of my girlfriends trying to decide what seated tickets we should purchase because, for some reason, Duran Duran had upset the universe and moved the bass player to the wrong side of the stage.
It was a situation.
My infatuation with John Taylor began in junior high. (Going strong for 40 years now.) I’d heard this way-cool song on the radio one night and described what I’d heard in excited detail to my friend Wendy in orchestra class the next morning. She was overly prepared to indoctrinate me. This was the moment she’d been waiting for. She informed me the song I described was “New Moon on Monday” and the band was—wait for it while we collectively picture her grabbing a stack of tour books from under her chair—Duran Duran. She showed me the band and talked about each one and I instantly fell for this debonair and adorable fellow who played bass guitar.
I’ve been hooked ever since.
It started with the music, heightened with the “look,” and solidified with the maturing of the man over the years. Anyone who’s read his autobiography, “In the Pleasure Groove,” can get a short-cut explanation of what we Duranies watched from the eighties on up to now, seeing a 20-year-old kid deal with fame and the trappings thereof, and come to a mature and adult view of the world. I might not agree with his politics 100% of the time, but I don’t have to. I agree with his heart.
The man cares about his family, his fans, and his fellow man. He’s one of those artists who takes time to connect with fans when he’s out in the world, and you can read about one such instance in the afterword of “100 Things Duran Duran Fans Should Know & Do During This Life.” I’m pleased to see the charity work he does and so tickled when his wife posts photos of him interacting with the animals at their estate. Am I jealous? Insanely so. Am I happy for him? Absolutely. Is he still my favorite? Always…
Introduction
Let me admit, up front, you’re about to read a frivolous romp through a Duranie’s brain. We’re about to dance together down Memory Lane, inspired by a Star Wars book title I saw about four months ago. To prevent myself from stealing the author’s intellectual property, I didn’t open the unauthorized 100 Things Star Wars Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.
Instead, I’ve put together a Duran-o-rama of my own making. It’s arranged exactly as the title suggests: first an item of what a Duran Duran fan should know, followed by an item a fan can do. This order proceeds from one to one hundred in a conversational tone.
The prompts of nostalgia might be numbered, but they’re not in chronological order. Most of the to-do items are geared toward sharing your insanity with others.
Basically, you’re holding amusing reminders of carefree times when a ticket to a concert cost all of eighteen dollars, when you listened to the local radio station at midnight because they were playing the entire new DD release, or when you could grab a crew of giggling girls to plop down on the couch with a six-pack of Pepsi—because that’s what John preferred over the sponsor of the Arena tour—to watch and sing along to Arena: An Absurd Notion, complete with parental advisory.
Now, let me lift the needle off the record for a second.
Let me admit, up front, you’re about to read a frivolous romp through a Duranie’s brain. We’re about to dance together down Memory Lane, inspired by a Star Wars book title I saw about four months ago. To prevent myself from stealing the author’s intellectual property, I didn’t open the unauthorized 100 Things Star Wars Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die.
Instead, I’ve put together a Duran-o-rama of my own making. It’s arranged exactly as the title suggests: first an item of what a Duran Duran fan should know, followed by an item a fan can do. This order proceeds from one to one hundred in a conversational tone.
The prompts of nostalgia might be numbered, but they’re not in chronological order. Most of the to-do items are geared toward sharing your insanity with others.
Basically, you’re holding amusing reminders of carefree times when a ticket to a concert cost all of eighteen dollars, when you listened to the local radio station at midnight because they were playing the entire new DD release, or when you could grab a crew of giggling girls to plop down on the couch with a six-pack of Pepsi—because that’s what John preferred over the sponsor of the Arena tour—to watch and sing along to Arena: An Absurd Notion, complete with parental advisory.
Now, let me lift the needle off the record for a second.
Purchase 100 Things Duran Duran Fans Should Know & Do During This Life from:
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With a four-year degree in English and thirty-year career in publishing, Sandy’s successes include traditionally and self-published novels, hundreds of magazine articles, multiple short stories in competitive anthologies, a handful of technical writing awards, a handful of creative writing awards, and the 2023 Michael Knost Wings award. Sandy’s been writing stories since she was knee-high to a grasshopper when her great-grandmother shared her odd little tales of squeaky ghost-spiders around an apartment complex in Southern Illinois. The stories have developed to include strong young ladies working with dragons to save worlds from terrible fates, but those pesky spiders still show up from time to time.
There’s always something brewing at Sandy Lender Ink headquarters where some days, you just want the dragon to win.
Places to find Sandy Lender:
You can follow the 100 Things Duran Duran Fans Should Know & Do During This Life Book Tour here.
Good morning and thank you for sharing my DD labor-of-love with your audience today. I'm diving into the day job shortly, but I'll check in tonight to answer questions folks might have. Have a fabulous Tuesday!
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by Sandy.
DeleteWe appreciate you featuring Sandy Lender and her book today.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome.
DeleteThis sounds like a very entertaining book. As a child of the 80's, I know I would enjoy reading this.
ReplyDeleteI sprinkled a few '80s bits that weren't specifically "Duran" throughout the 100 Things just to keep people on their toes. ;)
DeleteThis looks really good.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I wanted it to be something "for" Duran Duran Appreciation Day and beyond...
DeleteThis looks outstandingly good. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good read.
ReplyDeleteGreat post!! This book sounds like such a fun and entertaining read!!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a great book! Deff worth checking out!
ReplyDeleteI am a Duranie, so this is perfect!
ReplyDelete