It’s a very, very different arrangement, and it’s one of the strongest lyrics that Simon’s written in a while. RHODES: Did they? I’m gonna have “Paper Gods.” I think it’s groovy, unusual. STEREOGUM: The Stereogum list had a new one on there actually, not that one though. So there’s another one, how many is that? About four? So, five…let’s have something from the new album. We recorded it in New York in a day, and I played a mellotron on it, which was a lot of fun. We also tried “#9 Dream,” but we never quite finished it because we knew “Instant Karma!” was better. And “Instant Karma!” has always been one of my personal favorite Lennon songs, and it turned out that everyone else in the band felt the same. Anyway, we didn’t do a cover for a long time after that as we’d done a whole album.
“Perfect Day” I think was good on the album, too, and several other tracks. RHODES: Yeah, I think it really holds up as an interesting take on that song. STEREOGUM: You play that one these days, right? Of course, it’s easier to view from a distance and say, “Eh, that one could’ve been a bit better,” but there were a few things on there, like “White Lines”. We made a covers album, which I stand by to this day. We did it for Amnesty International for a record they made of Lennon stuff. STEREOGUM: I actually didn’t know you guys did that. How about the track “Medazzaland”? I say “much more modern” - my God, that was 1997. Never even made it onto the album, because we came from a generation where obscure B-sides were sort of important on 7″ vinyl, so we were determined to have them, and for the first five years or so - well, probably longer actually, the first 10 years - we really kept up that. The reason for that one, I think, would be because it was all about the Rum Runner, which is where we started off when we were writing, rehearsing. What else? What about “Late Bar?” It was the B-side of our first single. I don’t like all strange cults, but in this case, I do like this one. It was the first really completely electronic thing that we’d done, and it’s turned into this sort of strange cult. Because I think it was an important stepping block in our sound during the making of the Rio album. “The Chauffeur,” which I figure you might’ve had. RHODES: No, no don’t tell me those off the top of my head. To get started, I can read you the list Stereogum ran. I was wondering if you’d be up for choosing your own top 10, maybe talking about some favorites that would surprise fans. STEREOGUM: We just did a list of the 10 best Duran Duran songs. But we both lost count in the middle so, actually, here are Nick Rhodes’ thoughts on 12 of his favorite moments in the 35 years his band has been releasing music. So, we decided to sit down with Duran Duran founding member and keyboardist Nick Rhodes shortly before they took the stage to get his take on what he feels are the 10 best Duran Duran songs. The stuff we all know in and out is hard to deny as Duran Duran’s finest material, but they aren’t purely a singles band, and there are other corners of their catalog well worth exploring. And, naturally, the list had a lot of those MTV heavy-hitters represented - how could you not? They’re a band whose hits helped define an era, a band whose most famous songs are some of the best pop singles out there, period. Upon the recent release of Duran Duran’s 14th album, Paper Gods, Stereogum published a list of their 10 best songs. It was the promise of seeing an iconic synth-pop group, and it was the promise of a Saturday night spent in Vegas hearing still-indelible classics like “The Reflex” and “Rio” and “Hungry Like The Wolf” live. This past Saturday, one of the overwhelming bright spots on the Life Is Beautiful lineup was Duran Duran.
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