The white jackets and skinny trousers may be gone, but Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes still know how to rock the eyeliner. The members of seminal ’80s group Duran Duran talked to TIME about their new album, All You Need Is Now, produced by Mark Ronson, as well as their early fashion choices.
Ronson has called All You Need Is Now “an imaginary follow-up to Rio”–your hit 1982 album. Whose idea was that?
Le Bon: Mark comes from a fan’s perspective. He said that he was a little disappointed as a kid because [our third album] didn’t really seem to fulfill our promise. Mark wanted to get back to the sense of experimentation from our first two albums. He would say, “No, that’s too normal, too normal. I want you to be more out there.”
Do you feel that your audience has changed over the years?
Rhodes: The Internet has changed the way people consume music. Kids now are likely to have some of our music, some Beatles, some Kanye. They mix it all up a lot more.
Do you have second thoughts about your early fashion choices?
Le Bon: People ask this question a lot. And I look at them and think, O.K., maybe it looks strange now. But at the time it was cool.
Rhodes: I’ve still got all my clothes from the videos. Museums are calling me up all the time.
The band is named after the villain in the movie Barbarella. Does Jane Fonda know?
Le Bon: Absolutely. I saw her recently, and she said, “At first, I thought you were having a laugh at my expense. But later on, when I was in a more humorous relationship, I saw the funny side of it.”
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