WHAT BEGAN AS A KNOCKABOUT WAY TO TAKE THE PRESSURE OFF BEING INDUCTED INTO THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME HAS BECOME DURAN DURAN’S QUICKEST ALBUM SINCE THEIR DEBUT. FAR MORE THAN A SIMPLE HALLOWEEN-THEMED COVERS RECORD, DANSE MACABRE ALSO REINVENTS OLD DURAN FAVOURITES AND HAS THREE STUNNING NEW TUNES, TOO. IN THE EXCLUSIVE STORY BEHIND STUDIO LP 16, THE BAND TELL CLASSIC POP: “TYPICALLY, WE LABOUR OVER ALBUMS. THIS FELL INTO PLACE VERY EASILY.”
JOHN EARLS
t’s nearly midnight on a Sunday evening and Simon Le Bon is doing an impression of a foghorn. “HARRNK. HARRRRNNNKKK!” No, he’s not reviving an ancient beef with Tony ‘Foghorn’ Hadley of Spandau Ballet. Go to your room for even thinking such slurs. Instead, Simon is gleefully trying to recapture the noise of the sinister rhythm that drives the title track of Duran Duran’s new album.
If it sounds like an ancient aquatic blast from the depths of the sea underpins Danse Macabre, that’s because that’s precisely what it is. “It’s the old foghorn at Whitby,” burbles Le Bon happily. He’s one of life’s great enthusiasts, Simon Le Bon. When he’s describing any of his passions, whether it’s obscure new prog-rock bands or vintage maritime sea defences, he speaks at 100mph and would love you to join in. “We found a recording in the BBC archives of the foghorn, which is called the Hawsker Mad Bull. It looks like a house, and it’s got enormous trumpets either side of it that bend round to face the sea. Go and have a look at a photo, you’ll love it. That’s what the foghorn sound is on Danse Macabre. HARRNK. HARRRRNNNKK!”
Alongside his infectious determination to sweep you up into sharing his enthusiasms, Simon Le Bon is one of the most downright onomatopoeic people Classic Pop has ever met. Most international pop icons would rather be thrashed with twigs than sing, away from the comfort of the stage. Anyone lucky enough to interview Simon could flog a one-off album for a fortune on the shadier side of online collector sites, based on whatever he happens to sing in interviews that day. Today? Canned Heat, Dusty Springfield, Billie Eilish and The Beatles. In addition to songs, he’ll happily explain himself by all manner of percussive effects to his interviewers. “The Hawsker Mad Bul
