Mat Whitecross' The Sound of 007 music Documentary is released on 5 October 2022
As I referenced in my previous post, in this latter part of 2022 we continue with the 60 Anniversary celebration of James Bond’s breakout onto the silver screen and EON is putting on some fantastic events to mark the year.
- Following the concert, Prime Video will globally stream an exclusive recording - The Sound of 007: LIVE from the Royal Albert Hall - as part of the streamer’s 60th celebration of James Bond
- The Sound of 007 - the documentary directed by Mat Whitecross and produced by John Battsek for Ventureland - will be available exclusively on Prime Video in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide from 5 October, following a preview at the ‘James Bond at 60’ weekend at the BFI Southbank on 1 October
- The Christie’s Sixty Years of James Bond two-part official charity sale will include multiple music lots including a No Time To Die song sheet with lyrics signed by Billie Eilish
- ‘Bond 25’, an album performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will also be released by DECCA on 23 September
Ever since hearing about the then untitled forthcoming documentary focused on the music of James Bond, now known as The Sound of 007, I have been quietly looking forward to it. If you read my post about “James Bond songs you may not have heard” you would know that I am keenly interested in the music, as well as the history of the music of Bond.
- The Royal Albert Hall to host The Sound of 007 in Concert, an official charity event to celebrate 007’s 60th anniversary to benefit music charities Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy and the BRIT Trust
- Following the concert, Prime Video will globally stream an exclusive recording - The Sound of 007: LIVE from the Royal Albert Hall - as part of the streamer’s 60th celebration of James Bond
- The Christie’s Sixty Years of James Bond two-part official charity sale will include multiple music lots including a No Time To Die song sheet with lyrics signed by Billie Eilish
- ‘Bond 25’, an album performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will also be released by DECCA on 23 September
The first and possibly the crown jewel in the celebration of the 60th Anniversary of Bond events coming up that I am highlighting is the Sound of 007 in Concert which will take place on the 4th of October to mark the day Dr No premiered at the London Pavilion on October 5th, 1962.
THE SOUND OF 007 IN CONCERT might well be my most anticipated event of the year and I rank it up there along with the awe-inspiring Bond premieres held at the Royal Albert Hall. It is certainly a must-do for any Bond aficionado. Who knows when we will get the opportunity to experience a compliment of talent all together in one place like the evening of THE SOUND OF 007 IN CONCERT?
However, if you can’t attend the event you may be happy to know that The Sound of 007: LIVE from the Royal Albert Hall will be available to stream on Prime Video afterwards.
The THE SOUND OF 007 IN CONCERT is master-minded by one of my favourite Bond composers David Arnold and he is bringing a lineup that includes legends like a national treasure & the voice of BondDame Shirley Bassey (Goldfinger, Diamonds Are Forever, Moonraker).
The legendary Chrissie Hynde (The Living Daylights). This is a great turn of events as the last (and only) time I have heard Mz. Hynde perform was bittersweet - as I was listening to author Anthony Horowitz read from his 2015 Bond novel Trigger Mortis whilst Mz. Hynde was one floor down performing a set. My attempt to get both hemispheres of my brain to work independently so as to enjoy both sadly failed and Mr Horowitz won the night.
The always energetic Lulu will hopefully bring the smelting fire that makes her Bond theme The Man With The Golden Gun the most kinetic of them all.
American indie-rockers Garbage will also be making an appearance (The World is not Enough).
Arnold will also be bringing a compliment of young talent to give their interpretations of the Sound of 007 including; the uber talented Becky Hill who already has an epic version of Billie Eilish’s No Time To Die in the bag. I am looking forward to hearing her performance with the full force of the Royal Albert Hall's acoustic technology behind her and I am hoping that she blends more Bond Melody in as alluded to in her No Time To Die.
We’ve come to expect big things from Liam Gallagher, but today he reveals even bigger plans for 2022, that are biblical even by his colossal standards - adding a second Knebworth Park date on Friday 3rd June..
He is set to release his new album ‘C’MON YOU KNOW’ on May 27th as he looks to score a fourth consecutive #1 UK record. He also celebrates the 25th anniversary of Oasis’ era-defining gigs at Knebworth Park with the news that he’ll return there to play the biggest shows of his solo career to date on June 3rd & 4th.
Legendary British band Duran Duran were meant to celebrate their 40th
Anniversary together by closing the
British Summer Time Hyde Park 2020 festival, however the show was
postponed until July 11, 2021 where instead they would be headlining
BST Hyde Park 2022. Sadly a global pandemic had other ideas - I sadly as
Simon Le Bon had explained that it means something for
Duran Duran to play in an iconic London stage like Hyde Park as all the
greats have including The Rolling Stones.
It has been confirmed that Duran Duran will play next year's
BST Hyde Park 2022on Sunday 10th July 2022 at 2pm and will be joined by
Nile Rodgers & CHIC. Hopefully Grace Jones will make it and
we'll get an ultimate rendition of A View to a Kill.
July next year seems a long, long way off - so it's good news that:
DURAN DURAN ANNOUNCE EXCLUSIVE, INTIMATE SHOWS AT O2 INSTITUTE BIRMINGHAM
THIS SEPTEMBER
The iconic multi-platinum and award-winning British band, Duran Duran,
announce two intimate performances in their hometown of Birmingham, at the O2
Institute. Duran Duran will play on 14th and 15th September 2021 ahead of the
release of their highly anticipated album ‘FUTURE PAST’, due 22nd
October. Tickets go on sale for their September performances at 9am Friday
27th August at
LiveNation.co.uk
Experience Ridley Scott’s multi-Academy Award-nominated cult classic, Blade
Runner (2007 Final Cut), on a vast HD screen accompanied by The Avex Ensemble
performing Greek composer Vangelis’ original synthesiser led score in sync
with the film.
On 26 September, Todd Phillips’ ground-breaking, award-winning film Joker
will be screened with the accompaniment of a live orchestra playing composer
Hildur Guðnadóttir’s award-winning score for the first time ever at London’s
Eventim Apollo, followed by a UK & Ireland Tour.
As part of their FILMS WITH LIVE ORCHESTRA series the Royal Albert Hall yesterday revealed that James Cameron's Titanic continues to be king of the world - as composer James Horner's soundtrack for the Titanic is named the nation's favourite movie soundtrack of all time and the UK's Top 10 movie soundtracks of all time list, features music from Star Wars, Harry Potter and Jurassic Park.
If you are a regular reader of The Establishing Shot you will know that this resonates with me as Titanic is one of my favourite films, made even more memorable as - a couple of years ago I was extremely fortunate to attend the world premiere of Titanic 3D at the Royal Albert Hall for a breathtaking evening, as not only is the Royal Albert Hall in full bloom always the most stunning setting for any event, but Titanic talent came along to present the restored 3D version of the film - but the highlight of the evening must have been Oscar-winning composer James Horner conducting the Titanic Suite accompanied by Norwegian opera star Sissel Kyrkjebo. Certainly a night to remember.
T oday Jonas Akerlund's music video for Metallica's ManUNkind single made it's debut. It is the seventh music video from Metallica's upcoming double disc album Hardwired … To Self Destruct to be released this week.
Hardwired is Metallica's 10th studio album, their most recent solo album since 2008's Death Magnetic, not including Lulu their collaboration with Lou Reed.
Akerlund's video features the first look at the fictional MAYHEM band (featuring Rory Culkin, Jack Kilmer, and Sky Ferreira) from Jonas Åkerlund’s upcoming true-crime film Lords of Chaos.
It would appear that the sound of Hardwired … To Self Destruct seems to hark back to St. Anger but with a darker more Black Metal edge. Which ties right in to the subject matter of Akerlund's Lords of Chaos
Lords of Chaos
A teenager's quest to launch Norwegian Black Metal in Oslo in the 1980s results in a very violent outcome.
So a little while back a friend and I were discussing the music of James Bond over a Jameson at The Ham Yard Hotel. The week prior in anticipation of Bond 24's SPECTREexpected confirmed production kick-off I had dragged him along to see the West End musical Made in Dagenham with music by David Arnold and starring amongst others Ms Gemma Arterton. With the involvement of Bond alumni, the conversation naturally veered towards the music of Bond.
Firstly regarding Made in Dagenham I liked the bold brassy Britishness of it, the clever set design, my associate liked Mark Hadfield's incredibly hilarious and surreal turn as Harold Wilson and we both loved the dips into Monty Pythonesque political satire & the surprising powerfulness of Gemma Arterton's voice.
We are both from the Roger Moore Bond era and agree on most of the themes and music, but whilst my associate leans towards the Roger Moore female vocal era like; Carly Simon (Nobody Does It Better), Shirley Bassey (Moonraker), Sheena Easton (For Your Eyes Only), Rita Coolidge (All Time High) - whilst I have a strong leaning to the classic Bond sound where it felt they were forging the legend, Shirley Bassey, as well as the incidental music of James Bond.
That is the music in the less exposed moments of the films where the musicians can explore, experiment and bring their personal visions of the film to life - particularly David Arnold's work and Eric Serra's work on GoldenEye. Whilst researching this post I have to say I fell in love with the Roger Moore female vocal era all over again.
Not to stray too far but David Arnold and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be bringing A Night at the Movies: David Arnold Live in Concert to London, specifically the Barbican tonight Thursday 18 June 2015. And will be playing a selection from his scores including music from; James Bond: Casino Royale, The World Is Not Enough, Tomorrow Never Dies, Die Another Day, Quantum of Solace, Sherlock, Made in Dagenham, Independence Day, Godzilla, Stargate, Last of the Dogmen, Paul, Music from the London 2012 Olympics and more. For more info on David Arnold's tour dates follow David Arnold on Twitter: @DavidGArnold
With the SPECTRE theme announcement imminent and sadly the Bond SPECTRE boats finally leaving their mooring at the Imperial Wharf Marina this week, presumably signalling the end of the Bond Westminster part of filming. I thought I would highlight some of the lesser-known alternative, demo or rejected James Bond theme songs that quite possibly many may have never heard of - but are occasionally discussed amongst Bond aficionados.
The list is ordered chronologically, starting with:
This weekend to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the release of Dario Argento's art horror surrealist cult classic film Profondo Rosso’s or Deep Red as it is known in English speaking parts of the world the Barbican will be playing host to what is sure to be one of the most memorable horror or more accurately Giallo related events to play out in London in recent times - when horror maestro Claudio Simonetti brings his band Goblin to play the score of Profondo Rosso live.
Not only am I incredibly excited about this musical event itself as Claudio Simonetti's Goblin perform one of the most iconic horror soundtracks LIVE as the film is screened in the acoustically renowned Hall B of the Barbican (the home of the London Symphony Orchestra) but I was extremely privileged to chat with Mr. Simonetti about his work and creating the sound of many of the foremost cult classic horror films of the last four decades with the band Goblin.
As well as being effortlessly cool in the way Italians can be, he was surprisingly candid and gracious with his time so we were able to have a decent conversation about a range of subjects, that when pulled together paint a high level picture of the passionate career of a man doing what he loves for the last 40 years whilst letting his music reach into our souls and play with our emotions like they are, well a synthesizer.
Claudio Simonetti's GOBLIN 21st Feb 2015 Barbican London
Profondo rosso (Deep Red)
A musician witnesses the murder of a famous psychic, and then teams up with a fiesty reporter to find the killer while evading attempts on their lives by the unseen killer bent on keeping a dark secret buried.
Director: Dario Argento Writers: Dario Argento, Bernardino Zapponi Stars: David Hemmings, Daria Nicolodi, Gabriele Lavia Claudio Simonetti's Goblin performing Profondo Rosso Live at The Barbican: Saturday 21 February 2015
After posting my interview with Claudio Simonetti a friend, a big John Carpenter fan asked me about Claudio Simonetti and it occurred to me that possibly not everyone is as big fan of Simonetti as me and has listened to his and Goblin's music. So I thought I would add a short bio to introduce the man and his music.
"Claudio Simonetti … is a Brazil-born Italian composer who has specialized in the scores for Italian and American horror films since the 1970s." - From Wiki
Following in his father's footsteps a successful and popular composer and TV personality Claudio studied composition and piano at the Conservatore Saint Cecilia in Rome, eventually it was experimental rock that captured his ear as he chased his dream and he went on to form various bands including Oliver which went on to become Goblin.
Fame came to the band when they did the soundtrack for arguably Italy's greatest/notorious horror director (he did after all invent the Giallo genre) Dario Argento for his film Profondo Rosso (Deep Red). It was at this time the band officially became known as Goblin.
Dario Argento's Profondo Rosso (Deep Red) went on become a huge commercial success internationally and won critical acclaim. For many Profondo Rosso would define Dario Argento's style for them.
But the real surprise was Goblin's soundtrack which - recorded in ten days went on to sell over a million copies in the first ten months and stayed in the Italian charts for 52 weeks it attained No.1 on the charts in both the LP and singles categories making Profondo Rosso one of the highest selling horror film soundtracks ever made. It has subsequently gone on to sell over four million copies as well as influence cinematic sound across multiple genres.
The sound of Profondo Rosso is a fusion of Giorgio Gaslini's jazz, blues funk and Goblin's own intriguing surreal symphonic rock Baroque hybrid created with Claudio Simonetti's Minimoog synthesizer, bass, drums, guitars, harpsichords, a church organ and creepy vocal lullabies. This seminal sound would later be expanded and solidified with Goblin's defining and quintessential soundtrack for Dario Argento's Suspira (my personal favourite).
... by the time we recorded Suspiria I think our sound is unique and that was the sound that made Goblin famous started coming through because we invented something.”
- Claudio Simonetti
This description of Goblin's sound from the now sadly defunct Cherry Red Records can not be improved upon:
Goblin's genius lies in skilfully combining elements of progressive psychedelia with jazz-rock, Eastern European folk music and the Baroque. Their music often displays an eerie fairy tale quality that underscores tensions within a film to great effect.”
History has proclaimed that Profondo Rosso is the absolutely essential sound of Dario Argento, Goblin and Italian horror film.
Goblin and Claudio Simonetti went on to define the sound for many of Dario Argento's films before parting ways and separately continuing their careers. Claudio went on to work with other acclaimed cult directors like; George A. Romero, Bruno Corbucci, Lucio Fulci, Ruggero Deodato, Lamberto Bava, Sergio Martino, Umberto Lenzi, Menahem Golan and Enzo G. Castellari on the true apocalyptic cult classic Warriors of Wasteland or The New Warriors (another personal favourite of mine) continued to create progressive rock, dabble in Disco during its heyday as well form the heavy metal band Daemonia.
Goblin and Simonetti reunited briefly to score the soundtrack for Dario Argento's Sleepless. Goblin continued touring in various forms and Daemonia later became Claudio Simonetti's Goblin.
In my chat with Mr. Claudio Simonetti goes into a little more detail about Goblin's history.
Other topics we managed to touch on at a high level included;
- The enduring appeal of Goblin's sound
- Goblin's history before working in film
- The true genesis of Goblin as a band
- Fail at an attempt to define the music of Goblin
- Simonetti and Goblin's working process
- Creating the iconic Goblin sound for Suspiria & the legendary lost Suspiria recordings
- His ongoing collaboration with Dario Argento
- Addresses the similarities between the sound of Deep Red, Tubular Bells & Halloween
- On meeting John Carpenter
- Working with George Romero
- On being "soundcast" for horror
- His body of work & still being inspired by film
- His thoughts on new horror soundtracks
- Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead remake & the recent work of Guillermo del Toro
Simonetti also let us know what we can expect from the live performance and screening of Deep Red at the Barbican. For a bonus point I managed to discover Claudio Simonetti's favourite horror films.
You know when we started in the 70s we didn't have a title for the music, now we have Gothic, Heavy Metal and many different titles for the music, even Prog didn't exist in the 70s. Prog was invented later. We just played Rock.”
- Claudio Simonetti
I say our chat but Claudio did most of the talking so it is unsurprising that he was flagging a bit towards the end of our chat, as was I, despite that he was happy to give me a fair amount of time - even so - sadly I didn't manage to chat about the actual content of any of the films he has scored and the part that play in the psychology behind his music or indeed where he goes and how he creates the hypnotising and transcendental music that stares into our souls, scares, lulls and moves us or to my shame the rumoured 3D remake of Suspiria.
As with many of Dario Argento's film, in Profondo Rosso the lead protagonist is the proverbial fish out of water as David Hemmings plays Marcus Daly an English pianist and music teacher who whilst working in Turin stumbles onto a murder and goes down a dark and increasingly terrifying path as this every man sets about to uncover the killer - a mysterious figure wearing black leather gloves, played by director Dario Argento himself. Whilst Goblin's soundtrack gently lulls us down the same disturbing path.
Deep Red starring David Hemmings as Marcus Daly
Horror aficionados may each may have a favourite Dario Argento film but many agree Profondo Rosso is the prime example of Argento's twisted genius and "showcases the technical bravado and ... shock tactics that made Argento famous".
A surreal masterpiece from Dario Argento with a pounding score from cult prog rockers Goblin, Deep Red will leave you battered and breathless!
Gorgeously shot with an incredible soundtrack merging to create different ambient tones that juxtapose against each other adding unique personality to the characters, places and times they live in. I'm not going to bang on about the performances but it was a real joy to see." - From Arrow Films
It's been 16 years since Robbie Williams released his chart topping single Millenium off the album I've Been Expecting You. That would make it 16 years since I first heard who Robbie Williams is.
Being a Bond fan I instantly liked Millenium a catchy aspirational song that sounded like nothing else at the time and it referenced John Barry's You Only Live TwiceJames Bond theme without directly sampling it. I wasn't wild about Vaughan Arnell's cheeky Bond parody video for Millennium initially but sometimes a bit of everyman Bond is better than no Bond at all.
I may like Jim Jarmusch's films but I love Jim Jarmusch's genre films, the ones where he takes on more fanciful material and gets to the humanity under them. I am of course talking about his unique take on genre themes and merging of cultural, literary & existential references - like when he took on the Western genre with Dead Man starring Johnny Depp - Asian Cinema with Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai starring Forest Whitaker - espionage with The Limits of Control starring Isaach De Bankolé and now vampires with his electro rock fable Only Lovers Left Alive starring Tom Hiddleston as Adam, Tilda Swinton as Eve, Mia Wasikowska as Ava and John Hurt as Marlowe.
Sadly I have already seen Only Lovers Left Alive and it is my favourite film of 2014, so far. I say sadly as I have been waiting for it for ages and would have been happy to wait another six months for the pleasure of seeing it. Whilst emo vampires may be a bit of a cliche - Jarmusch turns it arounds to create a fresh and wonderful piece of film wherein he explores modern humanity, old and new worlds colliding, whilst reinvigorating the vampire mythos tinged with dark humour
Goldfrapp have announced details of a very special Tales Of Us cinema event – a worldwide screening of the stunning film Tales Of Us followed immediately by an exclusive dramatic live performance transmitted into cinemas from the magnificent surroundings of the legendary Air Studios in London. This must-see state-of-the-art experience will be broadcast by Arts Alliance Media across the UK, Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand on the evening of 4 March 2014.
Catching up on my email yesterday I came across a missive that I should have read a while ago as it is pre-tay, pre-tay cool and it would appear that some of the links have now expired. To honour the 85th Annual Academy Awards taking place this evening the kind folks at Rdio are celebrating the talent behind the scenes who bring emotion and culture to the films we love through the power of music, they have specially curated a playlist featuring all the songs from both the BAFTAs and the Oscars for your listening pleasure.
Below I have embedded the 3 Rdio Playlists previews - if you haven't already you may need to sign up to Rdio for free to listen to the full songs, its a breeze to do and worth it for the Life of Pi and Skyfall soundtracks alone . Please note some of the dong links have now expired. The 3 playlists consist of:
Rdio Oscars 2013 Best Original Score Nominees Playlist:
- Anna Karenina by Dario Marianelli
- Argo - Alexandre Desplat
- Life of Pi - Mychael Danna
- Lincoln - John Williams
- Skyfall - Thomas Newman
Rdio Oscars 2013 Best Original Song Nominees Playlist:
- Before My Time from Chasing Ice – J. Ralph
- Everybody Needs a Best Friend from TED - Walter Murphy & Seth MacFarlane
- Pi’s Lullaby from Life of Pi - Mychael Danna & Bombay Jayshree
- Skyfall from Skyfall - Adele & Paul Epworth
- Suddenly from Les Miserables - Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg, Herbert Kretzmer
Rdio Oscar Award winning songs from 1934 to the 2011:
As well as a special playlist, in honour of the 85th Annual Academy Awards to remember the history of Hollywood – bringing together all of the Oscar Award winning songs from 1934 to the present. From Judy Garland to Elton John to Eminem, these Oscar-winning classics that will never be forgotten are now compiled in one place for your enjoyment.
In case you hadn’t heard last Sunday I was down at The Royal Opera House to see some of the world’s most talented people make their way up the red carpet for Great Britain’s most prestigious and premier talent awards the EE BAFTAs.
With everyone feeling the big freeze & rain and wanting to get indoors as quickly as possible most stars hurried up the carpet only stopping to chat with the major media players and with fans (some of whom had been camping out in the cold for 2 days to get a glimpse of the favourite actors or actresses) so we couldn’t really begrudge that us smaller guys were largely ignored as everyone wanted to get indoors as quickly as possible.
Well ignored by almost everyone apart from Mark Kermode who was more than happy to come over and chat with us, Mr George Clooney who didn’t stop to chat but pounded or shook hands with almost everyone on the press line on his way in and Mr David Arnold who stopped for a quick chat and joke (mainly aimed at me).
David Arnold is possibly most well known for being a brilliant film composer, a Grammy Award winning producer, the Bond composer, Musical Director of the 2012 Olympic Games, Producer of Dame Shirley Bassey’s 2009 comeback album The Performance, Charity Ambassador or the funny bloke off Twitter @DavidGArnold
Despite being very eager to chat with Mr Arnold for like forever, trading tweets, facebook messages and occasionally seeing him out and about in London at events I never felt the occasion right to bend his ear, he always seems to arrive early and leave first.
You see I have been a fan of David Arnold’s work since I first heard it. Back in 1993 he created the soundtrack for his friend Danny Cannon’s film The Young Americans. The final credits song - Play Dead, collaboration with Björk was the most James Bond non Bond song I had ever heard. I couldn’t help but think he had his sights set on scoring Bond.
Since 2008, Cartier has been inviting artists such as Lou Reed, Phoenix, Olivier Dahan and Camille Henrot to provide their individual interpretation in response to the question "How far would you go for LOVE?"
Painted Love was the first short film to be released as part of a trilogy of collaborations between musicians and directors. It follows a young artist as he follows his muse in New York City.
Preparation for the mixed live action and animation film took 18 months, and the six minute short took 10 months to complete. Painted Love was directed by Ben Dickinson, all the animation is hand drawn by Irina Dakeva and took three months to complete. Painted Love is also the title of the original song created for the short by French band AIR.
Sophia Coppola was interested in being involved with this project, as she has never done anything fashion related before and likes Marni's bold and unique textile deigns.When discussing the feel of the commercial Sophia thought about a house she had once spent time at in Marrakesh.
DOP in the advert is none other than Harris Savides a famed Cinematographer known for his unique visual style as seen in films like; The Yards, Birth, The Game, Zodiac and Sofia Coppola's Somewhere where he used Francis Ford Coppola's lenses from Rumble Fish.
The dreamy visuals and stunning soundtrack courtesy of Bryan Ferry's Avalon combine to evoke a sense of nostalgia and the exotic at the same time. Having the absolutely gorgeous Imogen Poots (pronounced Ima-gin) doesn't hurt as her wistful expressiveness conveys much without having to say anything.
There are two events coming up this week that I am super excited about. Of course the one is The Dark Knight Rises presentation and prologue screening in London, the other I found out a bit late but is equally breathtaking - Ciné Lumière in Kensington are putting on a tribute to Mr Georges Méliès with some incredible once off events and screenings including; the restored films of Georges Méliès, a spectacular screening of a mix of Georges Méliès films with a new original soundtrack performed live by John Garden of the Scissor Sisters and a screening of the newly restored colour version of Le Voyage dans la lune - A Trip to the Moon with a new original soundtrack by French synth pop legends AIR (Jean-Benoit Dunckel and Nicolas Godin),
Right! I know Georges Méliès, AIR and Scissor Sisters three things you never thought you would hear in the same sentence. Please note tickets for A Trip to the Moon are now all gone but there is still some availability for the Georges Méliès Revival - Cine-concert with John Garden
Since E reported & showed an exclusive clip last week I have been hanging to see the Duran Duran Girl Panic! video. Duran Duran have called in Naomi Campbell, Cindy Crawford, Eva Herzigova, Helena Christensen, Yasmin Le Bon, Stefano Gabbana, Domenico Dolce and Jimmy Carr. Yes, that Jimmy Carr.
In the 9 minute long video directed by Jonas Akerlund and made by Ridley Scott's Black Dog Films in a Performance like switch Duran Duran are played the supermodels and Nick Rhodes, Roger Taylor, Simon Le Bon and John Taylor are anonymous characters in the crowd. My first thoughts on the video are that it seems that in a post modern world that it seems more fashionable to side with anarchy and revolution Duran Duran are single handedly flying the flag for British cool.
Shot in a style and tone reminiscent of the 60s, which is helped by the abundance of gorgeous ladies, glamorous high fashion clothing and crystal supplied by Swarovski Elements as well as the use of the iconic Savoy Hotel (and apparently sites in easy walking distance) the video seems to be a comment on the bands longevity, drawing parallels between Supermodel and Rock star careers and the wolves that are always at the door.
The Meltdown Festival is currently on at The Southbank Centre. But late last year I was lucky enough to be invited along to a once off preview performance for the 2011 Southbank Meltdown Festival by Ray Davies and The Crouch End Festival Chorus before Ray Davies took up the reins as the 2011 Director of Southbank Meltdown Festival.
We were treated to canapés and some wonderful winter drinks high in the Weston Roof Pavilion before heading downstairs to experience a musical legend along with the acclaimed Crouch End Festival Chorus put a spin on some of his classic hits.
.jpg "only lovers left alive")
