I recently had the pleasure of being a member of the Musical Jury for The 20 Greatest Eponymous Albums Of All Time series over at No Badger Required.
SWC's daily posts are a thing of wonder and have been instrumental in introducing me to artists I've never heard of, and revisiting others that I've passed over with fresh ears and an open mind. And the writing and stories from his life are just brilliant.
So, when the call goes out for the Musical Jury, I'm privileged to be a part of it. As well as votes, SWC invites jury members to contribute comments on the individual artists/albums/songs voted for.
For The 20 Greatest Eponymous Albums Of All Time, I commented on each of my 20 submissions and was extremely fortunate in that there was quite a lot of overlap between my shortlisted Top 20 and the published list, although inevitably not in the same order. Therefore, extracts from quite a few of my comments were used to accompany SWC's posts.
As dear Momma K taught me, never let anything go to waste, so I'm going to dedicate several posts over the next few weeks to revisiting my picks, adding a few video clips and expanding on my original comments, where time permits.
And so, in time honoured tradition, I'll start at the bottom, with #20, scoring one solitary point, to Mrs. K's chagrin.
Yes, it's Duran Duran by Duran Duran...
...or “Assorted Images”, as my uncle labelled it when he ripped a loan copy from Shepherds Bush Library onto one side of a C90 cassette for my brother in 1981. Assorted Images was the company who designed the cover, but my uncle obviously felt affronted by the lack of a proper album title and imposed his own.
At the time, I was more interested in the C90 he did for me, containing Dirk Wears White Sox by Adam & The Ants on one side and The Blue Meaning by Toyah on the other, but the sounds of Duran Duran from my brother’s room next door were inescapable and ultimately irresistible. He went on to legally purchase follow up album Rio on cassette, but i think stopped there.
Mrs. K has also been a fan of Duran Duran since childhood (though only the albums recorded before Andy Taylor left), so I felt a Clan K duty to give them a point. However, I can't deny having an emotional response to the album whenever it's played, because it brings back fond memories of childhood and my library-abusing, music-killing uncle.
I got to see Duran Duran live for the first - and last - time at the NEC Arena in Birmingham in 2004, on the back of the original line-up's reformation. As much as I have an aversion to enormodome gigs, I have to admit that they put on a great show, even if was a mark of the times that the "lighters aloft" moments were replaced by Simon Le Bon urging everyone to hold up their mobile phones with torch app switched on.
Musically, and whatever you think of Le Bon's singing, the band were tight like they'd never been apart and of course plenty to enjoy from the eponymous debut, including these three.
Andy Taylor left Duran Duran again soon after, as did Mrs. K's interest in anything that the band has recorded since their 2004 'comeback' album, Astronaut, but I'm very pleased to have added a new, happy memory to trigger when listening to Duran Duran and Rio.
P.S. I'll include random snaps off the telly as my post headers, that bear no relation to the item that follows. Today's pick is from Budgie, an ITV vehicle for Adam Faith that ran for 2 series and 26 episodes between 1971 and 1972. I've no idea if Adam was a Duran Duran fan, but he sadly passed in 2003 so won't have been in the audience with Mrs. K and I at the NEC the following year.
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