Duran Duran are keen to play Glastonbury and have promised to bring out a pair of special guests when they do.
The group – who recently returned to the charts with their Halloween-themed album, ‘Danse Macabre’ – have never played at the Worthy Farm but say they’re eager to make their debut.
Frontman Simon Le Bon told the ‘Headliners’ podcast: “I want to play Glastonbury. I don’t want to go as a punter, but I want Duran Duran to get the right slot.
“Anyway, that’s the conversation that we shouldn’t really have on the air. I’d love to do it. I’d like a night-time slot, to be honest with you, and it’s got to be on the Pyramid Stage.”
Broaching the subject of potential guests during their set, bassist John Taylor suggested they’d bring out regular collaborator Nile Rodgers, along with Mark Ronson, who worked on their 2010 album, ‘All You Need Is Now’.
“You’d have to bring Nile out and maybe Mark,” he said, going on to explain how they first met the Chic frontman: “We were backstage with Blondie in New Jersey in 82, Nile was like ‘I’ve heard you!’
“When Duran formed, one of its main influences was Chic. Not many people were saying that at that time. People were burning disco records.
“It was very important to him that a young English band was dropping Chic as an influence at that time, because nobody was doing it.
“To know Nile is to love him. You want to be friends with him, he’s a very generous man on every level.”
Nile appears on Duran Duran’s latest album, produced by Josh Blair and Mr. Hudson, with keyboardist Nick Rhodes saying the LP “celebrates the joy and madness of Halloween”.
“We had decided to seize the moment to create a unique, special event … the temptation of using glorious gothic visuals set to a dark soundtrack of horror and humour was simply irresistible.”
Of the album, which includes covers of songs by artists such as Billie Eilish, Cerrone, The Rolling Stones and The Specials, Simon adds, “It’s about a crazy Halloween party. It’s supposed to be fun!”
In fitting with the theme, the album is packaged featuring images adapted from a collection of authentic vintage séance photos that Nick sourced at auction.
In a review of the album, RETROPOP said ‘Danse Macabre’ sees Duran Duran “in fine form” but noted that the LP “falls victim to the themed album curse and becomes its own worst enemy, with the end result coming in short of the band’s recent releases”.
