WILD BOY: MY LIFE IN DURAN DURAN
Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran
Andy Taylor
UK & Commonwealth rights: Orion
US rights: Grand Central
Lead guitarist Andy Taylor left Duran Duran in Autumn 2006.
He had originally joined the band in 1980 and was instrumental in their phenomenal rise to fame over the next five years, taking the 1980s music scene by storm by pumping out such hits as Wild Boys, Rio and Hungry Like the Wolf.They sold out arenas worldwide – before imploding amid rumours of drug abuse, personal brawls and legal disputes.With his trademark dark glasses and rock background, Andy gave the group an edge that defined their early image as New Romantics and he was never far from controversy, earning a reputation of the wildest of the wild boys.
In time, however, Andy grew dissatisfied with the band's keyboard-heavy synth pop and longed to stretch out his rock muscles. During a hiatus in Duran's schedule, he joined forces with bassist John Taylor, Chic drummer Tony Thompson, and singer Robert Palmer to create the band The Power Station, which had three hit singles and played the Live Aid concert in 1985.
After the Power Station, Andy pursued a successful solo career and then moved on to producing full time, working with several successful bands throughout the 1990s, before reuniting with the original members of Duran Duran in 2001 to record their first new music together since 1985.He left in Autumn 2006.
The official, inside story of Duran Duran has never previously been written.Having now left the band, Andy is in a prime position to tell the story as it really was.His experience of the music industry over the last 30 years, as a band member, solo artist and producer, gives him an unrivalled perspective from which to examine the story of both Duran Duran and the industry as a whole, which has changed considerably since the heady 1980s.
Andy Taylor was born in Tynemouth in 1961.He began playing guitar at the age of eleven, and was soon playing with local bands, even producing one at the age of sixteen. He dropped out of school early to tour England and Europe with several different bands, playing men's clubs and air force bases. Best known as a member of Duran Duran and The Power Station, he has also performed as a solo artist and served as a record producer for several other artists. He now lives in Ibiza with Tracey, his wife of 25 years.They have four children.
