Song of the Day: 'I Do What I Do' by John Taylor

This isn't really my pick for song of the day in earnest, it's more of a cautionary tale of when a band gets so big that their labels will let them -- and their members -- do whatever they want. When Duran Duran was ruling airwaves, MTV and the Billboard Hot 100, they suddenly suddenly felt the need to have various side projects, including the Power Station (featuring guitarist Andy Taylor and bassist John Taylor) and Arcadia (featuring vocalist Simon LeBon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and drummer Roger Taylor). But was that enough? Sadly, no. Andy released a single {"Take It Easy") on the "American Anthem" soundtrack(!), and a couple months earlier the group's pretty boy bassist put this out, which technically was the theme to "9 1/2 Weeks" even though Bryan Ferry's "Slave to Love" said it all. Duran Duran had a great run of singles. But all these other projects did was set the expression "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts" to music. 

I'd Tumble 4 Them

Loved Michael Musto's list of the 10 Cutest Guys From the 1980s New Wave. Did my own and found we had surprisingly little overlap.

Simon LeBon and Nick Rhodes were all the girls at Dobson High ever talked about. But Roger Taylor was the stud in the band for me. 

Bono who? Larry Mullen Jr. was all I was looking at back in U2's heyday ...

The Kemp brothers were handsome, but Spandau Ballet saxophonist/jack-of-all-instruments Steve Norman (and Larry) had me doubting I wasn't "into blond guys." 

Kooky-looking Dale and Terry Bozzio were the focal point of Missing Persons, but guitarist Warren Cuccurullo (left) was the sexy one ... 

and he only got sexier when he joined Duran Duran and started dabbling in home-made pornography.

Easy to see why Boy George was so lovesick back in the '80s -- his bicurious drummer boyfriend, Jon Moss, could cause anyone's self-esteem to take a tumble.

Pretty boys aren't usually my thing, but Adam Ant had just the right hint of masculinity mixed in to make him irresistible.

Tony Hadley of Spandau Ballet is the dictionary definition of tall, dark and handsome.

Annabella Lwin was an underage sex kitten, but I barely noticed she was in Bow Wow Wow with David Barbarossa behind her on drums.

Michael Hutchence was definitely sexy, but I always thought the hottest man in INXS was Jon Farriss. Maybe I have a thing for drummers.

Lloyd Cole's face was almost as sexy as his brain.

BONUS BOYS:

Not that I'd kick John Taylor out of bed for smoking cloves.

  Nick Heyward was the pretty-boy face of Haircut 100. But percussionist Mark Fox -- who became lead singer after Nick's nervous breakdown -- was my love plus one.

He was a pretty boy, indeed, but KajaGooGoo singer Limahl was too cute to resist.

UPDATE:

Billy Idol should have been on there, huh?

Dateline: Planet Earth

While I have recently confirmed that I was no Durannie, I can't say I was completely disinterested in bassist John Taylors' new memoir, "In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death, and Duran Duran." (John was the hottest member by far.) The stuff about him bitching his proud parents out for saving a bunch of fan mail that had arrived while he was away on his first tour sounds pretty harsh -- “I emptied the sacks in a rageful frenzy, dumping the contents violently on the floor . . . frothing at the mouth, tearing up the envelopes unopened. My parents watched the rampage, their mouths agape. ‘Don’t you get it, you two? I don’t f - - - ing care about any of this!’ ” -- but if nothing else, all the sex and drugs (and PHOTOS!) might be worth a look! Read HERE.