John Taylor’s Groove for your Pleasure!
If my teenage fantasies had come true, I would have been Mrs John Taylor, you know! He and I would have met me whilst Duran Duran toured Australia and of course he would have fallen madly in love with my Aussie-girl-next-doorness and whisked me away to an exciting life of travel and Rock and Roll. Baby!
Alas, not all dreams come true: and here I am, well and truly after the 80s New Romanticism has faded, John Taylor-less but with a copy of his autobiography, In the Pleasure Groove, in my Christmas loot. Thanks kids!
It’s a compulsive read, but maybe not for all the right reasons. Possibly, because with each turn of the page, I was left hoping for more, for something meatier and for an insight that JT never quite manages to provide through his words (which are at times a bit clumsy, but hey, that’s kind of cute … like his smile)
It was an easy read and after finishing it, I really do have a greater respect for the musicianship behind the Duran Duran phenomenon. A passion for making music, shared by those five lads from Birmingham, is a recurrent theme throughout and truly grounds this tale. Planet Earth and Rio will always be on my Mix Tape, you know … and,of course, long live Girls on Film as an 80s pop anthem …. ohhhh John, we could have danced the night away …..
Many times throughout this story, I felt incredibly sad and sorry for John Taylor – for his addictions and self-destructive behavior but also for the emptiness that he didn’t seem to fill until more recent years. Overall, he’s not what I imagined him to be and I can’t decide whether that’s a good or bad thing?
Would I recommend In the Pleasure Groove as a read?
As a piece of literature? Ummm, no.
As a peak into the headiness of rockstar life in the 80s? Absolutely, yes.
If you were (or still are) a Durannie and if JT pipped Simon LeBon in your dreams too, then I reckon there’ll be something in this for you.
Does the music of the 80s still do it for you? What would you have playing on your 80s mix tape?
John Taylor – In the Pleasure Groove
It’s Tuesday and we know that means IBOT. You can find it over at the purely awsome Essentially Jess!
Have you checked it out yet, because it’s terrific!!
