Nick Rhodes

Last updated

Nick Rhodes
Nick Rhodes - DuranO2 1 010523 (26 of 74) (52873249778) (cropped).jpg
Rhodes in 2023
Background information
Birth nameNicholas James Bates [1]
Born (1962-06-08) 8 June 1962 (age 62)
Birmingham, Warwickshire, England
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Musician
  • producer
Instrument(s)
  • Keyboards
  • vocals
Years active1978–present
Member of Duran Duran
Formerly of Arcadia
Spouse(s)
Julie Anne Friedman
​
​
(m. 1984;div. 1992)​

Nick Rhodes (born Nicholas James Bates, 8 June 1962) is an English keyboardist and producer, best known as a founding member and the keyboardist of the band Duran Duran. [2]

Contents

Rhodes has been involved in several side projects outside of, but related to, Duran Duran: he released albums with Arcadia in 1985 (featuring Duran Duran members Le Bon and Roger Taylor), [3] and recorded and performed as the Devils in 2002 with Stephen Duffy, longtime musical friend and the original lead singer of Duran Duran. In March 2013, he released the TV Mania side project with former Duran Duran guitarist, Warren Cuccurullo.

Early history

Nicholas James Bates is the only child of affluent parents who were the owners of a Birmingham toy shop. He attended Woodrush High School in Wythall, north Worcestershire. Bates left school in 1978 at the age of sixteen, and founded Duran Duran with his childhood friend John Taylor (who then played lead guitar) and Taylor's art school friend Stephen Duffy (vocals, bass, guitar). Having considered band names such as 'RAF', 'Arabia', 'Industry' and 'Arcadia', they named their band after "Dr. Durand Durand", Milo O'Shea's character from the sci-fi film Barbarella the day after the movie had been broadcast by BBC 1 on 20 October 1978. [4] The three of them made their first recordings on a cassette tape recorder above Bates' parents' toy shop and played their first gig on 5 April 1979 at Birmingham Polytechnic, and were joined by Simon Colley (clarinet and bass) soon after. [4] In June 1979 Duran Duran opened for the band Fashion at the Barbarella's club in Birmingham, but following the departure of Duffy and Colley reformed soon after with vocalist Andy Wickett and drummer Roger Taylor. At this point Bates' stage name was Dior Bates. [5] After several personnel changes Duran Duran finally settled on the line-up including guitarist Andy Taylor and lead singer Simon Le Bon in May 1980 and were eventually signed to EMI. [6]

Born Nicholas Bates, he decided to change his name for aesthetic reasons. The decision was finally made during Duran Duran's first official interview when the journalist asked his name and he made a snap decision based upon options he had been considering, he answered Nick Rhodes and never questioned it again. As the band coalesced into its final line-up in 1979–1980, Duran Duran started playing at a local Birmingham club called the Rum Runner. The club owners became the band's managers, and Rhodes began working at the club as a disc jockey. [2]

Rhodes reportedly owns the Duran Duran name; this was mentioned in the Andy Warhol diaries. In the entry for October 5, 1986, Warhol told his diarist Pat Hackett: "One of the Taylors isn't in the group anymore but Nick owns the name so it's still Duran Duran." [7] In 1986, Andy and Roger Taylor left the band, returning in 2001 to reunite and create the Astronaut album. [8]

Contributions to Duran Duran

Rhodes in 1986 Nick Rhodes - Duran Duran 1986 (cropped).jpg
Rhodes in 1986

The band achieved rapid success, and Rhodes was a driving force throughout. An unschooled musician, he experimented with the sounds his analogue synthesisers were capable of, but shied away from the "novelty" sounds of some other early synth bands. The distinctive warble of "Save a Prayer", the keyboard stabs of "A View to a Kill", and the string sounds of "Come Undone" and "Ordinary World" are some of his most recognisable creations, as well as the futuristic oscillating synth that characterised Duran Duran's self-titled first album. He popularised the Crumar Performer on the early records.

Rhodes was also quick to recognise the potential of the music video, and pushed the band to put more effort into their early videos than seemed warranted at the time (before the advent of MTV). Barely twenty when the band hit major stardom, he cultivated an androgynous and sometimes flamboyant image, wore heavy makeup, and changed his hair colour at whim. By the late 1990s, Rhodes had begun writing lyrics for Duran Duran, as well as music. His digitally altered voice is heard on the title track to the 1997 album Medazzaland .

Record production

Rhodes performing on stage in 2015 Nick Rhodes on stage (2015).JPG
Rhodes performing on stage in 2015

Rhodes studied production techniques while in the studio with Duran Duran, eventually helping to mix several tracks on the Rio album, and was a co-producer on many of the band's later albums.

In early 1983, he discovered the band Kajagoogoo and co-produced their debut single "Too Shy" which became a UK no. 1 (prior to any of Duran's singles reaching no. 1). [9]

Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo wrote and produced three tracks for the Blondie reunion album in 1996; [10] the tracks were not used, but one song called "Pop Trash Movie" was later recorded by Duran Duran for the 2000 album Pop Trash .

In 2002, Rhodes co-produced and played additional synthesizers in nine tracks of the album Welcome to the Monkey House by the Dandy Warhols. In 2004 he produced British-based pop group Riviera F for their debut EP International Lover , published on Pop Cult/Tape Modern (Rhodes' & Stephen Duffy's label).

Side projects

With Le Bon, Rhodes formed the side project Arcadia while Duran Duran was on hiatus in 1985. The band had a moody, keyboard-heavy sound, far more atmospheric than Duran Duran (or the hard rock of the other Duran splinter group of 1985 [John and Andy Taylor], the Power Station).

The band scored a major hit with "Election Day" and the band's only album, So Red the Rose , went platinum in the US but was less successful in their native UK. The band never toured and was dissolved when Duran Duran regrouped in 1986. In 1999, Rhodes reunited with Duran Duran's original vocalist, Stephen Duffy, to create new music based on some of the earliest Duran music the two had written together. The result was the album Dark Circles, released under the name the Devils. Also in 1999, Rhodes had a small guest appearance (in voice only) as a Canadian bomber pilot in South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut .

In 2006 Rhodes and John Taylor collaborated on the compilation album Only After Dark . In 2011 Rhodes along with Andrew Wyatt and Mark Ronson remixed Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" for the British electronic band's remix compilation Remixes 2: 81–11 . Also in 2011, Rhodes wrote the afterword to the award-winning '80s 7-inch vinyl cover art book Put the Needle on the Record .

In March 2013, TV Mania made up of Rhodes and ex-Duran Duran guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, released Bored with Prozac and the Internet?. Throughout the 1990s, Rhodes worked on this side project with Cuccurullo. To support the launch of the project, Rhodes had an exhibition of his photography, BEI INCUBI (Beautiful Nightmares) at the Vinyl Factory in Chelsea, London on 7 March 2013.

In 2021, Rhodes collaborated with Stewart Bevan's daughter Wendy Bevan on the series of Astronomia albums.

In 2022, Rhodes collaborated with Rob Crow, Roy Mayorga, Aaron Tanner, and more on a cover of The Residents song, "Mahogany Wood." [11]


Personal life

Rhodes met Julie Anne Friedman (heiress to the Younkers Department Store fortune) at a yacht party while on an American tour in 1982, and married her on 18 August 1984. They have one daughter together, Tatjana Lee Orchid (born 23 August 1986). After a brief separation and an attempt to reconcile, they filed for divorce in 1992. [12] Rhodes has had several long relationships with various women but has not remarried.

Rhodes, as a former art student, became enamoured with the art world early in his career, making friends with pop-art artist Andy Warhol and the Factory crowd, and attending exhibitions worldwide. At the end of 1984, he released his own book of abstract art photographs called Interference. [13] Many of the photos were displayed at an exhibition at the Hamilton Gallery in London. He continues to showcase photography on occasion, including in British magazines such as Tatler and also occasionally appears at the Cannes International Film Festival.

In November 2011, Rhodes received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts degree from the University of Bedfordshire, for his services to the music industry. Rhodes appears in Burke's Peerage under his second cousin's entry for the family of Lindley-Highfield of Ballumbie Castle, being related to the Highfield family through his paternal grandmother, Irene Lavinia Bates (née Highfield). [14]

Rhodes is a long-time vegetarian, occasionally a pescatarian. In a 2012 interview for the official Duran Duran website he cited Italian, Lebanese and Indian food as his favourites. [15] He moved to central London two years after Duran Duran's success and continues to reside there.

Discography

with Duran Duran

with Arcadia

with the Devils

with TV Mania

Compilation albums

Nick Rhodes and Wendy Bevan

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duran Duran</span> English band

Duran Duran are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of bassist Simon Colley and drummer Roger Taylor the following year, the band went through numerous personnel changes before May 1980, when they settled on their most famous line-up by adding guitarist Andy Taylor and lead vocalist Simon Le Bon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Taylor (Duran Duran drummer)</span> English drummer (born 1960)

Roger Andrew Taylor is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the new wave band Duran Duran from their inception until 1985, and again from 2001 onwards. Duran Duran have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022 as a member of Duran Duran.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Taylor (bass guitarist)</span> British bassist and member of Duran Duran

Nigel John Taylor is a British musician who is best known as the bass guitarist for new wave band Duran Duran, of which he was a founding member. Duran Duran was one of the most popular bands in the world during the 1980s due in part to their music videos which played in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV. Taylor played with Duran Duran from its founding in 1978 until 1997, when he left to pursue a solo recording and film career. He recorded a dozen solo releases through his private record label B5 Records over the next four years, had a lead role in the movie Sugar Town, and made appearances in a half dozen other film projects. He rejoined Duran Duran for a reunion of the original five members in 2001 and has remained with the group since.

Arcadia were a British pop group formed in 1985 by Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran as a side project during a break in the band's schedule. The project was active only during 1985 and 1986 and for just one album, So Red the Rose, which was certified Platinum in the United States and included the singles "Election Day", "Goodbye Is Forever", "The Flame", and "The Promise". Drummer Roger Taylor appeared in only a few band photographs and one music video, and stated he was to be involved only in the recording side of the project.

Stephen Anthony James Duffy is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He was a founding member, vocalist, bassist, and then drummer of Duran Duran. He went on to record as a solo performer under several different names, and is the singer and songwriter for The Lilac Time with his elder brother Nick. He has also co-written with Robbie Williams and Steven Page.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simon Le Bon</span> British singer; lead vocalist of Duran Duran

Simon John Charles Le Bon is a British singer. He is best known as the lead vocalist and lyricist of the new wave band Duran Duran and its offshoot Arcadia. Le Bon has received three Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors, including the award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.

<i>Duran Duran</i> (1981 album) 1981 studio album by Duran Duran

Duran Duran is the debut studio album by the English pop rock band Duran Duran, released on 15 June 1981 through EMI. Produced by Colin Thurston, it was recorded in London and Oxfordshire between December 1980 and January 1981. The instrumental tracks were recorded quickly, but vocalist Simon Le Bon initially struggled to sing in the studio, leading to discussions about replacing him before EMI employee Dave Ambrose intervened.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warren Cuccurullo</span> American musician (born 1956)

Warren Bruce Cuccurullo is an American musician, songwriter, restaurant owner and former bodybuilder who first worked with Frank Zappa during the 1970s. He was also a founding member of Missing Persons in the 1980s. In 1986 Cuccurullo joined Duran Duran, becoming a long-term member of the band until 2001. In 2022, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Duran Duran.

The Devils is the name of an English electronic pop band, formed by Nick Rhodes and Stephen Duffy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andy Taylor (guitarist)</span> English guitarist and member of Duran Duran

Andrew James Taylor is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of Duran Duran and the Power Station. He has also recorded and performed as a solo artist, and served as a guitarist, songwriter, and record producer for the likes of Robert Palmer, Rod Stewart, the Almighty, Thunder, Love and Money, Mark Shaw, Then Jerico, C. C. Catch, Paul Rodgers, Belinda Carlisle, and Gun.

<i>Greatest</i> (Duran Duran album) 1998 greatest hits album by Duran Duran

Greatest is a greatest hits album by English rock band Duran Duran, released in 1998.

<i>Seven and the Ragged Tiger</i> 1983 studio album by Duran Duran

Seven and the Ragged Tiger is the third studio album by the English rock band Duran Duran, released on 21 November 1983 through EMI and Capitol Records. Co-produced by Alex Sadkin, Ian Little and the band, recording sessions took place in France, the Caribbean and Australia between April and October 1983 following Duran Duran's decision to record outside the UK as tax exiles. Unlike their previous two studio albums, the sessions were marred by a lack of productivity and tensions rose between the band members over its direction.

<i>Notorious</i> (Duran Duran album) 1986 studio album by Duran Duran

Notorious is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Duran Duran, released on 18 November 1986 by EMI Records. Produced by the band with Nile Rodgers, its musical style differed from the band's previous albums with a funk rock sound. It is the first album to feature the band as a trio with singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and bassist John Taylor as drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor both left by the time the album was released. Andy Taylor would later be replaced by former Missing Persons guitarist Warren Curcurullo, who completed recording parts of the album in addition to Rodgers and session drummer Steve Ferrone.

<i>Medazzaland</i> 1997 studio album by Duran Duran

Medazzaland is the ninth studio album by English rock band Duran Duran. It was released on 14 October 1997 by Capitol Records solely in North America, Latin America and Japan. It reached number 58 on the Billboard 200 and number 66 on RPM's albums chart.

<i>Pop Trash</i> 2000 studio album by Duran Duran

Pop Trash is the tenth studio album by English rock band Duran Duran. It was released on 19 June 2000 by Hollywood Records. Pop Trash was the band's first release after parting ways with EMI, with whom they had been signed since 1981. It was also the last to feature the trio of Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes and Warren Cuccurullo. The CD album went out of print in 2001.

Mark Ty-Wharton is a British music technologist, informal logician and public speaker who specialises in presentations using sound art. He is best known for his work as a guitarist, programmer, sound engineer and record producer with Adamski, Duran Duran, TV Mania, Gary Numan, Glenn Gregory, The Dandy Warhols and others.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Electric Barbarella</span> 1997 single by Duran Duran

"Electric Barbarella" is the 29th single by English rock band Duran Duran, and the first official single from the album Medazzaland. In 1997, the single and album were released only in the United States; "Electric Barbarella" was not issued as a single in the UK until January 1999 on the back of the late 1998 release of the compilation album Greatest.

TV Mania was a British-American electronic band founded in 1995 that consisted of keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, known for the 2013 release of a long-lost album, Bored with Prozac and the Internet?

<i>Red Carpet Massacre</i> 2007 studio album by Duran Duran

Red Carpet Massacre is the twelfth studio album by English rock band Duran Duran, released on 13 November 2007 by Epic Records. Most of the music on the final incarnation of the album was completed in late 2006 following the departure of band member Andy Taylor with new guitarist Dominic Brown replacing him, when record producer Timbaland began working with the band. "Falling Down" was the only single released from the album.

Steve Alexander is a Welsh drummer. Starting out with the Irish band Shook Up!, he earned a living as a session drummer, working regularly in London's recording studios on film, TV and commercial sessions and playing with the BBC Radio Orchestra. He became a permanent member of Brother Beyond following the departure of Eg White in 1986.

References

  1. ↑ Clark, Pete (14 December 1999). "Duran Duran cofounder Nick Rhodes is Tara Palmer-Tomkinson's latest flame". London Evening Standard . Retrieved 30 January 2010.[ dead link ]
  2. 1 2 George-Warren, Holly; Romanowski, Patricia; Pareles, Jon (2001). "The Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock & Roll" . Rolling Stone. Touchstone. ISBN   978-0-7432-0120-9 . Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  3. ↑ Gillis, Kathy (12 October 1985). "Arcadia:The Rest of Duran Duran". Billboard . Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  4. 1 2 "Duran Duran - The Early Days Chapter 1". durancompilations.com. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Duran Duran - The Early Days Chapter 2". durancompilations.com. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  6. ↑ "Duran Duran - The Early Days Chapter 4". durancompilations.com. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  7. ↑ Warhol, Andy; Hackett, Pat (1989). The Andy Warhol Diaries. New York, NY: Warner Books. p. 764. ISBN   978-0-446-51426-2.
  8. ↑ Parker, Lyndsey (12 October 2023). "Andy Taylor talks beating stage 4 cancer, returning to the live stage… and what really happened with Duran Duran's lost 'Reportage' album". Yahoo Entertainment. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  9. ↑ Rees, Dafydd; Crampton, Luke (1991). Rock movers & shakers. ABC-Clio Inc. p. 1944. ISBN   978-0-87436-661-7.
  10. ↑ Newman, Melinda (1 February 1997). "The Beat". Billboard . 109 (5). ISSN   0006-2510 . Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  11. ↑ Mykals, Kat (8 February 2024). "Indiana Man to Co-Release Cover of The Residents' 'Mahogany Wood'". 103GBF. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  12. ↑ "On The Grid". London Evening Standard. 23 April 2004. Archived from the original on 13 June 2020. Retrieved 30 January 2010.
  13. ↑ Creative Camera, issues 241–52. 1985. p. 36.
  14. ↑ "Lindley-Highfield of Ballumbie Castle". Burke's Peerage. 6 October 2010. Retrieved 5 June 2015.
  15. ↑ "Rhodes: 'For Me, London Will Always Be Planet Earth'". duranduran.com. 8 September 2012. Retrieved 20 November 2023.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.