I appreciate the publisher allowing me to read this book. I found the subject matter very interesting i am a huge Duran Duran fan and the book well written and easy to read you can tell the author did their research. highly recommend this book.

This book is for people that don't know a single thing about Duran Duran. I'm not a HUGE Duranie but I lived it. I remember it. This was like reading Teen Beat articles. Pretty basic and I didn't learn anything I didn't already know. A better book is Annie Zaleski's 33 1/3 on Rio.

Please Please Tell me Now was a walk down memory lane for me, having been a fan since the beginning and still a fan today. The book being based largely on interviews with the band in 2004, I would have liked to see updated interviews and more insight into where the band is now and their current relationships. Being 12 or 13 (and having limited access to media) when they first came on the scene in the 80s, I had been unaware of the realities of their lives on the road - drugs, sex, grueling schedules - they're not things that were portrayed in teen magazines. I found the author jumped around a bit from chapter to chapter, and was at times repetitive - I found my self thinking "didn't he just mention this in the last chapter?" . Overall, however, the book was enjoyable - evoking my nostalgia for the 80s, the music videos, my favorite band.

MTV darlings, Duran Duran, receive the royal treatment from noted rock journalist Stephen Davis in the biography, Please Please Tell Me Now. It reflects on their musical interests from the very beginning, early days touring, and their wild times before and after their incredible success. I'm sure fans will gobble up this book.

Although I'm mostly a rock person, you cannot help but love Duran Duran and their memorable tunes. Many of my friends considered themselves Duranies, and I distinctly remember how they fawned over John Taylor. In the book, you learn his real name, hear about his addiction issues, and his influences.

I personally crushed on Simon LeBon. Having been a huge fan of the Doors and Jim Morrison since high school, I was surprised to know what a fan Simon was of the band and the singer. He tailored (no pun intended with all the Taylors in the group) some of his songs and act after Jim.

In the beginning, I was entranced hearing about the band members extremely diverse influences. Depending on the band member, they range in scope from hard rock to disco and all over the place. In that regard, I really gained way more respect for their talent. This is not some so-called "boy band." They seriously worked hard at their craft and their image. Of course, they partied hard, too.

I loved hearing about favorite songs like "Rio", "Hungry Like the Wolf," "The Reflex," "Is There Something I Should Know?", and "Ordinary World." Sometimes, though, the author skirted over those parts. I really wanted to get more in-depth about how they came up with the tunes and wrote the lyrics.

Same goes for the accounts of their wild partying. Yes, you definitely get a taste for those drug-filled days and boozy nights, but I feel like it was scratching the surface. You do get information about their encounters and relationships with extremely famous people including Princess Diana, but I kept feeling like there was more. Maybe this is a matter of space or pace of the story.

Also, after, say, their recording of "White Lines" (I remember when I first heard the original at 9 or 10 on this Nickelodeon teen talk show--it has stuck in my head since then--what an amazing song), the story speeds up (again, no pun intended with mentions of "white lines") and quickly gives you updates on their subsequent tours. Some were incredibly successful, so I felt they needed more coverage.

But I will say I've read many of Stephen Davis's books and always find them entertaining and informative, but towards the end of this one, I really lost interest. I wavered between 3 and 4 stars once the book started wrapping up.

3 stars. I love Duran Duran! I’ve been a self-confessed Durannie since The Reflex. Love these guys!

And I will confess I’ve read John Taylor’s, “In the Pleasure Groove” and Andy Taylor’s, “Wild Boy.” Those two books provide a more intimate look at Duran Duran while focusing on the band members’ own perspectives. “Please Please Tell Me Now” by Stephen Davis is a more clinical version of the bands story. Mr. Davis interviewed the band members in 2004, yet the book was just published last week. It’s a very slow pace through the early days of the band at The Rum Runner, various members of a very young Duran Duran, and the early days touring of the lineup that became the Fab 5. If you’ve read both the Taylor’s books, there isn’t really a lot of new information in this book about the band. But it was fun revisiting the band, hearing all the songs I’ve loved for 30+ years (in my head), and reading of some other huge artists who orbited their band.

Ultimately I gave this book 3 stars because the structure of the book led to repetition at times. Also, there is a detachment that lends a coldness to the storytelling. I don’t believe Mr. Davis is a fan, so there’s a distance in the writing, a lack of enthusiasm for the story. Also, there were anecdotes tossed in, that while fun, seemed irrelevant and odd to the story (example: a newly divorced Princess Di catcalling Simon at the gym. Fun, but seemed to be just thrown into the narrative).

If you love Duran Duran, read this. It’s a fun trip down memory lane. Thank you to #netgalley and @hachettebooks for the advanced e-copy of #pleasepleasetellmenow .
#book #bookreview

Fans of Duran Duran will love this newly released biography following their musical ups and downs which all began in 1978. Part of the "New Romantic" music scene, they wanted to be more than the heartthrob, "boy band" of the pop 80s. They loved art and design which attracted a lifelong friendship with Andy Warhol and this played out visually with their memorable videos on a new video music channel called MTV. (you know...when they used to actually play music videos).
Fans might be surprised at how much they clashed and the amount of drama, drugs and sex disrupted their years together...there was no internet to report anything! But that didn't stop them from releasing 16 studio albums and selling over 100 million records.
I enjoyed the interviews with each member as well as the relationships and influences of other musicians, especially Chic. The historical elements woven throughout their rise to fame also set the scene over the decades.
The only this missing from my arc copy are the never before published photos which I can't wait to see in the print copy.
I was a HUGE fan as a tween and still am one today.

This can't miss biography of Brit phenomenon Duran Duran celebrates the band's unmistakable influence on culture across both sides of The Pond. Revisiting their decade of decadence as more straight forward than gossipy, tell-all pays off. Davis appeals strongly to the 1980s heart and will have readers adding songs to their playlists, immediately

I was a child who grew up in the 1980s. Along with the late punks and early post-punks, we saw the birth of new wave and the glamour of MTV. And Duran Duran was a huge part of this. My first concert with a girlfriend was on the Seven and the Ragged Tiger tour, still in my memory as a great show. So “Please Please Tell Me Now: The Duran Duran Story” by Stephen Davis was right up my alley.

And for those who are interested in the early years of the band, it was a pretty good read. We learn about John and Nick getting together in Birmingham, going through several false starts before settling into the “fab five” of the classic years. Their formative years at Rum Runners, their influences, their efforts in getting a record contract and being taken seriously as musicians are all chronicled in great detail. And as we follow them up to their insane levels of popularity, we see the cracks beginning to show, the toll of constant touring, the pressure of always having to outdo your past. What comes up must eventually come down, and Duran Duran had a long drop before they steadied out to where they are today.

It is very evident while reading this that the author had a lot more information about the early years, as the last 15 or so years are barely covered, which is fine since the 1980s are really the time that I’m interested in. This books occasionally veers into both too much detail and too little. Too much detailed information about every stop on every tour, along with detailed set lists and commentary on every song in the list. Too little detail about the creative process, about the personal problems people were going through, about the band dynamics. But all-in-all, a decent introduction for those interested in the history of one of the seminal 1980s bands.

I requested and received a free advanced electronic copy from Hachette Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Subtitle: The Duran Duran Story

I received an advance reader copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

If I had to choose one band to represent the 1980s, Duran Duran who be on the short list of candidates. The group achieved tremendous popularity in a very short time due to music videos aired on MTV, then lost that popularity and broke apart in an equally short time. Please Please Tell Me Now is the story of Duran Duran from their founding in the late 80s to the present day incarnation of the group.


In a story that echoes much of what I read in Nothin’ But A Good Time, which traced the explosion of hair metal bands during the same time period, the band that became Duran Duran started with two teenage friends who lived in the Birmingham area in the late 1970s. As the punk era evolved into the new wave area, the towns surrounding Birmingham were fertile grounds for new bands to achieve success in the rapidly changing music industry. Taking their name from a character in the book and movie Barbarella, Duran Duran went through a series of different lineups before hitting on the combination that launched them to success.

The band achieved great success in the U.K. and internationally, but the group’s U.S. record label initially refused to launch their first album, and then delayed the U.S. release of the second album – Rio – until it had been remixed to appeal to American tastes. Once MTV began playing Duran Duran’s colorful, exotic videos, Rio rocketed up the charts and the record company finally released their debut album. While it was fun reading about the group’s rollercoaster ride to success, the struggles they went through during their down years was a lot harder subject matter. A combination of drug use, exhaustion from their continual touring, and internal power struggles led to multiple members leaving the group at least temporarily following the Live Aid concerts in 1985. In the 35 years since, the group has gone through several dry periods but somehow still finds a spark of success from time to time.

I gave Please Please Tell Me Now five stars. It reminded me of multiple Duran Duran songs that I’d forgotten about, and much like the movie Bohemian Rhapsody, it has made me want to go back and listen to all of their music.

I have been a fan of Duran Duran since I was a teenager-they were one of the first concerts I went to and loved!!
This book is a kind of behind the scenes as to how the band came to be and how the songs and albums were created, as well as bits and pieces of the lives of each of the band members. Do I think that there’s a lot more to the story? Definitely. This was very tame, and for such a population band, there had to be a lot more wild stuff in their past. That being said, it was fascinating to read and I’m sure any die hard fan will enjoy it.
Thanks to Hachette Books and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

Duran Duran has been a favorite band since middle school, and I have followed their career from the early days of Teen Beat magazine, so of course I had to read this book. The author does a fantastic job describing their early lives and the beginning of their career as a band. Even as a die hard fan, I learned a few things about Duran Duran's start. The first 2/3 of the book is extremely detailed up to Notorious and then the remaining 1/3 seems rushed with random facts thrown in and not explained. Diana's death in 1997, for example, gets one sentence in the middle of band events.

I enjoyed reliving my teen years, reminiscing about my favorite songs and digging a little deeper into the story of Duran Duran. The book was a quick read!

Thank you, NetGalley, for the ARC!

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Hachette Books for an advanced copy of this rock study.

Stephen Davis, chronicler of rock excess tells a surprisingly subdued tale of the band Duran Duran in his latest book Please Please Tell Me Now: The Duran Duran Story. Surprisingly subdued based on the early videos that broke the band in America, featuring exotic locales, glamorous women, even more glamorous clothing, excess in a decade of excess. maybe because the band tired of being known for those videos and referred to as the "Fab Five". Possibly because the book was begun in 2004, with interviews started for a band biography at the time of their first reunion.

The book is still interesting. Local boys work hard, create a band with their own unique vision, and try to stick with it, not matter the interference from record labels, or other outsiders. Being a member of the band was harder than it looked, no even was too small, they hustled and worked and worked some more to get to where they were. Blown vocal cords, breakdowns, injuries, self-injuries, pride and competition, just amongst each other. All of this is chronicled along with the usual problems faced by most bands; family, drugs, love, bandmates, fans, bad management, and finally relevancy . And yacht problems, can't forget that one.

There is a lot of repetition in the book, and after 2004 it becomes quite a sprint to the present day. However the book is a good overview of a band that was branded from the beginning as lightweight "pop" pretty boys, but have grown to be a band that can still tour, still fill houses, and make people smile and dance, and that is a very good thing today. Plus they really wrote some killer songs.

As a Duran Duran groupir from their heyday on the 80's, I devoured this book. Lived the tidbits that I learned about the five band mates. Made me want to blare Hungry Like the Wolf and dance around my house in fluorescent clothing. Loved it.

Reliving my youth and bringing back fond memories of the heart throbs that graced my walls as a teen made this a great book. I found myself replaying the videos on you-tube and singing along with vocals I thought I had forgotten. It was inspiring to read just how the band came together and the reasons behind the key members departures. Mismanaged and misunderstood this was a band that will always be a favorite and the book really did them justice.

I was interested in the book right up to the moment I started reading it. And reading it is an exercise in tedium. Not tiny detail is too trivial to include -- and, sadly, the trivia never adds up to an interesting story. You get to hear every minor event in the lives of the band members and their hangers-on but none of it goes beyond "some guys start band, do lots of drugs, hang out, and self-destruct." There is nothing about the actual process of creating or performing that goes beyond the superficial -- even the "Hungry Like a Wolf" video shoot, which the author and the band acknowledge as the huge turning point, comes off as a dull travel story told by a not-particularly interesting neighbor. Having read other books by this author, I am baffled as to why he chose this band if he had nothing interesting to say about them.

A broad overview of the story of Duran Duran. Lacking the ooomph that I'm looking for in band bios. For fans of the band who are looking for a more personal feel, I recommend John Taylor's memoir, In the Pleasure Groove.

A well rounded and informative biography of the band that started in Birmingham. Taken from interviews with the band, Stephen Davis takes the reader on the musical journey of this quintessential 1980’s band.

Taking their name from a 1960’s film character (Durand Durand) in ‘Barbarella’ starring Jane Fonda. They were blessed with talent, good looks and a fashion sense that made them instant idols. The 80’s belonged to them with chart shattering, self penned number one’s and presented the most exotic videos to the MTV audience.
They were five young men who became icons and were unprepared for the enormity of this success. Experiencing the highs and lows of the music business and its excesses, they were affected personally & professionally. After performing at the iconic Live Aid in 1985, Roger and Andy Taylor departed and the ‘Fab Five’ would not play together again until 2003.
Through the years Duran Duran has seen many incarnations but continuously deliver their best. Their story is remarkable and Stephen Davis does a masterful job in telling their story.
Highly Recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley, Stephen Davis and Hachette Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest book review.

I have been a fan of Duran Duran since I was about 12, so I was excited to read this. Unfortunately, I was disappointed - the book was quite repetitive and so overly detailed that it kept losing me. I was hoping for some dirt and gossip and really didn’t find it. It was just ok for me. Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This "biography" is based on interviews the author did with the band members in 2004, along with other resources he found to fill in the blanks and the next 17 years. This shows in the detailed accounts for the beginning of the band's career and the patchy information after the interview. With that said, the author did a nice job of building the profile of the band members. He begins the book with the movie that gave the band its name, and background of the founding members, Nick and John. He moves the story along until he gets to the next band member and then goes back in time to fill in his background.

Duran Duran went from five young men (college age when they broke through) to mega superstars so quickly just reading about it will give you whiplash. While this isn't a tell-all, it does dig into drug use and womanizing by some, if not all, band members, and it shows how that, along with mega fame and the resulting mega egos, led to the band's breakup after its third album. It also gives a sense of the utter insanity of the demands on them as they travel and perform. Very little downtime, constant pressure to produce more, conflicting musical direction, and poor early management choices (they were all about 20 years old and didn't know better) destroyed friendships and marriages and the band itself.

I was in junior high school when Duran Duran burst on the scene. As a thirteen year-old in the US, I was ignorant of the drug use, hard partying, and bad press they got on occasion. It's hard to read about the problems and lifestyles of childhood idols, but this is an excellent reminder that the celebrities we admire are real people with real struggles and hopes and dreams. In this case, there were five young men who loved music but were unprepared in every way for success. As a society, we demand a lot from talented individuals - whether they are musicians or actors or athletes - expecting them to give us their time and attention and to mold themselves into who we want them to be, instead of us admiring the gifts they share and letting them live their lives.

I read a lot of biographies / autobiographies and I absolutely love books about musicians but I couldn't get into this one at all. I re-read the beginning over and over but I didn't understand it and yes, then it makes sense but by that time it didn't matter. I like a deep dive in my books but this one will have to be a pass for me. No rating.