Please Please Tell Me Now: The Duran Duran Story

Stephen Davis

Jun 2021 · Hachette Audio · Narrated by Michael Butler Murray

About this audiobook

Lifelong fans and interested newcomers will love this stunning biography of Duran Duran by the bestselling author of Gold Dust Woman and Hammer of the Gods.
In Please Please Tell Me Now, bestselling rock biographer Stephen Davis tells the story of Duran Duran, the quintessential band of the 1980s. Their pretty boy looks made them the stars of fledgling MTV, but it was their brilliant musicianship that led to a string of number one hits. By the end of the decade, they had sold 60 million albums; today, they've sold over 100 million albums—and counting.

Davis traces their roots to the austere 1970s British malaise that spawned both the Sex Pistols and Duran Duran—two seemingly opposite music extremes. Handsome, British, and young, it was Duran Duran that headlined Live Aid, not Bob Dylan or Led Zeppelin. The band moved in the most glamorous circles: Nick Rhodes became close with Andy Warhol, Simon LeBon with Princess Diana, and John Taylor dated quintessential British bad girl Amanda De Cadanet. With timeless hits like "Hungry Like the Wolf," "Girls on Film," "Rio," "Save a Prayer," and the bestselling James Bond theme in the series' history, "A View to Kill," Duran Duran has cemented its legacy in the pop pantheon—and with a new album and a worldwide tour on the way, they show no signs of slowing down anytime soon.  Featuring exclusive interviews with the band, Please Please Tell Me Now offers a definitive account of one of the last untold sagas in rock and roll history—a treat for diehard fans, new admirers, and music lovers of any age.

Ratings and reviews

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.

About the author

Stephen Davis is America's preeminent rock journalist and biographer, having written numerous bestsellers on rock bands, including the smash hit Hammer of the Gods. He also collaborated with legendary musicians Levon Helm and Mick Fleetwood on their autobiographies. He lives in Boston.