I have been in love with John Taylor for a long time now. Yes Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes are cute but JT is up there with Clive Owen for goodness sake! You remember when you had pictures of musicians and tv stars on your walls or on folders – well mine were covered with The Professionals, Duran Duran and Japan (the group not the country). I was convinced I would run into Lewis Collins of The Professionals one day! That was a brilliant show. Anyway back to the book…One knows that rock stars sometimes live rather outlandish lives and I was not naïve in thinking that Mr. Taylor was an angel but gosh man am I glad you got a grip on reality and your life.
John Taylor was raised by lovely parents who just tried to do the best they could. He never really had a good time in school and I think a lot of us can relate to that. It has nothing to do with intelligence levels just maybe the way things are taught and then of course the dreaded peer relationships. If you aren’t any good at sport you were somehow outcast. What John was good at and continues to be good at, is playing the guitar and bass. There is a lot of serendipity to our lives and I believe John finding his way to playing is one instance of that. He also never doubted that he would be successful – maybe not to the level Duran became but still a level of success that could sustain him.
JT is from Birmingham – otherwise known as up north to a Londoner. Nah, no disrespect just good old fashioned ribbing there. A lot of fabulous music came out of the north in the 80s and still does today. Duran Duran was such a huge part of our lives in the 80s it is hard to explain unless you were around then. It was the same with a lot of groups – that crazy fan culture that was central to what we wore and listened to. Just hearing some songs takes me back 20 years.
This autobiography is nicely done, very honest and also informative. John talks about his mistakes, the relationships in the band but most importantly his emotional growth. The details of the beginnings of the band, the people involved along the way as well as all the session musicians was fab. I personally loved his private life stuff – his marriages, kids and travel along the way. He is honest about where he went wrong and has obviously tried to make a lot of things right. At the end of the day we need to be able to look at ourselves in the mirror and know that we have done the right thing or at least tried. Thanks JT for this book. P.S. look me up and our families can have dinner sometime! You would love my husband – he is a music geek in the same way you are – loads to talk about.