Andy Leaves Duran - Again

Gah. After weeks of fervent speculation amongst the hard-core fan base, it was confirmed today that Andy Taylor has left Duran Duran - for the second time in 20 years.

Granted, Andy was the least popular of the original five band members. He was never my favourite. But looking at the various configurations of Duran over the years, any fan of the band will tell you that nothing has ever equalled the chemistry of the original lineup. When those guys reunited in 2001, it was a dream come true for all of us - especially for those, like me, who never had the opportunity to see the original band live during its heyday in the early 1980s. It's not often that you get the chance to revisit something so wonderful from your youth.

To be honest, I had a niggling feeling, deep down, that the reunion was too good a thing to last. I always detected faint suggestions that the tensions which drove the band apart the first time, in 1985-86, had never been fully resolved. The pressure of making their 2004 comeback album Astronaut a hit, coupled with a grueling two-year touring and promotion schedule, couldn't have helped. I think that's why I made such an effort to see the reunited original members playing together, live, so many times - I wanted to soak up as much of the experience as I could, wondering on some level if each opportunity might be the last. I saw them twice on the UK reunion tour in 2004 (in Manchester and Dublin) and again in Montreal last year (I attended a fourth show, in Boston, but it was Andy-less as his father died that spring and he bowed out of a few gigs around that time).

I'm genuinely surprised at how sad I am to hear this news today. Duran Duran will surely soldier on and continue to produce great music. A new album is in the works, and I will almost certainly travel to see them play live again, with four members instead of five. But it won't ever be the same. I can't help but feel like the dream has now ended, somehow.

Andy, you rocked. Goodbye and good luck - you will be very sorely missed!