WILD BOY

by Andy Taylor



Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran is the literary version of VH1's "Behind The Music". You know the story. Band gets together, band makes it big, band develops major drug/alcohol/ego problems. Band falls apart. You know what is going to happen, but the attraction for the reader is in the details. Andy Taylor is very fair. He discusses his own failings as well as the other members of Duran Duran, but he doesn't completely trash anyone. A more blood-thirsty reader looking for presidential election-type character assassination will be disappointed. But Taylor matter-of-factly exposes the screwed up world of the high-stakes music business and global celebrity. The writing isn't at all eloquent, which leads me to believe that this is not the work of a ghost writer. It has the tone and raw feel of a musician telling his story in his own words, which makes the book that much more interesting.

Frankly, I don't know how anyone can come through that life unscathed. I've only experienced the business on a small scale with minor glimpses into the big time. The only real difference I can perceive is that in the big time there is more of everything: Money, drugs, scamming, adoration, ego, insecurity, you name it. I know I'm thankful I made it through the '80s alive, if not psychologically and emotionally untouched by the hedonism of a rock musician's lifestyle. It's pretty much a miracle that all five members of Duran Duran are still around to irritate each other. I wish them all well.