I first met Rhonda Rivera and Amanda Pustz from the Daily Duranie blog on Twitter. This is the magic of social media–connecting with people who share the same interests, geography be damned. Tweeting is all well and good, but luckily I was able to hang out with them in person when they came to see Duran Duran in NC, in August of last year. We had a fabulous pre-show party with tons of other fans, a chance to revel in the anticipation of that night’s show and maybe even look back on the days when we wallpapered our bedroom walls with the band’s posters. It was the perfect example of the community the band inspires, but it takes folks like Rhonda and Amanda to bring us together. Hell, we need somebody to foster some organization. Their devotion to celebrating fandom has turned into much more than a blog as you will read below, in Rhonda’s installment of Rock ‘n’ Roll High School.

Rhonda Rivera
Charter Oak High School, Covina, CA, Class of ’88, Currently: I am a stay-at-home mom (which is a complete LIE. Staying at home has nothing to do with it!), a blogger for The Daily Duranie, and a non-fiction writer. My writing partner (for the blog and our books) and myself are developing a company devoted to celebrating fandom through books and blogs, fan events, conventions, speaking engagements and panels, and of course planning our own events for the Duran Duran fan community. I also am still trying to raise three kids, two cats and a husband! Most days I feel like I’m being pulled in 50,000 directions, and right now I’m learning how to “end” my workday to resume the duties of mom and wife (which basically means cooking and cleaning up after everyone). It’s not easy, but I love being so busy and finally having something to call my own after years of feeling fairly isolated at home.

Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: Curiously, the band that reminds me most of high school is the aforementioned Duran Duran, although their hey-day took place just as I was entering high school.  I was a die-hard and stuck with them!

Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: Truthfully it was one of MANY…but I still love it to this day. My entire room was wallpapered with Duran Duran, and of course I had every album they released.  (At the time, that wasn’t too difficult to do since they were an eighties band!)  My favorite album of theirs though was the 12” single with “Union of the Snake” on one side and “Secret Oktober” on the other.  I still have it in my album collection to this day.

Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: This is SO easy for me…U2!!!!!!!  I still don’t know why everyone thought they were the best thing since sliced bread, but I couldn’t stand them…purely because everyone loved them, and now I still think they’re one of the most overrated bands in the history of man.

Best show or concert you saw in high school: I am somewhat embarrassed to say that I only saw one concert in high school…it was Power Station in 1985 I believe…so that one wins! I know from reading John and Andy’s books that it wasn’t a good time for them, but I have to say that at the age of 14 in the summer of 1985, I didn’t care. I was so excited to finally be standing in front of two of my idols that I don’t know if I even heard them play. I blame my youth. I would have never called them out for “phoning in” a performance back then.  Now?  I’m armed with a blog….don’t make me have to use it!

Best high school make-out song: Wow.  Well towards the end of high school my boyfriend at the time was really into Chicago, and we did have “a song”. (laughs) “Will You Still Love Me” by the aforementioned Chicago. It’s even worse now than it was back then!! The song makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up now and I get this weird taste in my mouth. You know the kind, when you’re trying not to hurl and that sick comes up?? Yeah…that’s it. I don’t know why for a drummer, he had such lame taste. He was a total hair band guy and even played in a local band, but no…we had a Chicago song. I sure hope he shares that wonderful taste with his now-wife (who incidentally was the girl he plucked from the audience and cheated on me with). I’m not bitter though. Not at all.

Rhonda Rivera is a blogger, writer and 1/2 of Rhonda and Amanda, the women who steer the ship at DailyDuranie.com. Amanda will be joining us on January 10th–make sure you stop by.

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