Rock ‘n’ Roll High School 36: Rocking the Fedora for Duran Duran

Today’s RNRHS is from author Margaret Ethridge, who is an incredible writer of women’s fiction–everything from steamy paranormal romance like “Paramour” to stories about what happens after “I Do” like “Contentment”. We became buddies on Twitter through the writing thing, but recently discovered a mutual love of Duran Duran. Like me, Margaret is a child of the 80s, and from the sound of it, we had very similar teenage tastes and inclinations.  I find the most iconic to be that she wasn’t afraid to rock the JT fedora.  I, too, rocked one from time to time, usually with a vintage men’s suit coat, sleeves pushed up to the elbows of course.  There may have been black leggings and a short skirt.  There may have been blue eyeliner.  There may be photographic evidence on Facebook. Hard to say.  Regardless, I love discovering that memories can be shared with new friends as well as old. That’s pretty cool.

Margaret Ethridge

Central Catholic High School, Bloomington, IL, Class of ’86  Currently: By day I count bottles (and cases) of booze. I’m the Inventory Control Manager for a wholesale liquor distributor. At night I write stories of love and lust. With kissing. My mother asked where I learned all those words…I told her Wikipedia.

Band and/or song that reminds you the most of high school: Duran Duran! I was a complete Duranie in high school. So much so that I was a bit of an outcast. My school was preppy and conservative. The bleach-blond bangs, capezio shoes, and fedora may have been a bit much for them.

Favorite piece of music memorabilia (poster, t-shirt, etc.) in high school: Well, my entire room was wallpapered with Duran Duran, Adam Ant, and INXS posters. At one point, I managed to cover every square inch of paint with posters and pictures from teen magazines. I did have a brown fedora, just like John Taylor’s from the Rio era. I also loved my Adam Ant Goody Two Shoes tour t-shirt.

Band that you hated that everyone else at school seemed to love: Van Halen – the David Lee Roth years. I despised Jump. The entire 1984 album still makes me cringe. I able to tolerate Van Halen a little more when Sammy Hagar stepped in, but it wasn’t a marked improvement.

Best show or concert you saw in high school: The obvious answer would be Duran Duran. I saw them at the Rosemont Horizon outside of Chicago on the Seven and the Ragged Tiger tour. I screamed and cried the entire time. Actually, my favorite concert in high school was my first concert: INXS opening for Adam Ant. It was fabulous!

Margaret is the author of Contentment, which has a sequel due to be released in January of 2012. You can learn more about Margaret at her website margaretethridge.com.