Karen Booth
Rock ‘n’ Roll High School 63: Duran Duran Wallpaper. We All Did It.
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.
Love it! Between DD, Adam Ant & INXS, there was a time when I managed to cover every square inch of paint on my bedroom walls. Hmm. I wonder if my hubby would mind….
you KNOW that I wallpapered my room–DD (of course), INXS, U2, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Smiths…the list goes on and on but DD was always PRIME TIME, baby.
Is it “wrong” that I still have their posters (some of them) hanging in my closet? I really do…and someday if I ever clean the closet…I will take photos to share. 😀
omg, Rhonda–I love this so much! How does your hubby tolerate this? Mine bristles at the DD calendar in MY office.
Don’t be jealous, but I have a whole Duran Duran room. It’s technically my exercise room, but I’ve filled it with some of my memorabilia from the past 30+ years. My family calls it the shrine.
sounds like we need to see pictures!
I’ll have to share some via Twitter. Only fellow Duranies can appreciate the fact that I’m a 40-something mom and grandmother who has a room devoted to my favorite band. 🙂
as a fellow 40-something mom (not a grandmother yet, my oldest is 14!) and Duranie, I can MORE than appreciate it.
and I just followed you on Twitter, in hopes of seeing some photos!
I’m a 40-something mom and about-to-be-grandma and I am insanely jealous!
Thank you, ladies. It’s a very small room, but it’s nice to have my own space. My granddaughter is 4 and thinks it’s very cool to be allowed into Granny’s special room. She will also answer correctly if anyone asks who the world’s greatest band is. 😉
That is OUTSTANDING. I wish I had room to have a room!!! My dream is to some day have an office…and when I do…the posters are going up!
Karen, my husband is tolerant because it’s MY closet. It’s tiny, but it’s a walk-in and since he doesn’t have LeBon staring at him while he’s getting dressed, apparently he doesn’t care. 😉
Hmmm. Am now plotting ways of getting own closet.
I had 1/2 of my room in Duran Duran and 1/2 in Def Leopard posters. Oh-the back of the door had a Porsche 928 and the drummer from U2. Ah my 13 year old tastes… LOL
I’ve always thought Larry Mullen was an under-appreciated rock hunk. And my, my…the man has aged well.
Wow. These are precisely the sort of memories that continue to feed my own passion, driving me to build my archive and celebrate not just the band, but the fans as well. I love seeing the pics of wallpapered bedroom walls and hearing stories of Duran-designed devotion! When I have visitors to the archive, poring over thousands of articles and posters, I am reminded how the archive is not just a conservatory for the band’s history… it’s a safe house for memories that connect us all. I couldn’t imagine putting my energy into a more worthy endeavor.
Karen, thank you for this beautiful post! Rhonda and Amanda are always inspiring with their amazing efforts. I’m sorry I don’t reach out more and let them know how awed I am by their commitment to the cause, but I carry respect and appreciation for their work all the time. It is rare to see fans channel such passion into a higher plane and after three decades of doing it myself, I have a particular affinity for fans going above and beyond for the benefit of Duran and the global fan community.
This year, I look forward to sharing my own plans for taking the archive to the next level and enjoying the band’s fresh chapter! Kudos to everyone here for keeping the flame burning bright!
Thank you so much, Andy, for stopping by. Glad you’ve enjoyed these posts and I agree–Rhonda and Amanda are amazing. Keep on keeping the Duranie memories alive!