Nigel John Taylor

John Taylor (born Nigel John Taylor on June 20, 1960 in Solihull, Warwickshire, England) is an English bass guitarist and co-founder of the New Romantic band Duran Duran. Duran Duran was one of the most popular groups in the world during the 1980s, thanks to revolutionary music videos that played in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV, and Taylor was Duran Duran's most popular member.

Taylor played with Duran Duran and its changing lineups from its founding in 1978 until 1997, when he left to pursue a solo recording and film career. He made a dozen solo releases (albums, EPs, and video projects) through his company "Trust The Process" in the next four years, had a lead role in the movie Sugar Town, and made appearances in half a dozen other film projects. He rejoined Duran Duran for a full reunion of the original five members of the group in 2001.

Taylor also founded two supergroup side projects: Power Station and Neurotic Outsiders.

History

Taylor grew up in the Hollywood area of Birmingham. As a child he was a shy boy who attended Catholic school, wore glasses (due to a severe myopia over -10 dioptres), enjoyed James Bond movies, and played wargames with hand-painted model soldiers. In his early teen years he discovered music, choosing Roxy Music as his favourite band, and before long was collecting records and teaching himself to play guitar. His first band was called Shock Treatment.

1978-1997: Duran Duran

In 1978, Taylor and school friend Nick Rhodes formed Duran Duran. Soon after Taylor underwent an "ugly duckling" transformation -- ditching the glasses for contact lenses, adopting the romantic thrift-store-cum-pirate fashions that would become known as the New Romantic style, and learning to wear eyeliner and lip color. He stopped using the name "Nigel", and was known throughout his professional career as John Taylor.

Taylor played guitar when Duran Duran was founded, but switched to bass guitar after discovering the funky rhythms of CHIC, and learned to enjoy the rhythm section playing with Duran's newly recruited drummer Roger Taylor. He has frequently cited Chic's Bernard Edwards and The Clash's Joe Strummer as his strongest influences, in addition to Paul McCartney, James Jamerson, and Roxy Music players Graham Simpson and John Porter. Duran Duran released its first album in 1981, and went on to worldwide success in the early 1980s.

Duran Duran's early music tended to feature prominent, almost melodic bass lines, following the model of funk and disco songs like Good Times. Although it was occasionally plain in the beginning that Taylor's playing was naïve and self-taught, he developed a unique undulating style that has since inspired many imitators. It was John Taylor who played bass on the Band Aid charity single Do They Know It's Christmas?. Both his musicianship and his good looks drew more attention than was generally received by pop bassists at the time.

As Duran Duran became famous in the early 1980s, Taylor's individual celebrity grew. His picture was a staple of teen magazines, and he won numerous popularity polls, including appearances on People Magazine's annual list of "Sexiest People". He lived a lavish lifestyle with homes in London and Paris, and owned several cars, which he rarely had a chance to drive, including the Bond-style Aston Martin he had always dreamed of. He dated fashion models, such as Bond girl Janine Andrews and "Face of the '80s" Renee Simonsen, was welcome at parties all over the world, and, of course, developed the cocaine addiction to go with his high living.

In 1985,after recording the chart-topping theme to the Bond movie A View to a Kill, Duran Duran split into two side projects. John Taylor and Duran guitarist Andy Taylor joined forces with singer Robert Palmer and former Chic drummer Tony Thompson to form the band The Power Station. With the guidance of producer Bernard Edwards, they released one album, The Power Station 33 1/3, which produced two hit singles, Some Like It Hot and the T Rex song Bang A Gong (Get It On).

That year, Taylor also launched his first solo effort, recording the single I Do What I Do for the soundtrack to the movie 9½ Weeks. He also wrote some instrumental music for the movie's score with collaborator Jonathan Elias.

Although Andy Taylor and Roger Taylor left the band, the three remaining Duran Duran members reformed for 1986's Notorious album, and continued to record and tour throughout the 1990s with new guitarist Warren Cuccurullo. Taylor recorded a fair amount of unreleased solo material on the side, including several tracks eventually used on the soundtrack of the Allison Anders movie Mi Vida Loca.

In 1991, Taylor married 19-year-old actress and party girl Amanda De Cadenet, who was already pregnant with his daughter, Atlanta. He moved from England to Los Angeles to help further his wife's acting career, which exacerbated tensions within Duran Duran. Taylor's marriage declined even as Duran's star rose (with 1993's Wedding Album) and fell (with the widely derided 1995 covers album, Thank You). In late 1994, Taylor sought treatment for his cocaine and alcohol addictions, and has remained sober since. Following 1995's Thank You tour, Duran Duran spent part of the summer of 1995 in London working on the album Medazzaland. Concurrently, Taylor devoted time to the side project Neurotic Outsiders, recording and touring with that band from the end of 1995 through the start of 1996.

1997-2001: Solo career

In 1996, Taylor co-founded the independent record label B5 Records with producer Hein Hoven. B5 Records originally recorded from Hoven's Lake Hollywood home but eventually built a state of the art studio in Santa Monica dubbed "B5 by the Sea." B5 capitalized on the Internet savvy of Duran Duran fanbase by selling their CDs directly to fans through a cutting edge website. The B5 Records website, created by Kapil Mathur, had revolutionary graphics and featured a virtual journey through the B5 studios which allowed visitors to "interact" with Taylor and Hoven.

At B5, Taylor recorded his first solo album, Feelings Are Good (And Other Lies), and marketed it by mail order and on the Internet. Taylor and De Cadenet divorced. He made an attempt to reunite Power Station, but his personal problems forced him to withdraw from the project, which went on to record and tour with Bernard Edwards in his stead.

B5 also released a Roxy Music tribute album recorded by Taylor and many other local Los Angeles artists.

As time passed and Duran Duran faced increasing dissention within the band, Taylor decided to quit. Overcoming the wreckage of a failed marriage and maintaining his sobriety, Taylor needed some time for himself. In January of 1997 he announced at a Duran Duran fan convention that he was leaving Duran Duran to pursue a solo career. (The band toured with Wes Wehmiller in his stead.)

Taylor re-released Feelings Are Good on the larger label DeRock Records.

B5 Records' only other release was the album Sub Acid Sweet Songs by local LA quartet Three Alarm Fire. Although the label never quite got off the ground, Taylor went on to release several more self-produced albums and related merchandise through his website, renamed "Trust The Process", following Hoven's departure from the company.

Taylor also began making forays into acting. His long friendship with Allison Anders led to a starring role in the independent movie Sugar Town, and he made appearances in several other small movies and TV specials.

Taylor remarried in 1999 to Gela Nash, co-owner of the popular 2000s fashion line, Juicy Couture.

2001 and beyond: Duran Duran reunited

In 2001, Taylor reunited with the other original members of Duran Duran to record new material, and demonstrated his commitment to the band by inking an enormous linked-D's tattoo on his arm. After two years of touring and wooing record labels, the reunited band released the album Astronaut in October 2004, and toured throughout 2005 before returning to the studio to work on a new album.

Basses

The bass guitar normally associated with John is the Japanese Aria Pro II. John used an Aria during the height of Duran Duran's fame and the bass is automatically associated with him with its healthy-sounding growl. In the mid-1980s, John tried other basses such as Steinberger and Wal (interestingly, John was unimpressed with his Wal, considered by many to be one of the world's finest basses). John eventually settled on the Kubicki Factor bass with a unique drop-D latch on the head. John has also inherited his idol Bernard Edwards' MusicMan Stingray. Today, John still plays the Aria and the Stingray, but can be seen playing a 1962 reissue Fender Precision Bass, a bass version of the Gibson Les Paul, Warick Thumb 5 and a Peavey Cirrus 5.

Trivia

A passionate football fan, he supports Aston Villa F.C.
He played bass on the Deadsy song - She Likes Big Words
In 1982 Fans from Finland gave him as pet stuffed lion, Leonard, which Taylor kept for more than seven years.
He once wore a white t-shirt onstage displaying a picture of Kim Wilde.
He failed his cycling proficiency test at the age of ten.
Duran Duran's 1984 world tour was sponsored by Coca Cola. During a TV interview before a show Taylor quipped he "very much preferred Pepsi!".

Discography

1981 - Duran Duran, Duran Duran
1982 - Duran Duran, Rio
1983 - Duran Duran, Seven and the Ragged Tiger
1984 - Duran Duran, Arena
1985 - Power Station, The Power Station 33 1/3
1985 - Duran Duran, A View to a Kill single
1986 - John Taylor, I Do What I Do single
1986 - Duran Duran, Notorious
1988 - Duran Duran, Big Thing
1989 - Duran Duran, Greatest Hits
1990 - Duran Duran, Liberty
1993 - Duran Duran, The Wedding Album
1995 - Duran Duran, Thank You
1996 - John Taylor, Feelings Are Good and Other Lies
1996 - Neurotic Outsiders, Neurotic Outsiders
1997 - John Taylor, Autodidact (EP)
1997 - Various, Dream Home Heartaches....Remaking/Remodeling Roxy Music
1997 - Duran Duran, Medazzaland (4 tracks)
1998 - Duran Duran, Greatest
1998 - John Taylor Terroristen, 5.30.98 (EP)
1999 - John Taylor/Jonathan Elias, Resume
1999 - John Taylor, Meltdown
1999 - John Taylor, The Japan Album
2000 - John Taylor, Japanese EP
2000 - John Taylor, Live Cuts
2001 - John Taylor, Techno For Two
2001 - John Taylor, Retreat Into Art
2002 - John Taylor, MetaFour
2004 - Duran Duran, Astronaut

Film credits

1999 - Sugar Town: Clive
2000 - Four Dogs Playing Poker: Dick
2000 - The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas: cameo, Keith Rockhard
2000 - A Diva's Christmas Carol: Ghost of Christmas Present (VH1)
2001 - Strange Frequency: Jimmy Blitz (VH1)
2001 - Vegas, City of Dreams: Byron Lord
2002 - That 80s Show: cameo, Zeke

References

External links

John Taylor | Nigel John Taylor | Nigel John Taylor | John Taylor (basista) | Тэйлор, Джон

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