Released in March 1985, their self-titled debut album reached number six in the US and number 12 in the UK, with ‘Some Like It Hot’ and ‘Get It On’ both Top 10 singles in the States. The Power Station’s success was a motivator for Rhodes and Le Bon. It’s why we’ve managed to maintain our creative relationship and why I don’t think it’s suffered over the years. Simon is excited by things that are unique.
Simon loves to write music and to do something that other people haven’t done. He’s a proper artist, who takes things seriously. Simon will take any opportunity for sun, sea and piracy, but he really loves to work. Nick Rhodes: It’s true that Simon thought he was going on holiday for six months, until I told him “No, no, no.” But I knew Simon would agree to stay. After he’d rummaged away and was finally leaving, the phone rang and it was Nick, saying “Don’t go on holiday. There was a knock on the door – the gas man. I had the plane booked, to go to the sunny Caribbean islands for Christmas. I was already packed, suitcases by my side, ready to go on holiday.
SINGERS WHO SOUND LIKE SIMON LE BON TV
Simon Le Bon (Interviewed on Canadian music TV show Good Rocking Tonite, 1985): Arcadia is really the fault of the gas meter man. The idea of somewhere like the Maldives, as beautiful as I’m sure it is, slightly horrifies me. When I go on holiday, I have to be somewhere where there’s things to do and see. It’s nice for a couple of weeks to relax and gather your thoughts, but after that I get very, very bored. We’re only here once, so far as we know, and I don’t think a lot happens in a break.
Nick Rhodes: I don’t see the point in breaks.
Newly married to department store heiress Julie Anne Friedman, there was no temptation for Rhodes to enjoy the enforced break. I wanted to make a really beautiful record, something more textured and esoteric. That wasn’t something I was interested in, nor was I invited to it anyway. The atom had split when John and Andy were pulling more towards modern rock with The Power Station. Nick Rhodes: The initial inspiration for Arcadia was the split of Duran Duran. John Earls speaks to Nick Rhodes and key players Mark Egan, Carlos Alomar and Andy Mackay about one of the most fascinating (and expensive) albums of the decade: Then there was a stellar roll call of Eighties talent to rival Band Aid: Grace Jones, David Gilmour, Carlos Alomar, Sting, Andy Mackay and Herbie Hancock. Alongside Le Bon and Rhodes – and mostly Roger Taylor, the only member to feature in both Duran spin-offs – were Japanese guitarist Masami Tsuchiya, jazz bassist Mark Egan and leftfield percussionist David Van Tieghem. In reality, Arcadia was ahead of its time – one of the first pop or rock projects to have guest artists at its core, much like Gorillaz 25 years later. But that’s largely because Simon Le Bon and Nick Rhodes keep telling people it is. Created by Duran Duran‘s Nick Rhodes and Simon Le Bon when they had time on their hands while Andy Taylor and John Taylor were living out their rock star dreams in The Power Station, So Red The Rose is often remembered as “the most pretentious album of all time”.
Released in November 1985, Arcadia’s only album So Red The Rose is one of the most remarkable side-projects in pop.
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