Duran Duran World Tour Off To Wobbly Start

Duran Duran's world tour got off to an awkward start in New Zealand on Wednesday as singer Simon Le Bon forgot the lyrics and bassist John Taylor stormed off stage, according to a published report.

"Duran Duran, f---ing up in style," Le Bon, 49, told the crowd at the Vector Arena in the northern city of Auckland, according to the New Zealand Herald's review the next day.

Taylor, 47, abandoned his instrument and walked off stage, apparently in reaction to a segment in which the group's members donned matching satin suits and headsets to play a medley on keyboards and an electric drum set.

"I could not dance to that. These people came here to dance," Taylor said, after he returned to the stage, according to the Herald.

Le Bon forgot the words to "Hungry Like the Wolf," one of the band's biggest hits, the Herald reported.

Still, the paper said the crowd -- dominated by screaming women in their 30s -- did not seem to mind the snafus.

Duran Duran, rounded out by keyboardist Nick Rhodes, 45, and drummer Roger Taylor, 47, next heads to Australia for seven shows, beginning on Friday in Sydney.

After the Asia-Pacific leg ends, Duran Duran will begin a North American tour in Vancouver on April 29.

The band, which was formed 30 years ago, is promoting its latest album, "Red Carpet Massacre," which bombed in the United States and Britain last year.

More 80's on American Idol

The Top 10 American Idol contestants took to the stage last night to sing songs from 'The Year they Were Born' ... which obviously means more songs from the 80's!
A few weeks back the contestants sang 80's songs and there were great performances as there were lousy ones!
But ... how did the Top 10 do last night?

The first to go was Ramiele Malubay and she sang "Alone" by Heart from 1987.
The judges thought she did kinda' fine and may survive this week.
The second to go was Jason Castro and he sang "Fragile" by Sting from 1987.
He did good, but hasn't offered anything new for a couple of weeks now ... he might be in danger!
The third to go was Syesha Mercado and she sang "If I Were Your Woman" by Gladys Knight from 1987.
She did great! Even the judges thought that was her best ever performance yet!

The fourth to go was Chikezie and he sang "If Only for One Night" by Luther Vandross from 1985.
He sang well but his performance wasn't anything special or anything so impressive!
If he wants to stay in the game, he should start performing better!
The fifth to go was Brooke White and she sang "Every Breath You Take" by The Police from 1983.
She sings and plays the piano ... but her performance became wobbly when the band joined in towards the end. But she did good and will make it through to next week.
The sixth to go was Michael Johns and he sang a bit of "We Will Rock You"and a bit of "We Are the Champions" by Queen from the year 1978.
Michael did Grreat! His best performance and maybe the best of the night too!
Simon said: "Michael, this is the first time with you that I've seen star potential. You just got it right. For me, it's the only memorable performance of the night so far".

The seventh to go was Carly Smithson and she sang "Total Eclipse of the Heart" by Jim Steinman from 1983.
She tried her best but there was something off about her performance! As for the final note ... I think it was a wrong choice and that ruined the song!
The eighth to go was David Archuleta and he sang "You're the Voice" by John Farnham from 1990! Gosh! 1990 is like yesterday!
A strange choice that sounded like something out of a cartoon musical!
But David did his best and it wasn't a disastrous performance!
The ninth to go was Kristy Lee Cook and she sang "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood from 1984.
She chose THE right-est song to sing! Who's going to vote her off American Idol when she sings God Bless the USA?
The last to sing was David Cook and she chose to sing Michael Jackson's Billie Jean from 1982.
He reflected his own character on the song, so it wasn't giving off a Jacko spirit anymore!
Which was very smart and brave of him.
Simon told him: "David, that was brave. It could have either been insane or amazing, and I have to tell you, it was amazing".

So, who will be leaving tonight? Will Chikezie go home? Or will it be a girl this time? Maybe Carly Smithson?

Richie Sambora DUI, but will Bon Jovi go on?

Bon Jovi is still scheduled to perform at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on April 12 at 8 p.m.

But that might not be enough time if guitarist Richie Sambora re-enters rehab.

Sambora (mugshot above) was arrested Tuesday night for driving while intoxicated in Laguna Beach, Calif. He was with a young woman along with a 10-year-old daughter whom he shares with ex-wife Heather Locklear.

He's expected to appear in court May 7 under DUI and charges with endangering the lives of children.

George Michael's "25 Live" tour

I told you it was just a matter of getting his ducks in a row: George Michael's "25 Live" tour has finally and officially announced its dates for North America.

The tour begins June 17 in San Diego and wraps up Aug. 3 in South Florida.

Click here to see the full schedule. Ticket sales begin April 6 on Ticketmaster. Also, Michael will release a 2-disc CD set called "Twenty-Five" on April 1. The set features 29 songs; a DVD will have 40 videos.
Trying to decide if this tour is worth the money? Here's the set list for his recent tour stops in Europe:

• Waiting Intro
• Flawless
• Fast Love
• Father Figure
• Star People
• First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
• Praying for Time
• Too Funky
• You Have Been Loved
• Everything She Wants
• My Mother Had a Brother
• Shoot the Dog
• 20 Minute Intermission
• Faith
• Spinning the Wheel
• Jesus to a Child
• An Easier Affair
• A Different Corner
• Amazing
• Too Funky (reprise)
• I'm Your Man
• Outside
• Careless Whisper
• Freedom 90

Top 10 Songs of 1980

The year that chaotically bridged the '70s and its latter trends of disco and punk with the new decade, 1980 was a dynamic and intriguing year for pop music. Accordingly, the best tunes from this year tended to contain elements of the decade just passed even as they forged new paths, such as the blending of disco beats with heavy use of synthesizer, an instrument that would play a huge role in the '80s.

1. Blondie-"Call Me"

Smack dab in the middle of Blondie and frontwoman Debbie Harry's most pervasive period, it's difficult to pinpoint one song from 1980 as the band's best of that year. Even so, this tune ultimately stands out because it so deftly blends prevailing styles like disco, punk and pop into a punchy, nearly perfect two-minute single. "The Tide Is High" and "Rapture" were likewise huge hits in 1980, but each suffers from a stylistic imbalance not found here.

2. Olivia Newton-John-"Magic"

In terms of pure loveliness, few melodies in the '80s could match this chart-topping offering from one of pop's finest, most enduring female pop singers. Another entry from a film soundtrack, this tune again blends disco rhythms with primo keyboard work, to excellent effect. Meanwhile, on full display are Newton-John's impressive vocal chops, which never sounded quite so transcendent as they do here. Before she got memorably "Physical" a year later, Newton-John was unforgettably ethereal.

3. Air Supply-"All Out Of Love"

Though much-maligned in the quarter-century since their peak era, this Australian duo crafted some rather inescapable melodies. This tune, perhaps more than any other, takes the art of the sappy love ballad to some kind of heretofore undiscovered stratosphere. The vocals of Graham Russell during the verses gently and liltingly imbue the song with emotion, while Russell Hitchcock's somewhat cloying presentation of the chorus gives new meaning to the term "over the top." Still, a great love song.

4. Queen-"Another One Bites the Dust"

You have to hand it to Queen, a band known pretty much as a hard rock band before, for the boldness of this unabashedly disco tune. Containing one of the most memorable bass lines in rock history, the song was utterly omnipresent in 1980, and somehow it still stands up after all these years as a startling blend of Freddie Mercury's trademark showmanship and Brian May's constantly inventive guitar work. Perhaps never has guitar been so important in a dance-pop tune.

5. Kool & the Gang-"Celebration"

Though it's not necessarily a positive critical endorsement of a song when it becomes standard fare at sporting events, such a phenomenon certainly cements a piece of music as a permanent part of the zeitgeist. Such is the case also with this tune, a party song that doesn't mess around with subtlety or complexity. Maybe it was also the last hurrah for this former funk band, before the group resorted to somewhat lamer pop stylings for its chart survival.

6. Pat Benatar-"Hit Me With Your Best Shot"

Sporting one of the all-time great rock guitar riffs (no, I'm not kidding), this song orchestrates a brilliant maximization of both Benatar's sex appeal and her ability to strike a relatively believable feminist pose. The combination is irresistible, and although the tune merely scraped the bottom level of the Top 10, it remains a significant document of its time as well as a timeless rock song. It does what great rock and roll should: combine sexuality with bold theatricality.

7. Christopher Cross-"Ride Like the Wind"

Owner of one of 1980's biggest albums, Cross made an evocative sort of melodic soft rock that could have resided within any number of decades. With a singer-songwriter sensibility that simply isn't capable of rocking too hard, Cross ensured himself of chart success with high, soaring vocals and memorable melodies. This tune also features a galloping rhythm, precise instrumentation and a well-placed Michael McDonald on backing vocals.

8. The Manhattans-"Shining Star"

Boasting a significant amount of rather soulless dance pop as the '80s did, it was rather refreshing when old-school soul found its way onto the charts. This song is a gem on many levels, obviously in its clear, soaring vocals and indelible melody but also in surprising ways. In fact, one of the most elemental pieces of the song's fabric is the gentle acoustic guitar flourish that repeats itself through the verses and chorus. As lovely today as when first released.

9. Irene Cara-"Fame"

Perfectly encapsulating the youthful exuberance on display on the TV show of the same name, this memorable single charts the hopes and dreams of anyone striving for the top. Well, something like that. A great karaoke selection for the ages, Cara's first major foray into soundtrack music simply works from start to finish. It's a great melody well executed, and any year in any decade could use a few more of those.

10. John Lennon-"(Just Like) Starting Over"

Any list that attempts to summarize the year 1980 musically must include a celebratory though sober nod to John Lennon, so cruelly taken away from us late that year. This song is a painful reminder of just how much more Lennon had to offer musically and as a human being. It is simply one of the most touching and beautiful love songs of all time, and it's matched with characteristically innovative songwriting from one of the greatest craftsmen of all time.

Soleil Moon Frye AKA Penelope 'Punky' Brewster

Soleil Moon Frye has just had a baby girl along with her husband, Jason Goldberg.

Top 6 Spinal Tap Songs

Though some of the music featured on the soundtrack to the 1984 mockumentary classic This Is Spinal Tap is purported to be from the '60s and '70s, the majority of tunes on the disc highly reflect the hard rock styles rampant during the early '80s. Such detail proves that the band's alter egos (Michael McKean, Christopher Guest, Harry Shearer and Rob Reiner) certainly possess a healthy grasp of rock music history and, especially, the hard rock subculture.

1. "Hell Hole"

As both a perfect parody of early-'80s hard rock bombast and a quality example of such music, the lead-off tune from the soundtrack for This Is Spinal Tap comes close to being a genuine classic of the genre. Built on raw, energetic riffing from guitarist David St. Hubbins and a rare, even soulful lead vocal performance from lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel, the song makes an intriguing use of its central concept. Lyrically, the track brilliantly alternates between typical rock and roll poetry and outrageous hilarity, teaching us the surprising but important truth that "in a hell hole, folks lend a hand."

2. "Tonight I'm Gonna Rock You Tonight"

Another solid riff introduces this uproariously redundant rock anthem, a song that particularly showcases Tufnel's utterly unique if not always on-key soloing style. Also, usual lead singer St. Hubbins shows why he does most of the group's heavy lifting behind the microphone, as he delivers diatribes about his anatomical gifts without a trace of irony. Of course, a certain amount of self-awareness always informs the music of Tap, allowing Tufnel's amateurish but spirited guitar licks to say as much about the sense of fun often missing from the technical wizardry of "actual" heavy metal as anything else.

3. "Rock and Roll Creation"

An always grin-inducing send-up of hard rock's long-standing fascination with mythology and mysticism, this track deftly combines crunching power chords with an effective neo-progressive display of keyboards and synthesizers. Of course, merely hearing the song fails to do it much justice, thanks to its indelible association with one of This Is Spinal Tap the film's best sight gags. In keeping with the tune's hilariously confusing mish-mash of religious and secular ideas about the origins of life, the band's onstage struggles to emerge from prop pods help make this one of the group's most cherished fan favorites.

4. "Big Bottom"

Though clearly indebted conceptually to champions of bombast Queen and the anthem "Fat Bottomed Girls," this song actually spends most of its energy poking tremendous fun at the tendency of hard rock to employ moronically souped-up instruments or techniques onstage. Multiple-neck guitars and all, Tap makes this track truly special by enlisting three bass guitars, perhaps to emphasize the good vibrations of the lyrical subject matter. St. Hubbins takes every opportunity to raise the tent of derriere worship, especially with observations like, "The looser the waistband, the deeper the quicksand."

5. "Sex Farm"

Just to be certain Spinal Tap would earn its hard rock merit badge, the group had to take a headlong dive into ridiculous sexual innuendo, which this pastoral masterpiece was more than happy to do. The inventive nature of the double entendres and euphemisms cultivated from this tune seems to have no limit, as "Gettin' out my pitchfork, pokin' your hay" certainly confirms. Of course, having no limit also quickly propels a rock and roll band into offensive territory, but Spinal Tap relishes that role as any rockers should. Consider, if you dare, when St. Hubbins sings of "sniffin' your feed bag." Sorry I brought it up.

6. "Stonehenge"

This epic number is one of Spinal Tap's several thinly veiled jabs at Led Zeppelin, the hard rock kingpins who always displayed an absurdly earnest fascination with ancient mystery and magic. Tufnel's spoken-word sequences throughout the track lampoon this kind of puffed-up self-importance, though Nigel himself certainly doesn't realize it ("No one knows who they were, or... what they were doing"). Musically, the song features some of Spinal Tap's most prominent keyboard arrangements, but who can forget the mandolin solo and, of course, Smalls' primal scream capable of invoking the Druids' wrath?