Yes, I admit it - in the 80's I was a huge Duranie. I was obsessed with the Fab-Five and I couldn't get enough. I had everything I could get my hands on - Records (they didn't have Cd's then), videos, posters, anthems, button (tons of those) worn on the lapels of sport jackets, fedora hats, wildly colored hair, bandanas, O-ring bracelets, concert tickets, magazines, etc. I had over ten years worth of memorabilia collected and stored in my parents attics when I left home. Unfortunately, I lost it all when their house burned down.
I'm not saying that I'm still a Duranie, in fact - I probably wouldn't listen to their music today. I haven't listened to anything from them since they broke up in the early nineties. The last of my collection featured things from the Powerstation, Arcadia and Andy Taylor's solo album (which I'm still a little miffed that he cancelled the concert he was supposed to have in Atlanta. I had saved up money for weeks to get the tickets... and then he cancelled.)
All this brings me to a conversation I had with a friend last week. He spoke of finding a baseball collection he received from his father when he was younger and had been stored in parents attic. When his father passed away, he found the old collection and discovered the true treasure of it. Not that it was not well worth thousands of dollars, but because it was a piece of his childhood and something in it that had brought him joy. It was the memories attached to it that was priceless.
His story brought back memories of my own collection and the heartbreak of not being able to share that with my children today. I told him of my collection and how it was now gone. I also told him how me and my children had been flipping through channels at home and came across a musical countdown of music from the 80's and Duran Duran was listed in the top three. Seeing those few familiar clips of the video 'Rio' brought back a flood of memories. My children had no clue who Duran Duran was and I wanted to be able to pull out that lost collection and share a bit of my childhood with them, but I couldn't.
Yesterday, I received a very good surprise. I opened a package that had no sender's address, no card and no invoice from Amazon.com. I nearly started weeping when I pulled out a video collection called "Duran Duran - Greatest". It contained most of my old favorites and some of the new stuff that I never saw. Over twenty-one videos, all the albums, alternate versions, interview footage, pictures, lyrics, etc. It was a majority of my collection on DVD and CD.
My faith has been restored that men really do sometimes listen. I never asked for this collection and probably wouldn't have ever bought it for myself - but it's one of the best gifts I've ever received.
Till next time,
~T.L. Gray
