Chapter Text
February 1980;
Pov Simon
I walked along a darkening street, smoking a cigarette, heading for the Rum Runner Club. This place was very popular, especially for fans of the new wave. The evening cold air of Birmingham blew my face, forcing me to shiver, although I seemed to be dressed warmly. Having found the club, I stood for a while, finishing a cigarette. Cars on the street passed little, and at night you didn t see them at all, only the cabs occasionally drove through. After seeing a couple that had entered the club, without delay, i finished my cigarette and went to the club. Entering the clubhouse, I looked around: at first the place seemed too gloomy for me, but at the same time very comfortable. Somewhere from afar came the sounds of music. I have never been to this club, but i passed it many times when i went to college. And the purpose of my visit to the club was that here i had to audition for the role of vocalist of one of the groups. I wouldn t have come to this club if it weren t for my ex-girlfriend Fiona, who told me about the audition. At that moment i was writing poems when the phone rang. Hearing about the audition, I just grinned. At that time i performed with a lot of groups, which was enough for me. But Fiona managed to persuade me to come to the club and try my luck.
"And I don't really know what I'm doing here"
Well, having stood a little while, I finally moved from my place and went to the wardrobe to hand over my winter coat. Then I decided to find Fiona or just wait for her. “Apparently, it will be much better to wait for her,” I decided, and headed for the bar to order myself a cocktail.
- Do you want anything? - The barman asked.
- Pour something, preferably non-alcoholic. And by the way, doesn't Fiona Camp work for you here?
- Yes, why?
- I'm her friend, can you call her? - I replied.
- Wait a minute. - nodded the barman and went somewhere.
Two minutes later, he returned with Fiona. Seeing me she was very happy and hugged me in a friendly way.
- Hi, I knew that you wouldn t fail. - she smiled.
- I don t like to let people down. Although you prevailed on this audition. By the way, are those guys from the group here already? - I asked.
- Yes. They have been waiting for you for a long time. By the way, they also work here.
- Is it true? Is this additional earnings for them? - I grinned.
- You can say so, and in the evenings they play there. By the way, come to work with us. - She suggested.
- And who do you think I will work here?
- Waiter, like me.
- I should think about it.
- Of course, i don t ask for the restoration of relations, I just suggested. - She shrugged.
- Everything is fine, Fiona. Maybe I will really go here to work. We'll see. The main thing for me today is to pass this selection, is there no queue? - I asked.
- No, I told the guys that I will agree with you. - Fiona said.
- Is that so?
- Their previous vocalist left them recently, he thought that the group had no chance and decided that he had enough. - Fiona answered.
- I didn t think that they had such a pessimistic vocalist. - I said, taking another sip of the cocktail.
- Yeah. You better stop to cool down, don t make the guys wait. - Fiona smiled patting me on the shoulder.
- Coming soon. - I replied.
Having finished the cocktail, Fiona and I went to the place of the rehearsal base, more precisely the scene of the club. And there I saw four guys who played music on their instruments. In my opinion, they seemed to me cool. But my attention was attracted by a skinny, dark-haired boy with glasses.
- Guys, meet Simon Le Bon, he agreed to audition for the group. - Fiona said turned to the guys.
- Hi, Simon. Welcome to us at Duran Duran. - the blond guy said playing the guitar.
- This is Andy Taylor, he is a guitar player. And this is Nick Rhodes, keyboard player, and Roger Taylor, he is a drummer, and John Taylor is bass player. - Fiona said.
Three Taylor in a group? Well, that's wonderful. And the name of the band! Somewhere I've heard it ... or does it seem to me?
- Thank you Fiona, you helped us a lot. - Andy shone .
- It's my pleasure. Well, you are still rehearsing here, and I went to work on. - Fiona said.
- Ok. Thanks again. - Nick Rhodes answered.
As soon as she left, all four turned to me.
- Well, Simon, let's start to rehearsal? - Nick suggested.
- Of course. Moreover, I brought the song I wrote yesterday. - I said.
- Oh, so you're still a poet? It's even great! - Andy answered.
- Can you show us your poems, please. - Nick asked.
- Of course. - I said and with these words I gave them a notebook.
All four carefully studied my song.
- Hmm, I think I even know what to play.” - Andy said, and with these words he began to pick up the melody on his electric guitar.
The rest also joined the work. Nick played the keyboard, Roger tried to find the right rhythm, and John picked up the strings on the bass. After a few minutes, or maybe even an hour later, the melody was already built. But I listened to it several times to make sure that this tune would fit the words. Finally, I started to sing it.
"Been in this grass here for the last ten hours
My clothes are dirty but my mouth isn't dry
How does it happen, does it fly through the air
Oh, I gave up asking days away
I gave up asking
Days away"
And so we spent time at the club, rehearsing a song written by me. When we all became convinced that this song sounded good enough, we decided that this was enough for tonight.
- By the way, I think, how about going to the studio and recording this song? - Nick suggested.
- Not bad. By the way, we will soon be given a salary and we will spend our salary to reserve a studio and just record this song. - Andy said.
- By the way, what is this song called? - Roger asked, adjusting the drums.
- "Sound Of Thunder". - I replied.
- Simon, from now on you are our regular lead singer. We enjoyed working with you. I propose to celebrate this event. - Nick said.
- Thank you, guys. I am glad that we managed to work together. - I smiled.
After that, we sat down at one of the tables and ordered a cocktails.
Pov John
Working with Simon was much nicer than Nick and I could think. Why with Nick? Because it was Nick and I who founded Duran Duran. Nick is also my school friend. I have known him since childhood. After all, we were tied up with music and we decided to create our own group. Before Simon, we had different vocalists, but they didn t stay long. But when I saw Simon, I immediately realized that there would be something unusual and I was right. He had a wonderful singing voice that I liked. And his outfit ... pink leopard pants, leather gloves, brown 60s suede jacket, sunglasses, pointed shoes. “Hey, this guy has good taste in clothes,” I noticed. His hair was dyed blond. Something else attracted me to him. Maybe his charisma? Or full return to work? I couldn t answer this question. But nevertheless, we were able to finish the rehearsal and we decided that we would go to the studio as soon as we had the money to record a song. But now we have a vocalist who easily joined our team. After that we decided to celebrate the event by ordering cocktails. We found out about Simon by questioning him, because we wanted to know him better! It turned out that before that he had worked as a doorman at the Northwick Park Harrow hospital. And then, before going to college, he worked at a cooperative farm. He worked only four hours. "Yes, interesting life for a guy" - I thought. But I also noticed that Simon often looked at me and I felt some embarrassment. “Does he like me or do I have glitches?” I thought. But I decided to drop these thoughts, although it was interesting for me to listen to him. We sat somewhere for an hour, or two, or maybe even more. Leaving the club, we said goodbye to each other. Nick, Andy and Roger went one way, and me with Simon the other. For some time we walked silently down the street, until finally he broke the silence.
- And who is your main at the group? - he asked.
- Nick. But it was also me who founded the Duran Duran group with him. - I said.
- By the way, I wanted to ask, where did you find such a name for the band? - he asked.
- Do you remember the movie "Barbarella?"
- Yes I remember. I watched it somewhere on TV two times.
- Well, do you remember the sinister Dr. Durand?”
- So, you took from him the name of the group?
- Exactly. Nick and I love this movie and know it by heart. - I smiled.
- Good. What do you do in your free time?
- I work in this club, I follow the order. - I replied.
- You work as security?
- You can say so. The other guys also work here. Andy works in the kitchen, Roger is a cleaner and Nick is a DJ.
- Fiona also invited me to work here. - Simon smiled.
- That's fine, who will you work?
- I don t know yet. Well, maybe a waiter like Fiona.
- Is Fiona your girlfriend?”
- She was mine. We separated two months ago, didn t work with us. - Simon sighed.
- Oh. I haven't had one yet.
- You will. You're still ahead, Johnny. - Simon smiled warmly.
I don't know what was going on inside of me, but it was fun to talk to Simon about everything. We walked along the darkened street, talking about everything, smoking cigarettes. The night sky was consecrated with stars and with a bright moon. It s good that the north wind didn t blow. But the feeling that I was starting to like Simon was starting to surround me more and more. “God, Nigel, what are you thinking about? To love men is a sin!” My parents would say. It’s just that I was raised in a Catholic environment, and a feeling of shame immediately engulfed me.
- John, what are you thinking? - Simon's voice led me out of his thoughts.
- Sorry, thought a little. So what did you tell?
- I said that working in Israel was really cool. Only four hours of work, and the rest of the time you can do what you want.
- I see you in Israel you had full fun.
- Absolutely right.
- Have you ever sung before? - I asked.
- It was the case. I sang in several punk bands. And now I study at the university.
- Decided to get a higher education?
- You can say so.
Finally, we came to the house where I lived with my parents.
- I go on. Only ten minutes later I will get home. - he said.
- Well, then good bye. - I smiled.
- Bye. See you. - he answered and with these words he walked on.
I looked after him until he turned around and waved goodbye. I waved back and sighing, headed for the home.