Welcome to Snarkfest

Welcome to my snarky corner of the web. Join me as I discuss everything from wine to chocolate. There may be a few other topics mixed in there too. I talk a bunch about my amazing offspring, 24 and 21. I sometimes go on and on about my secret crush on the amazing Mike Rowe. I talk about things that irritate me or things that make me happy. Sometimes I just talk to hear myself talk. Feedback is always appreciated but please make sure it's respectable. No nudity or profanity. I'm the only one allowed to be profane. But any and all snark is welcome and appreciated!

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Picture Books, Duran Duran and Highway Robbery

It's no secret that I'm a huge Duran Duran fan. Everyone knows it, and those who don't know it live under a rock. I've seen them live over 20 times, I've traveled far and wide to see them, and to visit my girls for Duranie weekends. Or as we like to call them, BITCHES weekends. We have a tight-knit group of about 30 of us and we all try to get together at least once a year, just to hang out. For us, the band brought us together, but our friendships now go MUCH deeper than our love for the band.

And let me be clear on one thing: NONE of us are independently wealthy. NONE of us live in a mansion, NONE of us shop on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Most of us have families, mortgages, car payments, the usual. And we have one more thing in common: we all think the band has GIGANTIC CUJONES for what they are charging for a new book out this month.

Photographer Denis O'Regan followed the band around on their Sing Blue Silver tour and took a bunch of pictures. Now he's put together a book of over 200 color and black & white photos, bound it in cloth and they have the AUDACITY to charge £250 for it (to save you the trouble, that's $403 to us here in the US. Shocked? How about the £500 (That's right, $806 US) for the 'Deluxe Edition' signed by all 5 original band members? If that doesn't get you, there's also a £2500 (you guessed it, over $4000!) edition which is described as: "containing contemporary fine art prints and 1984 vintage prints, together with handwritten lyrics of one of the band's classic hits by Simon LeBon." My guess is it's that over-done, over-played make-my-ears-bleed song Hungry Like The Wolf. YUCK.


Well let me tell YOU something, Denis O'Regan, Simon, John, Nick, Roger and Andy. There's NO way on God's green Earth that I or ANY of my Durannie girls will EVER part with that much green for a book of pictures, with or without your autographs.

You've gotten a lot of money from us over the years, but (to quote Simon LeBon) you've gone too far this time.

If you are a Duran fan and you have the extra cash to fork over for one of these coffee table books, good on ya. But if you are a normal person with a limited income, this is an exorbitant amount of money and for them to expect a fan to part with that kind of cash for this book is BEYOND the scope of fandom. It borders on extortion.

Do we love the band? Yes. Are we insane enough to part with our hard earned money for this? No. Flippin. Way.

Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. And in the illustrious words of my girlfriend Joelle:

"For £2500 that book better be fucking hand delivered and Simon better be scrubbing my toilets, while Nick does the laundry, John runs the vacuum, and Roger does the dishes. I'll let Dom off the hook since he probably isn't included. Oh wait, Andy's included? Well then take out the trash."


17 comments:

  1. Even though it's a Big Thing, you could buy a Notorious Hungry (Like a) Wolf in Rio for that kind of cheese.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well said, Toby. For that kind of money, I'd tell them All She Wants Is to know they've Come Undone, and I'd ask them Do You Believe In Shame? These Friends of Mine would be Hallucinating Elvis and there would be a New Moon on Monday before we'd spend that kind of cash.

      Delete
  2. That IS extortion! My guess is 95% of their fan base is not in financial situation to afford it, so no worries, it will be on clearance in no time. And love the comment back! that's great!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Exactly, Jolie. I'm guessing that only the members of Duran Duran can afford to buy this book about Duran Duran these days.

      Delete
  3. That is pretty nuts. I am a huge rock and metal fan and will see certain bands whenever they tour, and buy their mechandise, but common sense and reality prevail. As if these bands like Duran don't have enough wealth......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great point, Phil. I am a concert whore, seriously, I will spend oodles of money on good concert tickets. I WON'T, however, drop a car payment on a book that I'll look through once and set on a shelf to collect dust.

      Delete
  4. Your friend has a great business idea! Duran Duran cleaning service. You get some DD impersonaters who can sing. Then they can be hired to come over and clean your house while the sing DD songs. They could be called Guys On Filth or something.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's genius, isn't it Christian? LOL Guys on Filth! I can probably come up with a bunch!

      Come Up and See Me, Clean My House
      Electrolux Barbarella
      Burning the Trash
      I Don't Want Your Dirt
      The Man Who Stole my Vacuum

      Delete
  5. wwwwwwWait JUST A MINUTE. 400 bucks? I'll admit, you had me at the "Sing Blue Silver Tour" part (1984 - Seattle, WA - 9th grade - FIRST and BEST concert ever) but lost me at anything over $50. Okay, $60. Maaaybe $62.50 but THAT'S IT. It's pretty obnoxiously pompous of them...but if they want to capitalize - AGAIN - on their youth then good on 'em. And by 'good on 'em' I mean to hell with them. (Did I really just say that about DD?????) LOVE your girlfriend's comment. Hilarious.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You'd love Joelle, Michelle, she's awesome. And yes, the band can pretty much go pound sand, in my opinion.

      Delete
  6. This is nuts!!! I like Duran Duran, but come on! Who the hell has that kind of money? Pure extortion! I just can't see it happening unless a person is a wealthy, obsessed fan. Sheesh!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sadly, Marcia, there ARE tons of fans out there who don't have the responsibilities that others have and therefore have lots of expendable cash to throw around. I'm just not one of those fans.

      Delete
  7. I can write you a book, clean and do your laundry for $4000! I got your back!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Dear Teri,

    I stumbled upon your priceless Snarkfest and found this eloquent reflection on Denis O'Regan's book. I hope it's not in bad form to write like this, but I thought I might offer an alternative for your wonderful Dur-appetite - one that will hopefully be in your range. I am a Duran Duran archivist and I just released "Beautiful Colors: The Posters of Duran Duran" (Amazon, $75). This is a 260-page, hardcover chronicle of Duran's history (1978 up to the present) through selected posters from my archive. Insights from artists bring images to life, Nick Rhodes penned a touching foreword, and the band has deemed the book "magnificent." I invite you to check it out, and would love to hear from you! Feel free to write at: contact@durandy.com

    All my best,
    Andy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Andy! Your (good) reputation precedes you! Thanks for taking the time to respond and I will definitely check out your book. We have a lot of mutual friends and I've heard nothing but good about ya. Thanks!

      Delete

I do read all comments and try to respond to them. Unless you're trying to get me to visit your website: Cheap Louis Vuitton Bags. Then you can go pound sand.