This is from the November 26 Tampa Tribune:

Band still notorious
By Curtis Ross

Making its name in the early '80s, Duran Duran made videos that were seldom short of female pulchritude. And sturdy dance beats supported the group's music.

A decade and a half later, and some things remain consistent. The latter gives them a contemporary feel. But the former is causing them grief.

The video for "Electric Barbarella",' from the band's new Medazzaland album, is being given the cold shoulder by some outlets, particularly Canada's Musique Plus, which is refusing to air the clip (not true! -ed. note).

"They thought it objectified women," singer Simon LeBon says from his New York hotel room, the afternoon before his group's appearance at Roseland. The song and video, LeBon says, are intended to make fun of men by portraying "the sort of Barbie doll girls that guys seem to be after." In the video, the female robot of the title "stands there while three grown men fight over the remote control for it."

Fans won't miss the song title's reference - the band's name was taken from a villain in "Barbarella", director Roger Vadim's 1968 sci-fi sex farce.

LeBon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and a trio of unrelated Taylors (Andy, guitar; John, bass; Roger, drums) came together in 1980 and released its eponymous debut the next year. The band touted its sound as a mixture of the Sex Pistols and Chic. And if any punk noise was hard to detect, its songs were quite suitable dance floor fare.

Medazzaland updates that sound with the loops and samples prominent in electronic dance music. But unlike many contemporary artists who've taken to utilizing those tools, Duran Duran's incorporation of them seems perfectly natural.

"I have to point out that we're one of the originators of this style of music," LeBon says. Strong words, but consider that the band was one of the early proponents of the joys of remixing. Four songs from Duran Duran and Rio (1982) were given bass-heavy remixes for '82's Carnival EP, which helped make "Hungry Like the Wolf" the band's first U.S. hit.

Since that time, the band has seen massive early '80s success, a chart resurgence with the '93 singles "Come Undone" and "Ordinary World", and the departure of all the Taylors. Andy and Roger left in '86, John early this year.

"We miss [John] very much," LeBon says, "but he has his own agenda. I can't fault him for that, really."

The earlier departures were "a big shock," LeBon says, but "it was the first time we really started to develop our sound." The resulting album, '86's Notorious, garnered some critical kudos.

The band's lineup, currently Lebon, Rhodes and guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, isn't the only thing that has undergone change. The audience has evolved over the band's life span. "It ain't all screaming teenagers," LeBon laughs. "There's still a few, which is great. But it's quite grown up, like a club audience. We've picked up different fans who've picked up on different phases of Duran Duran," he says. "I'm seeing people who know all the words to the first album ... and all sorts of kids turned on by 'Ordinary World'."