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SDE in the USA: Day Two

Duran Duran at Madison Square Garden

By Paul Sinclair

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Day two in New York was the day! Duran Duran were playing their Halloween show in Madison Square Garden, because… you guessed it, was the 31 October! [read Day One here]

It was the last day in NYC, so lots to fit in and after a quick coffee-and-croissant combo at a nearby Pret A Manager, I was heading downtown for a 9.30am meeting a friend who works at Sony. I came armed with a few SDE blu-rays and he kindly gave me some vinyl including a few Sarah McLachlan albums (including a Barnes and Noble exclusive of Surfacing). I really like Sarah’s music, especially 1993’s Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, but she’s not really too well known in the UK. She’s actually just cancelled/postponed a 30th anniversary tour in celebration of that album, which is a shame. I also acquired the ruby vinyl 12-inch of George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’ – one of many formats that was put out for that song’s 40th anniversary (read Caroline Sullivan’s SDE piece on that song).

Anyway, after a good meeting, I was off to West 18th Street to Academy Records, with a plan to meet up with Anne (Mrs S) later. Of course, I forgot record shops the world over never start business particularly early and indeed, upon arrival I saw that it was a 12 noon opening time. With an hour to kill I found myself in the ‘Old Navy’ at the end of the street having a browse (we don’t have them in the UK).

Here’s a sidebar that I’m fascinated by. I live in London and without wanting to generalise too much, it’s my personal experience that people that work in shops or in service industries have a tendency to be a bit surly, and/or not be there when you need them (i.e. shops are understaffed) and can often exhibit a general ‘I’m-getting-paid-minimum-wage-so-why-do-I-need-to-make-the-effort’ kind of attitude. Whereas in America and certainly in New York, every shop worker, server in cafe or restaurant has been delightfully friendly and helpful – professional – in what appears to me to be in a very sincere way. They seem to actually want to help you, you are welcomed you when you walk into the shop. Nothing is too much trouble, there’s always loads of staff and they’re not standing around talking to each other and ignoring you (a classic UK trait). Maybe as a society the US just respects table servers, shop workers more. It’s a job to be proud of and not something you grudgingly have to do because you can’t get a job anywhere else. I noticed the same thing in the Airport at JFK. The staff are uniformed “officers” afforded authority and respect. Going through security at Gatwick it often just feels like a random assortment of temporary staff. I digress, but without wanting to state the obvious, people being nice to you all the time is just very pleasant. Thank you, NYC!

Outside Academy Records in Manhattan

Anyway, I went back to Academy and had a browse. It hasn’t really changed at all since the last SDE trip 9 years ago, which is not a bad thing, and it’s just great that the shop still exists, in midtown Manhattan. There wasn’t a whole lot I was interested in, unfortunately, but I picked up a couple of 12-inches (one of which was ‘Coming to America’ by The System). I did spot a copy of Wham!’s Fantastic with the artist in the US form of  ‘Wham! UK’. Half-tempted, but I didn’t bother. They had a Beatles in Mono 13CD box in the window for $200 which seems like a reasonable price (what a great box set).

After a Shake Shack at Madison Square Park, Anne and I starting walking down towards ‘the village’ to pop in and see John Pita at Record Runner. It was roasting in New York (not far off 80 degrees) and I was carting around some copies of the Duran Duran Liberty and Arcadia So Red The Rose SDE booklets that I wanted to give to John to sell (his shop specialises in Duran, amongst others) as well as a few Danse Macabre blu-rays. But I also had my laptop (in case of SDE emergencies!), plus a bag of clothes I bought from Old Navy and all the vinyl I’d been given earlier in the day! In short, I was starting to feel very weighed down and hot and bothered! You make a decision to “just walk it” and 20 sweaty blocks later, you’re asking “why didn’t we take the subway?”. 

I almost bought this copy of Wham’s Fantastic

Anyway, I’d told John I’d pop in at some point during our two-day trip but hadn’t said exactly when. I think it was probably around 4.15pm when we arrived and I was slightly worried at first, because shutters were down, the door was locked and having lugged my ‘merch’ all the way down there, I was envisaging carting it back uptown to the hotel. But thankfully all was good and John was there. He was taking precautions because the Halloween Parade (great Lou Reed song) was only a few hours away. The shop is as good as ever and I recommend you check it out if you are in town. We chatted for a short while, discussing how great it is that Record Runner still endures but John was telling me that he has a new landlord, since someone has recently bought the building, and that’s of concern because of course rising rents is one of the reasons that so many record shops (such as Rebel Rebel and Bleecker Street Records) are no longer there and the character of Greenwich Village has been eroded. Worrying times. John gave me a T-shirt and we took a photo and bade farewell until next time. 

Anne and I had a pre-Duran Duran drinks lined up with my old friend Ray at 6pm, close to MSG, so we needed to hotfoot it back to the hotel, dump all the bags, freshen up and get down there in the space of 90 minutes. I still hadn’t bought any vinyl from a Target store, which I was keen to do since they not only have Tears For Fears‘ Songs For A Nervous Planet on exclusive coloured vinyl (“watermelon cream” aka pink), but they also have the CD with the extra track called ‘Landlocked’ (which I still haven’t heard!). I also had a few ‘requests’ from friends in the UK for various exclusives (Target don’t ship to the UK). So probably ill-advisedly I nipped down to the shop at 42nd Street (Times Square was rammed and there were so many people dressed up for Halloween it was slightly surreal) to try and get some records. However, on arrival I was told “we don’t sell music”. What?! Ugh. What a waste of time. 

Duran Duran Halloween show advertised outside Madison Square Garden

After that it was another ‘dash’ (impossible due to the volume of people on the street) back to the hotel and then off to Mustang Harry’s – a midtown sports bar and restaurant – a few blocks south of Madison Square Garden (MSG), to meet Ray.

Going to MSG afterwards, to see the show was amazing. Having such a big arena right in the centre of the city is not something I could imagine any government, local council or mayor choosing to do, these days, but it must be fantastic if you’re a resident of NYC. No trekking ‘out of town’ to see your favourite band.

This was the penultimate show in a mini seven-date tour of North America and Duran Duran were amazing. It has to be said, the bar is set quite high if you’ve travelled 3,500 miles but thankfully they really delivered! It was clear that they’d spent a lot of time on making this show special for Halloween and it wasn’t something thrown together quickly. There were three dancers who appeared on stage in various outfits for virtually every song, doing specially choreographed routines (a few fairly risque), there were giant gargoyle-type figures, wandering on stage and through the crowd, and of course the band themselves were all dressed up, initially as ‘ghost’ sailors (shades of Pirates of the Caribbean). Simon looked great at the start of the show, actually, echoing his look in early era Duran with stripey shirt, big black coat, white jeans and sailor’s hat.

Best of all was a long two-hour plus set that delivered at every quarter. They performed 14 out of the 16 tracks on the new Deluxe Edition of Danse Macabre (they even played ‘Spooky’, a box set bonus track sung by the female backing singers!) but still had enough time for classics such as ‘A View to a Kill’, ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’, ‘Planet Earth’, ‘Girls on Film’, ‘Rio’ and the like. In the past, I’ve complained about Duran insisting on keeping their cover of Grand Master Melle Mel’s ‘White Lines’ in the set, but I have to concede it went down amazingly well on Halloween, enhanced by superb stage design. Best of all, for this Arcadia fan, was a wonderful delivery of ‘Missing’ from So Red The Rose. Wow! They played it right after ‘Confession in the Afterlife’ from the Danse Macabre album, which sounds very Arcadia-like to these ears, so it was a brilliant sequence.

Duran Duran play Wild Boys at MSG (click image to enlarge)

It was strange not to hear ‘Save a Prayer’ or ‘Ordinary World’ at a Duran Duran show, but somehow it didn’t matter. It sounds silly, but being a Brit in New York watching Duran Duran play added an unexpected feeling of pride. They are a great British band, after all. The crowd were joyfully embracing every song (to be fair, there was a bit of popping-to-the-bar/’rest rooms’ for ‘Spooky’, a song virtually no one knew and Simon doesn’t even sing), but that aside, it was pure love in the room and scanning the crowd I could see every walk of life.

Special mention must go to Simon Le Bon who I regularly remind everyone is the beating heart of Duran Duran. He sung beautifully and dressed brilliantly as well. Yes, at one point he wore what looked like a chandelier on his head for quite a few songs, but it passed without comment; there was no hamming it up. It was arty, slightly weird, a visual spectacle and fun all at the same time. Just like Duran Duran, in fact.

Day 3 of SDE in the USA will be published tomorrow, as we head off to Las Vegas for Tears For Fears.

Simon, not satisfied with the house lights, brings his own…

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47 Comments

47 thoughts on “SDE in the USA: Day Two”

  5. Good thing you visited in October; if you found 80 fall degrees ‘roast[ing]’
    you’d truly be aghast at a July day of 95 plus 75% humidity.

  7. Sarah Maclachlan’s Fumbling towards ecstasy is a great album. A 90’s classic. In my top 100 of all time. Solace and Surfacing are very good too.

    2. I was an early fan of hers but she got too quiet (boring?) after Fumbling for my taste. I would encourage anyone who has that impression of her to check out her first few studio albums and her Live EP from 1992. They might find her early work more interesting.

  9. In always figured between how huge Sarah McLachlan was (in the 90’s especially) and her being Canadian that she was successful in the UK, too. Weird that she is not. I have been a fan of hers from her first album “Touch” and agree with you that “Fumbling…” is her grandest moment. Glad you were able to get some of her goods!

    Between making so much on tips as well as often a percentage of goods sold, wonder if that is partly why us American service workers are more polite and engaging if that is not the case in London. As in, we make more if we’re nice and pleasant, London workers get paid the same if they are nice or don’t care, so why care.

  12. I was at the Duran show in the Garden and it was phenomenal. This was my 5th time seeing them and it was the best show yet. Simon’s voice seems to be getting better with age, rather than worse. The man is incredible. Totally agree that they always play White Lines and I always hate it, except that night. I don’t know if they changed something but somehow they got the entire Garden on their feet and it sounded incredible. I didn’t look at the set list in advance on purpose and as a result I was quite surprised when Girls On Film morphed into Psycho Killer. Man did that sound good. Simon’s chandelier made me think of the Pet Shop Boys. It looked brilliant. He couldn’t move his head for about three (slow) songs but all good. What a feast this was. I am grateful I was able to attend. Meeting Paul and Anne before the show was so lovely. What a pleasure!
    Btw, I couldn’t agree more on the shop workers comment. Americans are always saying New Yorkers are rude but I live there now 25 yrs and they are lovely. In shops you always get proper help with a smile. There is much to say about the US but it is very service oriented. It’s second nature here everywhere. I experienced the opposite in London on my many business trips there. Shop workers in Amsterdam, where I’m from, aren’t any better. Can’t wait to read about Vegas and the Tears For Fears concert!

  13. tears for fears exclusive with a bonus song at target? and on sale for $12.99 it turns out! well thanks for that tip, I had to go order it, though I passed on the colored vinyl.

  14. Glad you’re having a great time. Re the people working in shops, my experience has been reverse New York vs London. Maybe it’s having an accent? Americans are easily charmed by a British accent, although not exactly sure if anyone would find my American accent interesting, but I find people nice in London (what?). Of course, AbFab had the greatest put-down telling a snooty shop assistant “You only work in a shop, you know. You can drop the attitude.” But I appreciate people who work in shops–not the greatest job.

  15. I saw them here in Brisbane Australia quite a few years ago and it was the single greatest live show I’ve ever witnessed. I scanned the stadium as Paul did and the generations present ran the spectrum. Pretty straightforward concert, they appeared on stage like magic as the smoke settled, the crowd screamed, and then they rocked out for 2 straight hours. Loud as hell (our ears were ringing for 24 hours after) but what I’ll never forget, along with their energy, was a lady somewhere between 60 and 70, right in front of us, who did not stop grooving with it for the entire set. When they performed Rio (how old is that track again?) the audience absolutely lost it. How can you not love the experience when you can see they’re giving you everything they’ve got?

    The only concert that came close to matching it was Sparks who I finally, and very luckily, saw earlier this year. The same energy, just a more diverse catalogue.

  16. I saw DD in 2000 and remember being amazed at how great Simon sounded – and he can STILL belt it out 24 years later. Glad you had a great time.

  17. London – Royal Albert Hall? Just about every city in the U.K. has a large music venue near its city centre.
    Shop workers in the U.S. do have a great attitude but having worked in retail in the U.K. maybe its SHOPPERS getting back from staff the attitude that’s presented to them… ESPECIALLY in London. Maybe try a trip around the rest of the U.K. before generalising so much… does the U.S. have zero hours contracts and shitty wages?

    1. Since you have decided to nit-pick, allow me to join in… the Royal Albert Hall is less than a third of the size of MSG. London does not have an 18k capacity Arena in Oxford or Regent St, which is the equivalent.

      You’re appear to be saying I’m basically right about shall we say ‘New York’ v ‘London’ service but the reasons are x, y, z. It’s the shoppers fault, etc. But at least we agree on something. Before I get any more “why are you picking on low wage workers” type comments, let me add that people in posh shops, employed by big global brands, are just as bad (see Bond St.).

      I have lived in Scotland, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Essex, Buckinghamshire and London so I don’t need a ‘trip around the UK’. In Scotland and Yorkshire, where I’ve spent most time outside of London, people are lovely, so it’s definitely more of a London thing, I suppose. I did qualify that paragraph by saying “I live in London”.

      1. I also find, on my visits to the USA, the cockney London accent helps in engaging conversation. I have had the ‘I love your accent’ on many occasions.

      2. It’s fair to say that London has progressively got worse in many areas for various reasons.
        Gone are the days when I used to go up once a once and splurge in the Soho Record shops like Sister Ray. The place just seems unsafe and unfortunately the current regime don’t seem to be tackling the increasing crime rate or the usual suspects which puts many off visiting. Mind you today’s global shift in politics may have a knock on effect finger’s crossed…

        1. My wife and I were in London last month and I went to Sister Ray for the first time, as well as Reckless Records across the street. I can’t say that I had the slightest concern for my safety. Just to give you some context, we live in Canada but have travelled extensively and we visit NYC at least once a year.

      3. I can remember buying some CDs from the Virgin Megastore in Oxford Street. The sales assistant was chatting to his friend. He held out his hand to take my records, enterted the price, and nodded towards the price shown on the till display. I paid the amount, and he handed me my goods and receipt. He then continued chatting with his friend. Not once during the entire transaction did he utter a single word to me.

  18. It’s great to hear about your adventures in the States. It is also great to hear that you are a fan of Sarah McLachlan! My wife and I have been huge fans since her early days and have seen her play live too. The ‘first dance’ at our wedding was Sweet Surrender, sung by a good friend of ours with a live band. I missed Duran Duran when they were in concert in Toronto last fall (had to choose between them and Peter Gabriel), but they are one of those enduring bands that I have never had a chance to see live. Safe travels!

  19. Great write up and great that someone else loves Sarah McLachlan as much as I do. My way in was via the two winter/xmas albums but since then I’ve bought everything else. Amazing voice and songwriter. Here’s hoping she plays the UK one day soon. Shame Danse Macabre DeLuxe didn’t chart in the UK, but quite fancy a live album!

  20. Maybe you should stick with your holiday blog, Paul? You’re being very unfair to minimum wage shop workers, who aren’t all ‘surly’ and work very hard. It’s a music blog you work on isn’t it? Not a social awareness course.

    1. Stick to music, because as someone who has lived in London for the last 35 years I’m not ‘qualified’ to observe that people who work in shops in this city are generally grumpy fuckers, compared to their US counterparts? It’s so obvious when you are in America it’s embarrassing to to be honest.

      1. I think it was Ben Elton who said, when he was asked about whether he thought that American shop assistants were sincere when compared to the English, that “I’d rather be told to have a nice day by someone who doesn’t mean it, than be told to fuck off by somebody who does”.

      2. I lived stateside in Phoenix for a year and did a bit of touring round too and my abiding memory of my time there was how friendly, helpful and generally interested all shop, cafe and restaurant staff are. A complete contrast to London (where I also lived for 5 years) which is exactly as you describe. Really good to read as I tell so many people that about the USA and they just don’t believe me. It’s like chalk and cheese the difference frankly!

      3. Embarrassing is the word. A very similar experience for me when I was in Japan. The service there is exceptional as opposed to Australia where they so often act as if they have 50 things more important to do rather than serve you. It’s not a question of bowing and scraping, it’s a question of basic respect. So many, not all I grant you, of the staff here at one of my most regular haunts, our nationwide music retailer JB Hi-Fi, couldn’t give a damn what you want.

        1. Although getting off-topic for sure – when I was recently in a JB HiFi (Australia) with my sister who was trying to do a return/exchange on a faulty item, the woman who helped us at the counter was courteous, engaged and helped make suggestions to guarantee a hassle-free exchange. It was so utterly shocking and out of character for a JB HiFi employee, I made a specific point of thanking and complimenting her when we were done. As customers, it can be so easy to complain about bad service, we should also remember to compliment the opposite!

      4. Berkshire is just as bad; shop workers, doctor’s receptionists let alone pub staff are bordering on passive aggressive at the best of times if not openly hostile in many an establishment. I can’t understand the mindset as here in the UK there are jobs aplenty, if I’ve ever disliked a job I’ve just quit and got another not taken it out on colleagues or punters. However we are living in the age where people are clearly privileged and not used to hard graft which may explain part of the problem.

  22. Paul, I’m glad you enjoyed yourself in NYC and Las Vegas, and were able to see two incredible concerts. Like you, whenever I’m visiting a city, I can’t resist going to the local record shops and thumbing through racks and racks of merchandise trying to find unique or hard-to-find records and CDs. Some years ago, when I was in Los Angeles, I spent over 7 hours (no exagerration) at the four story Virgin mega store on the Sunset Strip, then another 3 hours at Tower Records on the other side of the street — so no sightseeing for me that day. Sadly, both those stores are closed now. I also could spend hours and hours at Peaches, a very large record Store in Fort Lauderdale, FL, which was the size of a supermarket, but filled with nothing but music and rock memorabilia. That store unfortunately closed too. Anyway, I’m happy you and your wife made it back home safe and sound, and that you have some enjoyable memories of your trip to the USA.

  23. Excellent Paul. Hardcore shopping!! I can only do about 2 hours on the trot & that’s just me, myself & I!! Less if it’s with the Wife & Kids, by then, I need a sit down with a cold one!!

    I saw most of the MSG show on You tube. Obviously nowhere near as good as the real thing & it looked pretty impressive! Good to have a break from the now very predictable setlist!! I hope they do a CD / Blu Ray set for release with a photo book. Are you reading BMG?

    Roll on your Vegas blog. I’ve been but not for a very long time.

  24. Great entry Paul. Sounds like you’re having a blast.

    With regards to the bonus tff track – landlocked), isn’t it on the hmv exclusive cd over here in blighty?

  25. Sometimes it seems self-loathing is a national sport so I was pleased to hear your kind words about your stay in our country, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your time with us. Hopefully I’ll be able to make a long-overdue return to the UK in the near future.

  26. Thank you Paul for a superb day 2 blog! Thoroughly enjoyed that and knowing most of the places it felt like I was there!
    Having lived in the US for 13 years and popped back to the UK several times I can really agree with you that customer service seems to be viewed as a skill in the majority of stores I’ve been in over in the US whereas it genuinely feels like it’s a bind to serve customers in the UK. Just my two cents.

    Thanks for the great work you do for us lovers of physical product! This is without a doubt my most visited website. And am sharing it with friends here too.

  27. Enjoying your record shop trips. I loved disk union in Tokyo recently – browsing heaven. Re MSG in middle of town – isn’t it similar in capacity to places like Earls Court and o2 in London?

      1. The O2 is nowhere near the centre of London. Neither was Earls Court, which was in a very residential area (I know, I used to live in the road next to it).

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