There is many reasons why I have fallen head over heels for Duran's Bass player John Taylor. I have loved this man for more than 2 decades
I was drawn to him like I was drawn to MiG. John & MiG share many of the same qualities. Especially when it comes to the sensitive side. Kind hearted, passionate about their music, very family oriented and many more qualities I haven't even touched on.
For many years as I was growing up, John was my best friend sorta speak....His music helped me in so many hard times in my life. Times when I felt like there was no one reaching out to me. I understood his music and the way he presented his Artistic ways. It encouraged me to pick up my guitar & learn to play. I'm still not very good but I feel I have learned enough to be satisfied at the moment. I got in so much trouble with my minister. I wore buttons to promote my favorite band and my minister told me If I didn't give up my "idol" which meant giving up my buttons and all of my Duran belongings,then I didn't "love" god the way I should. So I felt bad & turned over my buttons to him. Being 14 I felt I needed to prove something. Well I was miserable. I didn't have my records, my posters were off the wall and I was a complete basket case! Duran was my inspiration and I never once said I didn't love god. My parents were going through divorce and I needed something to turn to. I turned to what any music lover would do...They would turn to what makes them feel comfortable.."their comfort music" at that time it was Duran and all of Johns side projects. This lesson has stayed with me forever. I have never forgotten what this minister had put me through. I told myself it will never happen again. For a long time now I haven't gone to church...haven't found one I felt comfortable in since that day. I know it's sad! But I continue to pray privately and ask god for guidance!
Why do I feel compelled to write this foe John's birthday post. Because this has been on my mind for many years. Never got over it.
I just want to express how greatful I am to Duran & their music for keeping me going at times when I feel like I wanna fall apart. Their music COMFORTS ME! Seeing them on my birthday was the most amazing feeling I have ever experienced.
Besides laying my eyes for the first time on my children ;D
Because today is John's BIRTHDAY I wanted to tip my glass to him for staying in the business this long and still making beautiful music. Still capturing my heart after all these years. John...I love you and I wish more than anything for you to have a unforgettable Birthday. I hope you get to spend it with all your friends & Family. You are always in my heart...4-EVER Today is your day Live it to the fullest, you deserve to have the very best! Thank you for all you do for your fans...I'll never forget that smile you gave me at my concert this year. It is and always will be PRICELESS to me!!!
John you continue to inspire me everyday...Hmmm sounds like something I would say about MiG!!
No this melts my heart!!
Heres a blog John made for his birthday on Duran Duran.com
Birthday Message from John
June 20th, 2008
I’ve never considered myself a political animal. What moves me to tears has always been most likely art; a particularly emotional scene in a movie (I even shed tears in ‘Kung Fu Panda’), or a song whose melody or harmonies cut me like a knife. Rarely, but sometimes, a book I am reading can affect me powerfully, and by that I mean not only induce sadness in me, but can make me laugh out loud. Perhaps the best release is the kind of laughter that keeps on coming until it turns to tears. The best of both (feeling) worlds. I often say, ‘I don’t like real life, I only like art’. For years I avoided newspapers, and even now, I stay away from the news channels on TV.
I’m feeling different about all this today, because ‘real life’ has come and bitten me on the butt, inspired me so to speak. I really just want to take this opportunity of getting to write a Birthday message by telling you all how strongly I feel about Barack Obama. I was recommended to read Obama’s book, ‘The Audacity Of Hope’. I downloaded it off I-tunes. The author read it himself. In my work I rely almost entirely on intuition, I don’t know much about music theory, and I don’t know how to read music. I just know what I like, what thrills me, and makes me want to weep. I’m a lightning rod in a way, rather than a musician, and as I listened to this book, I could not believe how much I liked this guy, and how much hope, literally, he was filling me with, as the virtual pages turned.
I don’t come from an artistic family particularly, although my Mom loved music and music stars. Mom’s idea of a perfect Sunday would be to take a drive around the wealthy estates in Warwickshire, and muse over which house might belong to whom. If ever we spotted a personalized car number (license) plate, we could obsess for hours over whom that car might belong to. Quite what Rod Stewart was doing in Solihull High Street that Sunday in June 1972 I don’t know, but RS 1 was spotted by both of us, and who else could it possibly be? No. That’s not an artistic family.
My mother’s father was an important man in the early life of the English Trade Unions. He came from Liverpool. I never met him. The Lord Mayor of Birmingham was present at his funeral. My own father despised the trade unions. His was a go-ahead personality who had no use for the lowest common denominator, which he believes all unions ultimately serve. Dad went down on the ship, like so many other men from the Midlands, when the British car industry sunk itself, due to unrealistic expectations and the changing economic climate.
Obama is a democrat. He believes in unions. He is also a pragmatist. Listening to him, telling his story, outlining his ideas and ideals, I could not initially believe he was a man that could become leader of the United States, and therefore, the most important man on the planet… But inside my head an idea had been planted, ‘But what if he was?…’
Like I say, I am all about instinct. It’s all about a feeling I get, for people, places… songs. Either I get it or I don’t. There’s no debate. Hopelessly naive? Possibly.
I wasn’t around for Kennedy, but I saw how excited people got about Clinton. Truthfully I was more excited about Hillary back then. Unfortunately for her, time has moved on, and whereas Bill and Hill were the future in 1992, the future now has different needs, and Obama is it. He is America, but he is also all of us. He makes me want to think politically because he is authentic in a world that has an almost total absence of authenticity. And I don’t just mean politics. Look at our TV; the reality crap, the talent show crap. Everyone is acting, saying whatever they think they got to say to get ahead.
Obama raises the bar. The speech he gave on Father’s Day brought a tear to my eye. He is a wake up call, and when America elects him to office (no, I cannot vote) it will send a fantastic signal of hope and change around the world. It will prick up the minds and ears of the most deeply rooted of America-haters. It’s a god-given opportunity.
No one is perfect, I know, and I’m not suggesting he is. I just wanted to use this year’s birthday message to let you know a little of what is going on in my mind regarding the biggest event of the coming year. For those of you who are skeptical I urge you to pick up the book I mentioned and check it out; you’ll believe a pig can fly!
Thanks everyone who sent me good wishes. It’s been an extraordinary year so far (do I ever say anything else?). It’s been hard this last few weeks losing Nick’s father, Roger. He was a very important influence of me when I was a hard-headed teenager. Seeing my oldest friend cope with his loss with such dignity and courage has been a real inspiration. I love being on the road and getting to play night after night, and seeing so much of you guys warms my heart. Thank you for staying with us, we’ll always try and make it worth your while. Thanks to my family who challenge me every day to become a better person, and to my friends who are my guides.
Love and peace,
JT
jt.jpg
HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!!!!