I have the feeling that he was rattled from the feedback coming from the mic and monitors. Stuff like that can throw off performances. So this was not really his fault.
The Press at the time were all out to knock the most successful UK group since the Beatles as they always do. This was the best they could come up with. One dodgy note when the group performed with inadequate monitors at Live Aid.
25 odd years later they are still going strong and making great records and selling out live shows.
How many groups have had top ten albums in four decades???
Oh my god what a truly career destroying moment. I imagine they went down the shitter right after. Oh wait, of course they didnt. What a load of overblown bollocks, he sings it great throughout except for one lost note.
Mmmmm es la prueba de que es un ser humano capaz de equivocarse como cualquiera, es evidente que estaba muy nervioso y ese pitido del micrófono contribuía a ello. Igual lo sigo admirando y amando, guapísimo y super talentoso cantante.....
Big deal - if anyone knows a bit about singing, he does much of that song at the top of his natural range - and with a dry throat (extra nerves?), that can be a pretty common response when going into falsetto on a dry strained throat. I reckon at 1:07 and then 2:46 you hear an ever so slight hint that he's pushing it. Why didn't the band realise this in rehearsal and drop the key? Most of the wankers these days rely on auto-tune or a backing tape. Via La 80s!
So this was the infamous false note? My god this is no big deal. Simon is stil a great singer and yah this perfermance is much better than the crap you see today.
You know.. forget the voice break at the end... compare this to most performances these days and I think you'll find them lacking. This is a top pop group of the day performing at their peak.. fantastic sound.. energetic cool charismatic frontman.. absolutely awesome drumming.. all without the technology modern performers use such as in ear monitors to hear the level he was singing.
I watch it live when it happened and I did laugh (I was only 14, what can I say?) but looking back now and just watching it again, it's really not a big deal at all. Nobody even really reacted to it, although I am sure Simon was probably a little embarrassed. Great times though. Long live the 80s!
You know, exCEPT for the bad note, for a live performance and for the time, his voice is pretty good! I'm from a later era - this is learning history for me.
You can hear he's pushing his voice. I read in an interview somewhere he states as such. He couldn't really hear himself back because of the screams and just kept pushing with that being the end result. Shows he's singing live and not miming. He also sounds really out of breath at the start of the song which probably didn't help matters either.
Simon fucked up here. That's alright and...well...kind of hilarious. It happens to all of us vocalists at some point or another. Still one of my favorite vocalists ever.
Eh, this sort of thing happens. I don't know why people would hold one bad note against 100s of notes the guy sang. Le Bon is simply human (no, my name isn't a copy of his...there's a different story behind it, though it does relate to Le Bon's hairstyle...) but great performance. I love the guitar sound at 1:36...although I'd do that on the Bass Guitar; an instrument I play.
Just a quick question, where are the cables to the amps? I'm pretty sure it's not wireless?
OK, it was an embarrasing moment, mainly because it was live aid with millons of people listening to it. But come on, LeBon is a very good singer, like Duran or not, it's not fair, it was just only one note.... THanks to technology, today there are singers unable to sing, however they do and nobody is asking if thet can or not....
It was a pretty epic fail then... However, in light of today's music industry, it isn't that bad at all. How many young singers today can sing without the safety net of voice processing? If anyone starts naming people, they will only serve to prove my point further.
@pinonoir302, I agree. And people say they suck, but can sit there and listen to kesha... Really? She lip sings! At least he can do it live and even if his voice did crack it really is not that bad... He hadn'd sung in a while... Go read Wild Boy!
All this means is He is actually singing ! Something these young turds in todays music don't do, Even with that autotune shit ! I would rather hear a mess up, than to see there mouth not match up with the song, If you can't sing it, Get your ass off the stage !
feedback was horrible so i am guessing the monitors were crazy bad, i agree with the person who said when u cant hear u push ur vocals too hard and ur voice can do that...so what? it's not that bad. wiki can suck it for even mentioning this on their page.
The mic is feeding back so bad. I bet the monitors were awful. Your voice cracks when you are pushing it too hard which happens when you can't hear yourself. Big effing deal.
If you've been singing for years, chances are something like this will happen. That said, Simon's vocals can be great one night and terrible the next. Not his fault, everyone's voice is different. Maybe mid-tour is the best time to see them?
when i first watched it on tv (i was 18 then i guess, now im 43) i cant believe it i dont know how to react coz duran duran was really so famous then...guess that false note is the reason why suddenly they lost their shine... im sad about it i luv duran duran...
this is awesome, Simon is awesome, Duran Duran is awesome, and its such a little mistake in an otherwise altruistic venture; they weren't even getting paid for this :/
The first time I listened to this (I wasn't alive for the actual concert--I was born in '96), after I read about it on Wikipedia, I was all nervous nd my heart was pounding as it got closer to the end and I tried to figure out which note was the bad one, and then I heard it and it seemed kinda bad (it was really weird, I started giggling hysterically, haha) and now when I listen to it, im just like 'that's it? why did I think it was so bad b4?' It WAS blown out of proportion.
@prcushinplaya08 I do know Duran Duran. So what if I wasn't alive in the '80's---I've listened to them for my whole life. And I wasn't insulting them or anything, I was just saying why is this such a big deal. his voice cracked on a note. So? that happens to a lot of singers. but when I read about it, they made it sound like he totally forgot all the lyrics or something.
This is their "most infamous moment"??? Thank GOD! I thought it was really disastrous, and it's just a fraction of a second of a very tiny note... He had no air left and the monitors were buzzing terribly... I wish my most infamous moments were like that!
1. Watch Tears for Fears's performance of "Pale Shelter" at Rockpalast on Youtube. Curt TOTALLY blows a note but he just gives a wry smile because he knew it and kept on. It's just what pros do. Kudos to both for not lip syncing.
2. Seems like Live Aid was the death knell for a LOT of bands. Black Sabbath also broke up because they wanted Ozzy to sing at Live Aid even though Ronny James Dio was the singer at the time. He felt slighted and left the group.
Duran seemed to be writing a lot of choruses that pushed Simon's upper range at this point. I'd be surprised if the same thing didn't happen during "Wild Boys" somewhere, because he's on a tightrope throughout THAT bugger. There's a clip from early 1987 - "Notorious" on Jools Holland's old "The Tube" show - where he JUST escapes and John shoots him a "not again, mate" look. ... Lost in all this by the way, is how fucking great the "A View To A Kill" chorus is. Overproduced, but superb.
Yep his voice cracked...still a great song/show...I vaguely remember watching this on MTV (I was 9yrs old). The more insidious problem was the extensive amount of feedback from the mics/monitors/stadium sound system...other than that good show...
He started out rather bad, but it all started to seem nearly alright when the first chorus began. Like many of you said here, nowadays singers manage to fail a lot more than this.
This is really not a big deal at all. Happens to many pop/rock singers very often. But the thing is, Simon looks really exhausted and like he's not feeling well. Take into consideration that the band chemistry wasn't that good at the time and he probably had done some chemistry backstage. :D But musically the version is pretty cool. Loving the thrashiness and edgy arrangement.
Geez, thats nothing , can and does happen to any live peformer sooner or later. What about all the good notes? I was there that day, dont remember anybody even mentioning it.
People are making a big deal about a bum note, but nobody is talking about how crappy and sad the freaking guitar player is, whatever Taylor he is....he looks as if he rolled out of the gutter after having a keg of beer and a kilo of coke. His performance through the whole thing was embarrassing!
...Was that it? Really? From the way he gets on with it, he could have done it on purpose for all we know. It sounds like the same note, just an octave higher. Besides, it's not like it was an easy note to reach.
And for the record, why is everyone using Queen as an example for messing up? They were the best thing at Live Aid. Freddie Mercury had bad vocal problems since 1972, and still sang from then until 1991 without surgery on them. I'd love to see anyone else in the world do that.
if you want bad slip ups, watch Queen's fat bottom girls at milton keyes 1982. the dvd version was overdubbed so watch my video for the undubbed version
Duran duran's decline started in this period, but it was not this false note that killed the band.
Press was in this opinion, but i don't think that it is this one the cause. They were falling to pieces 'cause two of them wanted more rock in Durans meanwhile the others wanted to remain the same.
Anyway, i think that playing in this way, in front of an huge amount of people, without playing together since 2 YEARS, means that they were a fucking great band.
@eldemasiado It's really not that bad. It happens to a lot of singers, live. The voice is strained, things like that happen, it's LIVE.There are bands for which the singer sings worse all the time (we don't have to name names do we). Maybe the press just wanted to "kill" this band.I don't even like Duran Duran, but I think it's unfair to bash them for that.
@eldemasiado Oh yeah, you're right ! Fine example! I haven't heard them recently but there are many shows where Kiedis sang much worse than Simon here. And it's just mentioned here and there, but RHCP were not slaughtered for it. "Under the Bridge" is really dreadful at times.
This was what all the fuzz was about? I thought he gave a great performance, a lot of singers have small fuck ups during the set, this definitely was not as bad as I thought. Killer song.
OMG come on, that wasn't anything. I think what fed it was that Andy Taylor made a big deal about it on interviews and in his book "Wild Boy". Simon Le Bon also was embarrassed cuz he was so consistent for so long but he need to understand everybody cracks live sometime no matter how good you are. Even Michael Jackson himself I've heard crack on live performances. Big deal! He probably was just out of breath. Especially when you dont sing DD tunes for over a year? Seriously now...
The greatest soccer players have failed penalties in a World Cup final; presidents have said and done stupid things countless times; in fact, we all have screwed up sometime and the world goes on; therefore, why would I judge such a great and accomplished band for an insignificant second? I judge DD for their 13 records, for a career of more than 3 decades, for the great influence on so many followers and bands.
"chaqueteo" is a word that we use in Chile when a succesfull, clever and talentous guy is victim of the envy and/or indifference of the mass. Reading some comments I realize that "chaqueteo" is not only a chilean disease...
from 2:40-3:00 is pure Duran Bliss!!!! Never mind LeBon...Rhodes is inaudible, R.Taylor falls victim to the Simmons drum pads Andy's bum notes and John's bass (or lack thereof)!! This pretty much sealed the deal! I thought this would sound better online then on BETA, but i was F'ing wrong!!
Anybody who's ever sung live or performed theatre knows that this stuff happens all the time. Singers and actors are constantly battling adrenaline, colds, flus, and just overusing their voices in ways that they were not made to be used. Great song and it only proves artists are human beings. I don't know why fans get so awed by stars as if they aren't like you and me...but have way more money and no privacy.
Really not as bad as made out, it's live music, not studio tweaked forty ways with ProTools and auto-tuned like we hear today. It clearly throws him off stride though, poor guy.
andy taylor's biography of duran duran starts w/ a narrative of this event! they hadn't spoken to each other or played together in months and were all worn out, drug weary, and sick of each other.....and this would be the last time the 5 original members played together for almost 20 years!! that kills me. ..... fame puts you there where things are hollow.....
always funny to see nick rhodes pretending to play fairlight's sound from the jupiter 8...I think he was the only one fakeplaying in the band these years.
yeh thats pretty horrid but shit happens thats a minor that aint a critical and i aint making any excuse but you know what! I am. That happened cos man was blatantly distracted by that shit set up. That feedback was awful , it sounds loud on here imagine that with 1000 watts in your ear 30 times while u perform haha. No wonder he didnt walk off to be honest.
Bands of that caliber should not be on stage with shit sound engineers. Sorry
it's true, he sung false but I've heard at least 9 larsen returns, 7 before he sung false so probably he was listening at something completely different than the rest of the world was playing/earing ;)
No big deal at all! It was still an excellent overall performance of a very tough song to sing...
I bet he was haunted by that one for a while though.....if only due to where it happened...
Oh well, isn't it amazing to think how sophisticated many bands were back then, a lot of today's pop music is pre-programmed tripe and half the pop "artists" are singers with a studio assembled "band" if not a totally computer created backing track.
That was it?? lol. So many of today's singers can't hack it live at all. This isn't a bad performance, really. That one little note wasn't the big deal everyone made it into.
that definitely shouldnt have killed duran duran. the feed back was waaaaay worse than going over pitch for a milisecond. Oh well, arcadia and the power station come out of this little mishap. im pretty thankful.
that definitely shouldnt have killed duran duran. the feed back was waaaaay worse than going over pitch for a milisecond. Oh well, arcadia and the power station come out of this little mishap. im pretty thankful.
Umm, it isn't that bad. He's off note maybe a second and it's certainly not enough to ruin the song. There have been plenty of live performances out there where a singer hits a bad note more than once. It's expected but no big deal.
Great song from a talented band but a BUMMER moment for Le Bon. Don't worry Simon, only about 1 Billion people were watching you, ha ha. Yeah A View To Kill was a huge hit as i recall, and rightly so, one of the more memorable Bond themes imo along with Wings Live and Let Die.
At this point in Duran Duran's lives the band was going through a lot, It was Roger's and Andy's last performances. There was a lot of arguments and disputes amongst the band. The use of Drugs and alcohol did not help either
wtf? people are being soooo critical. his voice is amazing live. he hits high notes easily and holds them. that one tiny voice break is nothing. its not like he really went for the note- look how out of breath he was. it was a smooth voice break as well- it sounds like it could have been done on purpose.
At that point, I don't think that Simon really had a view to a kill chorus mastered vocally as in later tours. I don't believe he could have pulled off wild boys that night. In later years he was more coordinated in his singing. Anyway, he is still a great performer
Andy Taylor's bio explains this pretty well. The band were completely burned out at this point and their hearts were no longer in it ..... Alcoholism & coke use didn't help.
LOL ahhh Simon ! A hardcore fan since 1983 when I was 14 and first heard them and then saw a pic of John Taylor in Ray Bans. I was deeply romantically in love and still am, Simon's sqeak makes them all the more human and much more adorable :)
Freddie Mercury missed a few notes at Live Aid as well. Man, I was expecting much worse than this. People need to get a life, the feedback during the song was worse than one missed note during what's a pretty good performance. Queen raised the bar pretty high earlier in the show and everyone was under more pressure to make an impact. Duran Duran pulled it off!
Ive heard people say that they thought Simon Le Bons voice was struggling throughout the whole song during this performance, it doesnt sound like that to me, it sounds like a very good rendition of the studio version to me.
Give me a break- so he missed a note, whatever. He's human, but he is also a genious. No one could compare to Duran Duran in those days. And they made a lasting impression for decades to come. Much more then I can say for any "performer" these days. Oh wait--- Adam Lambert will save us all.....NOT!!!!!
Hey, he WAS singing. Much better than the SNL lip-synchers, pre-teen girl-wonders-turned-young-sluts, & bad Madonna impersonators that seem to be all modern "music" can manage to provide in the last 10 years or so. The 80's were most definitely THE decade for rock .... and LOTS of it. Will it ever happen again, maybe, who knows. But not yet.
I hate Duran Duran, always have, always will. But as far as an 'infamous moment' goes, that is blown completely out of proportion. This isn't that big of a deal.
This bad note ruined his career sadly. What is sad is that he was very close to the end of the song. Who know what Duran Duran may have gone on to do had his voice not broken at that moment.
Albums: Notorious = U.K. Gold, U.S. Platinum / Big Thing = U.K. Silver, U.S. Gold / Wedding Album = U.K. Gold, U.S. Platinum / Thank You = U.S. Gold / Astronaut = U.K. Gold
Singles: Notorious = U.K. #7, U.S. #2 / I don't want your love = U.S. #4 / Ordinary World = U.K. #6, U.S. #3 / Come Undone = U.S. #7 / Sunrise = U.K. #5
All AFTER Live-Aid. Now what were you saying about a "ruined career"?
Seriously??? Who was their sound person at this time? They were having quite a bit of feedback problems. As a performer I can say that when you are having to deal with these kinds of issues it can definitely throw you off on stage no matter how long you have been performing. Also, bad sound can cause a singer to strain their voice if they can't hear themselves. You push a note that high in your register while straining through bad sound and that can happen. :(
Who cares about a one second of a great song at a great performance. Anyone who remembers this has missed the point of Live Aid or Duran Duran. What was the term my grandma used to say Knit-picky.
he was NEVER EVER a good front man....by the way, when i saw them in puerto rico during notorious tour, i was 11yo and i have to admit...THEY BROUGHT THE STADIUM DOWN! my tonsils still hurt from that nite....
damn i cant believe they were considered the heroes of the 80s, the only good album to be honest with you that i spent $ 10 was on RIO, and yet there is only like 4 songs out of the album that are ALRIGHT. Never seen a band do so much damage to their own song... its funny though
Holy crap, that is a crappy note he did!
baseballfreak970 5 days ago
I have the feeling that he was rattled from the feedback coming from the mic and monitors. Stuff like that can throw off performances. So this was not really his fault.
TheNWMusic 1 week ago
After the false note he sings good again!
misterd3000 2 weeks ago
There are a lot better reasons to condemn Duran Duran than this.
Mahaveez 2 weeks ago
Adam Lambert ancestor :)
annacramful 2 weeks ago
sounds like astrangled cat
vespasianlegx11 3 weeks ago
The Press at the time were all out to knock the most successful UK group since the Beatles as they always do. This was the best they could come up with. One dodgy note when the group performed with inadequate monitors at Live Aid.
25 odd years later they are still going strong and making great records and selling out live shows.
How many groups have had top ten albums in four decades???
dawkeye1 4 weeks ago
Oh my god what a truly career destroying moment. I imagine they went down the shitter right after. Oh wait, of course they didnt. What a load of overblown bollocks, he sings it great throughout except for one lost note.
miko1975guitar 1 month ago
Simon cites this as "the most embarrassing moment of my career"
HanzSygnal 1 month ago
Mmmmm es la prueba de que es un ser humano capaz de equivocarse como cualquiera, es evidente que estaba muy nervioso y ese pitido del micrófono contribuía a ello. Igual lo sigo admirando y amando, guapísimo y super talentoso cantante.....
janmolimor 1 month ago
Big deal - if anyone knows a bit about singing, he does much of that song at the top of his natural range - and with a dry throat (extra nerves?), that can be a pretty common response when going into falsetto on a dry strained throat. I reckon at 1:07 and then 2:46 you hear an ever so slight hint that he's pushing it. Why didn't the band realise this in rehearsal and drop the key? Most of the wankers these days rely on auto-tune or a backing tape. Via La 80s!
cameronj74 1 month ago 2
So this was the infamous false note? My god this is no big deal. Simon is stil a great singer and yah this perfermance is much better than the crap you see today.
nev594 2 months ago 5
Simon.
TheRailTube 2 months ago
You know.. forget the voice break at the end... compare this to most performances these days and I think you'll find them lacking. This is a top pop group of the day performing at their peak.. fantastic sound.. energetic cool charismatic frontman.. absolutely awesome drumming.. all without the technology modern performers use such as in ear monitors to hear the level he was singing.
joegormally1 3 months ago 2
Such a great singer, that note was just a minor fail.
undershadow007 4 months ago
Andy rolled his eyes..........I like when Simon does the swan dive.....
onegreenday 4 months ago
His voice just cracked a bit. No big deal. He's still a better singer than me
tj3688 4 months ago 5
I watch it live when it happened and I did laugh (I was only 14, what can I say?) but looking back now and just watching it again, it's really not a big deal at all. Nobody even really reacted to it, although I am sure Simon was probably a little embarrassed. Great times though. Long live the 80s!
LBart218 4 months ago 4
even just in the beginning of the song, he really sounds a little off....
praise20088888888 4 months ago
You know, exCEPT for the bad note, for a live performance and for the time, his voice is pretty good! I'm from a later era - this is learning history for me.
mathprodigy 4 months ago 3
You can hear he's pushing his voice. I read in an interview somewhere he states as such. He couldn't really hear himself back because of the screams and just kept pushing with that being the end result. Shows he's singing live and not miming. He also sounds really out of breath at the start of the song which probably didn't help matters either.
inkimuff 4 months ago 2
Simon fucked up here. That's alright and...well...kind of hilarious. It happens to all of us vocalists at some point or another. Still one of my favorite vocalists ever.
MaverickOrange 4 months ago 3
i miss simon's old voice
bvg83 4 months ago
Eh, this sort of thing happens. I don't know why people would hold one bad note against 100s of notes the guy sang. Le Bon is simply human (no, my name isn't a copy of his...there's a different story behind it, though it does relate to Le Bon's hairstyle...) but great performance. I love the guitar sound at 1:36...although I'd do that on the Bass Guitar; an instrument I play.
Just a quick question, where are the cables to the amps? I'm pretty sure it's not wireless?
RionZeBon 5 months ago
i guess i missed the end of the world
Simon4642 5 months ago
OK, it was an embarrasing moment, mainly because it was live aid with millons of people listening to it. But come on, LeBon is a very good singer, like Duran or not, it's not fair, it was just only one note.... THanks to technology, today there are singers unable to sing, however they do and nobody is asking if thet can or not....
darksideofdarkness 5 months ago 2
Only one bad note? If I was singing I'd only hit one good one.
LudgerBW 5 months ago
is all we NEE!
the80sdumpster 5 months ago 4
It was a pretty epic fail then... However, in light of today's music industry, it isn't that bad at all. How many young singers today can sing without the safety net of voice processing? If anyone starts naming people, they will only serve to prove my point further.
kasteman1 5 months ago 2
uh
you cant hear the backing vocals
MichaelHansenFUN 5 months ago
i saw this as it happened at a friends house
not on dvd of course
MichaelHansenFUN 5 months ago
Ouch. Poor guy. It wasn't that bad though.
shrub74 6 months ago
is that it..?
michaelgadsby 6 months ago
simon lebon still kicks ass!!!! give me a break!!! love that guy
kingmobforever 6 months ago
I bet they requested this one to not be used on the dvd because of the bad note. Also the start is missing so it wouldn't have worked anyway.
HarveyBacktheBeatles 6 months ago
@pinonoir302, I agree. And people say they suck, but can sit there and listen to kesha... Really? She lip sings! At least he can do it live and even if his voice did crack it really is not that bad... He hadn'd sung in a while... Go read Wild Boy!
Stargirl829 6 months ago
Comment removed
pinonoir302 6 months ago
@pinonoir302 No one even gives a shit.
Electronitron 6 months ago
@pinonoir302 I don't care about your idiotic thinking. This video is for everyone to watch and comment. Go trolling (and w@nking) somewhere else.
HitmanXP 5 months ago
That was it? Seriously?
Dotario147 6 months ago 3
All this means is He is actually singing ! Something these young turds in todays music don't do, Even with that autotune shit ! I would rather hear a mess up, than to see there mouth not match up with the song, If you can't sing it, Get your ass off the stage !
bobnegro1 6 months ago 3
feedback was horrible so i am guessing the monitors were crazy bad, i agree with the person who said when u cant hear u push ur vocals too hard and ur voice can do that...so what? it's not that bad. wiki can suck it for even mentioning this on their page.
Marty7Wizard 6 months ago
it's at 2:53, so you don't have to sit through that whole song
marksickmiller 6 months ago 30
@marksickmiller thanks m8!
seanokeogh1988 1 week ago
The mic is feeding back so bad. I bet the monitors were awful. Your voice cracks when you are pushing it too hard which happens when you can't hear yourself. Big effing deal.
tfranklin 6 months ago 11
If you've been singing for years, chances are something like this will happen. That said, Simon's vocals can be great one night and terrible the next. Not his fault, everyone's voice is different. Maybe mid-tour is the best time to see them?
ktdsound 7 months ago
It can happen...
mikyhard 7 months ago
when i first watched it on tv (i was 18 then i guess, now im 43) i cant believe it i dont know how to react coz duran duran was really so famous then...guess that false note is the reason why suddenly they lost their shine... im sad about it i luv duran duran...
SiL0n017 7 months ago
this is awesome, Simon is awesome, Duran Duran is awesome, and its such a little mistake in an otherwise altruistic venture; they weren't even getting paid for this :/
prcushinplaya08 7 months ago
It's not so bad....
VillaTragedia 8 months ago
still his jacket is worse than that note
lennynero90 8 months ago
not that bad but funny though :) anyways, there've been worse mistakes than his
Mike1GH 8 months ago
What a pro.
zionravescene 8 months ago
The first time I listened to this (I wasn't alive for the actual concert--I was born in '96), after I read about it on Wikipedia, I was all nervous nd my heart was pounding as it got closer to the end and I tried to figure out which note was the bad one, and then I heard it and it seemed kinda bad (it was really weird, I started giggling hysterically, haha) and now when I listen to it, im just like 'that's it? why did I think it was so bad b4?' It WAS blown out of proportion.
MelTorProductions 8 months ago 2
@MelTorProductions dude you don't even know Duran Duran so stfu
prcushinplaya08 7 months ago
@prcushinplaya08 I do know Duran Duran. So what if I wasn't alive in the '80's---I've listened to them for my whole life. And I wasn't insulting them or anything, I was just saying why is this such a big deal. his voice cracked on a note. So? that happens to a lot of singers. but when I read about it, they made it sound like he totally forgot all the lyrics or something.
MelTorProductions 7 months ago
This is their "most infamous moment"??? Thank GOD! I thought it was really disastrous, and it's just a fraction of a second of a very tiny note... He had no air left and the monitors were buzzing terribly... I wish my most infamous moments were like that!
balpk 8 months ago 3
i love you DD
mariamalvavisco 8 months ago in playlist Duran Duran Bloopers!
Sounds bad, but he was fighting with all the feedback with his mic and monitors !!!
inclaric 8 months ago
...estava indo tão bem...
Jorpaes 8 months ago
The feedback ringing out at 1:02-ish shows the monitors mix was not right. If you can't hear yourself your pitch will drift.
Dysanfel23 8 months ago
All bands screw up. Especially at such a big event. It makes him human, not a bad singer...
seethransom 8 months ago
this was just before they announced their split. they were burnt out
kiararei 9 months ago
yeah, its really not that bad, it happened, then a few seconds later i forgot i even heard it
silversunstaley 9 months ago
1. Watch Tears for Fears's performance of "Pale Shelter" at Rockpalast on Youtube. Curt TOTALLY blows a note but he just gives a wry smile because he knew it and kept on. It's just what pros do. Kudos to both for not lip syncing.
2. Seems like Live Aid was the death knell for a LOT of bands. Black Sabbath also broke up because they wanted Ozzy to sing at Live Aid even though Ronny James Dio was the singer at the time. He felt slighted and left the group.
3. Led Zep felt they sucked at LA too.
elgatonyc 9 months ago
Oh well, at least he CAN sing unlike the hacks of nowadays.
nljuggalo 9 months ago 2
Duran seemed to be writing a lot of choruses that pushed Simon's upper range at this point. I'd be surprised if the same thing didn't happen during "Wild Boys" somewhere, because he's on a tightrope throughout THAT bugger. There's a clip from early 1987 - "Notorious" on Jools Holland's old "The Tube" show - where he JUST escapes and John shoots him a "not again, mate" look. ... Lost in all this by the way, is how fucking great the "A View To A Kill" chorus is. Overproduced, but superb.
thegoldenyear 9 months ago
@calripfin
Geez, calm down before you have a heart attack. It's not THAT serious, is it?
Fakename70 9 months ago
Whats with the Feedbacks ? thats not Duran Duran`s Fault
Dfunkmstr 9 months ago
@Dfunkmstr I wonder if the monitors were off for the band.
seethransom 8 months ago
Yep his voice cracked...still a great song/show...I vaguely remember watching this on MTV (I was 9yrs old). The more insidious problem was the extensive amount of feedback from the mics/monitors/stadium sound system...other than that good show...
J1613R 10 months ago
2:54... JESUS CHRRRRRRRRRRRIST !!!
albundy33333 10 months ago
He started out rather bad, but it all started to seem nearly alright when the first chorus began. Like many of you said here, nowadays singers manage to fail a lot more than this.
lynceee 10 months ago
This is really not a big deal at all. Happens to many pop/rock singers very often. But the thing is, Simon looks really exhausted and like he's not feeling well. Take into consideration that the band chemistry wasn't that good at the time and he probably had done some chemistry backstage. :D But musically the version is pretty cool. Loving the thrashiness and edgy arrangement.
TommyJoeHansen 10 months ago
A lot of the performers at Live-Aid hit bad notes. Even Freddie Mercury had one or two cracks. Hell, Robert Plant hit more bad notes than good ones.
ryrybinks1 10 months ago 2
This is leagues better than the crap now.
TheSienna29 10 months ago 23
@TheSienna29 exactly
les555qq 5 months ago
i pay money to see bands perform live, not lip synching. this seems fine to me.
skouf007 10 months ago
What... is he ill?
Erictheeviltwin 10 months ago
Geez, thats nothing , can and does happen to any live peformer sooner or later. What about all the good notes? I was there that day, dont remember anybody even mentioning it.
ztoneish 10 months ago 2
I'd rather see that than all the pitch correction and lip synching used today!
zkhandwala 10 months ago 5
the whole Live Aid performance wasn't good vocal wise by Simon. It can happen.... he proved to be a very good vocalist over the years
DeWaterMusic 10 months ago
Yeah, this has been blown WAY outta proportion over the years. I've heard much worse.
andycane1 10 months ago
I think he did well doing this song despite it sounding rough. and the bad note at the end. There were a lot of reasons that this song sounded rough.
A. There was too much feedback coming from the mics.
B. They hadn't rehearsed all that much and had taken a break before this gig.
C. Tensions between the bandmates.
D. 7/13/1985 It must have been 90 degrees or higher outside in Philly, voice could have dried out.
E. Drugs and alcohol taken.
F. Hoopla surrounding Live Aid.
silent29dd 11 months ago
@silent29dd
G. Simon and Nick flew from UK to US few days before to perform it ( Tired )
H. You are gay!
TheCunnu12 10 months ago
@HitmanXP "before" is a preposition of time. I feel sorry for you ;)
Maybe you meant "in front of"? Don't worry, many Germans also mix it up.
nummernschalter 11 months ago
People are making a big deal about a bum note, but nobody is talking about how crappy and sad the freaking guitar player is, whatever Taylor he is....he looks as if he rolled out of the gutter after having a keg of beer and a kilo of coke. His performance through the whole thing was embarrassing!
kathyuk28 11 months ago
Was it really THAT embarassing? It happens to even the best singers out there!
ThrowntoReality 11 months ago
...Was that it? Really? From the way he gets on with it, he could have done it on purpose for all we know. It sounds like the same note, just an octave higher. Besides, it's not like it was an easy note to reach.
And for the record, why is everyone using Queen as an example for messing up? They were the best thing at Live Aid. Freddie Mercury had bad vocal problems since 1972, and still sang from then until 1991 without surgery on them. I'd love to see anyone else in the world do that.
TaylorMaydeInHeaven 11 months ago
Not worth talking about!
TRUMPER007 11 months ago
It gets funnier the more I watch!!!! AARRGGHH!!!! My sides hurt!
06macdonaldsmith 11 months ago
if you want bad slip ups, watch Queen's fat bottom girls at milton keyes 1982. the dvd version was overdubbed so watch my video for the undubbed version
Isle0fRed 1 year ago
Freddie Mercury did a lot worse after 1982. Look for a video with live bloopers of Queen.
mtsn 1 year ago
Duran duran's decline started in this period, but it was not this false note that killed the band.
Press was in this opinion, but i don't think that it is this one the cause. They were falling to pieces 'cause two of them wanted more rock in Durans meanwhile the others wanted to remain the same.
Anyway, i think that playing in this way, in front of an huge amount of people, without playing together since 2 YEARS, means that they were a fucking great band.
eldemasiado 1 year ago
@eldemasiado It's really not that bad. It happens to a lot of singers, live. The voice is strained, things like that happen, it's LIVE.There are bands for which the singer sings worse all the time (we don't have to name names do we). Maybe the press just wanted to "kill" this band.I don't even like Duran Duran, but I think it's unfair to bash them for that.
dummytree 11 months ago 2
@dummytree I totally agree! Last RHCP shows are really worst!
eldemasiado 11 months ago
@eldemasiado Oh yeah, you're right ! Fine example! I haven't heard them recently but there are many shows where Kiedis sang much worse than Simon here. And it's just mentioned here and there, but RHCP were not slaughtered for it. "Under the Bridge" is really dreadful at times.
dummytree 11 months ago
This was what all the fuzz was about? I thought he gave a great performance, a lot of singers have small fuck ups during the set, this definitely was not as bad as I thought. Killer song.
lennertriede 1 year ago
it just sounds like a singer with a bit of a sore throat slipping on a note.... i've heard the same thing HUNDREDS of times....
idiotslikeyou 1 year ago
OMG come on, that wasn't anything. I think what fed it was that Andy Taylor made a big deal about it on interviews and in his book "Wild Boy". Simon Le Bon also was embarrassed cuz he was so consistent for so long but he need to understand everybody cracks live sometime no matter how good you are. Even Michael Jackson himself I've heard crack on live performances. Big deal! He probably was just out of breath. Especially when you dont sing DD tunes for over a year? Seriously now...
MrNostalgiaX 1 year ago
I'm sure nobody in the audience noticed that as a mistake, they were too busy jumping and shouting, and I would have been too XD
mircea1910 1 year ago 2
Hum... It's not so bad huh? And isn't a falsete like some tell, it happens...
anascimento 1 year ago
The greatest soccer players have failed penalties in a World Cup final; presidents have said and done stupid things countless times; in fact, we all have screwed up sometime and the world goes on; therefore, why would I judge such a great and accomplished band for an insignificant second? I judge DD for their 13 records, for a career of more than 3 decades, for the great influence on so many followers and bands.
alexmejia26 1 year ago
That wasn't nearly as bad as I imagined haha
Meakx 1 year ago
"chaqueteo" is a word that we use in Chile when a succesfull, clever and talentous guy is victim of the envy and/or indifference of the mass. Reading some comments I realize that "chaqueteo" is not only a chilean disease...
carnerocastro 1 year ago
that wasn't anything. are you kidding me?! please.....
i've seen artists that get more respect hit many false notes in one song.
jasminnie 1 year ago
No biggie.
Euadam 1 year ago
Where's Auto-tune when you need it.
EdBlackmail 1 year ago
@EdBlackmail Time travel machine to 1985!
balpk 8 months ago
HAHAHHAHHAHAHAHAH. Epic.
HorridFroth 1 year ago
i remember watching this. what a big fuss over nothing. simon sounds great!
bubblegum8ish 1 year ago
from 2:40-3:00 is pure Duran Bliss!!!! Never mind LeBon...Rhodes is inaudible, R.Taylor falls victim to the Simmons drum pads Andy's bum notes and John's bass (or lack thereof)!! This pretty much sealed the deal! I thought this would sound better online then on BETA, but i was F'ing wrong!!
mherrenschmidt 1 year ago
oh well it was 1985 25 yrs ago and duran are still goin strong and simon is sexy as ever even with a beard lol
julieanddavid 1 year ago
I'd still do him.
Sonyag1 1 year ago
Anybody who's ever sung live or performed theatre knows that this stuff happens all the time. Singers and actors are constantly battling adrenaline, colds, flus, and just overusing their voices in ways that they were not made to be used. Great song and it only proves artists are human beings. I don't know why fans get so awed by stars as if they aren't like you and me...but have way more money and no privacy.
elfhermie 1 year ago 2
Really not as bad as made out, it's live music, not studio tweaked forty ways with ProTools and auto-tuned like we hear today. It clearly throws him off stride though, poor guy.
brainiacgames 1 year ago 2
andy taylor's biography of duran duran starts w/ a narrative of this event! they hadn't spoken to each other or played together in months and were all worn out, drug weary, and sick of each other.....and this would be the last time the 5 original members played together for almost 20 years!! that kills me. ..... fame puts you there where things are hollow.....
mimsy12 1 year ago
always funny to see nick rhodes pretending to play fairlight's sound from the jupiter 8...I think he was the only one fakeplaying in the band these years.
discodelirio 1 year ago
is this simon from american idols?
Bigrobkerr 1 year ago
@Bigrobkerr That's Simon Cowel (SP?)...this is Simon LeBon....:)
They have a new tune on Itunes...might still be *free*, too !!!
*hugs*
LadyM
Ladyinnocentus 1 year ago
I thought his choreography was more embarrassing than the vocal slip.. I'm just saying
ajrama1 1 year ago 2
it's not that bad, i expected a lot worse when I read about it on Wikipedia
ShieldsJohnny 1 year ago 40
@ShieldsJohnny I didn't think it was that bad either
Hopper3513 1 year ago
@ShieldsJohnny Me too.
carnerocastro 1 year ago
@ShieldsJohnny Me too. Wasn't that funny either.
MatheusBond 9 months ago
@ShieldsJohnny yes--me too
ilovegeorgeharrison4 8 months ago
@ShieldsJohnny Haha, this version is different somehow. If you look up clips of just that note, it's pretty bad :/ you have to feel bad for him...
TheMartini1234 7 months ago
@ShieldsJohnny
I agree with you, it's not nearly so bad as Wikipedia made it out to be.
rm06c 7 months ago
yeh thats pretty horrid but shit happens thats a minor that aint a critical and i aint making any excuse but you know what! I am. That happened cos man was blatantly distracted by that shit set up. That feedback was awful , it sounds loud on here imagine that with 1000 watts in your ear 30 times while u perform haha. No wonder he didnt walk off to be honest.
Bands of that caliber should not be on stage with shit sound engineers. Sorry
VINYLSAMURAIS 1 year ago
@VINYLSAMURAIS you got that right my friend hehe
BryanHolopainen 1 year ago
it's true, he sung false but I've heard at least 9 larsen returns, 7 before he sung false so probably he was listening at something completely different than the rest of the world was playing/earing ;)
italienenfrance 1 year ago
I watched this live that day and laughed so hard. Haven't thought of it in 25 years , thank you.
Arthurstedzarelli 1 year ago
No big deal at all! It was still an excellent overall performance of a very tough song to sing...
I bet he was haunted by that one for a while though.....if only due to where it happened...
Oh well, isn't it amazing to think how sophisticated many bands were back then, a lot of today's pop music is pre-programmed tripe and half the pop "artists" are singers with a studio assembled "band" if not a totally computer created backing track.
400SA 1 year ago
For more dreadful Le Bon vocals listen to their live album "Arena"
mintybartlam 1 year ago
That was it?? lol. So many of today's singers can't hack it live at all. This isn't a bad performance, really. That one little note wasn't the big deal everyone made it into.
aparker22418 1 year ago 2
that definitely shouldnt have killed duran duran. the feed back was waaaaay worse than going over pitch for a milisecond. Oh well, arcadia and the power station come out of this little mishap. im pretty thankful.
gimpslave1 1 year ago
that definitely shouldnt have killed duran duran. the feed back was waaaaay worse than going over pitch for a milisecond. Oh well, arcadia and the power station come out of this little mishap. im pretty thankful.
gimpslave1 1 year ago
lulz
gofyerself 1 year ago
Umm, it isn't that bad. He's off note maybe a second and it's certainly not enough to ruin the song. There have been plenty of live performances out there where a singer hits a bad note more than once. It's expected but no big deal.
areasmith 1 year ago
at least it proves he wasnt lip synching
garethkielty 1 year ago 39
@garethkielty you're absolutely right...
SiL0n017 7 months ago
"THAT-FATAL-KISS-IS-ALL-WE-NEEEEEEEEEEUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!"
Great song from a talented band but a BUMMER moment for Le Bon. Don't worry Simon, only about 1 Billion people were watching you, ha ha. Yeah A View To Kill was a huge hit as i recall, and rightly so, one of the more memorable Bond themes imo along with Wings Live and Let Die.
DCHurlford1 1 year ago 2
@DCHurlford1 think he was out of breath
StikManJones 1 year ago
At this point in Duran Duran's lives the band was going through a lot, It was Roger's and Andy's last performances. There was a lot of arguments and disputes amongst the band. The use of Drugs and alcohol did not help either
ohio1969 1 year ago
He was getting absolutely no help from the backup singers. But yeah -- kind of a funny moment.
KeyboardRambo 1 year ago
wtf? people are being soooo critical. his voice is amazing live. he hits high notes easily and holds them. that one tiny voice break is nothing. its not like he really went for the note- look how out of breath he was. it was a smooth voice break as well- it sounds like it could have been done on purpose.
mtstrat1 1 year ago
At that point, I don't think that Simon really had a view to a kill chorus mastered vocally as in later tours. I don't believe he could have pulled off wild boys that night. In later years he was more coordinated in his singing. Anyway, he is still a great performer
lakechaney 1 year ago
MTV when ever you see that today all u here is nigger this and nigger that god i hate todays music
TheCasualTim 1 year ago
better then lip syncing
rob92376 1 year ago
Andy Taylor's bio explains this pretty well. The band were completely burned out at this point and their hearts were no longer in it ..... Alcoholism & coke use didn't help.
Joanne1974KiwiGirl 1 year ago
simon looks like elvis presley in this video.
boybente 1 year ago
Comment removed
boybente 1 year ago
So what? I like this perfomance, and this mistake is nothing. Everyone who sing live can have mistake like this one.
I LOVE DD!!!
deja90mj 1 year ago
YOU SING IT
niftykaffeine67 1 year ago
LOL ahhh Simon ! A hardcore fan since 1983 when I was 14 and first heard them and then saw a pic of John Taylor in Ray Bans. I was deeply romantically in love and still am, Simon's sqeak makes them all the more human and much more adorable :)
ALarkins769 1 year ago
Hey simon..didn't know you are my half uncle,,,hey...its always good to know your family..
MXD2006 1 year ago
Freddie Mercury missed a few notes at Live Aid as well. Man, I was expecting much worse than this. People need to get a life, the feedback during the song was worse than one missed note during what's a pretty good performance. Queen raised the bar pretty high earlier in the show and everyone was under more pressure to make an impact. Duran Duran pulled it off!
nocalsteve 1 year ago 3
Ive heard people say that they thought Simon Le Bons voice was struggling throughout the whole song during this performance, it doesnt sound like that to me, it sounds like a very good rendition of the studio version to me.
Carbon657 1 year ago
Who was playing drums? Looks more like the drummer from Culture Club than Roger....??
beachgal26 1 year ago
So he missed a note. Been a Duranie since '83. That said..... Simon was clearly not at par. He sounds a hell of a lot better these days. Period.
Latas33007 1 year ago
Give me a break- so he missed a note, whatever. He's human, but he is also a genious. No one could compare to Duran Duran in those days. And they made a lasting impression for decades to come. Much more then I can say for any "performer" these days. Oh wait--- Adam Lambert will save us all.....NOT!!!!!
chestnuthillgirl 1 year ago 3
I still think this performance is incredible, despite the (over exaggerated) false note.
CaptinHeather 1 year ago
Comment removed
CaptinHeather 1 year ago
Bum note or no bum note - this is BRILLIANT! Completely live Duran Duran and gutted I wasn't around for their glory years...
Professor263 1 year ago
Aaaahh well every singer makes mistakes
Oobers9532 1 year ago
not that bad
JohnwiththeMustaches 1 year ago
Hey, he WAS singing. Much better than the SNL lip-synchers, pre-teen girl-wonders-turned-young-sluts, & bad Madonna impersonators that seem to be all modern "music" can manage to provide in the last 10 years or so. The 80's were most definitely THE decade for rock .... and LOTS of it. Will it ever happen again, maybe, who knows. But not yet.
offamychain 1 year ago
Phil Collins made a bigger boob,but collins is a genuis,s-le bon is well,say no more.
tattysnr 1 year ago
I hate Duran Duran, always have, always will. But as far as an 'infamous moment' goes, that is blown completely out of proportion. This isn't that big of a deal.
4JayeP 1 year ago
This bad note ruined his career sadly. What is sad is that he was very close to the end of the song. Who know what Duran Duran may have gone on to do had his voice not broken at that moment.
pmanngw 1 year ago
@pmanngw "This bad note ruined his career sadly."
Don't know much about Duran Duran, do you?
Albums: Notorious = U.K. Gold, U.S. Platinum / Big Thing = U.K. Silver, U.S. Gold / Wedding Album = U.K. Gold, U.S. Platinum / Thank You = U.S. Gold / Astronaut = U.K. Gold
Singles: Notorious = U.K. #7, U.S. #2 / I don't want your love = U.S. #4 / Ordinary World = U.K. #6, U.S. #3 / Come Undone = U.S. #7 / Sunrise = U.K. #5
All AFTER Live-Aid. Now what were you saying about a "ruined career"?
offamychain 1 year ago 2
well, i think it was good, and i wasn't even born when this was sung! one bum note? just coz studios can blank it out now, concerts are special.
MouseholesRose 1 year ago
Seriously??? Who was their sound person at this time? They were having quite a bit of feedback problems. As a performer I can say that when you are having to deal with these kinds of issues it can definitely throw you off on stage no matter how long you have been performing. Also, bad sound can cause a singer to strain their voice if they can't hear themselves. You push a note that high in your register while straining through bad sound and that can happen. :(
MelodyCool 1 year ago
It didnt sound that bad.I don't know what the big deal is!
sansam25 1 year ago 2
Who cares about a one second of a great song at a great performance. Anyone who remembers this has missed the point of Live Aid or Duran Duran. What was the term my grandma used to say Knit-picky.
gt1982mustang 1 year ago
he was NEVER EVER a good front man....by the way, when i saw them in puerto rico during notorious tour, i was 11yo and i have to admit...THEY BROUGHT THE STADIUM DOWN! my tonsils still hurt from that nite....
elsoda 1 year ago
damn i cant believe they were considered the heroes of the 80s, the only good album to be honest with you that i spent $ 10 was on RIO, and yet there is only like 4 songs out of the album that are ALRIGHT. Never seen a band do so much damage to their own song... its funny though
dumdumfriend 1 year ago