Dare to Be Different – A review by Andrea Goldstein

Having grown up on Long Island in the 80s, I was an avid fan of the now defunct radio station WLIR 92.7 FM (and its subsequent doppelganger WDRE). Back then there was no internet, so we relied on the radio as our discovery engine.

At the time, I took for granted that I had access to a commercial radio station that opened me to a new world of Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Cure, New Order, The Clash, The Smiths, U2, the B-52s, the Ramones, REM and too many others to mention.  

I can fondly recall attending my first “real” concert at Jones Beach Theater with headliner Howard Jones. (Where did I hear HoJo first?  WLIR, of course.  

Way before his ballad “No One is to Blame” became a Top 40 radio hit.)  I also devoured magazines like Star Hits and its UK sister magazine Smash Hits to read more about these new acts.

So, you can imagine how excited I was to hear that a documentary about WLIR was in the works (through a Facebook community I joined a few years ago for middle aged hipsters who longed for the days of WLIR/WDRE).  The film, after 7 years of production, was finally released last week at the Tribeca Film Festival.  

Dare to Be Different, gets its name from the marketing slogan for the station and for the most part does not disappoint.  First time director and WLIR superfan Ellen Goldfarb traces the story of the Hempstead, NY radio station and its visionary program director, Denis McNamara, who in 1982 decided to go for a “new music” format.  WLIR had nothing to lose, being a scrappy low wattage station trying to forge an identity among album oriented rock stations that flooded the NYC area airwaves with much higher reach.

The documentary features interviews with music industry types (Sire Records’ Seymour Stein), WLIR DJ’s (Larry the Duck, Malibu Sue, Donna Donna), interns (Gary from the Howard Stern Show!), listeners and the artists discussing the impact of WLIR, whether personally or professionally.

Among that list of artists, you may recognize Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran (who played their first US gig on Long Island thanks to WLIR), Howard Jones, Billy Idol, Live Aid co-founder Midge Ure, Tom Bailey of the Thompson Twins, Curt Smith of Tears for Fears, Jim Kerr of Simple Minds, Deborah Harry of Blondie, Fred Schneider of the B-52s, and Joan Jett, who wrote a theme song just for the movie called what else, “Dare to Be Different.”

Many themes are explored in the documentary (which could all be their own movies) including women in rock, art vs. commerce, political activism, crazy 80s style (the hairspray!), the legacy of 80s music, the spirit of discovery vs. corporate ownership and ultimately the legal and federal regulation issues that brought WLIR to an end in December 1987.  

However, one theme rings loud and clear, by “daring to be different” WLIR had a huge impact on the music industry, breaking great acts that may have otherwise never gotten a larger audience nor sold millions of records.

This fun, nostalgic trip has one small issue.  It omits any mention of WDRE, even in the post script.  WDRE, while under separate ownership, came on the air the following day and carried on the tradition of WLIR’s commitment to new music and even retained some of its popular DJs into the early aughts.  Yet, the film’s narrative claims that there was a void that could never be filled again.

As a loyal Dare card carrying listener, I was sad that WLIR as we knew it was no more, but WDRE filled the void even as New Wave went out of style and was replaced by the grunge of the Pacific NW.  However, WDRE never quite matched the golden years of 1982-1987, perhaps why Goldfarb chose to omit it from the story.

In a post screening Q&A, Goldfarb mentioned that there might be a soundtrack released as well as a companion book where she could include the 200 hours of footage and interviews that didn’t make it into the 90 minute film.  Clearly, 30 years on, there is still a hunger for the kind of organic discovery that WLIR gave many fans in the 80s.

Andrea Goldstein is a 

digital marketing 

professional with a passion 

for all things ‘80s. 

She can be reached at 

@nydigitalmarket on Twitter.

facebook.com/daretobedifferentthemovie

twitter.com/DTBDthemovie 

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Duran Duran’s John Taylor ‘In the Pleasure Groove’ book launch in NYC

by Andrea Goldstein (Twitter@nydigitalmarket)

“I imagine he must have had quite the writer’s cramp after an earlier signing at a midtown Barnes & Noble!”
~~ Andrea Goldstein


On October 16th, I attended the US book launch for "In the Pleasure Groove: Love, Death and Duran Duran" by John Taylor (Twitter handle @thisistherealJT, #ITPG). The event was held at the Tribeca branch of the 92nd Street Y.

Once a pinup on millions of teenagers’ walls, John Taylor is now 52 years old, sober and happily married to the co-founder of Juicy Couture, Gela Nash. The road getting there wasn’t easy, as Mr. Taylor recounts in his autobiography, which saw its US release date on October 16th (the book has been out in his native UK for the past month).

As you might expect, the sold out audience was mostly women over the age of 35, who were “Duranies” growing up (I count myself as one of them). There were a few males in the audience, including one eager fan who left midway through the audience Q&A to secure his place as first in line for the post event book signing.

Glenda Bailey, Editor in Chief of Harpers’ Bazaar, served as moderator/interviewer. She was a perfect choice, since she and Mr. Taylor are both from the Midlands in England, are around the same age, and share a passion for fashion. Ms. Bailey asked questions ranging from why he wrote the book (his parents had both died in the past few years and he wanted to honor them somehow), to his discovery of glam and punk rock, drug use and one night stands with assorted women, and his recovery and current marriage.

I found Mr. Taylor to be quite frank, funny and charming throughout the hour plus interview and reading. His persona is one of a gawky, shy kid (as he describes in the book) married with the confidence and ego of a well-seasoned rock star. While there are some Youtube videos of him reading passages from the book, it was a treat to hear them read aloud in person. Mr. Taylor read excerpts including going to church with his mother as a boy (she was a devout Catholic), alcohol and drug addiction, then recovery and finally, a beautifully vivid description of Duran Duran’s moments before going on stage at Coachella in 2011.

The event was a benefit for a NYC based non-profit that Mr. Taylor supports called Road Recovery. Road Recovery provides programs for at-risk youth battling addictions and other adversities. Other high profile music industry veterans who support the organization are Sharon Osbourne, Tony Bennett and Slash. www.roadrecovery.org

Ten interesting tidbits ...

• Princess Diana’s favorite band was Duran Duran and he met her during the Prince’s Trust Concert in 1985. When asked if he flirted with her, he first said no, but changed it to a maybe a little bit.
• When asked why rock stars pair up with models, he responded with an answer that his band mate Simon LeBon would give: “Why does a dog lick his own balls? Because he can!”
• When they toured the US in the 80s, their tour manager used to give a daily itinerary with city, the time for sound check and a number (18, 19, 20) to let him know what the age of consent was in that particular state.
• Since his wife is a fashion designer, he said he never had the need to buy clothes when he was getting them for free. When her men’s line was discontinued, he had to re-learn how to go shopping!
• When asked about former band mate Andy Taylor’s book, he was diplomatic saying that he was glad Andy wrote his book, but alluded to some bitterness between them when he said that ITPG was written when he was in a good place with his current band mates and “did not throw anyone under the bus.”
• He had no further plans to act or go the solo route.
• If he could relive one event in his life, it would be coming to NYC for the first time when they played the Ritz in 1981.
• He joked about UK boy band One Direction, saying he would pat them on the head to welcome them into the music community
• The hardest part of the book to write was about his addictions and his co-author Tom Sykes had to push him to dig deeper
• He and his wife are fans of E’s Fashion Police

Although I did not stay for the signing, which apparently went on well into the evening; here are some pictures of Mr. Taylor signing for the many fans who waited online to meet their idol (courtesy of Duran Duran’s Facebook page). I imagine he must have had quite the writer’s cramp after an earlier signing at a midtown Barnes & Noble!

Andrea Goldstein (Twitter@nydigitalmarket) works for major publishers as a digital marketing consultant by day. While attending various NYC cultural and business events she also enjoys moonlighting as a writer."