Color photograph of John Taylor in a black and red shirt with yellow text

English musician, singer, songwriter, producer, and actor John Taylor (born June 20, 1960) is one of the founding members of Duran Duran. Duran Duran was a popular new wave and synth-pop band that first emerged in the late 1970s and went on to achieve international success in the 1980s and 90s. Taylor played bass guitar in Duran Duran from 1978 through 1997, when he left the band to pursue a solo career. John Taylor reunited with the original five members of Duran Duran in 2001 and has continued to play with the band since.

Released in November 1983, Seven and the Ragged Tiger is Duran Duran’s third studio album. After the massive success of their previous two albums, Duran Duran struggled to write and record new material for Seven and the Ragged Tiger. Although the album was commercially successful, eventually becoming Duran Duran’s first and only number one album in the United Kingdom, critical reaction was mixed. In an interview with AV Club/Music, John Taylor looks back fondly on his band’s third album: “I love the sound of that album now. It’s just not in-your-face like the first albums. It’s a much softer, much more subtle seduction…We were trying to be grown up.”

Color photograph of John Taylor in a white shirt and black jacket with a blue stripe across the bottom and white text

English musician, singer, songwriter, producer, and actor John Taylor (born June 20, 1960) is one of the founding members of Duran Duran. Duran Duran was a popular new wave band that first emerged in the late 1970s and went on to achieve international success in the 1980s and 90s. Duran Duran was especially popular with teenage girls and band members were often featured in teen magazines and polls. In the 1980s, John Taylor was as famous for his good looks and hip style as he was for his musical skills. Taylor played bass guitar in Duran Duran from 1978 through 1997, when he left the band to pursue a solo career. John Taylor reunited with the original five members of Duran Duran in 2001 and has continued to play with the band since.

Color photograph of John Taylor in black with red sleeves and white text

English musician, singer, songwriter, producer, and actor John Taylor (born June 20, 1960) is one of the founding members of Duran Duran. Duran Duran was a popular new wave and synth-pop band that first emerged in the late 1970s and went on to achieve international success in the 1980s and 90s. Taylor played bass guitar in Duran Duran from 1978 through 1997, when he left the band to pursue a solo career. John Taylor reunited with the original five members of Duran Duran in 2001 and has continued to play with the band since.

Released in November 1983, Seven and the Ragged Tiger is Duran Duran’s third studio album. After the massive success of their previous two albums, Duran Duran struggled to write and record new material for Seven and the Ragged Tiger. Although the album was commercially successful, eventually becoming Duran Duran’s first and only number one album in the United Kingdom, critical reaction was mixed. In an interview with AV Club/Music, John Taylor looks back fondly on his band’s third album: “I love the sound of that album now. It’s just not in-your-face like the first albums. It’s a much softer, much more subtle seduction…We were trying to be grown up.”

Color photograph of Duran Duran

Duran Duran is an English new wave and synth-pop band that were first formed in Birmingham in 1978. The band got their name from Dr. Durand Durand, a character in the 1968 science fiction film Barbarella. Duran Duran’s original line up included keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bass guitarist John Taylor, drummer Roger Taylor, guitarist Andy Taylor, and lead singer Simon Le Bon. Duran Duran experienced huge commercial success in the 1980’s and 1990’s, due in no small part to the development of music video channel MTV. Known for their good looks, fashionable image, and sharp visual style, Duran Duran were a perfect fit for MTV, where music videos were played on 24 hour cycles, providing bands with regular exposure and promotion. Duran Duran were among the first bands to shoot their music videos with professional movie cameras on 35 mm film, giving their videos a professional look that was superior to many other music videos at the time.

Color photograph of Duran Duran on a white background

Duran Duran is an English new wave and synth-pop band that were first formed in Birmingham in 1978. The band got their name from Dr. Durand Durand, a character in the 1968 science fiction film Barbarella. Duran Duran’s original line up included keyboardist Nick Rhodes, bass guitarist John Taylor, drummer Roger Taylor, guitarist Andy Taylor, and lead singer Simon Le Bon. Duran Duran experienced huge commercial success in the 1980’s and 1990’s, due in no small part to the development of music video channel MTV. Known for their good looks, fashionable image, and sharp visual style, Duran Duran were a perfect fit for MTV, where music videos were played on 24 hour cycles, providing bands with regular exposure and promotion. Duran Duran were among the first bands to shoot their music videos with professional movie cameras on 35 mm film, giving their videos a professional look that was superior to many other music videos at the time.

Diamond with blue and gold background color and a white star and moon on a black background with white text

Released in November 1983, Seven and the Ragged Tiger is the third studio album by English new wave/synth-pop band Duran Duran. Duran Duran wrote and recorded this album while on self-imposed “tax exile”; after earning considerable wealth from the sales of their first two albums, band members left the UK in order to avoid paying taxes on their newly made income. Seven and the Ragged Tiger was written and recorded all over the world, from Cannes, in the south of France to the Caribbean island of Montserrat, with recording finally completed in Sydney, Australia. After the massive success of their previous two albums, Duran Duran struggled to write and record new material for Seven and the Ragged Tiger. Although the album was commercially successful, eventually becoming Duran Duran’s first and only number one album in the United Kingdom, critical reaction was mixed. Duran Duran singer Simon Le Bon describes Seven and the Ragged Tiger as, “an adventure story about a little commando team. 'The Seven' is for…the five band members and the two managers and 'the Ragged Tiger' is success. Seven people running after success. It's ambition. That's what it's about.”

Color photograph of Culture Club with a white top edge with black text and yellow above

Culture Club is an English new wave band that first formed in 1981. Band members include Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar), and Jon Moss (drums and percussion). This image of the band was used on the cover of the extended dance mix of their second single “I’m Afraid of Me,” which was released in June 1982.

Culture Club were very successful in their 1980’s heyday, well-known for lead singer Boy George’s eccentric, androgynous style and for incorporating a variety of musical genres into hit songs like “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me?,” “Karma Chameleon,” and “I’ll Tumble 4 Ya”. Culture Club broke up in 1986 due to Boy George’s escalating drug use. After numerous attempts to get back together in the 1990’s and early 2000’s, Culture Club officially reunited in 2014.

White text outlined in black on a colorful background

The Circle Jerks were a hardcore punk rock band from Los Angeles, CA. They were formed in 1979 by Black Flag singer Keith Morris and Red Kross guitarist Greg Hetson. The Circle Jerks released their first album, Group Sex, in 1980 on Frontier Records and then went on to record five more studio albums. The band took time off from recording and touring twice during the 1990s and they are currently on hiatus due to a dispute between band members.

Color photograph of Billy Idol with white text

Billy Idol is the stage name of English musician, songwriter, and actor William Michael Albert Broad (born November 30, 1955). Billy Idol first rose to fame in the 1970s as the lead singer of punk rock band Generation X. Part of the “Second British Invasion" of music acts from the United Kingdom, Idol achieved worldwide commercial success after the release of his first solo album Billy Idol in 1982. Billy Idol was an MTV staple in the 1980s, and music videos for Idol’s hit songs, including “White Wedding”, “Rebel Yell”, and “Dancing with Myself”, aired frequently throughout the decade.

Red and blue text with red and blue illustrations of a building and anthropomorphized tools on a white background

Benjamin Harris Co. Inc. was a button manufacturing company that originated in Queens, New York, and later moved to Long Island City. In 1971, Benjamin Harris Co. was mentioned in a New York Times article about an increasing trend in smiley face buttons. Benjamin Harris Co. made roughly $5 million in smiley face button sales during the 1970s. Smiley face buttons were gifts in dentist offices and served as peace symbols in psychedelic shops. People wore smiley face buttons to remind themselves to smile, make other people feel good, or simply because everyone else was wearing them. A 2023 auction sold a rare Benjamin Harris Co. promotional button for the 1960 United States presidential election for $623. Within the last two decades, there was only one other sale of the 1960 election button, making it a “rare and interesting piece of American campaign history.”