Power Mad!

John and Andy Taylor performing as The Power Station (1985)

The Power Station tour is certainly spectacular. For transport they use nothing less than a private jet, stocked with the most exquisite food and finest champagne. Limousines are always on hand for Power Station members John Taylor, Andy Taylor, Michael Des Barres and Tony Thompson, while the backing band and road crew have two luxury coaches.

Both John and Andy have a bodyguard each, coincidentally both called Dave. One is English (while working with Wham in China he helped save the day when they crashed on the way from to Canton from Peking). The other is a tough, ex New York cop.

But despite the trimmings, it's a back-to-basics tour - back to good ol' rock'n'roll, that is.

Although The Power Station have played to smaller audiences than Duran Duran would have done, both John and Andy are thoroughly enjoying themselves. And it shows.

Getting up time is mostly just before the soundcheck. To cut out early morning departures, The Power Station usually leave town straight after the concert, arrive at their next destination a few hours later, sleep all day and then repeat it all the following night.

The Power Station on tour: limousines, private jet, exquisite food and champagne

When I joined them they were halfway through their tour and thriving on it. Dallas was their base, and for three days they flew up to Houston or Austin in the late afternoon, did the soundcheck, played the concert and flew back to Dallas again straight afterwards.

Partying is very much the order of the night. For this the private plane is very convenient. And it helps to have an experienced road crew who have worked with The Rolling Stones and David Bowie!

The Power Station's backing band also has a long rock'n'roll pedigree. They've just finished touring with Julian Lennon and consist of Frank Elmo on sax, Gary Wallis from Nik Kershaw's backing band on percussion, Chuck Kentis on keyboards and two back-up singers, Curtis King and Phil Ballou.

The singer who replaced Robert Palmer on tour, Michael Des Barres, fits into this set-up very well. His performance is incredibly physical and sexy - just like the music - and his voice is a curious mixture of Rod Stewart's rough tones and Robert Palmer's smooth vocals.

The Power Station show is a very entertaining one and a half hours of pure rock'n'roll. They do Dancing In The Streets, Some Like It Hot, Lonely Tonight, Go To Zero, Harvest For The World and a couple of Des Barres compositions - Too Good To Be Bad and Obsession - the same song that Animotion have just had a big hit with. They also play Duran Duran's Hungry Like The Wolf and The Reflex plus Robert Palmer's Some Guys Have All The Luck.

The tour line-up featuring new singer Michael Des Barres replacing Robert Palmer (above)

Andy Taylor bases his performances on that of his greatest hero Rolling Stones' guitarist Keith Richards, while John comes out of his shell completely to share the limelight with Andy and Michael.

The gig finishes on an incredible high. Both John and Andy are playing their hearts out...

Since last night's party finished later than expected - or earlier, depending on which way you look at it - John Taylor has only got up.

While he's been sleeping, Dallas has been deluged by a torrential thunderstorm, and on his way to The Power Station's soundcheck, he's bemused to find that abandoned cars litter the streets and chaotic flooded scenes fill the famous oil rich city.

Stretching himself out comfortably in the back of his luxurious limousine, he's only too happy to talk about the subject that's been consuming all his energy for months now - his precious Power Station project and their current tour of America...

The boys of summer '85

"I didn't realise how heavy and raunchy the show was going to be," he admits.

"Michael's more from the old school of rock'n'roll, and he fits in very well. Although Andy and I have become real frontmen as well. Michael is very disclipined and reliable. There has to be somebody in the band like that, because me, Andy and Tony are in it for the laughs. It's an excuse for a lot of parties! So far, it's been a lot of fun," he continues.

"It doesn't matter that we're not playing in front of as many people as we would have done with Duran. That's not the point. We don't have a serious attitude to it, it's a back to basics really. In a sense it's just fun, but at the same time everybody is playing as if their lives depended on it - really well."

"I don't want to feel as if every day is make or break careerwise. It's nice to do something just for the hell of it. Duran Duran aren't really a good time rock'n'roll band, whereas this band could play in a bar! I always missed that with Duran - there was no spontaneity. This show is so different. We jam onstage and slip in little bits. It's me and Andy let loose!" 

What happened to Robert Palmer (The Power Station's original singer)? Why didn't he come on tour?

"He was advised not to do it, basically. On reflection I don't think it would have suited him anyway. Robert doesn't really like touring, and I don't think he would have been able to handle the audiences we're getting. I was determined that Michael would work out, because if he hadn't we wouldn't have had time to find anyone else. Michael has become the live version of Robert Palmer, of Power Station. He's got the same kind of soul in his voice."

How did you feel about the Live Aid show in Philadelphia (where both the Power Station and Duran Duran played)?

"Well it didn't go badly considering we were following Led Zeppelin! The sound was terrible - the worst sound of the day - and we had a technical problem and could only do two numbers instead of three. I was really pissed off about that. I couldn't really enjoy it until we'd finished, but when I look back, what a day! The ironic thing for me was that during the second Duran song the radio pick-up broke down between my amp and my guitar and it was being satellited all over the world! I coudn't believe it. But somehow afterwards it didn't matter. It was the sense of occasion. What was great in Philly was that it crossed the gaps between all the legends of the music business. With Band Aid in London we were all the same age, but here I was standing next to Bob Dylan and Joan Baez."

The Power Station at Live Aid in Philadelphia (1985)

The Power Station tour is going well. Did you expect that at the beginning?

"Well, I'm not daft. I knew that we would attract a few kids, if not quite so many as Duran Duran. Musically it's come together a lot easier. It took Duran Duran about four years to get that tight. I love touring. I've been in the studio since last June, a year, and I had to get out of it. Duran were going to tour this summer, but it got knocked on the head. Me and Andy are really the touring fanatics. The other three don't really like it that much."

Have your musical abilities improved a lot by working with a lot of other musicians for such a long time?

"Yeah, I find it very easy to play now. I'm not worrying about it. That's the nice thing about Power Station - everybody is so casual about it, but onstage they produce such a dynamite sound. It's not a sloppy show that's just an excuse to get on the road. It's a really good, tight and exciting show. We're here to do business. Financially we'll probably just break even. We're not going to make a lot of money, although we'll sell more records. The album has just gone platinum here in America."

Were you a bit disappointed with the British reaction towards the album?

"I knew that the critics wouldn't like it. It was a very American album, no doubt about that. But I was a little bit disappointed with the record company. They didn't seem to understand it; they didn't know how to sell it. It seems to have become the perfect American radio record at the moment, although it wasn't meant to be. It used always to be Van Halen's album before."

You have become quite Americanised. You worked practically the whole of last year in New York and you've now bought an apartment there.

"Not that I've moved into it yet. It's not ready. It will be ready when we finish the tour, but I'll be going on holiday then. I'll disappear for a month. I need it.

The Power Station on the set of 'Miami Vice' (1985)

With that parting shot John has leave to dive under a shower and get himself ready for tonight's performance. Straight after the show he'll be flying to Miami, for a day's filming on the set of Miami Vice.

The programme's Don Johnson is a friend of Michael Des Barres and has joined The Power Station on stage for a couple of shows. Now he's suggested that The Power Station play the part of a bar band in one of the episodes.

Everyone is excited about it, although it means they'll have to give up what was going to be a precious day off. Still, that's life. And it's definitely rock'n' roll.

Gabrielle Sneddon-Pike (No1 Magazine - 1985)