Fact #97667

Rob Hallett (music promoter) : I was sitting in my office late one Friday night listening to a cassette that was sent in from a band in Birmingham when the phone rang. It was the Marquee Club in Wardour Street advising me that The Associates had pulled out of the Sunday and asking did I have a replacement? I told them that I was listening to a demo from an unsigned band that I liked, maybe they should book them? We agreed, and Duran Duran played their first London gig forty-eight hours later. I had a good Saturday and forgot to go, however two weeks later I had them open for John Cooper Clarke/Pauline Murray and The Invisible Girls at the Lyceum, they blew me away, and I still work with them to this day.
(Source : interview with Clash Music Magazine, 2010)