Whooosh![]
Since the reunion, Simon Le Bon often uses the word Whooosh! at the end of his conversations. According to him, the meaning of this is because it reminds him of the sound which old telephones used to make as someone puts down the receiver. For example, Whooosh, click, buuurrr. He now uses the term in conversations as a signing off term, like he is making the sound of himself putting the phone down on a telephone call. He also uses it as a replacement, or along with, his signature on merch that he signs, and in official letters and correspondents. The term is often spelled with three (or more) 'O's, and usually with an exclamation point (or two) at the end.
WHOOOSH! (Radio Show/Podcast)[]
Simon and Katy Krassner started up a radio show/podcast on Duran Duran Radio in April of 2020, at the beginning of a global virus scare. Simon said that the idea came to him when one of his daughters (probably Saffron) complained that he was listening to BBC Radio 4 when she wanted to listen to modern songs on the radio. She proclaimed that Simon was out of touch with modern music scene, saying "you don't even like modern music". Simon began to investigate today's music culture, and put together a radio show each week to showcase what he had recently found, known as WHOOOSH!
“It all began as a lockdown thing,” Simon Le Bon said. “It dawned on me that the only music I was listening to was what I was working on, and the stuff that got me into a band in the first place. So I switched on my ears, and went on a trip down a sonic rabbit hole. What a revelation — there is so much great new talent, so much music out there. Katy is the foil that makes it all work; and so a radio show is born. WHOOOSH! — it’s the sound of your mind expanding to take on a new idea.”
The show includes general chit chat between the two co-hosts, stories and memories, and sometimes tid bits of Duran Duran gossip; along with a huge playlist of modern music. Some of the songs can be found on a Spotify playlist, which was created when the show moved to Spotify in 2020.
In January 2021, the show moved to Sirius XM Volume Channel 106, which is a paywall subscription service. During this year, some information about the new album was mentioned on the show, and Simon talked about having an acetate of the final record Future Past in July. As of 2022, the show is still very popular, and shows no signs of stopping, with a loyal audience who always like to tune in. It airs every Wednesday, at 9pm EST, and re-airs on 3pm & 10pm EST on Saturday and 2pm EST on Sunday.