SIMON LEBON speaks in hushed, reverent, little-boy tones. Whatever

Simon says, his meaning's clear: I take myself too seriously. So when

Simon last night introduced the Durannies' back-from-the-dead hit

Ordinary World with the words ''we are the future still,'' I was sure he

wasn't humbly subsuming his superstar ego amid us little folk in a

communal bid to right the ecology. No. Simon and Nick and John mean it,

missus: Duran Duran are durable-durable!

Dismayingly large numbers apparently agree. Ten years ago at

Ingliston, I was deafened by the keening of the Durannies' predominantly

female following. Last night it was those same fans' younger brothers --

now grown to manhood -- who formed the majority.

The old stuff slipped down like mother's milk; all those songs you can

hum the title-chorus of, without remembering anything else. Hungry Like

The Wolf, tum-ti-tum. Girls On Film, dum-da-dum. New stuff? Oh dear.

Come Undone: neat title, can't even remember the chorus. U.M.F? Not as

good as E.M.F.

But fair's fair, some of their old stuff was always bad, too, as they

reminded us. The Chauffeur, with Simon's execrable ocarina solo; the

tragic cod-funk of Notorious. But if Hollywood makes another Doors'

bio-pic, Simon's Jim Morrison. His reading of Crystal Ship was dead

nice. Aye, as a deceased rock idol, Simon has a future still.