“HER name is Rio and she dances on the sand,” sang Duran Duran. But could the lyrics have been inspired by a trip to a golden beach in Poole?

“My grandmother used to live in Poole, so I’d spend half the year living on the Canford Heath housing estate during the school holidays,” says lead singer Simon Le Bon.

From the giddy excitement in his voice, you can tell he has a fondness for the area and Le Bon recalls his old address in parrot fashion.

“Are you ready for this. I used to live at Burbridge Close in Canford Heath.

“They could put one of those blue plaques on the wall” says Le Bon, 52.

His love of the south coast may explain why Duran Duran have chosen Bournemouth as part of a rare 11-date UK tour this year.

Announced today, the 80s band will appear at the BIC on May 31 with the original line up of Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John Taylor and Roger Taylor.

“It’s the first time we’ve done a tour this extensive in the UK in a long time.

“Playing live is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the job. You have this opportunity to play your music to people directly.

“It’s the most essential form of what we do.”

Duran Duran rocketed to fame in 1981 and captured the hearts of girls around the globe with catchy tunes such as Girls on Film, Rio and Wild Boys.

With serious cash to burn, Duran Duran embraced excess like a long lost brother.

Their big-budget music videos showed the band serenading scantily clad lovelies on yachts and Mad Max style film sets.

The late Princess Diana even fell under their spell and declared them her favourite group.

“We enjoy making music and it makes us feel a part of the modern world.

“We’re not ready to sit back and watch other acts perform on telly. We’re too egotistical and we have to do it for ourselves.”

Although, the hedonistic touring lifestyle seems to have been left behind by the band.

Simon admits he misses his family when on tour, even if his model wife Yasmin Le Bon can’t wait to get him out the door.

“We’ve all grown up and we’re not stupid to think like we can behave like footballers now.

“I always miss my family, which is the hardest part. To some extent though Yasmin is trying to get me out of the house.”

The UK tour follows in the success of their 13th studio album All You Need Is Now, which shot straight to number one on the download charts in 15 countries on its first week of release.

“It’s doing great and there’s more to come. We’ve rediscovered the spirit of Duran Duran when we were a club band.

“Back then we were an extreme, slightly arty band. But we had success very early and got catapulted into this intensely commercial world.

“We like being edgy because that’s the kind of music we like.”

Duran Duran worked with Amy Winehouse producer Mark Ronson who re-ignited the musical passion of the band.

“He’s one of the most enthusiastic producers we’ve ever worked with.

“He was determined to get that edginess out of us. No safe stuff.”

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the band’s first release and Simon is philosophical about today’s music industry.

“It’s a hard business and I don’t begrudge anyone success. If one good artist manages to get a career from a show like the X-Factor then it’s a good thing.

“I don’t spend a lot of time watching it, but if they asked Duran Duran to play on it, you can bet your bottom dollar that we would.”