The Dandy Warhols
Photo: Ray Gordon

So, what have the Dandy Warhols been up to in the three years since Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia came out? Why, more monkey business, of course.

The Portland, Oregon, band's long-in-the-works new album, Welcome to the Monkey House, will come out in May in Europe and July in the U.S., the band's publicist said. The album was named after a book of short stories by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. and will feature several veteran musicians.

Dandy Warhols' vocalist and guitarist Courtney Taylor co-produced the disc with Duran Duran keyboardist Nick Rhodes, who also plays on the album. The pairing might seem strange to indie hipsters, but the collaboration was long in the works. Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmstrom were big fans of Duran Duran's first record growing up, and Rhodes and Duran Duran singer Simon LeBon both ranked Dandy's Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia in their top 10 albums of 2000, according to the Dandy Warhols' publicist.

The Dandys and Rhodes first met last March at London's NME Awards and two months later they began working together. Veteran English producer Tony Visconti, who has worked with David Bowie, T. Rex and many others, produced two songs on the album.

The first single will be "Used to Be Friends." Other tracks include "The Last High," which was co-written with ex-Lemonheads frontman Evan Dando, and "The Scientist," which features Nile Rodgers, member of the '70s disco outfit Chic and onetime producer for Duran Duran.

Welcome to the Monkey House was written on and off last year between tours of Australia, Japan and Europe. The band recorded in its Portland home studio and did additional work in the U.K. Final mixes were finished last September.

The group's Thirteen Tales From Urban Bohemia sold 110,000 copies, according to SoundScan, thanks largely to the single "Bohemian Like You," which was also featured in the soundtracks to "Clockstoppers," "Summer Catch" and "Six Feet Under."

• The Dandy Warhols
• Duran Duran
• Chic
• The Lemonheads

Nile Rodgers is working on the last chapter of the legacy of Chic, the much respected 70's disco band he co-anchored with the late Bernard Edwards. He is readying the release of the band's last performance, a special live reunion concert in Tokyo, Japan that also featured guests Slash (ex-Guns N' Roses), Simon Le Bon (Duran Duran), Steve Winwood, and the singers from Sister Sledge.

Edwards fell ill shortly after that show, retreated to his hotel room and was found dead the following day, apparently of natural causes. That was April, 1996. Rodgers told the "Los Angeles Daily News" that it took him a year and a half to deal with the concert tapes because the memories were too painful.

Chic's biggest hits included "Le Freak," "I Want Your Love," and "Good Times," all released between 1977 and 1979. They were considered one of the more influential and musically advanced dance groups of the decade. Rodgers today is a top producer/songwriter with a resume that includes Madonna ("Like A Virgin"), David Bowie ("Let's Dance"), the B-52's, Duran Duran, Eric Clapton and more. He's currently writing material for the next Diana Ross album.

While the pairing with the heavy metal Slash may seem odd, Rodgers tells the "Daily News" that Slash fit so well with Chic, "he should have always played with us."

Rodgers has done a number of projects with the guitarist over the last few years, including two soundtracks.

• Chic
• Duran Duran
• Guns N' Roses