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Draft:Katy Krassner

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  • Comment: Sources mostly seem to either be about Simon Le Bon or Duran Duran more broadly. Devonian Wombat (talk) 03:45, 12 October 2023 (UTC)


Katy Krassner is a radio personality, record company executive, and writer best known for her work with 1980s pop band Duran Duran. She has worked on behalf of Duran Duran in numerous capacities since the late 1990s.

Early life and education

Krassner grew up in the New York area.[1]

She later attended the University of Rhode Island, majoring in communications. She graduated in 1990.[2]

Career

Krassner began her career in the music industry as a publicist for Left Bank Management in the early 1990s. At the time, Left Bank was overseeing the careers of Meat Loaf, The Cranberries, Duran Duran, and John Mellencamp, among others.[2] By 1995, Krassner was working with the band directly in a management capacity,[3]

By 2002, Krassner was director of publicity for Hollywood Records.[4] The following year, she was named as the head of publicity for Sanctuary Records.[5] At Sanctuary, Krassner served as spokesperson for Guns N' Roses,[6] Morrissey,[7] and Widespread Panic,[8]

Work with Duran Duran

After Duran Duran cut ties with Left Bank in 1998, Krassner was hired by the band directly as their fan liaison.[9] With the launch of Duran Duran's official website in 1997, the band created a section of the site dedicated to answering questions posed by fans. Krassner, who had recently left her role as publicist at Left Bank Management, was asked to oversee the Q&A section and field the questions,[10] which were ultimately passed on to the band and posted to the website.[11]

In 2008, a selection of Krassner’s best responses to fans was compiled and published[12] in a book titled ‘Would Someone Please Explain?: The Best of Ask Katy.”[13] Her work compiling and responding to questions about Duran Duran has served as primary source material about the band's history.[14]

She later served as the band’s social media manager.[1]

In 2008, Krassner and Duran Duran founder and keyboardist Nick Rhodes began publishing their predictions for winners of the annual Academy Awards.[10] An audio version of their selections is produced for air on the Duran Duran website.[15]

As of 2012, she was overseeing the band’s presence on Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook.[16]

In 2018, Krassner vigorously defended Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon when the singer was accused of sexual assault[17] which allegedly took place during a 1995 record signing event at a California music store.[18]

Radio work

Krassner is the co-host, with Simon Le Bon, of WHOOOSH, a radio program on SirusXM.[19] The show airs weekly at 9pm Eastern time. The program was initially developed during the COVID-19 pandemic as a podcast for Spotify.[20]

Personal life

During her years as director of publicity for Hollywood Records, Krassner amassed a substantial collection of roughly 100 plastic figurines of actors, singers, and celebrities. The first piece she acquired was a likeness of Macauley Culkin, which she purchased for 50 cents in 1997. The collection was valued at about $3,000 in 2002 and insured at that time.[5]

Krassner is married to author Brian Hughes.[21] She is the mother of two.[18]

She has one sister, Robin.[22]

References

  1. ^ a b Chiu, David. "Duran Duran Singer Simon Le Bon's Radio Program Showcases New Cutting-Edge Music". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  2. ^ a b "Katy Krassner '90". Quadangles online - URI Alumni Magazine. 2015-12-01. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  3. ^ Steinhauer, Jennifer (1995-05-28). "Duran Duran, Hungry Like the Wolf Again". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  4. ^ "The Weekender 24 Jul 2002, page 24". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  5. ^ a b Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 2002-05-25.
  6. ^ "Guns N' Roses Files Lawsuit against Greatest Hits". www.heretodaygonetohell.com. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  7. ^ "Some of my best friends are Deer!". Morrissey-solo. 2003-10-23. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  8. ^ "WIDESPREAD PANIC ON THE BIG SCREEN LIVE FROM THE FOX THEATRE IN ATLANTA ON TUESDAY, MAY 9TH". National Cinemedia. April 19, 2006.
  9. ^ "Duran Duran - song-by-song rate & discussion thread". Steve Hoffman Music Forums. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  10. ^ a b Bloom, Patience (2015-01-27). Romance Is My Day Job: A Memoir of Finding Love at Last. Penguin Publishing Group. p. 281. ISBN 978-0-14-218139-3.
  11. ^ "Millions of fans with hundreds of thousands of questions and only one person with the answers". AskKaty. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  12. ^ "Katy Krassner". www.goodreads.com. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  13. ^ Krassner, Katy (2008-12-31). Duran Duran - Would someone Please Explain?: The Best of Duran Duran's Ask Katy (1st ed.). Crewe Issue Ltd. ISBN 978-0-9562503-0-8.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  14. ^ Zaleski, Annie (2023-03-14). "The Stand-Alone Single That Finally Sent Duran Duran to the Top". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 2023-09-28. Nick remembers sitting with Bob through most of the night while he mixed the song at Power Station Studios in New York," Katy Krassner wrote in a 2014 "Ask Katy" column on Duran Duran's website. "When they left in the early hours of the morning, it seemed as though they had something very special but on reflection some days later, everyone in the band felt that although it was a beautiful mix, it was a little too soft for the sound they were trying to achieve.
  15. ^ "The Marshall News Messenger 03 Mar 2018, page A2". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  16. ^ "Duran Duran stays up close and personal with fans". Christian Science Monitor. ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  17. ^ Aswad, Jem (2018-07-12). "Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon denies sexual assault claim | Page Six". Variety.com. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  18. ^ a b "Detroit Free Press 13 Jul 2018, page A4". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  19. ^ "Take a little time to celebrate Duran Duran's musical legacy with Simon Le Bon's podcast". SiriusXM. 2021-01-26. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  20. ^ "Simon Le Bon starts his own podcast - Classic Pop Magazine". www.classicpopmag.com. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
  21. ^ Hughes, Brian. Where Is The One?: 12 Short Stories.
  22. ^ "LOIS KRASSNER Obituary (2021) - New York, NY - New York Times". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2023-09-28.