FACES : DURAN’S JOHN TAYLOR CHANGES STATIONS

Rock star John Taylor was adamant about not sitting directly in front of the window of his two-story villa on the grounds of the Sunset Marquis hotel.

“They’ll see me, they’ll see me,” protested Taylor, a 24-year-old string bean.

Who? Assassins?

“No . . . worse than that,” he said nervously, peeking out the window from behind the drapes. “Those girls will see me. I don’t want too many of them to gather outside. I don’t want any hassles.”

Some teen-age girls had already gathered outside on the sidewalk, just in front of the garage. Word was out that Taylor, bass player of Duran Duran, was there. The five young, handsome members of this English rock band are worshiped--fanatically and hysterically--by their female fans. If it weren’t for the security guard, the girls outside probably would have stormed the villa.

Taylor finally did sit down at the table in front of the window, but in a chair strategically placed so he couldn’t be seen from the street.

He looked dead tired. His hands were shaking. Sleep, maybe two days worth, would have helped. Still, he was very friendly. He talked fast, too fast. Words often tumbled over each other.

Lately, Taylor hasn’t had much time for sleep. He’s been on a whirlwind promotional tour but not for Duran. This time he’s pushing a new group he’s formed--the Power Station--that’s quite unlike Duran. “Some Like It Hot,” the first single from the debut album--”The Power Station” on Capitol Records--has just been released. The album will be out next week.

The Power Station plays robust, funky, substantive rock that’s aimed at an older, more sophisticated audience. Duran’s music, however, is romantic, synthesizer pop-rock geared to teen-age girls. Critics, who mostly loathe this kind of flagrantly commercial music, consistently trash Duran.

The word around the music industry is that Taylor, who started the Power Station with Duran’s guitarist Andy Taylor (no relation), is chasing the credibility that Duran has never had. In addition to the Taylors of Duran, the prestigious Power Station lineup also includes acclaimed English rock singer Robert Palmer, producer-bassist Bernard Edwards--formerly of Chic--and drummer Tony Thompson, who’s worked with Chic, David Bowie, Elton John and Diana Ross.

“I don’t really care about credibility,” Taylor insisted. “I know people say things about Duran, like we’re not really playing our instruments on stage or we can’t play very well. But that’s not why I wanted to form Power Station.

“I just wanted to do something different. It’s nice to work with new people. When you play for years with exactly the same four people, you start to get tulnel vision.’%

Taylor did concede that, because of Power Station’s musical expertise, some critics might reevaluate Duran’s capabilities: “If Duran got more credibility because of Power Station, I wouldn’t mind at all.”

Taylor called Power Station “a whim,” something conceived for fun. “At first I thought we’d just do a single,” he recalled. “I never thought it would get this far.”

He and Duran’s keyboards player Nick Rhodes organized that band six years ago to play music blending the disparate elements of new wave and disco. But Duran eventually went off in another direction. Taylor, still intrigued by that concept, formed Power Station to do what Duran never did.

Working with Edwards, who produced the album, was a big thrill for Taylor. “He’s my musical inspiration,” Taylor said. “I never picked up a bass guitar until I heard him play on ‘Good Times’ (one of Chic’s late ‘70s hits).”

At first Edwards, an excellent bass player, thoroughly intimidated Taylor: “I felt so inadequate. A couple of times I was almost in tears. He’s so much faster on the bass than I am. I’d never felt inadequate about my bass-playing before. I feel better about it now. I learned from him. It was like going back to school.”

Taylor first recruited drummer Thompson and then went after Edwards, who wasn’t interested initially. “He didn’t want to get involved because he didn’t think the people in Duran could play,” Taylor said. “Tony dragged him to see us play at Madison Square Garden. He was impressed with us live. That changed his mind.”

So the band had everything but a singer. When Taylor conceived the Power Station three years ago, he had Robert Palmer, who has a large cult following, in mind. But Edwards and Thompson, who had never heard of Palmer, wanted to hire a studio singer. Taylor persisted:

“Robert was hesitant at first, but I sent him a tape to get him interested. He came to the studio and tried a vocal on one of the tracks. We knew we had our singer.”

Though Taylor initially insisted the Power Station would never tour, that may change in the next few months.

“I won’t rule it out,” he said. “So far this project has surpassed all expectations. It’s much bigger than we ever thought it would be. A tour seems to make sense now.”

Good news for Duran fans. Power Station doesn’t mean the demise of Duran. Of course, that’s bad news for critics.

Three other Duran members--Nick Rhodes, Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor--are working on a musical project outside the band. Duran probably won’t go into the studio to record its next album until fall. Its only studio work since the end of its tour last summer is writing and recording the theme for the next James Bond film, “A View to a Kill.”

Taylor is obviously not ready to give up Duran. “I’m a star because of Duran,” he said. “I love being a star. The whole circus aspect of being in Duran is a pain after a while, but it’s great being a star, with the girls screaming and the money rolling in. I know it sounds greedy and awful and people will think I’m an egomaniac, but I don’t care.

“What’s wrong with being a star? Who wants to be obscure? It’s nice for people to think you’re good and worthwhile.”

As I walked out of the villa, several ecstatic teen-age girls ran up to me and asked me about Taylor.

“Did you talk to him?” one asked, verging on tears. “He’s so great, isn’t he? He’s the best star there is. I wish I could at least see him from the window. But he wol’t even get near the window. Why doesn’t he get near the window?”