Still hungry like wolves?

Once known for their outlandish dress and hairstyles, Duran Duran's Simon Le Bon and John Taylor were the most conservatively dressed people in the room as they rocked their way through an hour-and-half set at the fund-raiser for Big Brother Big Sister of Massachusetts Bay. More than $1.8 million was raised at the gala Saturday night at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center where most of the several hundred guests turned out wearing their finest 1980s garb. "We were quite normally dressed," Taylor quipped yesterday morning while he was at the Charles Hotel for a Mix Lounge hosted by radio station 98.5 FM. Duran Duran hit town on Friday and filmed a segment at WGBH's studios for the BBC. Although the band packed a lot into their three-day stay, including a couple of late nights of socializing at the Boston Harbor Hotel, Le Bon and Company came for the Big Brother Big Sister swanky soiree. Word is that organizers ponied up more than a quarter of a million to get Duran Duran and the 12 other members of their posse to Boston.

Brody, not Brady

The closest most people at The Estate late Saturday night got to reality-TV star Brody Jenner was across the dance floor. But the son of Olympic gold medalist Bruce Jenner did manage to muscle his way through the throngs - of mostly admiring females - to the DJ booth where Jenner yelled to the crowd: "Go Patriots." (Jenner was spotted hanging out in the Big Apple on Friday night with Lindsay Lohan.) Before heading to Ed Kane's The Estate, Jenner and his friend Frankie Delgado had dinner at Sonsie on Newbury Street.

Wall ball

Former Red Sox marketing guru Dr. Charles Steinberg (left), now with the Los Angeles Dodgers, checked in with word that there's hope for world peace. Steinberg and his new team are in China for Major League Baseball's announcement that the Dodgers would play the San Diego Padres in March in one of the venues for the 2008 Olympics, which are in Beijing. A short time later, Steinberg was photographed on the Great Wall with new Dodgers skipper - and former Yankees manager - Joe Torre, prompting Steinberg to quip that if the former rivals can get along, can the rest of the world be far behind? After the Dodgers return from China, they host the Sox in LA for three preseason games.

They may be grown men, but there's word that the New Kids on the Block are reuniting. People magazine quotes a source as saying that the five guys from Boston, who formed in the mid-1980s and packed stadiums with their hits like "Hangin' Tough," are getting back together. The band was made up of Donnie Wahlberg, siblings Jonathan and Jordan Knight, Danny Wood, and Joey McIntyre. The band's website, nkotb.com, which People reports was dormant, is up and running. The magazine says an official announcement of the reunion will be made in the next few weeks. Reunions have become common with Victoria Beckham and the Spice Girls enjoying a lucrative tour. (And that comes on the heels of Sting and the reunited Police, who played Fenway Park last summer, and Robert Plant and his Led Zeppelin bandmates, who returned to the stage last month in London.) Although they are credited with paving the way for the likes of 'N Sync and Backstreet Boys, it was long thought the New Kids were done performing as a group. Jonathan Knight, 39, is in real estate; his 37-year-old brother, Jordan, has continued to record. Wood, 38, has worked as a music producer and Wahlberg, 38, has had success on the small screen, including the Spike TV series "The Kill Point" and on the big screen. Mark's big brother recently finished filming "Real Men Cry" in Boston and starred in "Saw IV." McIntyre has appeared in Broadway shows, including "Wicked" and "Tick, Tick . . . Boom!," was a contestant on "Dancing With the Stars," and recently released an album of standards.

If you happened to catch the 15-minute fireworks display over Boston Harbor Friday night, it was for auto magnate Ernie Boch Jr.'s surprise 50th birthday party. A couple hundred family and friends filled Jim Apteker's State Room for the fete that was organized by Boch's wife, Kristen. One of the highlights was a short reunion set by Gary Cherone, Nuno Bettencourt, and Pat Badger of Extreme.

Patriots QB Tom Brady's proving to be pretty adept at his real estate deals. According to industry publication Banker & Tradesman, Brady sold his three-bedroom, 3 1/2-bath Commonwealth Avenue condo for $5.285 million - about $1.2 million more than he paid for the 10-room unit in July 2004. (What's unclear is the fate of several parking spaces No. 12 added to his Commonwealth Avenue holdings.) Brady recently moved into a penthouse in a 5,000-square-foot townhouse on Beacon Street that he bought for $6.7 million and completely renovated. After keeping the top floors for himself, the three-time Super Bowl champ put the bottom two units on the market. If they sell at the prices they are listed for, Brady stands to make a tidy profit.

Names can be reached at names@globe.com or at 617-929-8253.