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New Romantic
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New Romantic was a New Wave music genre and fashion movement that occurred primarily in England during the early 1980s. The genre emerged after the London punk scene had come to an end, with former members of the movement splintering into Hardcore punk[citation needed], the New Romantic, Gothic rock and postpunk movements. The term was coined by Richard James Burgess, producer for the band Spandau Ballet.
Contents
- 1 Origins
- 2 History
- 3 New Romantic bands and artists
- 4 See also
- 5 External links
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Origins
The genre's genesis took place largely through clubs such as Billy's in Dean Street, London, which ran David Bowie and Roxy Music nights in the aftermath, evolving into the highly successful and elitist Blitz Club in Great Queen Street and later Hell, which were hosted by Steve Strange who was also the doorman and Rusty Egan who was the DJ and in many ways defined the sound of the movement. Boy George was the cloakroom attendant. The club spawned a hundred suburban spin-offs in, around and outside London, among which were Croc's in Rayleigh, Essex, and The Regency in Chadwell Heath, where Depeche Mode and Culture Club had their debut gigs as fledgling bands, the movement rapidly spread as far as Barbarella's Club in Birmingham, while it was still underground, shaping the newly formed Duran Duran.
History
The New Romantic phenomenon was similar to that of
glam rock during the early 1970s, in that (male) New Romantics dressed in
effeminate clothing, often with frilly "
fop" shirts, and wore
cosmetics. David Bowie was an obvious influence and interestingly his 1980 single "
Fashion" was influenced by and was simultaneously considered to be something of an anthem for the New Romantics, as were
Brian Eno and
Roxy Music. However as with many art school-based youth movements, by the time this 'anthem' was pronounced, the movement itself, although successfully projecting many new stylish futuristic ideas and visions (with lots of various references to sci-fi), had been seized upon by commercial forces, and watered-down versions were being cheaply reproduced for the
High Street.
Despite the movement's ties to glam rock, the moods and themes explored by the New Romantics differed sharply from those examined by their supposed forefathers - compare Slade's screeching "Coz I Luv You" to Visage's more languorous "Fade to Grey".
The main difference from glam, however, was that instead of guitar rock, the music was largely synthesiser-based electropop music. Japanese electronic-music pioneers Yellow Magic Orchestra were a significant influence in this regard, as were German electronic innovators such as Kraftwerk and Can. Major British influences included the futuristic sounds of computer-synthesiser experimenters such as Landscape and Ultravox intelligently introducing plenty of innovative and experimental sounds. Rhythm machines were introduced into wide use by this movement largely due to the experiments of drummers Richard James Burgess (Landscape), Warren Cann (Ultravox) and Rusty Egan (Visage).
Jim Fouratt of Danceteria, NYC spotted the burgeoning movement in London and was an early champion for what would become the second British invasion. Spandau Ballet visited New York in 1981 for a landmark performance at the Underground. By the mid 1980's the genre had its feet firmly planted in America. On the west coast of California its moniker saw a slight shortening and "New Ro" (pronounced newro) became a trend among teens looking for a synthetic medium between the surf and ska inspired "Mod" category, and the rougher guitar-based Punk scene.
New Romantic bands and artists
The main musical and stylistic proponents of the New Romantic movement were
Spandau Ballet,
ABC,
Visage,
Japan,
Ultravox,
Landscape,
Adam & The Ants, and
Duran Duran especially during the period from mid-1979 to mid-1982. Other bands of the era which were (to some extent) associated with the New Romantic movement include ,
Depeche Mode,
Simple Minds,
Soft Cell,
The Human League,
Eurythmics,
A Flock of Seagulls,
Culture Club,
Classix Nouveaux,
Naked Eyes,
Kajagoogoo and
Talk Talk.
In the mid-
1990s, New Romantic was briefly revived in
England as a movement called
Romo in clubs like
Club Skinny.
Orlando is generally seen to have been the most successful
Romo group.
See also
