hurrengoa
those old new romantics    Impossible hairstyles that defied all of Newton's laws, broad-backed shoulder-padded jackets, an androgen type look with tons of make up. The most hedonist and outrageous movement in the history of music and fashion. In these times of 80s revival, the multi-cloned clothes shops that have invaded our city streets have imposed a return to 80s style. They seemed to have conformed with phosphorus and tracksuits for the moment but we haven't lost hope yet. Every night we pray for the return of the New Romantics in our purple velvet and gold coloured bedsteads.
New Romantic was the hermaphrodite child of New Wave. It started up on the London scene in England at the beginning of the 80s. It was born in the elitist clubs Billy's and Blitz. More clubs sprung up around these two clubs. One such club was well-known The Regency which hosted the first concerts by Depeche Mode and Culture Club. Young rich kids fed up with punk were behind the New Romantic movement and the usual lookers-on weren't long in joining the buzz. Designers, artists and any low life who thought they could make a killing soon jumped on the New Romantic bandwagon. Apart from the music, fashion was of the utmost importance in this tribe. For instance, Vivienne Westwood designed all the clothes for Adam and the Ants. The New Romantics were closely involved with fashion magazines. Spandau Ballet, Duran Duran or Visage amongst others were plastered all over the covers of every magazine at the time. The New Romantic movement had some of its roots in 70s Glam Rock. No one can deny the importance of David Bowie, but the New Romantics had no trace of the glam rock's hippy nuances. The only nature they ever saw was in paintings and pictures they hung on their walls and there was hardly any ideological stances. The movement was definitely based around the night and the club scene. It came about there and there was no looking towards where the future might take them. Sexual freedom and having a good time were the basis of their ideology (and that's certainly not to be sneezed at as a political principal). Musically speaking, the change was also very noticeable. Electric and acoustic guitars were replaced by synthesisers. They followed on from bands like Kraftwerk and Brian Eno's most modern music by adding melody to robotic music and synthesised music. Ultravox, OMD (Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark), Soft Cell, Human League, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, Frankie Goes to Hollywood and a long list of others began making music that is still influential today. That said, the New Romantic movement wasn't totally definable as such until the likes of Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet made the previously mentioned Adam and The Ants aesthetic their own. And thus the doors of the hairdressers were flung open and great clouds of hair lacquer sallied forth and invaded the world of music!
Alphaville, Aztec Camera, China Crisis, Culture Club, Kajagoogoo, Japan, Fashion, Talk Talk, Modern English, Thompson Twins, Yazoo and loads of other groups turned the music universe into a beautiful Dante Gabriel Rosetti painting.