New Romantics, sometimes referred to as New Romanticism, was a UK scene that became popular in the early 1980s, bringing with it a distinctive style of music but also a very prolific lifestyle and image. The New Romantic movement originated and stayed largely in London, but went on to influence bands all over the UK.
The New Romantic scene was known most of all for the culture that surrounded it. New Romanticism included a very hedonistic lifestyle. New Romantics were often partying and taking drugs, leading very wild lifestyles and often squatting in boarded up houses. Androgyny was also a big part of the New Romantic movement, many of the men wearing make-up and even dressing up as women. This is seen as very unusual nowadays but during the time this was very normal.
The main hub for this new movement was in Billy’s club in London, which became well known for running Roxy Music and David Bowie nights in the late 1970s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_romantics). Because of the growing popularity of this, club organizers Steve Strange and Rusty Egan had to relocate to a bigger venue which they called The Blitz. The Blitz club became famous for its strict door policy (you were turned away if you lacked creativity in whatever it was you were wearing, and had to try harder the following week), enforced by Steve Strange who was working as doorman to the club. Even though it was a larger club, however, there was still a limited amount of people who could fit into the club, making the club and the scene even more exclusive. The club was that strict on its door policy that, famously, Steve Strange turned away Mick Jagger for not being glamorous enough. People who were regulars of the Blitz club became known as ‘Blitz Kids’, named after the club.
It is said that David Bowie is the ‘godfather’ of the new romantic scene, and has believed to be for many years. This is largely because of the androgyny of his character ‘Ziggy Stardust’, and the way he looked like neither a man nor woman. Steve Strange went on to appear in the video for ‘Ashes to Ashes’, which is said to be ‘an anthem for the New Romantics’ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_romantics). Record labels realized they could turn these New Romantics into pop stars and that is how the image is linked to the music. It is said that the New Romantic scene was a reaction to the punk movement of the 1970s, however it is also said that the New Romantic scene is also an extension to this scene, replacing the raw sound of punk with the cutting edge sound of synthesizers, which were just being introduced into music at the time. Many people who were linked with the early days of New Romanticism believe the New Romantic scene was not a reaction, but merely an extension of the Punk scene of the 1970s. New Romanticism also entered the media, with magazines such as ‘The Face’ and ‘iD’ were devoted to New Romantic artists and culture.
Bands such as Visage and Culture Club were among the first to appear in the charts, with bands such as Spandau Ballet, Human League and Duran Duran appearing shortly afterwards. All these bands were similar in that they featured keyboards as the main instrument, usually playing the melody. There were also a lot of synthesized drums featured in New Romantic music, as these had just been invented as well. Where bands like Human League and Ultravox (Midge Ure of Visage’s second band) featured quite an intense synthesized sound, Duran Duran were more pop, and definitely had a funk influence, conveyed by the heavy slap bass lines and guitar chords progressions that can be heard consistently throughout all their music. The videos for some New Romantic songs often told a story, and were quite high quality. A good example of this is ‘Don’t You Want Me Baby?’ by The Human League.
New Romanticism has gone on to influence a lot of modern bands and genres, chief among which would be 90s electronic music and the Nu Rave scene of the 00s. Synthesizers were used heavily in 90s electronic music, replacing the need for musicians and often replacing them with a pair of decks. The same can be said about the Nu Rave scene of the 00s, bands such as Does It Offend You, Yeah? And Klaxons using synthesizers as main instruments, incorporating bass and guitar lines into it, and also using vocoders and vocal effects which sometimes cropped up in 80s New Romantic Music.
