The 80s - New Romantics

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.

The 90s - Britpop

Britpop was one of the UK’s main genres of music during the 90s, reaching its peak at around 1995-96. It could be said that Britpop was based around Manchester, and this is true in many cases but some important bands came from towns such as Sheffield and London. Camden played a very important role in the succession of Britpop, many of the bands performing in clubs around that area. It is said that Britpop was there to counteract the American Grunge Scene.

The music featured very little in the way of instruments, a step down from the keyboard-laden music of the 80s, mainly consisting of a rhythm guitar, a lead guitar, a bass guitar, a drummer and a singer. Occasionally Britpop music did feature keyboards, a good example of this being Pulp who relied quite heavily upon keyboards to create melodies.

The lyrical content of Britpop music is inspired mainly about real life, slightly echoing the ‘sex, drugs and rock n roll’ of rock bands of the 70s. Lyrics of Britpop songs often contained swear words, references to drugs and even past relationships.

Significant artists of the Britpop era were Oasis, Blur, Suede, The Charlatans, Pulp and The Verve, The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays forming the origins in the late 80s, early 90s. Britpop bands were often pitted together, the most famous example of this being Oasis vs. Blur.

Britpop music is very much inspired by bands of the 60s and 70s. Classic examples of these bands are The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Kinks, The Sex Pistols and even David Bowie. Certain Britpop bands can be associated with a single band from a previous era, Oasis drawing a lot of influence from The Beatles, and Suede drawing a lot of influence from David Bowie. Later influences of Britpop included the ‘Madchester’ scene of the late 80s, which consisted of bands like Inspiral Carpets, Happy Mondays and The Stone Roses. Subsequently, Britpop has gone on to influence such modern day bands as Arctic Monkeys and The Libertines.

One of the heaviest influences of Britpop music was the ‘Madchester’ scene. Fronting this scene were bands such as The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays and Inspiral Carpets (who’s roadie was Noel Gallagher). These formed the foundation for Britpop bands that were later to come.

Important albums from the Britpop era include ‘Definitely Maybe/What’s the Story Morning Glory’ by Oasis, ‘Parklife’ by Blur and The Stone Roses’ self titled debut album, the most important of these probably being The Stone Roses’ debut album as this was the origin of Britpop, and went on to influence bands of the same genre later on. Happy Mondays’ ‘Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches’ could be said to be an important album as it was released before the influx of Britpop and can be said to be somewhat of an influence. Happy Mondays’ and The Stone Roses’ albums could be classed as Britpop but were more part of the ‘Madchester’ scene of the late 80s.

Singles from this era that are very important include Oasis’ ‘Live Forever’, Blur’s ‘Parklife’, Pulp’s ‘Common People’ and many others. A famous clash between Oasis and Blur happened when Oasis released ‘Roll With It’ on the same day as Blur released ‘Country House’, the end result being Noel Gallagher wishing Blur’s Damon Albarn and Alex James would catch AIDS and die. Noel later apologized for this statement, but it shows how fierce the rivalry became.

The image of Britpop was very, very patriotic, the clue being in the title. Britpop can often be associated with the Union Jack, the flag appearing all over magazines featuring Britpop artists, and to the extent of Noel Gallagher playing a guitar decorated with the Union Jack. The fashion of the Britpop era was derived heavily from the Mod scene, with parka coats being all the rage at the time.

The society and culture that surrounded Britpop was very British and very working class. A lot of working class people could associate with the lyrical content and style of the Britpop bands, and this was also reflected in the media through magazines such as NME and Melody Maker, who featured a Britpop band of some kind in every issue. The Oasis vs. Blur rivalry manifested itself heavily through magazines and newspapers such as NME and The Sun. Another part of the Britpop culture was the ‘lad’ culture, however Britpop was not exclusive to men, as bands such as Suede and Elastica contained female band members.

Bibliography

www.wikipedia.org

www.google.co.uk

www.last.fm