What's the definition of a New Romantic

A. Of all the fashions, cults and fads that have populated popular music, the New Romantic era is the hardest to pin down, mainly because it was less of a musical style than a youth culture phenomenon, with music seeming to take second place to fashions and places.

Q. What fashions, which places

A. The fashions were a direct kick back against the austerity of punk rock, which had preached nihilism and negativity through the working class youth of Britain from 1976 to around the end of 1979.

With the new decade came a group of people who decided that the best antidote to having no money and no future was to ignore both, and to pretend that things were graceful, and hip, and, if you will, romantic. The idea took off, as these ideas often do. Mainstream society was entrenched in Thatcherism - 'greed is good' was a prevailing social mantra, but for the disaffected youth, an antidote was needed, and the New Romantic idea was perfect, born of its time and its social climate, as are all great youth cultures. The look was unashamedly foppish, masses of pan stick make-up and mascara, frilly shirts, kilts, black nails, and the ladies joined in as well!

The places commenced with a London club called 'Billy's' which soon became 'The Blitz', and this was the first time a 'club' became less of a specific venue, and more of an abstract idea - you could place your 'club' in any premises, because the DJ and the scene setters would move around, so the 'night' could be anywhere where the right people listened to the right music. These days such a concept is common place in dance clubs, then it was a unique idea. A young London DJ called Rusty Eagan started the club nights, aided by his friend Steve Strange who worked the door and supervised the acceptable style that would gain admission. The early days throbbed to a specific soundtrack, Bowie, Roxy Music, Japan and so on, and before long, young bands hoping to hitch a ride on the new style came along.

Q. Who were the bands

A. It's impossible to state exactly who were the 'first' specifically New Romantic band - the style enjoyed a few labels; Futurism and The Cult With No Name were just two of them. Able to claim the position of major influence are Spandau Ballet who created a stir by playing only to invited audiences at certain clubs and parties around London. As always, if you make something secret and exclusive, the world wants to join in, and Spandau were soon hot property. Having discovered that they could in fact enjoy chart success, the band adjusted their image away from the kilts and make-up and into more mainstream designer suits.

Meanwhile in Birmingham's Rum Runner club, the house band Duran Duran were proving that London did not have the monopoly on the sounds, or the styles. Once again chart success saw the band move away from their early image - contrast their Top Of The Pops performance of Girls On Film with the multi-million selling video of Rio to see just how far a band can 'evolve' if the money and the hits are there.

Inevitably, some bands got tagged with the New Romantic label simply by being in the charts and looking vaguely glamorous, without actually embracing the theme either musically or sartorially. Bands such as ABC and Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark were carried along reluctantly on the tide of fashion and style, despite their music and image being some distance from the accepted criteria of the day.

Steve Strange proved his vision and ability to read the trends by expanding his activities beyond arranging parties, to the creation of Visage, a band conceived to broaden the musical spectrum at Steve's club nights. With a worldwide hit Fade To Grey, whose video and sound probably encapsulate the New Romantic concept as well as anything else, the whole sub-culture went mainstream, and promptly died out.

Q. Why did it die out

A. With few exceptions, elitist ideas and trends, which start out being the haven of a chosen few, become the property of the media, because there is commentary and column inches to be had. Unfortunately, such dissolution of the original idea - small and secret - means that the whole thing runs away with itself, and the media tires of it, and it all becomes pass. By 1984, the New Romantic vision had died and finished - apart from a determined attempt by certain 'hip' London journalists to resurrect the whole idea as 'Romo' in the 1990s. Deservedly, the entire thing was a monumental flop, and forgotten very quickly.

Q. Why was the revival a flop

A. The entire point about youth cults is that they are organic and spontaneous- they grow up and flourish if people like the idea, they wither and die if people don't. The notion of 'creating' a cult is utterly contradictory - you can create a band, that's easy, you can't create a style. It's something other people pick up and run with, and develop, manufacturing a style never ever works, except in the minds of attention-seeking media people who quickly learn that simple lesson the hard way.

Q. Looking back

A. With the benefit of 20:20 hindsight, the New Romantic phase was like the glittering fall-out from the punk rocket, pretty but short-lived. The serious musical contenders evolved and adapted, as musical contenders always must, the 'look', which was always contentious and brave, failed to stay the course, and survives only in revival theme nights and fancy dress parties. The music may not have enjoyed the cataclysmic impact of punk, but the visual style has remained in pop, albeit in various diluted forms, proving that dressing up and ignoring the unpleasantness of life is something British youngsters have always done very well, and probably always will.

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By: Andy Hughes