In the Eighties, decade of yuppies, Amazonian supermodels and a lot of cocaine, the New Romantics ruled the airwaves. They sported modern hairdos, modish tinged with Victorian suits, and crooned about the world as they knew it. Amongst the new widespread knowledge of AIDS and Bob Geldof’s co-saving the world, they allowed a brief moment of relief and a certain relaxing of the hips. European New Romantic bands like Alphaville, Visage, Spandau Ballet, Culture Club and Duran Duran played synth pop – and are widely referenced today with our current love affair with all things synthesised. In fact, New Romanticism is one of the biggest influences on modern popular culture in Britain. As a reaction to the overly political punk rock of the late Seventies during the reign of Thatcher in the UK, New Romanticism sought to celebrate artifice. In this way, it was fun, easy on the ears, and synthetic. In keeping with their light-hearted approach they were highly stylised in their appearance and performance. They harkened back to glam rock of the 70s, and channelled androgynous acts like David Bowie. While the world was freaking out, and conservativism was taking over both Stateside and in Europe, the New Romantics offered a break from politics and incessant campaigning, and instead allowed us to let our hair down and have fun. Music was fun again, just like it is now. — Text by Becky Cope. More pictures after the jump.
