Line #34 Main/NewRomantic


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6	[[quoteright:350:[[Music/AdamAndTheAnts https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/newromantics.png]]]]
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8	A music and fashion scene which became popular with young people in England in the late 1970s and early 1980s, New Romanticism was all about taking the style and ethos of PunkRock one step further. Flamboyance and androgyny were the order of the day as New Romantic club-goers sought to recapture the original excitement and vibrancy of the early punk scene, which some fans believed had grown stagnant and too political after the breakup of the Music/SexPistols.
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10	The New Romantic was mainly associated with then-popular NewWaveMusic. While everyone was influenced by punk, many performers who fit the New Romantic label were also influenced heavily by {{Disco}}, {{Soul}}, {{Funk}}, SynthPop and the simple music and extravagant image of early seventies [[GlamRock glam rockers]] like Music/MottTheHoople and Music/DavidBowie, as well as the art rock exemplified by Music/RoxyMusic and Bowie's hugely popular Berlin Trilogy. Furthermore, while many punks shunned new technology and recording techniques, New Romantic bands were almost certain to have a keyboard players and often experimented with what could be done on synths. The first band to be described as New Romantics in the music press was Music/SpandauBallet, whose high energy synth-funk tune "To Cut A Long Story Short" was also the first New Romantic song to become a significant hit when it reached number five in the UK charts. Expensive concept videos soon became the thing most people remember about a lot of these groups and allowed them to export their sound to America through the new [=MTV=] channel.
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12	The main site of the New Romantic scene was the Blitz club in London, where club owner and doorman [[MeaningfulName Steve Strange]] ruled with an iron fist. He became noted for refusing entry to any potential patron he believed was not dressed extravagantly enough to suit his standards. Boy George worked here as a cloakroom attendant before he joined Music/CultureClub, although he was eventually sacked by Strange for stealing from patrons.
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14	The movement had mostly gone out of style in 1985, by which point many of the original groups had split up or distanced themselves from the New Romantic label, turning to Synthpop. Live Aid turned out to be the movement's peak, after which everyone seemed to burn out; Culture Club broke up, Spandau Ballet released a mediocre [[ArenaRock AOR]] album, Music/DuranDuran went on hiatus for a year before putting out a string of polarizing records, and Music/{{Ultravox}} went into an on-again, off-again period of activity with [[RevolvingDoorBand a constantly-changing lineup]] and a cavalcade of records that neither fans nor critics liked. After 1986, music fans were more interested in the likes of Music/{{Prince}}, [[Music/{{Wham}} Wham!]] and Music/FrankieGoesToHollywood. While there was a brief revival in the form of the "Romo" scene, with some groups like Mansun becoming successful, the chances of a serious revival remain highly remote.
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16	'''Artists active in the New Romantic scene included:'''
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18	[[index]]
19	* Music/{{ABC\|Band}}
20	* Music/AdamAndTheAnts: Probably closer to glam punk, but their look and their style matched the scene.
21	** 1979 - ''Music/DirkWearsWhiteSox''
22	** 1980 - ''Music/KingsOfTheWildFrontier''
23	** 1981 - ''Music/PrinceCharming''
24	* Music/CultureClub
25	** 1982 - ''Music/KissingToBeClever''
26	** 1983 - ''Music/ColourByNumbers''
27	** 1984 - ''Music/WakingUpWithTheHouseOnFire''
28	** 1986 - ''Music/FromLuxuryToHeartache''
29	* Music/DeadOrAlive
30	* Music/DuranDuran: The most successful group associated with the scene, although they were probably the first to disassociate themselves from it. More rock than the average band associated with the movement. Their cinematic music videos (many of which were directed by[[/index]] [[Film/{{Highlander}} Russell Mulcahy]])[[index]] are some of the most famous released in the pre-''Thriller'' era.
31	** 1982 - ''[[Music/RioAlbum Rio]]''
32	* Music/FictionFactory
33	* Music/AFlockOfSeagulls
34	* Music/{{Japan}}: Despite them vehemently denying their ties with the movement and aligning themselves with GlamRock (they formed during the peak of the latter's relevance), they started shifting to a New Romantic approach following "Life in Tokyo", their 1979 collaboration with Music/GiorgioMoroder. This lasted all of two albums before shifting to an avant-pop direction presaging frontman Music/DavidSylvian's solo career on their last record.
35	* Music/SeonaDancing
36	* Music/SpandauBallet: Famous for wearing kilts, they were the first band to be described as New Romantic and the first such group to have a big hit single. Later traded their costumes for sharp suits and started performing soul music.
37	* Music/TalkTalk
38	* Music/{{Ultravox}}: During the Midge Ure era; during the period with John Foxx on vocals and Stevie Shears and Robin Simon on guitar, they were more of an aggressive[[/index]] PunkRock[=/=]{{New Wave\|Music}}[[index]] band that happened to use synthesizers.
39	** 1978 - ''Music/SystemsOfRomance''
40	** 1980 - ''Music/{{Vienna}}''
41	** 1981 - ''Music/RageInEden''
42	** 1982 - ''Music/{{Quartet}}''
43	** 1984 - ''Music/{{Lament}}''
44	** 1986 - ''Music/UVox''
45	* Music/{{Visage\|Band}}: A band formed by the aforementioned Steven Strange with Blitz club co-owner and DJ Rusty Egan and Midge Ure of Ultravox.
46	[[/index]]
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48
49	'''Artists associated with the scene, but not really New Romantics themselves:'''
50
51	[[index]]
52	* Music/DavidBowie: His number one single "Ashes to Ashes" was a New Romantic club anthem, and his seventies work (especially ''Ziggy Stardust'' and the Berlin Trilogy) was a significant influence on many of the bands mentioned on this page. He dipped his toes into the genre in ''Music/ScaryMonstersAndSuperCreeps'' before transitioning into straight pop.
53	* Music/DepecheMode
54	* Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark
55	* Music/RoxyMusic
56	* Music/SoftCell
57	* Music/DavidSylvian: The former frontman of Music/{{Japan}}, who quickly moved into an avant-pop direction when he went solo but is still considered a key figurehead of the New Romantic movement.
58	* Music/VillagePeople: Tried and failed to transition from a {{disco}} group to a new romantic group with ''Renaissance''.
59	[[/index]]
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61	----
62	!!Tropes
63
64	* EightiesHair
65	* AmbiguousGender: For some people, this was the whole point of the flamboyant costumes.
66	* DudeLooksLikeALady: All over the place.
67	* DressedToPlunder: One of the flamboyant dress codes for the movement. Fashion designer Viviene Westwood coincidentally released her "Pirate Collection", which the movement quickly jumped on the looks.
68	* {{Flanderisation}}: The entire scene ended up stereotyped as "ugly pop stars", which prompted the rise of simpler groups like the Undertones and especially Music/TheSmiths (who called themselves the Smiths as a reaction to the more over-the-top New Romantic band names).
69	* AGoodNameForARockBand: Bands took their names from a variety of unusual sources. Music/DuranDuran, for example, took theirs from Professor Durand Durand from Film/{{Barbarella}}.
70	* PostPunk
71	* [[UsefulNotes/TheBritishInvasion Second British Invasion]]: New Romantic videos were some of the first to be shown on MTV. When they turned out to be popular, the "Second British Invasion" was the result. Duran Duran eventually came out on top of it.
72	* SharpDressedMan: An important selling point for the movement, emphasized by their embrace of music videos.
73	** FormFittingWardrobe: With PaintedOnPants and the like.
74	** ImpossiblyCoolClothes: The {{Trope Codifier}}s since 1980. They can also be seen as ImpossiblyTackyClothes as well.
75	* SurrealMusicVideo: Plenty of famous ones, especially from Music/DuranDuran and Music/SpandauBallet.
76	* SynthPop: The association between this genre and the New Romantic scene is sometimes strong enough that many synthpop bands who weren't really New Romantics often get lumped in with them anyway. Conversely, there were New Romantics that didn't play synthpop (Music/CultureClub being the most obvious example).

Context Main / NewRomantic