New Romantics (ending)

Music style

Music sources "new romantics" were electronic minimalism, glem- and krautrock. At the same time (unlike the glam stars of the early 70s), neo-romanticists practically did not use guitars, replacing them with synthesizers; The drum machines took the place of the live drums. However, in the compositions of many well-known electropop groups, real drummers also played: Richard James Burgess (Landscape), Warren Cann (Ultravox), Rusty Egan (Visage).

The music of the “new romantics” was mainly electropop (or synthpop) and was, as a rule, danceable. Along with the legacy of Bowie and Roxy Music, disco, funk and rhythm-and-blues were actively used by the “new romantics” as musical sources.


Many former glam rockers, in particular Ultravox, joined the movement. There were exceptions of another kind: The Human League were known for quite a long time in Sheffield, where they played art punk with elements of kraut-rock, but with the emergence of a new movement they created a “romantic” image for themselves and switched to lighter, dance music. For a while, Adam and the Ants, a group with pronounced punk roots, were counted among the “new romantics”.

Leading performers

The main stars of the “new romantics” movement were Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet. The first ones created powerful, memorable pop compositions, often with claims of artistry and conceptuality. The latter relied on the pop market and relied mainly on the visual component of their work, although the single “True” was considered to be the pop classic of its time (it was later sampled by PM Dawn). Classix Nouveaux, Visage and A Flock Of Seagulls had a slightly more dubious kind of success (despite the fact that the latter made a major breakthrough in the American market). A serious music press basically made fun of these (and similar groups), believing that internal emptiness is replaced here by external shine, and theatricality of stage performances is intended to hide the lack of musical ability.

An example of the opposite kind is a Depeche Mode: the owners of relatively modest image, they formally started in the "new romantic", but soon moved away from the movement, having been engaged in the development of their own unique musical style. Subsequently, music experts noted that many at one time undervalued groups (Landscape, Gary Newman, Ultravox) contributed to the musical development, experimenting with sound, images and arrangements.

Renaissance: romo and electroclash

The first wave of the “new romantics” movement faded away in 2-3 years. The first revival of the movement took place in the mid-90s in Britain: it was called Romo (romantic modern) and flourished in several centers, the most notable of which was the Skinny Club. The most successful Romo group is Orlando.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the ideas of early British neo-romanticism gained new development in electroclash (although the music of Fischerspooner and other performers of this trend was more abrupt and rigid than the electropop of the early 1980s). [Read more about the style electroclash]

In London, after a long break, the Blitz club re-opened, on the stage of which Rusty Egan (DJ) and Steve Strange (host) appear regularly. Another London club, Electric Dreams, also sets itself the task of “preserving the spirit of the new romance”. Interest in the "new romantics" has recently been fueled by the release of the BBC television series "Ashes to Ashes".