Warning: the following are incomplete thoughts of a work in progress.  I am attempting to uncover how New Romanticism impacted America’s image of “cool” in the 1980s.  This is what I have figured out thus far…

I am a child of the 80s.  I was born on January 8^th, 1980, only a mere 8 days into the new decade. I spent most of my childhood in front of the television watching Dynasty, Dallas and MTV. When I wasn’t watching TV then I was drawing fashion pictures, fantasizing about being in a music video, or playing Bananarama with my older sister (this meant we would dress up like one of the girls in the group and dance around to their music, I was Keren).

Was there cool in the 80s?  Yes, cool was one of my favorite words.  I remember putting it to frequent usage in the school yard.  More importantly, I have diary entries from the time using the word. But what was cool in the 80s?  I can off the top of my head rattle of trends and things that I thought were cool: jelly bracelets and shoes, “Jem and the Holograms,” MTV, but I can not explain why exactly they were cool.  So this is my quest, to find the zeitgeist of the decade or at least have a better understanding of what was cool to a middle class white girl living in suburban Philadelphia in 1985. Surprisingly though, to get to suburban Philadelphian living room you have to pass through a squat in London first

From the ashes of punk’s revolution rose the glittering renaissance of the new romantics

Punk was supposed to be apocalyptic but failed to understand that music wouldn’t end there would be a day after.  As punk increasingly began to resemble the rock establishment it overthrew, a renegade group of young punks starting thinking of the future. Punk saw the destruction of rock values ( i.e. the “concept” album, musical virtuosity, etc.) and the next subversive step forward was through pop.  For the first time pop was imbued with values.  The fact that it is supposed to be party music, superficial and fluffy leant itself to the new philosophy.  Fun, luxury, decadence, glamour, and most importantly success became virtues to be achieved

They turned towards David Bowie for their inspiration.  In fact, the first official New Romantic “happening” was the Tuesday evening “Bowie Night” at Billy’s.  Every week former punks, design students, and a sprinkling of London’s rich and famous would convene in homage of David Bowie whilst trying to out-do one another with their over-the-top outfits. Soon the Bowie night became so popular that a larger venue had to found and the crowd moved to the Blitz.

Blitz became synonymous with the new style. The key figures of New Romanticism were all in attendance: Steve Strange manned the door, Boy George worked in the cloakroom and Spandau Ballet was the house band.  Blitz was all about achieving fantasy in real life.  It was the press who first coined the term “New Romantics” to describe the audacious style of dressing.  However, this is an extremely loose term and has come to refer to any pop act recording during the early 80s, these same acts are described as “New Wave” or “New Pop.” Apparently the only thing that anyone can agree about what happened is that it was “new”

Sources for their fashions were drawn from such far off outposts as Egypt, 1940’s Hollywood, Edwardian England, and Japan. Androgyny was the order of the day – it was typical for men to wear make-up particularly mascara as well as having elaborate hairstyles in a variety of colors, of course Boy George is an example of the height of androgyny glamour as he became famous for a look that whilst not fully transvestite was certainly feminine in the extreme. Typical looks included geishas: (made famous by Boy George), buccaneers (made famous by Adam Ant), and just slightly lower-keyed, colorful suits and scarves (Duran Duran). Visage was the first New Romantic act to enter the British charts with their song “Fade to Grey.”  Besides a distinctive dress style another trait that all New Romantic acts share is the use of technology in their music. Synthesizers replaced guitars as the central sound of pop

After making an impact in Britain the New Romantics soon saw their success translated across the Atlantic.  In 1981 a new cable channel appeared on American televisions, MTV.  The program of early MTV was 24 hour continuous music videos, however at this time few American acts had videos.  The British acts did.  British groups had come to relieve on television promotional videos (which would be aired on programs such as Top of the Pops) since The Beatles first introduced the format in the mid 1960s. MTV’s target audience was 18-24 and when it premiered, it was strictly a suburban phenomenon.  The channel did not have the financial resources to pay for air time in big cities.  Therefore, for the first time kids in the suburbs got to be the trendsetters.  The videos of the New Romantics, in particular, struck a chord within the psyche of suburban America.  Their glamorous and exotic images appealed to the new dynamic of the new decade

The 80s and the election of Ronald Reagan as president of the United States brought about a change in American values. Reagan ushered in what was seen to be an era of “good times.”  Two things that set the Reagan presidency off on a positive note: the release of the American hostages from Iran (this occurred just a few short hours after Reagan was sworn in), and the president’s survival of an assignation attempt.  The fact that Reagan was able to so swiftly recover from a genuinely life threatening injury was seen as a sign to the American public that the nation’s luck was improving.  The worst was now over.  As for Reagan’s political message, he promised to bring prosperity and to defend the individual.  All of these ideas corresponded directly to the image promoted by the New Romantics.

Not only did the music of the New Romantic take off in America, but the style of dressing gradual started to take hold.  Bold color change back to clothes, suits and ties moved back out of the boardroom, the silhouette changed to emphasize broad shoulders (shoulders pads for everyone!) multiple accessories were the way to go.  Technology matched ideology, the advances made it easier for to celebrate the individual and made fantasy more achievable.  Walkmans made music a private instead of a public affair and music suddenly became accessible in hundreds of public places (thus you can shut out the rest of humanity even while you are in the midst of it).  The video-player took the group experience away from films (no longer were you required to sit in a theatre with strangers to watch a movie now you could do so from the privacy of your own home with the comfort of your own couch).  A sideline from history: my parents still own and operate an original Betamax machine, if you ever find yourself in South-Eastern Pennsylvania feel free to stop by the Hallman residence to clap your eyes on this museum quality machine.  As for music, synthesizers made it possible to convey the sense of modernity of progress that the New Romantics musicians strove to create.

I suppose history is a series of pushing and pulling, things can only go so far in one direction before there is a reaction against it.  The 1980s were an extreme reaction against the 1970s.  The 70s were a difficult time: high unemployment, oil shortages, the Vietnam War.  People wanted a break from that.  It seemed drab and depressing, hence the glorious hedonism that ensued, and the conservative governments that were elected in both the U.S. and Britain.

The meaning of cool seems to have fallen on its head.  No longer was the sulky, outsider, such as James Dean or Marlon Brando, the celebrated hero.  New Romanticism paved the way for the outsiders to become insiders.  What started as a subculture turned into the mainstream, but that was the point of the subculture.  New Romantics were rebelling against punk, and they only way to rail against the ultimate rebellion is to conform.