Various - Music for New Romantics

by Tommy Gunnarsson

published: 8 / 11 / 2022

Label: Cherry Red Records
Format: CD Box

Often surprising new three CD compilation which celebrates the legendary New Romantic scene in the best possible way

Review

If I say “New Romantic”, what’s the first thing that pops into your mind? Duran Duran? Visage? Well, you’re probably not alone. But the New Romantic scene was so much more than that, which becomes very clear when looking at the track list for this brand new 3CD box set! So, what was New Romantic? From the very beginning, it was more of an underground subculture, as much focused on fashion as with music, and the scene originated at night clubs in London and Birmingham, later spreading all over the country. And during those early days, the movement was more inspired by the extravagant glam rock fashion (and music), which might not be very surprising, as this was during the late 70s, but as we entered the 1980s the music became more and more influenced by the modern technology, and the aforementioned bands entered the scene. A few years into the 80s the original fashion movement had died out, but many of the bands associated with the New Romantic scene kept going, and many of them went on to very successful careers, like The Human League and Culture Club. This new compilation, ‘Music for New Romantics’, focuses on the musical evolution within the movement, starting with the glam rock roots, and then moving on through the post punk and new wave of the early 80s, with occasional pit stops in the disco era as well. And there are quite a few well-known names and songs within these three discs, like ‘In the Year 2525’ (Zager & Evans), ‘All the Young Dudes’ (Free), ‘Genius of Love’ (Tom Tom Club) and ‘Funky Town’ (Lipps Inc), but there are also some deeper cuts, with songs that you might have forgotten (if you happened to be around at the time). For example, when was the last time you listened to RAH Band’s ‘The Crunch’? It was a UK top 10 hit in 1977, but nowadays the “band” is probably better known for their 1985 hit ‘Clouds Across the Moon’, even though they’re both great. At almost the same time, Cherry Red are releasing another box set that compiles songs associated with the iconic Hacienda club in Manchester, entitled ‘Hacienda: 1982’ (I will be reviewing that one as well!), and the fact is that there are quite a lot of acts overlapping these two compilations. For instance, Iggy Pop, Suicide, Blue Rondo á la Turk, Siouxsie and The Banshees, Thomas Dolby, ABC and Heaven 17 are all featured on them both (but with different songs, I should point out), which also goes to show how closely intertwined these sub-movements were at the turn of 80s. The jam packed booklet features track-by-track information, photos and an essay by writer Chris Sullivan (who also formed the aforementioned Blue Rondo á la Turk, a band that apart from maybe being remembered for their own music, are also famous for being the main act when The Smiths played their first ever gig). All in all, this is what we have come to expect from these compilations, both when it comes to the selection of songs and the overall presentation. And I would say that this gives you a far more accurate view of the New Romantic scene than all the cheap compilations with ‘Don’t You Want Me’ and ‘Dancing With Tears In My Eyes’...

Track Listing:-

1 MOTT THE HOOPLE All The Young Dude
2 THE LOUNGE LIZARDS Harlem Nocturne 3 ALICE COOPER I’m Eighteen
3 ALICE COOPER I’m Eighteen
4 NEW YORK DOLLS Personality Crisis
5 ZAGER & EVANS In The Year 2525
6 IGGY POP Nightclubbing
7 ROXY MUSIC Do The Strand
8 KIM FOWLEY Motorboat
9 LOU REED Vicious
10 WAYNE COUNTY & THE ELECTRIC CHAIRS Berlin
11 NINA HAGEN TV-Glotzer (White Punks On Dope)
12 LA DÜSSELDORF Viva
13 MICK RONSON Only After Dark
14 RAH BAND The Crunch
15 FOX S-S-S-Single Bed
16 THE WARLORD The Ultimate Warlord
17 DONNA SUMMER Love To Love You Baby
18 GRACE JONES La Vie En Rose
19 GIORGIO MORODER Chase
20 THE SWEET The Ballroom Blitz
21 GARY MILLER With THE BARRY GRAY ORCHESTRA Stingray
22 TUBEWAY ARMY Down In The Park
23 THE CURE A Forest
24 THE HUMAN LEAGUE Being Boiled
25 THE NORMAL Warm Leatherette
26 SUICIDE Ghost Rider
27 ORCHESTRAL MANOEUVRES IN THE DARK Electricity
28 JOHN FOXX Underpass
29 THOMAS DOLBY She Blinded Me With Science
30 VISAGE Visage
31 SIMPLE MINDS Changeling
32 LANDSCAPE Einstein A Go Go
33 THE FLYING LIZARDS Money
34 THE FLYING LIZARDS Money
35 TELEX Moskow Diskow
36 THROBBING GRISTLE Hot On The Heels Of Love
37 JAPAN Life In Tokyo
38 YELLO Bostich
39 NIGHTMARES IN WAX Black Leather
40 HEAVEN 17 (We Don’t Need This) Fascist Groove Thang
41 SPANDAU BALLET To Cut a Long Story Short
42 MAGAZINE Shot By Both Sides
43 SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES Hong Kong Garden
44 MARIANNE FAITHFULL Broken English
45 THE ASSOCIATES Club Country
46 ABC Tears Are Not Enough
47 M M Factor
48 TOM TOM CLUB Genius Of Love
49 BLUE RONDO À LA TURK Klactoveesedstein
50 A CERTAIN RATIO Shack Up + 10 Others