New Romantics: The Look

New Romantics: The Look by Rimmer, David. paperback edition. ISBN: 0752187489399.

As the 70s turned into the 80s, a new club culture was born from the ashes of punk and the legacy of David Bowie. Boy George, Steve Strange, Spandau Ballet, and Duran Duran were part of the scene whose fame began in the ‘frilly shirt’ clubs of London, Birmingham, and Leeds. New Romantic was the breeding ground for a whole generation of musicians and writers, nightlife entrepreneurs and fashion designers, mass market stars and underground art figures. This witty and authoritative account traces the story of the New Romantics from the moment Steve Strange and Rusty Egan began their legendary Bowie Nights at Billy’s in Soho, through the move to Blitz, and the growth of the Birmingham scene, to the point where the pop groups it inspired began to spark up clubs and charts all over the world. Much more than a simple history of the Blitz Kids, it also looks at the influence on New Romantics, and the ways in which these were transformed in the crucible of club culture to become the key elements of the late 20th century mainstream.