Romantic Modernism (or simply Romo) was a musical and nightclubbing movement, of glam/style pop lineage, in the UK circa 1995–1997, centred on the twin homes of Camden-based clubnight Club Skinny and its West End clone Arcadia, as well as concerts by the chief associated bands.
The Romo movement was essentially a derivation of late-1970s disco and early-1980s club music, with an emphasis on the extroverted sartorial style and decadent air of New Romantic-era bands such as Japan and Soft Cell. Nonetheless, contemporary features in Melody Maker (where the genre was championed mainly by Simon Price and Taylor Parkes – it was dismissed by the rival NME) tended to downplay the nostalgic connection with New Romantic, emphasising Romo's innovation and contemporary relevance.
Much championed by the said writers at the Melody Maker as a stylish and poppy backlash against the dressed-down style and raw jangly sound of the Britpop movement, while variously fêted and lambasted by others in the media as a New Romantic revival (a tag rejected by those on the scene), Romo's legacy has been chiefly in club culture as it heralded a new generation of glam/ style-orientated club nights which would continue through the 2000s.
History Birth of Romo Club Skinny was created in spring 1995 by promoters Kevin Wilde and Paul "HiFi" Nugent as a club playing stylish 1980s pop as an antidote to the fashion for indie-derived Britpop. The club was originally located at Camden's Laurel Tree venue, then the home of top Britpop clubnight Blow Up. Wilde and Nugent regarded it as a subversive and "punk" act to host their glamorous pop night at a major epicentre of the indie/Britpop movement they were opposing. Although initially forced to make the compromise of including concerts by upcoming Britpop bands in order to attract punters, the club gained momentum after members of Persecution Complex, a female David Bowie-influenced band noted for their flamboyant dress sense, became regulars at the club, attracting a flow of further flamboyant club-goers in their wake.
A further development was the recruitment of two glamorous 1980s-styled bands Plastic Fantastic and DexDexTer. The former was a Brighton-based Roxy Music/Japan-influenced outfit fronted by former Scorpio Rising/Supercharger frontman Stuart Miller with bassist John Gold and German brothers Conrad and Shadric Toop on guitars/keyboards interchangeably. The latter were initially known as MkII featuring Basques Even and Gage on keyboards and bass, guitarist Gjeih and Irish singer Xav aka Xavior (born Paul Wilkinson, also formerly known as Paul Roide) a future Placebo keyboardist. The two Basques had been making synth-based music in Spain for several years before relocating to England and recruiting Xav and Gjeih. The two bands were duly scheduled to double-headline the 17 August edition of Club Skinny.
In addition, one of the aspiring Britpop bands who had been playing at the club, Viva, led by Derek 'Del' Gray, were inspired by the club to reinvent themselves as a pure pop/disco outfit in the same vein as ABC circa The Lexicon of Love. Wilde would subsequently become the manager of both Viva and DexDexTer.
Discovery by Simon Price of Melody Maker Melody Maker writer Simon Price was already alert to the existence of Plastic Fantastic and had previously linked them, together with Sexus, a Manchester-based "intelligent handbag" duo consisting of singer David Savage and keyboard player Paul Southern (together formerly indie guitar duo Sanity Plexus) and a non-glamorous electronic act called Boutique, as "New Romo" [sic] in a June 1995 review for Sexus's debut single "Edenites".Singles review: Sexus – Edenites, Single of the Week No. 1, Simon Price, Melody Maker 24 June 1995 p32 His colleague Everett True also heavily used the term Romo for a Plastic Fantastic review that summer.Romo Copped – Plastic Fantastic Live Review at the Richmond, Brighton, Melody Maker 5 August 1995 p17
Price was invited to the aforementioned double bill edition of Club Skinny. With the event judged a success by the audience, musicians, promoters and Price himself, he not only began to cover the scene enthusiastically in his writing, converting his colleague Taylor Parkes along the way, but also, together with Toby Slater, opened up a second clubnight for the scene in Soho, named Arcadia. This was based at L'Equippe Anglais in Duke Street but later moved to legendary Soho drag bar Madame Jojo's.
Club Skinny meanwhile also relocated to HQ's (now known as Lockside), a venue in Camden Lock Market close to Dingwalls, starting with the club's 31 August 1995 edition. A Plastic Fantastic/ Viva/ DexDexTer triple bill at the venue on 28 September 1995 was reviewed by Parkes in memorable fashion:
By this time, more acts were emerging from the scene. Orlando who had played live as an indie band in 1993-1994 before withdrawing to reinvent themselves as an "alienated" white soul duo consisting of singer Tim Chipping, guitarist/lyricist Dickon Edwards and some sidemen, approached Club Skinny to relaunch themselves as a live act. Punk trio Xerox Girls likewise reinvented themselves as a glacial synth/electro duo Hollywood consisting of singer Hannah Edgren and keyboardist Stacey Leigh, with third member David Gray (Leigh's then-boyfriend) retained as a synthesiser programmer. Gray would later become Orlando's live drummer while Nugent would take over the management of both bands.
Mainstream media attention The scene began to achieve mainstream media coverage with a feature on Arcadia in Katie Puckrick's Sunday Show featuring live footage of Plastic Fantastic and Sexus (by now a full part of the Romo scene) and interviews with the two aforementioned bands, Xavior from DexDexTer and Simon Price, and queue/crowd/dancefloor footage of Arcadia featuring Wilde, Grey, Chipping, Edwards, Edgren and Leigh.Romo/Arcadia feature on the Sunday Show hosted by Katie Puckrick, BBC2 late 1995, viewable on Youtube By the end of 1995, media coverage of Romo had included TV coverage on ITV, Sky News and an unspecified Japanese TV news programme,Japanese TV Romo feat Minty, Simon Price, Viva radio coverage on BBC Radio 1 and BBC World Service and print media coverage in Time Out, The Observer, The Guardian, The Sunday Times,The Romo Empire, 1995 The Year in Review, Melody Maker 23/30 December 1995 p56 as well as colour features in style magazines The FacePose Who Dare – Clubs Section, The Face December 1995 p180 and i-D.Plastic Passion – i-D December 1995 "The Performance Issue"Ridicule is nothing to be scared of – i-D December 1995 "The Performance Issue" Tabloid newspaper the Daily Star also printed an enthusiastic but largely inaccurate full page article depicting the scene as a straightforward New Romantic revival.They're the new romantics and they're DRESSED TO KILT! by Lee Harpin, Daily Star Thursday 26 October 1995 p28
Melody Maker meanwhile continued its enthusiastic coverage, culminating in a cover-featured Romo special defining the scene. The cover image was a group shot of Chipping, Miller, Savage and Xavior clad in their Romo finery, while the feature identified seven core bands – the aforementioned Orlando,Orlando feature by Taylor Parkes, Romo special feature, Melody Maker 25 November 1995 page 10 Plastic Fantastic,Plastic Fantastic feature by Everett True, Romo special feature, Melody Maker 25 November 1995 page 12 DexDexTer,DexDexTer feature by Taylor Parkes, Romo special feature, Melody Maker 25 November 1995 page 10 Sexus,Sexus feature by Simon Price, Romo special feature, Melody Maker 25 November 1995 page 13 Hollywood,Hollywood feature by Taylor Parkes, Romo special feature, Melody Maker 25 November 1995 page 11 Viva,Viva feature by Taylor Parkes, Romo special feature, Melody Maker 25 November 1995 page 11 and linking in one non-scene band Minty, the former musical project of the late Leigh Bowery being continued after his death by his widow Nicola and various artistic friends, most notably singer Matthew Glammore and guitarist Richard Torry.Minty feature by Everett True, Romo special feature, Melody Maker 25 November 1995 page 11
More significant was the inclusion of a "Romanifesto" by Price and Parkes which ideologically defined Romo as the rejection of authenticity in music in favour of creative artifice, a militant pop sensibility (which placed Romo in direct opposition to both rockism and the values of alternative music) and the ideal of recreating/reinventing oneself as a glamorous Star-type persona.Romanifesto by Simon Price & Taylor Parkes, Melody Maker 25 November 1995 page 10
Melody Maker cassette and package tour The 9 March 1996 edition of Melody Maker gave away a compilation cassette of Romo bands entitled Fiddling While Romo Burns. Five bands featured on the tape – DexDexTer, Hollywood, Plastic Fantastic, Viva (whose track Now was co-produced by Marc Almond and Neal X) and OrlandoRomo on the Tracks (Romo cassette tracks information), Melody Maker 9 March 1996 p7 – Sexus and Minty having by now decided to keep their distance from the scene.letter signed Minni Matrix, Backlash (letters page) edited by Taylor Parkes, Melody Maker 23 March 1996, p43"The Good Sexus Guide" Sexus feature by Taylor Parkes, 24 February 1996 p42-43 Despite Minty's non-involvement in the tape, its individual members and collaborators contributed to the continuing flow of fresh Romo acts such as Elizabeth Bunny and Massive Ego,The Big I Am – Massive Ego live review from Club Skinny by Simon Price, Melody Maker 30 March 1996 the latter featuring a young Dan Black on guitar.
Other newcomers to the scene were Universe (a similar "perfect pop" concept to Viva)Universe live review at Arcadia by Simon Price, Melody Maker 2 March 1996 p25 and Acacia (an earlier incarnation of which featured future Mercury Music prize winner Talvin Singh.)Acacia live review by David Hemingway, Melody Maker 28 June 1997 p 37 German pop act Sin With Sebastian also played Arcadia during this time.Sin With Sebastian/Viva live review by Simon Price Melody Maker 9 March 1996 p 26 Romo club culture also continued to develop with the launch by Price and Gray of Saturday night clubnight Paris 6 am at Oscars nightclub in Leicester SquareRomo coverage in News section, Melody Maker 9 December 1995 p2 as well as two clubs organised by other parties – The Cell at Gossips in Dean Street promoted by Stewart Ubik"Where The People Look Good, Where The Music Is Loud" Romo club guide, Romo special feature, Melody Maker 25 November 1995 page 14 and the Roxy Motel Club at The Fridge in Brixton.
The climax of all this activity was a package tour of Romo bands, also entitled "Fiddling While Romo Burns", featuring a quadruple bill of Orlando, Plastic Fantastic, Hollywood and DexDexTer (with live drummer Laura "Elle" Schellino). Although the showcase London concert (also featuring Viva) at the LA2 venue was a 750 capacity sellout and reasonable crowds were also attracted to the BrightonLet's Get Ready To Romo – live review of Melody Maker "Fiddling While Romo Burns" Romo Tour at the Zap club, Brighton by Everett True, Melody Maker 30 March 1996 p24 and Manchester shows, other provincial dates on the tour – mostly at student venues that were the fodder of the very indie music that the militantly pop Romo movement opposed – failed to attract large audiences and those that did attend were generally sceptical.Pop Goes The Revival – live review of Melody Maker "Fiddling While Romo Burns" Romo Tour at the University of East Anglia, Norwich by Andrew Smith, Sunday Times 10 March 1996 p24