Romantic Modernism, more commonly known as 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
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
and early-1980s club music, with an emphasis on the extroverted sartorial style and decadent air of
New Romantic
The New Romantic movement was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New ...
-era bands such as
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
and
Soft Cell
Soft Cell are an English synthpop duo who came to prominence in the early 1980s. The duo consists of vocalist Marc Almond and instrumentalist David Ball. The band are primarily known for their 1981 hit version of "Tainted Love" and their plat ...
. Nonetheless, contemporary features in ''Melody Maker'' (where the genre was championed mainly by
Simon Price
Simon Price (born 25 September 1967) is a British music journalist and author. He is known for his weekly review section in ''The Independent on Sunday'' and his book ''Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers)''.
Career Writer
Pric ...
and
Taylor Parkes
Taylor Parkes (born 30 April 1972) is a British journalist. He is best known for his music journalism which appeared in '' Melody Maker'' from 1993 to 1998.
Parkes was a champion of Saint Etienne, Pulp, Manic Street Preachers and the Romo scen ...
– it was dismissed by the rival ''NME'') tended to downplay the nostalgic connection with New Romantic, emphasising Romo's newness 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 sound of the
Britpop
Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...
movement, while variously feted and lambasted by others in the media as a
New Romantic
The New Romantic movement was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New ...
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
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
-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
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
-based
Roxy Music
Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...
/
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
-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
The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...
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
A placebo ( ) is a substance or treatment which is designed to have no therapeutic value. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like Saline (medicine), saline), sham surgery, and other procedures.
In general ...
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
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
circa ''
The Lexicon of Love
''The Lexicon of Love'' is the debut studio album by English pop band ABC. It was released on 21 June 1982 by Neutron Records in the United Kingdom, by Mercury Records in the United States and Japan, and by Vertigo Records in Canada and Euro ...
''.
Wilde would subsequently become the manager of both Viva and DexDexTer.
Discovery by Simon Price of ''Melody Maker''
''Melody Maker'' writer
Simon Price
Simon Price (born 25 September 1967) is a British music journalist and author. He is known for his weekly review section in ''The Independent on Sunday'' and his book ''Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers)''.
Career Writer
Pric ...
was already alert to the existence of Plastic Fantastic and had previously linked them, together with Sexus, a
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
-based "intelligent
handbag
A handbag, commonly known as a purse or pocketbook in North American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag used to carry personal items.
Purse, handbag or pouch
The term "purse" originally referred to a small bag for holding coins. In many ...
" 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"
icin a June 1995 review for Sexus's debut single "Edenites". His colleague
Everett True
Everett True (born Jeremy Andrew Thackray on 21 April 1961) is an English music journalist and musician. He became interested in rock music after hearing The Residents, and formed a band with school friends. He has written and recorded as The ...
also heavily used the term Romo for a Plastic Fantastic review that summer.
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
Taylor Parkes (born 30 April 1972) is a British journalist. He is best known for his music journalism which appeared in '' Melody Maker'' from 1993 to 1998.
Parkes was a champion of Saint Etienne, Pulp, Manic Street Preachers and the Romo scen ...
along the way, but also, together with
Toby Slater
Tobias Lewis Slater (14 August 1979 – 13 December 2021) was an English singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer for the 1990s indie pop band Catch, who released two singles in the UK and an album in Indonesia. Slater also ...
, 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, a venue in Camden Lock Market close to
Dingwalls
Dingwalls was a live music and comedy venue adjacent to Camden Lock, Camden, London, England. The building itself is one of many industrial Victorian buildings that were put to new use in the 20th century. The original owner of the building, ...
(now known as Lockside) 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
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
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
Dickon Edwards (born Richard Dickon Edwards; 3 September 1971), also known as Dickon Angel, is a London-based indie pop musician and diarist. He was a founding member of the bands Orlando and Fosca, and briefly played guitar in the band Spearmin ...
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 synth 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 o]
Youtube
/ref> By the end of 1995, media coverage of Romo had included TV coverage on ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
, Sky News
Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel and organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of Comcast. John Ryley is the hea ...
and an unspecified Japanese TV news programme, radio coverage on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
and BBC World Service
The BBC World Service is an international broadcasting, international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the Government of the United Kingdom, British Government through the Foreign Secretary, Foreign Secretary's o ...
and print media coverage in ''Time Out
Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to:
Time
* Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team
* Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken
* Timeout (computing), an enginee ...
'', ''The Observer
''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...
'', ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', ''The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'', as well as colour features in style magazines ''The Face
The face is a part of the body, the front of the head.
Face may also refer to:
Film
* ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face''
* ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film
* ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antonia ...
'' and ''i-D
''i-D'' is a British bimonthly magazine published by Vice Media, dedicated to fashion, music, art and youth culture. ''i-D'' was founded by designer and former ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' art director Terry Jones (i-D), Terry Jones in 1980. The ...
''. Tabloid newspaper the '' Daily Star'' also printed an enthusiastic but largely inaccurate full page article depicting the scene as a straightforward New Romantic revival.
''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 () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
,[Orlando feature by ]Taylor Parkes
Taylor Parkes (born 30 April 1972) is a British journalist. He is best known for his music journalism which appeared in '' Melody Maker'' from 1993 to 1998.
Parkes was a champion of Saint Etienne, Pulp, Manic Street Preachers and the Romo scen ...
, Romo special feature, ''Melody Maker'' 25 November 1995 page 10 Plastic Fantastic,[Plastic Fantastic feature by ]Everett True
Everett True (born Jeremy Andrew Thackray on 21 April 1961) is an English music journalist and musician. He became interested in rock music after hearing The Residents, and formed a band with school friends. He has written and recorded as The ...
, Romo special feature, ''Melody Maker'' 25 November 1995 page 12 DexDexTer,[DexDexTer feature by ]Taylor Parkes
Taylor Parkes (born 30 April 1972) is a British journalist. He is best known for his music journalism which appeared in '' Melody Maker'' from 1993 to 1998.
Parkes was a champion of Saint Etienne, Pulp, Manic Street Preachers and the Romo scen ...
, Romo special feature, ''Melody Maker'' 25 November 1995 page 10 Sexus,[Sexus feature by ]Simon Price
Simon Price (born 25 September 1967) is a British music journalist and author. He is known for his weekly review section in ''The Independent on Sunday'' and his book ''Everything (A Book About Manic Street Preachers)''.
Career Writer
Pric ...
, Romo special feature, ''Melody Maker'' 25 November 1995 page 13 Hollywood,[Hollywood feature by ]Taylor Parkes
Taylor Parkes (born 30 April 1972) is a British journalist. He is best known for his music journalism which appeared in '' Melody Maker'' from 1993 to 1998.
Parkes was a champion of Saint Etienne, Pulp, Manic Street Preachers and the Romo scen ...
, Romo special feature, ''Melody Maker'' 25 November 1995 page 11 Viva, and linking in one non-scene band Minty, the former musical project of the late Leigh Bowery
Leigh Bowery (26 March 1961 – 31 December 1994) was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, and fashion designer. Bowery was known for his flamboyant and outlandish costumes and makeup as well as his (sometimes controversial) perform ...
being continued after his death by his widow Nicola and various artistic friends, most notably singer Matthew Glammore.
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
Rockism and poptimism are two ideological arguments about popular music prevalent in mainstream music journalism. Rockism is the belief that rock music is dependent on values such as authenticity and artfulness, and that such values elevate t ...
and the values of alternative music Alternative music may refer to the following types of music:
*Alternative rock
*Alternative pop
*Alternative R&B
*Neo soul, sometimes known as alternative soul
*Alternative reggaeton
*Alternative hip hop
*Alternative dance
*Alternative metal
*Chris ...
) and the ideal of recreating/reinventing oneself as a glamorous Star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
-type persona.
''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
Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He ...
and Neal X
Neal X (born Neal Whitmore) was the guitarist with the British band Sigue Sigue Sputnik. They had a No. 3 UK hit single with "Love Missile F1-11" in 1986. He has also worked as a sideman for Adam Ant and Marc Almond. Whitmore founded the Montecri ...
) and Orlando
Orlando () is a city in the U.S. state of Florida and is the county seat of Orange County. In Central Florida, it is the center of the Orlando metropolitan area, which had a population of 2,509,831, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures rele ...
[Romo 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. 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
Massive Ego was a British Darkwave musical group formed in 1996 by singer and ex-model, Marc Massive (also the owner of the Public Disordar label) and Andy J Thirwall. The band has changed its sound and image since its formation. The original r ...
, the latter featuring a young Dan Black
Daniel Black (born 16 November 1975) is an English singer-songwriter and vocalist. He was a member of alternative rock band The Servant (band), the Servant, before their split in 2007. He is also a vocalist for the Italian British group Plane ...
on guitar.
Other newcomers to the scene were Universe (a similar "perfect pop" concept to Viva) and Acacia
''Acacia'', commonly known as the wattles or acacias, is a large genus of shrubs and trees in the subfamily Mimosoideae of the pea family Fabaceae. Initially, it comprised a group of plant species native to Africa and Australasia. The genus na ...
(an earlier incarnation of which featured future Mercury Music prize winner Talvin Singh
Talvin Singh OBE (born 1970) is an English musician, producer, and composer. A tabla player, he is known for creating an innovative fusion of Indian classical music and drum and bass. Singh is generally considered involved with an electronica ...
.) German pop act Sin With Sebastian
Sebastian Roth (born 20 September 1971), known by his stage name as Sin With Sebastian, is a German musician/singer/songwriter. Sin With Sebastian came to prominence in 1995 with the Europe-wide hit, " Shut Up (and Sleep with Me)", which made it u ...
also played Arcadia during this time. 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 Square as well as two clubs organised by other parties – The Cell at Gossips in Dean Street promoted by Stewart Ubik 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
LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States.
La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music
* La (musical note), or A, the sixth note
* "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on Figure 8 ( ...
venue was a 750 capacity sellout and reasonable crowds were also attracted to the Brighton[Let'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.
More seriously, the strain of having to live, eat and sleep together rather than merely go nightclubbing together had severely strained relations between the bands.[Interviews with Dickon Edwards & Simon Price, Romo tour coverage, Newsbeat BBC Radio 1, March 1996, as was featured on original o]
''Passive Soul'' era page on archive of Tim Chipping's 'Ear Medicine' Orlando retrospective site
/ref> Chipping was relatively diplomatic about this in one interview at the time: "There's a definite reason why we have two tourbuses. It's to do with the fact that some bands just won't tour with each other, not because they dislike each other, they just have different... living styles."
Nevertheless, by the end of the tour, all of the seven core acts originally featured in the ''Melody Maker'' special had recording contracts with either major or big independent labels – Orlando with WEA subsidiary Blanco y Negro Records
Blanco y Negro Records (Spanish: "White and Black"), a subsidiary of WEA Records Ltd., was established in 1983 by Geoff Travis of Rough Trade Records and Mike Alway of él Records. Michel Duval of Les Disques du Crépuscule was also involved ...
, Plastic Fantastic with Mercury Records
Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
, Sexus with ZTT
ZTT Records is a British record label founded in 1983 by record producer Trevor Horn, Horn's wife and businesswoman Jill Sinclair, and ''New Musical Express'' (NME) journalist Paul Morley. The label's name was also stylised as ZANG TUMB TUUM and ...
, Hollywood with U2's Mother Records
Mother Records was a record label founded by the band U2 in 1983 and distributed by parent Island Records. As a supportive promotional platform, the label released several one-off single releases for The Hothouse Flowers, In Tua Nua and Cactus ...
label, DexDexTer with Island Records
Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...
subdivision Trade2, Viva with Planet3 Records and Minty (whose transvestite drummer Trevor Sharpe had filled in as drummer for Plastic Fantastic on the tour) with Candy Records.
Later period
After the tour, Price wrote an editorial in ''Melody Maker'' declaring the movement dead as it had achieved its aims but was now being soured by the revivalist portrayal in the mainstream media. Despite this, the scene in London continued with more bands emerging such as Anglo-Japanese female quartet Étoile as well as the arrival in Britain of Donovan Leitch's band Nancy Boy. Another late major addition to the scene at around this time was Belvedere Kane, fronted by Romo scene face Barry Stone, later of the Jewels And Stone writing/production partnership. In his review of the latter's gig, Price recanted his "Romo is dead" declaration, dismissing it as a red herring
A red herring is a figurative expression referring to a logical fallacy in which a clue or piece of information is or is intended to be misleading, or distracting from the actual question.
Red herring may also refer to: Animals
* Red herring (fis ...
tactic and further adding that the continued spread of Romo was by now beyond even his control. At around this time, a first anniversary party was held for Club Skinny headlined by Crush, the band of former Byker Grove
Byker is a district in the east of the city and metropolitan borough of Newcastle upon Tyne. Home to the Byker Wall estate, made famous by TV series ''Byker Grove'', Byker’s population was recorded at 12,206 in the 2011 census. Byker is bord ...
TV stars Donna Air
Donna Marie Theresa Air (born 2 August 1979) is an English actress, television presenter and media personality.
Early life and education
Donna Marie Theresa Air was born on 2 August 1979, in Wallsend, North Tyneside, to receptionist Marie (née ...
and Jayni Hoy.
However in July 1996, feeling that their clubnights were being soured by continued tensions in the scene, Nugent, Wilde, Price and Slater discontinued both Club Skinny and Arcadia. Romo activities continued at the individual bands' concerts, although one Plastic Fantastic concert at Dingwalls
Dingwalls was a live music and comedy venue adjacent to Camden Lock, Camden, London, England. The building itself is one of many industrial Victorian buildings that were put to new use in the 20th century. The original owner of the building, ...
from this time ended in a mass brawl after a hat was thrown onstage. The band also had a residency at the Dublin Castle, Camden
The Dublin Castle is a pub and live music venue in Camden Town, London. It was built for Irish navvies working on railways in London, but gained prominence as a venue in the late 1970s after the band Madness established a live reputation there. ...
during this period, although this was terminated by management after an incident where stage invaders performed a sex show
A sex show is a form of live performance that features one or more performers engaging in some form of sexual activity on stage for the entertainment or sexual gratification of spectators. Performers are paid either by the spectators or by the o ...
.
The bands mostly concentrated on their recording contracts at this point – in late 1996 Hollywood released a heavily remixed single ''Apocalypse Kiss'' and both Edgren and Leigh participated in performance art side project "Anti-Marilyn." Edgren was spotted (by Dickon Edwards) fronting a new band in 1998 and she and Leigh would later reunite as Fubar. Plastic Fantastic – having previously released the Eno
Eno may refer to:
Music
* English National Opera, London
* ''Eno'', an album by Japanese band Polysics
* "Eno", a song by X-Wife from '' Rockin' Rio EP''
Organisations and businesses
* Eno (company), a Chinese clothing and accessories busine ...
-influenced "Fantastique no.5" - recorded two albums' worth of tracks which were never released due to a dispute with Mercury over the mix of planned second single "Plastic World." In 1997, Stuart Miller dissolved Plastic Fantastic and revived his old band Supercharger. Sexus, who had also released a second single '"The Official End Of It All" and recorded an album ''The Boyfriend Olympics'', similarly fell out with ZTT over the mix of planned third single "How Do You Kiss". After the fallout, they were frozen into inactivity due to a dispute with management over their final payout from ZTT but would eventually re-emerge in 2002 as the Psychodelicates with a download/mail order album ''Psychodelicates Go Adventuring''.
Viva meanwhile, despite continuing to demo material, never released any records and would later rename themselves Scala 5 and revert to a heavier guitar sound before their demise circa 2000. Personal differences between Xavior and his bandmates led to the demise of DexDexTer in early 1997 just as their single "Another Car Another CarCrash" was released with a follow-up "Chemistry of Youth" also ready for release.
Both parties remained signed tor Trade2; the bandmates recorded a set of four demos for the label as "ExDexTer" but were swiftly dropped as eventually was Xavior in 1998 after he had recorded an unreleased solo album, ''Chainsaw Mass Appeal'' and appeared in the film ''Velvet Goldmine
''Velvet Goldmine'' is a 1998 musical drama film written and directed by Todd Haynes from a story by Haynes and James Lyons. It is set in Britain during the glam rock days of the early 1970s, and tells the story of fictional bisexual pop star B ...
''. After several years producing, playing keyboards for Placebo and recording further unreleased solo albums, he would reemerge as a frontman in the late 2000s fronting Paul St Paul and the Apostles with David Ryder Prangley.
Thus by the middle of 1997 it was left to Orlando and Minty to be the most prolific – and in that sense the most successful – Romo bands as they were the only two of the seven core acts to reach the stage of releasing their respective albums. Orlando had already released two singles "Just for a Second" and ''The Magic EP'' in late 1996 (the latter of which achieved #96 on the UK Singles Chart) and a third, "Nature's Hated" in spring 1997. They also had toured extensively with Kenickie
Kenickie were an English four-piece pop punk band from Sunderland. The band was formed in 1994 and consisted of lead vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Lauren Laverne (b. Lauren Gofton), drummer Johnny X (real name Pete Gofton, Lauren's brother ...
and scored the only UK Top 75 chart hit of any core Romo act with their contribution to the ''Fever Pitch
''Fever Pitch: A Fan's Life'' is a 1992 autobiographical essay by British author Nick Hornby. The book is the basis for two films: ''Fever Pitch'' (1997, UK) and ''Fever Pitch'' (2005, U.S.). The first edition was subtitled "A Fan's Life", but ...
'' soundtrack EP, a cover of Tim Hardin
James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk and blues musician and composer. As well as releasing his own material, several of his songs, including " If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe", becam ...
's "How Can We Hang On to a Dream". They released their album ''Passive Soul'' in October that year before Dickon Edwards departed to found Fosca. Tim Chipping would continue to use the Orlando band name for a planned folk-orientated second album under the working title ''Sick Folk'' (to have included a collaboration with Kenickie
Kenickie were an English four-piece pop punk band from Sunderland. The band was formed in 1994 and consisted of lead vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Lauren Laverne (b. Lauren Gofton), drummer Johnny X (real name Pete Gofton, Lauren's brother ...
/ Rosita members Marie Du Santiago and Emmy-Kate Montrose), before finally dissolving Orlando in Spring 2000.
Minty, likewise, having released singles "Useless Man", "Plastic Bag" (a No. 2 hit in the Netherlands), "That's Nice" and "Nothing", released their parent album ''Open Wide'' in late 1997 before also disbanding, with some members later forming rock band The Servant
A servant is a person working within an employer's household.
Servant or servants may refer to:
Places
* Servant, Puy-de-Dôme, France Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* ''The Servant'' (1963 film), a British drama
* ''The Servant'' (1989 ...
. With all the core bands and major London clubnights now defunct (or at least no longer in their Romo incarnations), the Romo scene effectively came to an end.
Legacy
In Romo's wake over the next several years came a fresh wave of glam/style orientated clubnights. One of the first of these was Club Kitten, the successor to Club Skinny, based at the latter's old location of HQ's in Camden and featuring Stuart Miller as DJ. Club Kitten, together with The Pony Club in Regent Street, became the hub for a late Romo/post-Romo "New Glam" scene featuring Persecution Complex and post-DexDexTer Xavior. Another important post-Romo club was Stay Beautiful, run by Simon Price at various London locations from 2000–2009 and in Brighton 2011-2016.
Several other Romo musicians ran glam/style orientated club nights – notably Minty vocalist Mathew Glammore's "Kashpoint" (at a January 2004 instalment of which Glammore performed a medley of old Minty songs and a March 2005 instalment of which featured a Minty reunion), Xavior's "Hanky Panky Kabaret" clubnight (and associated meetings in London's Wolsey restaurant) and Dickon Edwards' "Beautiful And Damned" and "Against Nature". Wilde and Nugent would later unleash another scene – the Club Rampage/Club P*rnstar "Bratpop" scene in late 1998 (also the beneficiary of a ''Melody Maker'' cover special).
Other promoters also hosted such glam/style-orientated clubnights in the 2000s – most notably Glam-Ou-Rama, which later relocated to Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
. Romo Night in Sweden, first established in 1996 during the original London scene's lifetime, was still active as of 2003.
Romo was also frequently cited as a precedent for (if not actually an influence on) the electroclash
Electroclash (also known as synthcore, retro-electro, tech-pop, nouveau disco, and the new new wave) is a genre of music that fuses 1980s electro, new wave and synth-pop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) ...
scene of the early 2000s. ''The Disciples'' by James Mollison, a book of photographs of music fans, includes a spread
Spread may refer to:
Places
* Spread, West Virginia
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Spread'' (film), a 2009 film.
* ''$pread'', a quarterly magazine by and for sex workers
* "Spread", a song by OutKast from their 2003 album ''Speakerboxxx/T ...
of photos of fans at a London concert by major electroclash act Fischerspooner
Fischerspooner were an electroclash duo and performance troupe formed in 1998 in Chicago after meeting in school. The name is a combination of the founders' last names, Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner.
Career
Originally a duo formed by classi ...
, mostly dressed in Romo-style attire (one of whom is Simon Price).
Writing and production team Xenomania
Xenomania is an English songwriting and production team founded by Brian Higgins and based in Kent, England. Formed by Higgins with his Creative Director Miranda Cooper and Business Director Sarah Stennett of First Access Entertainment, Xenoman ...
, who became critically and commercially successful in the 2000s for their work with groups such as Girls Aloud
Girls Aloud were an pop girl group that was created through the ITV talent show '' Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The group comprised singers Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, Nicola Roberts and Kimberley Walsh. The group achieved a str ...
and Sugababes
Sugababes are a British girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011.
Formed in 1998 by All Saints manager Ron Tom, Sugababes releas ...
, started out as remixers for songs by several Romo bands, including Hollywood's "Apocalypse Kiss" and Sexus' "How Do You Kiss?". According to Tom Ewing of ''Freaky Trigger
''Freaky Trigger'' is an Internet publication and e-zine that focuses on popular culture with topics varying from music to cinema. It was founded by the music critic Tom Ewing in 1999 and features Pete Baran and Mark Sinker as editors. From 2000 ...
'', writing in 2003, Xenomania's Romo roots could be heard in their then-current work. Writing in 2004 in regards to Xenomania's commercial success, Ewing said: "You can find Romo links everywhere if you look!" Ewing also compared Hollywood (whose repertoire had included "Lost in Moscow 3am") to Russian duo t.A.T.u.
t.A.T.u. (russian: Тату, ) were a Russian music duo that consisted of Lena Katina and Julia Volkova. The singers were part of children's music group Neposedy before being managed by producer and director Ivan Shapovalov and signing with R ...
, who he said were "entirely Romo, though it would be more accurate to say that Romo was a spirited runt in a litter that also birthed them."
Musical characteristics
One wing of Romo bands, such as Plastic Fantastic and DexDexTer cleaved towards art-glam. Although actually mostly referencing Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...
's ''Here Come the Warm Jets
''Here Come the Warm Jets'' is the debut solo album by British musician Brian Eno, released on Island Records in January 1974. It was recorded and produced by Eno following his departure from Roxy Music, and blends glam and pop stylings with ...
'' (particularly the tracks "Baby's on Fire" and "Needles in the Camel's Eye"), Fantastique no.5 was reviewed in the NME
''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...
by Pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
* ...
members Russell Senior
Russell Senior (born 18 May 1961) is a British musician and the former guitarist and violinist of the band Pulp.
Senior was born and grew up in Sheffield. Whilst at University in Bath, he formed the Dada Society (also known as the New Wave Soc ...
and Candida Doyle
Candida Mary Doyle (born 25 August 1963) is an English musician who is keyboard player and occasional backing vocalist with the band Pulp, which she joined in 1984. She joined her brother, drummer Magnus Doyle in the line-up replacing the prev ...
as "Ro-mu - as in Roxy Music. The influences are that transparent!"
Other bands such as Viva, Belvedere Kane, Sexus and to a lesser extent Orlando, took inspiration from the nightclub-orientated Hi-NRG
Hi-NRG (pronounced "high energy") is a genre of uptempo disco or electronic dance music (EDM) that originated in the United States during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
As a music genre, typified by fast tempo, staccato hi-hat rhythms (and the ...
/Handbag house
Diva house or handbag house is an anthemic subgenre of house music that became most popular in gay clubs during the second half of the 1990s. ''The Encyclopedia of Contemporary British Culture'' defines handbag house as having "prominent female ...
chart pop of the mid 1990s. Viva bassist Lee David described how his band's sound "came from going to clubs and seeing what got people dancing." Sexus's sound was characterised by Price as "intelligent handbag." Musically, Orlando combined the synthesised dance-pop of 1990s boybands and American swingbeat acts with verbose lyrics in the general style of Morrissey
Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...
and Richey Edwards
Richard James Edwards (born 22 December 1967 – disappeared 1 February 1995), also known as Richey James or Richey Manic, was a Welsh musician who was the lyricist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Manic Street Preachers. He w ...
.
The dance-pop
Dance-pop is a popular music subgenre that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit radio. Developing from a ...
influences seeped through to the scene's art-glam wing also - interviewing Plastic Fantastic, Melody Maker's David Bennun
David Bennun (born 1968) is an English writer, journalist and music critic.
Career
Bennun started his career in music journalism in the 1990s. Notable publications he has written for include ''Melody Maker'', ''The Guardian'' and ''The Quietu ...
suggested that the band's preferred mix of Plastic World (by dance producer Howard Hughes) "sounds like Hawkwind
Hawkwind are an English rock band known as one of the earliest space rock groups. Since their formation in November 1969, Hawkwind have gone through many incarnations and have incorporated many different styles into their music, including hard ...
gone disco." Hollywood's single "Apocalypse Kiss" (transformed from the original dark electropop
Electropop is a hybrid music genre combining elements of electronic and pop genres. Writer Hollin Jones has described it as a variant of synth-pop with heavy emphasis on its electronic sound. The genre was developed in the 1980s and saw a re ...
1995 demo to a piano house sound by remixers Apollo 440
Apollo 440 (also known as Apollo Four Forty or @440) are a British electronic music group formed in Liverpool in 1990. The group has written, recorded, and produced five studio albums, collaborated with and produced other artists, remixed as ...
) was described by Tom Ewing of ''Freaky Trigger
''Freaky Trigger'' is an Internet publication and e-zine that focuses on popular culture with topics varying from music to cinema. It was founded by the music critic Tom Ewing in 1999 and features Pete Baran and Mark Sinker as editors. From 2000 ...
'' as "gothy handbag
A handbag, commonly known as a purse or pocketbook in North American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag used to carry personal items.
Purse, handbag or pouch
The term "purse" originally referred to a small bag for holding coins. In many ...
with big production and those flattened Europop
Europop (also spelled Euro pop) is a style of pop music that originated in Europe during the mid-to-late 1960s and developed to today's form throughout the late 1970s. Europop topped the charts throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with revivals and ...
vowels."
Despite the Romo scene being a backlash against the values of Britpop
Britpop was a mid-1990s British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...
and indie, Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of many artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance writer, occ ...
of AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
nonetheless characterised it as "a fey, arty offspring of Britpop," noting that the genre took influence from "a touch of irony, modernist art
Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the trad ...
, a healthy love of the Style Council
The Style Council were a British musical ensemble, band formed in late 1982 by Paul Weller, the former singer, songwriter and guitarist with the punk rock/New wave music, new wave/mod revival band the Jam, and keyboardist Mick Talbot, previousl ...
and the Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...
, inspiration from Pulp
Pulp may refer to:
* Pulp (fruit), the inner flesh of fruit
Engineering
* Dissolving pulp, highly purified cellulose used in fibre and film manufacture
* Pulp (paper), the fibrous material used to make paper
* Molded pulp, a packaging material
* ...
, jealousy of Menswear
Fashion is a form of self-expression and autonomy at a particular period and place and in a specific context, of clothing, footwear, lifestyle, accessories, makeup, hairstyle, and body posture. The term implies a look defined by the fashion ind ...
, a vague idea of Roxy Music
Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry—who became the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter—and bassist Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson. The other longtime members are Phil Manzanera ...
, heritage in the Smiths
The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...
and the Manics, and a minor obsession with Dead Poets Society
''Dead Poets Society'' is a 1989 American drama film directed by Peter Weir, written by Tom Schulman, and starring Robin Williams. Set in 1959 at the fictional elite conservative boarding school Welton Academy, it tells the story of an English t ...
." Erlewine furthermore summarised that "Romo essentially boiled down to a cross between Adam Ant
Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten ...
, Roxy Music, Pulp, and Blur, with a hint of an idea of what Bowie may have meant."
Criticism
Being as it was an attack on the very notion of authenticity in music, Romo's inauthenticity was itself declared pernicious by its opponents. While Erlewine praised ''Fiddling While Romo Burns'' he nonetheless complained "...There's nothing but style and artifice here, and at crushing levels ... it's filled with affectation and pretension.". Others were more blunt about this, such as Super Furry Animals
Super Furry Animals are a Welsh rock band formed in Cardiff in 1993. For the duration of their professional career, the band consisted of Gruff Rhys (lead vocals, guitar), Huw Bunford (lead guitar, vocals), Guto Pryce (bass guitar), Cian Ciaran ...
frontman Gruff Rhys
Gruffudd Maredudd Bowen Rhys (; born 18 July 1970) is a Welsh musician, composer, producer, filmmaker and author. He performs solo and with several bands, including Super Furry Animals, which obtained mainstream success in the 1990s. He formed ...
. "I hate Romo" he declared, "it's so plastic!"
Discography of core bands
Two of the seven core bands from the ''Melody Maker'' Romo Special released one studio album each. Six of the seven released at least one single. ''Melody Maker'' also released a compilation tape of the scene including a track by the remaining core band.
Two more Romo studio albums were recorded - one by a third core band, the other by the lead singer, turned solo artist, of a fourth core band. The latter was fully mastered for release before being rejected by the record label; the former reached the stage of preliminary mixes which the band uploaded posthumously to their official site.
The fourth and the remaining three core bands also released sufficient tracks for at least one album each, two of these four spawning enough for multiple albums. This material surfaced either as promotional cassettes at the time or else subsequently as uploads by band members to official posthumous accounts for each band on download sites.
Genre compilation
*''Fiddling While Romo Burns'' - compilation cassette included with ''Melody Maker'', 9 March 1996
# DexDexTer – "Creature Feature"
# Hollywood – "Lights Camera Revolution" ( Dave Ball mix)
# Plastic Fantastic – "Complimentary Electron"
# Viva – "Now" (Marc Almond
Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He ...
/ Neal X
Neal X (born Neal Whitmore) was the guitarist with the British band Sigue Sigue Sputnik. They had a No. 3 UK hit single with "Love Missile F1-11" in 1986. He has also worked as a sideman for Adam Ant and Marc Almond. Whitmore founded the Montecri ...
version)
# Orlando – "Nature's Hated" (first version)
Orlando
''See Orlando discography''
Minty
''See Minty discography''
Sexus
Singles:
*"Edenites" (Svelte Records, SVC 1, 1995)
# "Edenites"
# "Cheap Thrills and Expensive Regrets"
# "Rope Heaven by the Neck"
* "The Official End of It All" (ZTT ZANG77CD, 1996) - UK #90
# "The Official End of It All"
# "Longing Without Belonging"
# "King of the Fairground Swing"
* "How Do You Kiss?" (ZTT, ZANG 86 CD 1996, withdrawn – promo copies circulate)
# "How Do You Kiss?"
# "Joe January"
# "Beaten Up by Girls"
:The two ZTT singles also each included a remix of the respective lead tracks. Both were reissued in full on iTunes
iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...
as most of ''ZTT – The Singles Collection – Volume 3''
Downloads:
:In the early 2000s, the following unreleased Sexus tracks were uploaded to the Psychodelicates website All except "Wild Things" (an early 1995 experimental workout track) were recorded for the planned album ''The Boyfriend Olympics''. By the end of their time with ZTT, the band intended to remix these for release to a more guitar-based sound.
* "Doing The Right Thing"
* "16 Is a Dangerous Age"
* "Good Boy Gone Bad"
* "Boyfriend in the Hospital"
* "The Town Where No-one Gets Off"
* "Unrepentant"
* "Wild Things"
: In June 2021, two tracks from the Psychodelicates' 2002 album ''Psychodelicates Go Adventuring'' - , "Angels Know My Name" and "Psychodelica" - were remastered and reissued on Spotify
Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...
under the Sexus bandname, followed by the full album shortly afterwards.
Hollywood
Single:
*"Apocalype Kiss" (Mother Records, MUMCD 79, 1996)
# "Apocalypse Kiss" (plus remixes)
Promo cassette 1995:
* "Lights Camera Revolution" (first version)
* "Bored Stupid"
* "Lost in Moscow 3am"
* "Apocalypse Kiss" (first version)
* "Kung Fu Bitch"
* "Tuning Into Search Control"
* "Last Train to London"
* "Black Champagne"
* "Statuesque"
* "50 Ways to Kill Your Lover"
* "Positive/Negative (And The Grey Connection)"
Plastic Fantastic
Single:
*"Fantastique No.5" (Mercury – PFCD 001 1996) - UK #94
# "Fantastique No.5"
# "Titled"
::Also included remixes of lead track
Downloads:
:The following Plastic Fantastic songs, unreleased during the band's lifetime, were posted to the band's official YouTub
Plastic Fantastic '96 YouTube Channel
and Soundcloud accounts by guitarist/keyboard player Shadric Toop between 2016 and 2019. Songs marked with an asterisk were previously uploaded by Nugent to the This Is Romo website circa 2002.
* "Plastic World" *
* "My Friend's Electric" *
* "Jesus Loves That Rock 'N Roll" *
* "Godzilla Versus the Mighty Quaalude" *
* "Obsession"
* "Dripping On You"
* "Future Is"
* "21st Century Lobster"
* "Elvis Played Disco"
* "Cadillac Attack"
* "Bitter Tales Of An Englishman"
* "Some Kind Of A Hell"
(aka "Blood Flowers")
* "How The West Was Won"
* "Hex"
* "Siegfried Follies"
* "Do You No. 6"
* "Making The Most Of Your Bedroom"
* "Different Ways To Hurt Yourself"
* "Speaking To Dogs"
* "Seratonin"
* "Luna Landa"
* "Point Blank Mystery"
Viva
Downloads:
:The following Viva tracks were uploaded by Nugent to the This Is Romo website circa 2002.
* "Now" (Marc Almond
Peter Mark Sinclair "Marc" Almond, (born 9 July 1957) is an English singer. Almond first began performing and recording in the synthpop/ new wave duo Soft Cell where he became known for his distinctive soulful voice and androgynous image. He ...
/ Neal X
Neal X (born Neal Whitmore) was the guitarist with the British band Sigue Sigue Sputnik. They had a No. 3 UK hit single with "Love Missile F1-11" in 1986. He has also worked as a sideman for Adam Ant and Marc Almond. Whitmore founded the Montecri ...
version)
* "The Devil You Love"
* "We Want Everything"
* "Girl Racer"
:Further Viva tracks were posted by the band to an official posthumous Myspace account in the late 2000s:
:(The three songs marked with an asterisk are from a May 1997 recording session and reflect a move by the band away from their Romo-era sound towards heavier guitar rock):
* "Now" (Pete Schwier version)
* "Heaven"
* "Skyscrapers"
* "Fly Your Own Flag"
* "Now And Forever"
* "Beautessen" *
* "Beauty Sleep" *
* "Neon Smile" *
DexDexTer
Single:
*"Another Car Another CarCrash" (Trade 2 – TRD SC CD 002 1996)
# "Another Car Another CarCrash"
# "Headlites/Headlines"
# "Car Trex"
A second single for Trade 2 (Chemistry of Youth/ Flower Power/ Supa Bupa) was recorded but unreleased.
Promo cassette singles (1995):
*"Chemistry of Youth" / "V.D."
*"April 31st" / "Winter Again" (tracks cropped to removed respective instrumental codas "The Day After" and "Blue Planet")
Downloads:
The following tracks, plus much of the above-listed material or alternate takes, recorded in the same or similar sessions to the promo cassette tracks, were uploaded by the band's keyboard player Even to his Soundcloud account in 2021 and subsequently shared by Even to Simon Price's Facebook group for Romo :
*"Maybe I'm Not"
*"Remember The Sunset"
*"Empty Screen"
*"Friendly Fire"
*"Night Talk"
*"Rosa Mystica"
*"Silver Images"
Xavior's 1997 ''Chainsaw Mass Appeal'' album for Island Records, as well as his former bandmates' "ExDexTer" audition session for the label that same year, also circulated as bootlegs among the Club Skinny/Arcadia attendees community. So too did unofficial copies of the above-listed DexDexTer and Hollywood cassette tracks and Arcadia co-promoter/DJ Toby Slater
Tobias Lewis Slater (14 August 1979 – 13 December 2021) was an English singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer for the 1990s indie pop band Catch, who released two singles in the UK and an album in Indonesia. Slater also ...
's "Brattish" synthpop project demo,[Romo: The Next Generation: Brattish, Romo special feature, ''Melody Maker'' 25 November 1995 page 17] most of the eleven songs on which were re-recorded as guitar-based indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and sub ...
by his later band Catch
Catch may refer to:
In sports
* Catch (game), children's game
* Catch (baseball), a maneuver in baseball
* Catch (cricket), a mode of dismissal in cricket
* Catch or reception (gridiron football)
* Catch, part of a rowing stroke
In music
* Catc ...
. Live excerpts of two further Viva songs, "This Is Your Life" and "Tomorrow's World" and one further Sexus song, "Northern Boys" exist on various TV features on Romo.
References
External links
This Is Romo – Romo tribute/resources site (archived version)
* ttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUKjzvdbIO5D6Coe1Ho3UMA Plastic Fantastic's YouTube Channel
{{New Wave music
Musical subcultures
1990s in British music
English styles of music