Romo

Romo
Stylistic origins	New Romantic, glam rock, disco, Hi-NRG, contemporary R&B, Motown, synthpop
Cultural origins	Mid-1990s, United Kingdom.
Typical instruments	Drums – Guitar – Bass guitar – Drum Machine – MIDI – Keyboard – Synthesiser
Other topics
Britpop - Indie music

Romantic Modernism, more commonly known as Romo, was a musical and clubbing 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 newness and contemporary relevance.

Much championed by the aforesaid writers at the Melody Maker as a stylish and poppy backlash against the dressed-down style of the Britpop movement, while variously feted and lambasted by others in the media as a New Romantic revival (a tag rejected by those on the scene) Romo's prime 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.

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 a Brighton-based Roxy Music/Japan-influenced outfit fronted by former Scorpio Rising/Supercharger frontman Stuart Miller, the latter formerly known as MkII and led by future Placebo keyboardist Paul "Xavior" Roide. 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.

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