In the ’80s phase of the New Wave spectrum, its English Pop angle was dominated by colorful bands like Culture Club, Visage, Kajagoogoo, Thompson Twins, Spandau Ballet, and Duran Duran, among which the last two reigned the charts, the radio, MTV, music magazines, as well as the bedroom walls of many fans of these so-called New Romantics. I was one of them–13 in 1984, when I started wearing flamboyant clothes and painting my face with blue and yellow eyeshadows, black eyeliners, and red lipsticks.
You might be expecting me to say, “Those were the days”; but, sorry to disappoint you, I will not. Or, did I pleasantly surprise you?
Because for me, those days never ended. They don’t have to end. I have been living the life and the music for almost four decades now.
I may have mellowed when it came to donning the fashion, but I remain a listener of the music.
Dreams never end.
I never stopped listening to and reading and writing about this kind of music–not only the old ones but also the new releases. I still follow the activities of all those bands, regularly updating myself with especially new albums.
This set consists of books about two of my most-favorite New Wave bands (written by members themselves) plus essential compilation albums by them.
* In the Pleasure Groove (Love, Death & Duran Duran) by John Taylor (2012, Sphere)
* Duran Duran by Toby Goldstein (1984, Ballantine Books)
* I Know This Much by Gary Kemp (2009, Fourth Estate)
* To Cut a Long Story Short by Tony Hadley (2005, Pan Books)
* True by Martin Kemp (2000, Orion Books)
* Duran Duran – Decade (1989)
* Duran Duran – Greatest (1998)
* Spandau Ballet – Once More (2009)
* Spandau Ballet – Gold: The Best Of… (2000)
