By Jeff Elbel
ROMANCE REVISITED
SWEET DREAMS : THE STORY OF THE NEW ROMANTICS by Dylan Jones ( Faber & Faber )
Middle-aged ‘ 80s kids and anyone pining for the Breakfast Club era will love digging into this hefty , episodic tome . Across 680 pages , British GQ editor-in-chief and David Bowie biographer Dylan Jones chronicles the New Romantic and New Wave era of British popular music and the surrounding style , telling the tale from its origin circa 1975 club culture to its mainstream apex in 1985 and the globallyunifying Live Aid concerts . The spirit of the age is captured via Jones ’ commentary and accompanied by a copious oral history . The amassed interview sources are too numerous to fully name , but they include many of the key scenesters you ’ d hope to see . The list of artists includes members of Duran Duran , Culture Club , New Order , the Pretenders , Boomtown Rats , Roxy Music , Ultravox , Pet Shop Boys , Wham , and Depeche Mode . Solo artists include David Bowie , Sade , and Neneh Cherry . Ricky Gervais and Debbie Harry of Blondie add their perspective . Some artists commoditized the zeitgeist . “ The idea was that people could go into a record shop and say , ‘ I want the record by that bloke with the hair on one side ,’” says Human League singer Phil Oakey . “ It had to be as easy as buying a bar of chocolate .” Others sought to explore and reveal their truest selves . “ People […] think if you look like this , you ’ re running away from something ,” says Boy George . “ I ’ m not hiding . It ’ s a long way from hiding .” Simon LeBon describes a prevailing philosophy of the time , which was a double-edged sword . “ Don ’ t wait for somebody else to change your life ,” he remembers thinking . “ Do it yourself .” He praises the sense of selfreliance but condemns the downside of me-first Thatcherism that dominated the era . Neil Tennant recalls a golden age , “ when clubbing was creative , and music was dominated by art students .” Some subjects describe what it took to join the ranks of the era ’ s leading personalities . “ There is no such thing as a reluctant star ,” says George Michael . “ Stars are almost always people who want to make up for their own weaknesses by being loved by the public , and I was no exception to that .” Some American artists have their say as well . Prince talks about the threat to his creativity represented by the monstrous success of Purple Rain . Daryl Hall describes his status as a critical scapegoat and answers accusations of cultural appropriation that were leveled as Hall & Oates were actively encouraging racial reconciliation . “ We live in America ,” Hall says . “ Our culture is a blend . Anyone who says otherwise is a fool – worse than a fool , a dangerous fool .” Prominent journalists and fashion designers help to complete the picture . Ultimately , Sweet Dreams tells tales of synthesizers , style , and even substance that helped to defined the social , political , and cultural climate during the heyday of Generation X .
TWO STEPS FORWARD ONE STEP BACK
Miles A . Copeland ( Jawbone Press )
Two Steps Forward , One Step Back is a memoir by the larger-than-life impresario who carried his brother Stewart ’ s band the Police to world-dominating success from 1977 to 1984 , to name only the crowning jewel of a stunning and influential career in rock and roll . Copeland also managed recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees the Go-Go ’ s and ignited the careers of enduring favorites including the Bangles , Squeeze , the Cramps , and R . E . M . through his label IRS Records . The tome offers revealing and entertaining glimpses into the equally glamorous and sordid details of the musical industry ’ s inner workings . The tale begins in the Middle East , where the Copeland boys grew up with their father , a CIA agent stationed in Syria , Egypt , and Lebanon . The music maven ’ s story then shifts to late ‘ 60s London and the beginnings of a career managing bands like Wishbone Ash and Curved Air ( a group that also included Stewart in one of its latter lineups ). Following a run of disastrous luck , Miles enters the world of punk alongside punk
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20 illinoisentertainer . com june 2021