when prince came onto the uk pop scene with doves and purple rain, he was all glammed up in keeping with the new romantics look.
cor! he was the frilly vision in purple
but i dont remember any other black performers at the time that used this style, it did seem to be a white cultral thing and and the same goes for punk genre but princey embraced both
was there anyone else or was he unique?

PurpleJane said:

Oh, surely we can think of plenty more. What about these?

- Michael Jackson
- Smokey Robinson
- Regina Belle
- Whitney Houston
- George Benson

Each have their own style, not so similar to Prince of course. Remember Lionel Richie's "Say you, say me" from 1985-1986?

In my opinion there were quite a few of them.

Black artists are often defined as 'black artists' by the media. I doubt the members of Living Colour (despite their name having obvious racial overtones) wanted to be thought of as the 'black rock band', but rather a good rock band, period. But, the media defines them as such.

I would think Alan Thicke doesn't want to be thought of the white guy with 'soul' either though.

MrGravyLumps said:

Not "romantic". "New Romantics" was a stylistic and a musical movement in the mid-80s.
[Edited 3/28/10 5:12am]

in the UK bands of the New Romantic scene usually had a mix of white, black, male & female - so in many respects Prince & the Revolution fit this mold fairly well - he wasn't truly a New Romantic though - Funk Rock would be a better catch all term for his early to mid 80's work. Prince has always been to chameleon-like to be pigeon-holed to any one music style.

to animals in one sentence!
[Edited 3/28/10 6:33am]

novabrkr said:

Anita Baker!

PurpleJane said:

Don't forget Jessie Johnson, Playin that pink guitar!! I like it!! I like it!

The "New Romantic" style/movement, like any other style/movement, was merely a new interpretation of Punk or something else. With that said, one could say that the Black version or Black artists who were engaging or influenced by the "New Romantic" style were simply acting in the legacy of Little Richard, who may have been the first glam artist. And later you would have someone like Screamin' Jay Hawkins who added his own twist to what Little Richard was doing, and so on. Even Michael Jackson was wearing "make up" and shiny or more feminine attire. And let's not forget that Rick James was doing his own twist a few years before Prince. And even before that Parliament/Funkadelic was amalgamating soul/rock/glam styles.

Thus, I don't know if it would be accurate to call Prince a "New Romantic" because he was equally soul/R&B, equally Funk, equally "traditional" RnR, so to call him a "New Romantic" puts him into a singular category that he never was. Thus, the genius of Prince is that he was a dandy--one who used clothing and accessories as a way to make himself this hybrid but indefinable thing, which, then, kept him from being pigeonholed or limited in the type of music that he would produce/release.

Finally, to go socio-political, Prince was merely continuing in the line of Little Richard, making himself as feminine and as different/weird as possible so that he could get radio play on white stations while having just enough bass/bottom in his work to stay connected to black radio. So, to call Prince a "New Romantic" only is to gloss over or minimize all that he was doing. However, I will say that your premise is correct in that Prince was one of the few black artists of his time who was willing to go to battle with record companies, radio, magazines, and even fans as to what constitutes a “black” artist. Even Michael Jackson who became “the” pop icon, for the most part, crafted music that was more identifiable as soul/R&B, whereas Prince seems to have been more concerned with artistic freedom than with making songs or hits that could be easily promoted in a basic genre or category.

TheVoid said:

That's baloney, because Black artists are defined by African-Americans as black artists as well, nothing wrong with that, and yes there's black guys that play rock, and have been defined as black rock groups by the black community and those outside the media. Thing is, rock was born from blues and gospel, so quite frankly, rock is rock. Not owned by anyone in particular, just a form of music passed down from artists to artists, and changed in many different forms along the way, over the years.
[Edited 3/28/10 17:01pm]

2elijah said:

I just don't think Prince would have defined himself as a 'black' new wave anything. That's not to say he wasn't well aware of the tags placed on him--indeed his selection of a less than stellar drummer based on the guy's skin color (white) so that he'd have a multi-ethnic band shows he was quite aware of what he was doing. I'm just saying that if he were interviewed, he'd say , "I'm an artist" and not involve race in it at all. I think at Prince's level it would be as silly as Mozart saying "I'm a German artist", etc. etc.

At least early in Prince's career I think this was the case.

lotusflw3r said:

Tell you what though. I never understand that 'Chamelion' thing. They say it about Bowie. 'He's the chamelion of pop'. Eh? Chamelions are fantastic at blending in and disappearing into the background. Bowie & Prince certainly never did that...

"We Don't Like new wave! Bwa-hahaaa"

says it all really.

.....

Fuck me.

New Romantics were all late 70's early 80's Brit bands and their fans. The Human League, Adam & The Ants, Duran Duran (When Stephen Duffy was a member), Spandau Ballet. All that stuff.

Just cause Prince wore a ruffled shirt and was a bit girly three years after the event doesn't make him part of that movement at all.

At all.
[Edited 3/29/10 13:16pm]

MrGravyLumps said:

MrGravyLumps Do you know what are the New Romantics (New Wave in America)? seems like: NO.

Not really a 'New Romantic' ... Phil Lynott

http://needlebeamcassette...lynott.jpg

aarontj said:

Yes, I'm familiar with the genre. I just got confused with the term, my silly mistake.

Not too many blacks come to mind when thinking about it. The only one I can think of is that dude with Boy George's Culture Club.

Almost everyone that responded needs an education on the new romantic movement at the 80s

Brofie said:

well go on, then....

MrGravyLumps said:

None of them were 'new romantics'

Marrk said:

I was here in London at the time and it went on a little longer than that. Prince was of course not whollly new romantic, but he was part of it.

A ruffled shirt, lots of make-up and a bunch of synthesizers does kind of qualify you.