New Romantics-1, 2 Tone-Zilch

We need to briefly revisit the recent Spin article on 2 Tone one more time. That was a shockingly good piece of music journalism--particularly for a relatively mainstream American music mag (gonna have to check it out more often when I'm at the magazine racks at Barnes & Noble).

Here's the money quote (from the eminently quotable Dave Wakeling, natch):

"Well, we were all destroyed by the New Romantics. All of a sudden our utilitarian gear looked plain next to these dandies. People wanted music as escapism again. There was a point where you'd have Elvis Costello, The Jam, and the Beat on Top of the Pops saying, 'Here's a brand new song about unemployment.'"

Ouch. Makes me want to burn my Human League LPs.

Also, any article that starts with a nod to one of my favorite ska-referencing scenes in moviedom--the part where the black punk in Sid and Nancy's circle shows up resplendent in his new tonic suit and pork pie and declares "I don't wanna be a punk anymore. I want to be a rude boy, like me dad"--is alright with me.