A brief fling with the New Romantics

You know, Bumblebee has a long history of becoming sick just when I need a little liberty. And so it was with me and the New Romantics party last night. About 5pm he started wailing about his tummy, and by 6pm he was upchucking like nobody's business. He was supposed to be coming with us and sleeping in a back room of the host's house, but chucky kids aren't nice hostess presents, so I had to think of Plan B. The obvious Plan B was to stay at home with him, SOB!

Luckily my parents were in town for some ex-Army reunion brunchy thing and I managed to talk Colonel Duck into babysitting for an hour in the evening so that I could at least make an appearance and conduct the trivia quiz I'd been asked to write. Bless his khaki heart, he's a good granddad, although quite surprised to walk into a house where his daughter had regressed to her teen years, his son-in-law looked like Adam Ant, and his grandson was screaming in the bedroom, writhing and groaning into an icecream container.

Unfortunately in all the excitement and stress, photos were not taken! And of course, there's always the disappointment of arriving at a costume party to discover that only half the guests had bothered to dress up. The hosts looked fantastic, as did a handful of other people, so there were enough of us not to look dumb; I do, however, greatly envy gatherings of people like the For Battlers, to whom costumes are not a minor and juvenile inconvenience, but a way of life. So, I whizzed in, chatted, joked, conducted some trivia, then whizzed home again to tend my ailing son.

I did manage to take some detail shots after I got home. Colonel Duck had left, best Beloved was still Anting away at the party, and Bumblebee was comatose and building up to his next 3 hours of screaming, so I clicked a few snaps before snatching some precious moments of rest in the face of a night-shift of home nursing. So, from the bottom up:


Sorry about the fuzzy. I was very tired. I found some faux-snakeskin stretchy pants in my costume bag and teamed them with black boots and a crisp white shirt and wide belt. Unfortunately I don't have a frilly white shirt so I borrowed one of BB's office shirts, which was nice and billowy enough, but was marred slightly by having a pocket at the front. I don't think anyone cared, really.


Another thing in my costume bag was a black sequined bustier with quite pointy bra cups a-la Madonna. I wore it under the shirt. It was quite tight (it always has been, I got it secondhand) so I had to breath shallowly all evening, but the discomfort was worth it.


In one ear I gussied up an earring made from a couple of old charms from my youth: a silver fan (it opens and closes like a real fan) and a silver thong. Noice Aussie touch, don't you think? I wore the shirt collar up and a black satin ribbon around my throat.


On the other ear I wore a feather earring I whipped up yesterday afternoon, the feathers being the only costume purchase I made for the party. The lovely Ellis Hutch was also at the party, and she exclaimed wistfully when she saw me that she'd had a pink feather earring in her teen years that she wasn't able to wear because she hadn't been allowed to get her ears pierced. Me too, Ellis, me too. Bloody Colonel Duck used to say that only loose women had pierced ears, and then when I worked up the courage to sneak out and get them pierced, he didn't turn a feather. Just started bringing me back earrings from his business trips. I should have done it years before. Sigh.

I'd gelled my hair into geometric shapes, and I had a lot of makeup on, including masses of blush, but by the time I took the photos it had gone pretty blurry from the heat and sweat, and if I showed you a photo of the 'after' look I'd have to then kill you. Instead, I share with you the quiz I painstakingly put together with the help of Wikipedia. It went down well; you could guess the age groups of the partygoers by their answers!

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NEW ROMANTICS TRIVIA QUESTIONS

1. Name Duran Duran’s first hit.

2. What does OMD stand for?

3. Who was the lead singer of Ultravox?

4. What was Spandau Ballet named after?

5. Where was 'home' for Paul Young?

6. Which of these bands are still together?
a. Depeche Mode
b. Duran Duran
c. Tears for Fears

7. Name TWO Adam & the Ants hits.

8. Complete the following band names:
a. Simple ______
b. Men Without _______
c. Talk ________
d. Scritti ______
e. Haircut _________

9. Who was the lead singer of Culture Club?

10. How many people were in the Thompson Twins?

11. An Australian band influenced by the New Romantics was The Flowers. What did they change their name to?

12. In the video of Sweet Dreams (are Made of This) by The Eurythmics, what colour was Annie Lennox's hair?

13. What was the name of the New Romantic band fronted by Ricky Gervais?

14. Recite the first line of 'Don’t You Want Me' by The Human League.

15. Was the band Japan from Japan?

16. What was Dead or Alive's big hit?

17. Which of the following is NOT a band name from the 1980s:
a. Tik and Tok
b. B-movie
c. Black Sox
d. Strange Advance
e. Heaven 17

18. Two members of Visage left to form another famous New Romantic band. What was it?

19. Which of the following is an Australian New Romantic band:
a. Pseudo Echo
b. Kajagoogoo
c. A Flock of Seagulls

20. WHO AM I?

While the New Romantic movement was based mainly in Britain, I was influenced by it and carried the torch for many years in the USA.

I am famous for my fashion style, which goes hand in hand with my innovative music.

My work in the 1980s crossed the borders between music and film, and I made two films which were more like extended video clips than movies.

My backing bands have had a variety of name changes, as in fact have I.

Some say my best music was made in the early to mid-1980s, and that by the mid 1990s I had lost my way, especially when I changed my name to a symbol that nobody could pronounce.


UPDATE: The answers are now in the comments for this post!

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As I write, I have had less than five hours sleep thanks to Bumblebee, who evacuated every repository of fluid throughout the night with much drama and flair. He then settled down to sleep at about 4 am, and woke up at 10am perky and cheery. Unlike me. I'll be in bed before the sun tonight...