Sweet Dreams: From Club Culture to Style Culture, the Story of the New Romantics

'Sheds light on [the] sudden lurch towards the swank and ostentation of New Romanticism . . . Compelling reading for those who lived and breathed the indulgence of the era without realising its significance or contemplating its legacy.' Simon Armitage

David Bowie. Depeche Mode. Culture Club. Wham!. Soft Cell. Ultravox. Duran Duran. Sade. Spandau Ballet. The Eurythmics.

One of the most creative entrepreneurial periods since the Sixties, the era of the New Romantics grew out of the remnants of post-punk and developed quickly alongside club culture, ska, electronica, and goth. The scene had a huge influence on the growth of print and broadcast media, and was arguably one of the most bohemian environments of the late twentieth century. Not only did it visually define the decade, it was the catalyst for the Second British Invasion, when the US charts would be colonised by British pop music - making it one of the most powerful cultural exports since the Beatles.

In Sweet Dreams, Dylan Jones charts the rise of the New Romantics through testimony from the people who lived it.

For a while, Sweet Dreams were made of this.