All The Young Dudes

Duran Duran - the "New Romantic" years.
Posted by Hello

I'm a sucker for a pretty boy. A pretty rocker boy. That being said, I looooooved the 80's. I was a teenage girl, trying desperately to be a goth-new wave fashionista, and with all these tarted up frilly boys wearing just as much Maybelline as I, well...it was heaven.

Depeche Mode, Japan, Duran Duran, ABC, Thompson Twins, Culture Club, Bauhaus, The Cure, Gene Loves Jezebel, etc, etc : each band having a singer or keyboard player more stylish and androgynous than the next. Girls actually had a MALE to look up to for fashion tips and make up advice. I totally wanted to have John Taylor's sultry burgundy mop of hair alongside Adam Ant's flair for dramatic makeup. I wanted Boy George's array of wigs and weaves and Martin Gore's fetish boytoy leather gear. Shit, they looked better than most girls on a GOOD day. I ate it up. A few guy friends of mine did too.

Years later I find I am still turned on and intrigued by that 80's suave-glam style ( while some photos make me laugh out loud. ) I am also quick to remember that there are photos of me in the 80's that should be burned for my attempts at trying to adopt a look that only a professional stylist and a gold card could create. But hey, it's part of growing up. Most of those guys were in their early 20's ( young and cocky ), and I'm sure they crack up at how much blush they have smeared across their photogenic cheekbones when they go thru an old tour program. I guess the Glam Invasion of the 70's paved the way for that ( Bowie, Bolan, Sweet, Gary Glitter, Kiss - although they aren't glam, but they get top billing for famous made up rockers. ) And that look transformed in the 80's thru many different styles of music as well ( Think Motley Crue: They went from the "satanic bondage" look to "one lipstick tube away from tranny" in their first 6 years. ) Now, if you turn on MTV, you will see the makeup thing is still pretty major to a lot of bands today.

I think a lot of today's punk-pop bands are in a fashion regression. Lots of biting off of 80's style with a more "DIY" edge to it. They may think it's clever, but I say "Samhain beat you to it.". Some nu-metal poseurs ( Mudvayne, Slipknot, Insane Clown Posse ) all went a bit nutty with the stage makeup-death/gore look to get attention, which is really just biting off of the black metal makeup trend ( which, once again, can be guided right back to Kiss - and maybe, King Diamond )

Anyway. Rock boys in makeup. I could have easily made this post "The History of Makeup in Rock Music" ( and I started to venture in that direction ) but I'd rather just pay tribute to it. Stand proud as a lover of the androgynous girl-boy musician. Here are some of my favorite bands that were quite well known for their visual pretty boy appeal as well as their songs.

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust
Adam & The Ants - Beat My Guest
Thompson Twins - Lies
Depeche Mode - Dressed In Black
The Damned - New Rose
Culture Club - Time (Clock of the Heart)
Duran Duran - My Own Way
The Cure - Screw
Dead Or Alive - Big Daddy Of The Rhythm