...but apart from the Radio Two Folk Awards, which exists by dint of BBC subsidy, you don't see people queueing up to shower Richard Thompson or John Martyn with awards, do you?

Subjective nonsense on the whole. Its marketing writ large and fine in that context. So when the greatest hits are ready to roll, expect a surfeit of awards to these bands.

....given their mentions here recently, I suspect. Perhaps more for Mick Karns basslines than David Sylvians coiffeur. Thompson Twins could stand another look. Personally I am very fond of Ultravox, Ure version, not Foxx.
Do Shakespeares Sister count? I always thought they were great. I note they are being remebered in the bassists with bosoms strand. Black Sky, with its "towards the end8" piano motif would be a good contender in the instrumental crescendos strand, as it transforms the otherwise lacklustre song, transforming it into a semi-techno thing of beauty.
Neil Diamond?: even with the hoo-ha around Rick Rubins attempt to "cash" in on him, still a schmaltzy cabaret singer, even if he did write the Monkees finest moment (and Robert Wyatts.)If the advert for his schmoozefest on telly is anything to go by, his own version sucks. (Suppose I should have watched it for the sake of impartiality, but where did impartiality ever get us?)

There are a few great albums from that era, and one or two artists worthy of note, but none in the same league as any of the names you mention in your opening paragraph, either in terms of their pioneering spirit at the time, or their longevity of quality production in the years since.

....was the early 80s pop music. I still consider it one of the most imaginative times in British music. And I don't care who knows it!

(Even if Bowie and Roxy invented the early 80s....)

...some of the music from that era was pretty good- I like Japan and Ultravox (preferably Foxx-era for me but some of Midge Ure's era was good too) although as stated above, this whole scene was totally in thrall to the earlier developments of David Bowie and Roxy Music.

Some of those songs are enjoyable enough of course - Human League probably the best but then weren't they really straight pop when they were at their height? It's not a snobbery thing - it's the quality. Whereas Roxy Music and Bowie who got there first, now they really did produce great music.

After Roxy?
And, on the subject of Eddies, loose connection*, another 80s everywhere man, Gary Tibbs, with a cv encompassing the Vibrators*, Adam and the Ants and Roxy Music. Eclectic or what!
Where he?

...he's got around!! He was in Zappa's band for a while (on the double live 'Zappa In New York' and the cover of 'Zoot Allures' though he didn't even appear on the album), prog/jazz rock supergroup UK, Jethro Tull, and he was in Yes for a few days! He churned out a few New Age solo albums as well, I believe. Now working in a band called UK-Z.

I was there at the time when New Romantic happened - and elements of it have filtered through - you can hear Soft Cell, Human League, (Electro rather than New Romantic really)Visage and early Spandau in bands like Goldfrapp and Ladytron or remixers like Mark Vidler, Soulwax and Tronik Youth.

But Mike Score's haircut really killed off any retrospective credibility.

Must have albums from the time are..

Non Stop Erotic Cabaret - Soft Cell
Human Leage - Travelogue
ABC - Lexicon Of Love
Spandau Ballet - Journeys to Glory
Visage - Visage

The MOJO thesaurus must get pretty dog-eared at awards time:

The MOJO Legend Award
The MOJO Hero Award
The MOJO Inspiration Award
The MOJO Icon Award
The MOJO Outstanding Contribution To Music
The MOJO Lifetime Achievement Award
The MOJO Hall Of Fame
The MOJO Medal
The MOJO Maverick

etc, etc.

But it's a great excuse for gathering legends together.

..but I really do love the music from that time.

I think one of the reasons it's seen as throwaway is that it was a very 7" single orientated time. It was also the least 'rockist' era ever as far as I can see. That's pretty much guaranteed to stop it getting praise.

The influence of the early 80s (not the later post Live Aid 80s where every band seemed to want to be Steely Dan) shows itself over the years in a particular area: it was the first era where the sampler became available to producers, and the first where people made huge use of sequencers. And as technology moved on and samplers/sequencers became smaller and cheaper it made it possible for people to do that at home. And so the dance scene grew out of that influence. The early US techno artists were hugely influenced by the likes of Vince Clarke and said so readily in interviews at the time. And the British artists began to emerge on the scene here, with their vintage synths and samplers talked quite openly of their love for the likes of Gary Numan, The Human League and Visage.

Dance music seems to have gone underground again; as these things do. But the cheaper techology that made that possible moved into the professional studios. Quite a lot of the big pop producers have a connection with dance music. So I guess pop does eat itself from time to time...

Well, a sentence. Some great tunes (Only When You Leave, Gold, True, Through The Barricades, Chant No 1); awful lyrics throughout. As Captain Haddock would say, bilge from stem to stern.

Culture Club, The Associates, Japan, durutti column, soft cell, ABC, altered images, The Human League, Talk Talk, Psychedelic Furs,The Funboy Three, Haircut 100 New Order, Scritti Politti are pretty good and I listen to all regularly

Duran (except first single) Spandau (except chant no 1) and flock of seagulss (except photograph) are pretty bad and would rather not listen to them

In my opinion.

Yazzoo (going to see them tonight actually) also good

...I have all three of those Simple Minds albums and there's some great, inventive stuff on them. I was advised on this site to avoid the albums that followed... Were they ever considered New Romantics?

Talk Talk I guess must have been considered thus early on, but I like the later efforts 'The Colour Of Spring' and 'Spirit Of Eden' a great deal.

The guys from Japan later turned up as the bizarrely monikered 'Rain Tree Crow', of course.

that Wishing (I Had A Photograph Of You) by The 'gulls was written for and about an old schoolfriend of hers. Some sort of love triangle, apparently.

There is a hell of a lot more to early 80s music than "new romantic", but unfortunately reminiscence about this era seems to be the playground of morons (nobody on these boards, by the way), who think that creative effort under the Thatcher government is summed up by the average playlist of a "school disco" night. A quick unscientific scan through my iPod finds a number of greatly under-rated records from this era - "Wilder" by The Teardrop Explodes, "Heaven Up Here" by the Bunnymen (I can't understand why they're touring "Ocean Rain" this year, which is a far inferior record), "Songs To Remember" by Scritti Politti, "Sulk" by the Associates... Shall I go on?

Gotta agree about early SImple Minds. I've been listening to New Gold Dream obsessively over the last few weeks for some reason! A great record. I think it's an inspired era - as well as New Romantic, you've got early hip hop, some really adventurous pop and great maverick indie acts like Felt and The Cocteaus.