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						BIRMINGHAM CONTINGENT by 80's A DECADE OF i-DEAS
		Outisde London,  in the wake of the BLITZ club and during the heyday of the NEW ROMANTICS , Duran Duran were playing at the Rum Runner club in Birmingham.  Nobody was in the audience,  but that wasn't  the point.  Surrounded by a bevy of fashion talent,  they became ( for better of the worse ) Birmingham's most famous early '80s export,  the tip of creative iceberg if you like. Their clothes were designed by Kahn & Bell,  The Rum Runner and The Holy City Zoo clubs were their playground where others like Martin Degville and Jane Farrimond gathered with their exaggerated cheekbones studs,  frilly shirts  and leather.  Degville and Farrimond opened a clothes shop called Ya Ya. Dave Edmonds ran a chain of shops called Dimentia,  stocing early London fashion as well as his own label.  The Oasis Market became Birmingham's answer to Kensington Market and the Hosteria Bar the equivalent to The Chelsea Potter.  Eventually,  most of the Birmingham Contingent found their wat to London,  where they found fame and mixed fortunes. ( 80'S A DECADE OF i-DEAS )