By all rights, long-defunct ponce-pop new wavers Adam and the Ants should be ripe for a comeback. What with the band’s saucy pirate look and love of dangly accessories, pop-culture pundits have been expecting a return for some time. The pairing of their 1982 hit “Goody Two Shoes” with Diet Coke in a recent TV advertisement has not only taken the world by storm but found the erstwhile dress-up rockers an entirely new, fresh young audience.

But in today’s world, comeback has become a bit of a dirty word. With outfits like the Police and Springsteen and the E Street Band playing to half-empty stadiums and repelling fans with their bloated and creaky appearance, it may be time to rethink the entire concept of the reunion tour.

Bands such as the Ants, never quite able to break through to massive mainstream success, would be wise to take a cue from Hollywood, where the reboot—read “do-over”—is the latest craze, with everything from the Incredible Hulk to Batman being not remade but “re-imagined” in an effort to pump new life into decidedly dead concepts. Indeed, a seemingly never-ending cycle has begun: reviving, failing, reviving again, and in the process raking in a few million from the fantastically gullible youth market, whose mantra boldly reads “Leave your brain at the door. Again.”

For instance, the much-hyped Terminator Salvation, now tanking spectacularly at the box office, is already creating reboot buzz, the new code for “Let’s just pretend that didn’t happen.” More than ever, amnesia is in. And yet it could be argued that one hit like the aforementioned Batman reboot justifies everything. And either way, people really like saying “reboot”.

So, with a built-in demographic now accustomed to seeing new actors in familiar roles, and expectations lowered to dizzying new depths, a music industry in full slump mode seems a natural fit. The original bands need not even suit up; we could cast younger, sprier, and perhaps grittier new counterparts in their place, and get them to slog it out on the reboot trail. Spared the humiliating sneers of “Sell-out” and “Cheap cash grab”, the once fresh-faced old-timers thusly enjoy both the fruits of success and the low maintenance of obscurity, largely left to continue as historical footnotes—forgotten mental cases, drunks, lard-asses, and general shadows of their former selves—all the while raking in that sweet, sweet reboot loot.

Once the ball gets rolling, the possibilities are endless. Back in the day, failure to achieve megastardom was strangely acceptable. In fact, not being played 50 times a day on MTV was seen by some as a sign of quality, even integrity. But that’s all changed. So what of those who missed the gravy train and, despite every calculated effort to sell out, got only a mouthful of the scummy skin? Kajagoogoo, Haircut 100, Ultravox—the list goes on. The reboot has shown us that nothing need ever be left alone. Death doesn’t even have to be a factor. Who wouldn’t like to see a Jeff Buckley reboot? Or, for that matter, dance to “Ant Music” in public without fear of being shit-kicked silly, which, quite frankly, was a very real danger back in the day, especially if you were stupid enough to bust a move at Champagne’s in Surrey.