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20 - 80s New Wave? Albums What is New Wave anyway? 
Some marketing trickery to make the youth of that day think they were getting something new? Was it twitchy music played by folks with weird haircuts? Did you have to wear a particular uniform that included a skinny tie? Some bands I listened to that were branded with the New Wave label although I think many were seriously miscast. The Cars... 
...Panorama Thomas Dolby... 
...The Golden Age of Wireless Talking Heads... 
...Remain in Light The Police... 
...Zenyatta Mondatta Missing Persons... 
...Spring Session M XTC... 
...Black Sea The Fixx... 
...Reach the Beach Oingo Boingo... 
...Only A Lad Scritti Politti... 
...Cupid & Psyche 85 B-52's... 
...Cosmic Thing INXS... 
...Shabooh Shoobah The Plimsouls... 
...Everywhere at Once Pretenders... 
...Pretenders Elvis Costello & The Attractions... 
...Get Happy!! Squeeze... 
...East Side Story Men At Work... 
...Business as Usual The Art of Noise... 
...(Who's Afraid Of?) The Art of Noise Kajagoogoo... 
...White Feathers Wall of Voodoo... 
...Call of the West Tears for Fears... 
...Songs from the Big Chair Most of these acts continued to have a career, or at least the principal songwriter(s), after the "New Wave" fad faded. tA  Tribal Disorder
http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431 "Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all." | |
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New wave eventually became a catch-all term for any alternative sounding artist in the late 70s/early 80s. The one thing they all might have in common is that their music is very upbeat. I don't know of any new wave bands whose signature sound is a slow jam.
Of the bands you listed, I would think the ones that fit the term the best are: The Cars Talking Heads The B-52's The Plimsouls Some of the others like Men At Work and INXS are just different sounding rock bands to me. I'm sure NWF will have an entire thesis ready to post when he sees this thread. | |
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When I think of New Wave, I think of these bands
Yaz Depeche Mode Eurythmics Howard Jones Real Life Thompson Twins Berlin Christian Zombie Vampires | |
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sextonseven said: New wave eventually became a catch-all term for any alternative sounding artist in the late 70s/early 80s. The one thing they all might have in common is that their music is very upbeat. I don't know of any new wave bands whose signature sound is a slow jam.
Of the bands you listed, I would think the ones that fit the term the best are: The Cars Talking Heads The B-52's The Plimsouls Some of the others like Men At Work and INXS are just different sounding rock bands to me. I'm sure NWF will have an entire thesis ready to post when he sees this thread. I thought it was mostly the catch all term for bands from the UK that had a very synth like sound to them. Christian Zombie Vampires | |
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my definition of new wave is a mixture of dance music, punk and sometimes rock & funk. my favorite new wave bands are...
Berlin Shalamar (yup, they did some new wave albums is the 80's) Apollonia 6 Vanity 6 Andre cymone Rockwell | |
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theAudience said: What is New Wave anyway?
Some marketing trickery to make the youth of that day think they were getting something new? Was it twitchy music played by folks with weird haircuts? Did you have to wear a particular uniform that included a skinny tie? Some bands I listened to that were branded with the New Wave label although I think many were seriously miscast. The Cars...
...Panorama Thomas Dolby...
...The Golden Age of Wireless Talking Heads...
...Remain in Light The Police...
...Zenyatta Mondatta Missing Persons...
...Spring Session M XTC...
...Black Sea The Fixx...
...Reach the Beach Oingo Boingo...
...Only A Lad Scritti Politti...
...Cupid & Psyche 85 B-52's...
...Cosmic Thing INXS...
...Shabooh Shoobah The Plimsouls...
...Everywhere at Once Pretenders...
...Pretenders Elvis Costello & The Attractions...
...Get Happy!! Squeeze...
...East Side Story Men At Work...
...Business as Usual The Art of Noise...
...(Who's Afraid Of?) The Art of Noise Kajagoogoo...
...White Feathers Wall of Voodoo...
...Call of the West Tears for Fears...
...Songs from the Big Chair Most of these acts continued to have a career, or at least the principal songwriter(s), after the "New Wave" fad faded. tA Tribal Disorder
http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431 Good thread and good point. One that I happen to agree with. Aud, u know I'm with u on the bands that you've mentioned since I myself have run threads on some of the very bands that you've listed. The Cars is one of my all time favorite bands, ever. Growing up as a kid in Southern California, especially in the valley, I listened to KROQ who were world known for playing shit FIRST. In the late 70's and all through the 80's, they OWNED New Wave artists. Everything they played had a strong new wave slant to it. Every single act that u listed, they played. Granted, any good band like INXS and Talking Heads and Missing Persons for example, are going to infuse other elements in their sound like rock and funk. To me, the best and truest new wave had funk as a main ingredient anyways. Most of the songs usually had a funk oriented bassline and dominant clap on the snare. And of course the synths usually had a catchy hookish riff on the chorus with a string synth supporting it. And then yet another synth melody on the verses. The same exact formula most funk bands used in the 80's. SynthiaRose said "I'm in love with blackguitaristz. Especially when he talks about Hendrix."
nammie "What BGZ says I believe. I have the biggest crush on him." http://ccoshea19.googlepa...ssanctuary http://ccoshea19.googlepages.com | |
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superspaceboy said: sextonseven said: New wave eventually became a catch-all term for any alternative sounding artist in the late 70s/early 80s. The one thing they all might have in common is that their music is very upbeat. I don't know of any new wave bands whose signature sound is a slow jam.
Of the bands you listed, I would think the ones that fit the term the best are: The Cars Talking Heads The B-52's The Plimsouls Some of the others like Men At Work and INXS are just different sounding rock bands to me. I'm sure NWF will have an entire thesis ready to post when he sees this thread. I thought it was mostly the catch all term for bands from the UK that had a very synth like sound to them. There are a lot of American bands that are quintessential new wave--who's more new wave than the B-52's? Or Devo? edit: And Missing Persons, another American band. I shouldn't have left them out in my original post. That's hardcore new wave there. [Edited 5/17/07 11:37am] | |
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The original term encompassed bands from the late seventies like Talking Heads, B-52s, Gary Numan and The Cars. By that original definition, the style was gone by the very early 80s. The synth-pop or techno-pop bands influenced by Numan, Kraftwerk, Bowie were technically not part of new wave movement. They were after post-punk/new wave, but America took the term and applied it to all of the synth bands from the early 80s and even into the mid 80s. Bands like Depeche scoff when labeled New Wave or New Romantic, because they came after those styles or movements (even in '80-81 when they were just starting). | |
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blackguitaristz said: Growing up as a kid in Southern California, especially in the valley, I listened to KROQ who were world known for playing shit FIRST. In the late 70's and all through the 80's, they OWNED New Wave artists. Everything they played had a strong new wave slant to it. Every single act that u listed, they played. This list is based on music I heard on KROQ when I moved to L.A. Coming from a steady diet of Jazz/Fusion & Funk, I had no clue that New Wave had become the latest fad. I figured i'd better get a crash course in the church of What's Happenin' Now and someone told me that KROQ would give the best sermon. So KROQ (with small portions of KMET & KLOS) became a daily regimen for about 6 months. tA Tribal Disorder
http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431 "Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all." | |
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...
New Wave or not, the thing I noticed about a lot of the popular bands from the era -- although the synth sound may have been prominent, The best bands weren't solely dependent upon it. The Police, XTC, the Talking Heads, Tears For Fears, The Fixx, B-52's, Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello, Missing Persons, Oingo Boingo, Paul Weller, even Thomas Dolby-- and If the power went out, they could still put on a concert. They were pop Musicians. As tA pointed out, if not the whole bands, the principal songwriters continue to have careers. I was just posting on the Police thread about all these "Three Chords and The Truth" bands that are prevalent now--it's funny, it's as if from the 90's on, it became less about melody, song structure and musicianship and more about stuff to get people pumped-up... ... [Edited 5/17/07 12:18pm] " I've got six things on my mind --you're no longer one of them." - Paddy McAloon, Prefab Sprout | |
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"Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all." | |
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sextonseven said: New wave eventually became a catch-all term for any alternative sounding artist in the late 70s/early 80s. The one thing they all might have in common is that their music is very upbeat. I don't know of any new wave bands whose signature sound is a slow jam.
Of the bands you listed, I would think the ones that fit the term the best are: The Cars Talking Heads The B-52's The Plimsouls Some of the others like Men At Work and INXS are just different sounding rock bands to me. I'm sure NWF will have an entire thesis ready to post when he sees this thread. One that I can think of might be Drive (kinda slow) by The Cars. Don't know if it would be their signature tune but it's pretty close. I would agree about Men At Work and INXS (which is why I didn't include acts like Level 42 and a few other bands) but that's what made KROQ's playlist a bit schizophrenic for me at times. They even had Tom Petty mixed in with these groups. And as an afterthought I did realize that this would be... 
...definite NWF bait. 
tA Tribal Disorder
http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431 "Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all." | |
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paligap said: ...
New Wave or not, the thing I noticed about a lot of the popular bands from the era -- although the synth sound may have been prominent, The best bands weren't solely dependent upon it. The Police, XTC, the Talking Heads, Tears For Fears, The Fixx, B-52's, Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello, Missing Persons, Oingo Boingo, Paul Weller, even Thomas Dolby-- and If the power went out, they could still put on a concert. They were pop Musicians. As tA pointed out, if not the whole bands, the principal songwriters continue to have careers. I was just posting on the Police thread about all these "Three Chords and The Truth" bands that are prevalent now--it's funny, it's as if from the 90's on, it became less about melody, song structure and musicianship and more about stuff to get people pumped-up... ... Good point about the musician variable. A dying part of the equation. Funny visual... 
...We're here to PUMP YOU UP! Those bands you referred to (*"Three Chords and The Truth") should put Hans & Franz on the payroll as "hype-men". 
*Nice... 
tA Tribal Disorder
http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431 "Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all." | |
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[Edited 5/17/07 12:47pm]  | |
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theAudience said: sextonseven said: New wave eventually became a catch-all term for any alternative sounding artist in the late 70s/early 80s. The one thing they all might have in common is that their music is very upbeat. I don't know of any new wave bands whose signature sound is a slow jam.
Of the bands you listed, I would think the ones that fit the term the best are: The Cars Talking Heads The B-52's The Plimsouls Some of the others like Men At Work and INXS are just different sounding rock bands to me. I'm sure NWF will have an entire thesis ready to post when he sees this thread. One that I can think of might be Drive (kinda slow) by The Cars. Don't know if it would be their signature tune but it's pretty close. I would agree about Men At Work and INXS (which is why I didn't include acts like Level 42 and a few other bands) but that's what made KROQ's playlist a bit schizophrenic for me at times. They even had Tom Petty mixed in with these groups. And as an afterthought I did realize that this would be...
...definite NWF bait.
tA Tribal Disorder
http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431 Oh yeah, "Drive" was definitely The Cars' biggest hit, but it came late in their career after they already had a successful string of more upbeat tunes. I don't think anyone would say that song epitomized the band's sound. The equivalent to KROQ in NY was WLIR which sprinkled in questionable artists like Prince and Rockwell among the usual suspects on their playlist. I don't think they would have gone so far as Tom Petty though--at least not in their heydey before they tinkered with their format (that's a whole 'nother sad story  ).
And look for an endless list of "real" new wave bands from NWF when he arrives. | |
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sextonseven said: Oh yeah, "Drive" was definitely The Cars' biggest hit, but it came late in their career after they already had a successful string of more upbeat tunes. I don't think anyone would say that song epitomized the band's sound. The equivalent to KROQ in NY was WLIR which sprinkled in questionable artists like Prince and Rockwell among the usual suspects on their playlist. I don't think they would have gone so far as Tom Petty though--at least not in their heydey before they tinkered with their format (that's a whole 'nother sad story ).
And look for an endless list of "real" new wave bands from NWF when he arrives. Me either. But for the soft-core listener, that may be the only Cars song they're aware of.
Was WLIR the only station of its kind in the city? I'm waiting. Hope he's not on one of his sabbaticals. 
tA Tribal Disorder
http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431 "Ya see, we're not interested in what you know...but what you are willing to learn. C'mon y'all." | |
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theAudience said: blackguitaristz said: Growing up as a kid in Southern California, especially in the valley, I listened to KROQ who were world known for playing shit FIRST. In the late 70's and all through the 80's, they OWNED New Wave artists. Everything they played had a strong new wave slant to it. Every single act that u listed, they played. This list is based on music I heard on KROQ when I moved to L.A. Coming from a steady diet of Jazz/Fusion & Funk, I had no clue that New Wave had become the latest fad. I figured i'd better get a crash course in the church of What's Happenin' Now and someone told me that KROQ would give the best sermon. So KROQ (with small portions of KMET & KLOS) became a daily regimen for about 6 months. tA Growing Up in The DC area, I was in a similar situation in terms of radio, a lot of R&B, Funk and Jazz. One day, I ended up turning to WHFS by mistake, and heard Peter Gabriel's, song, Games Without Frontiers for the first time, and was blown away. I didn't realize that this was THE station in the area for progressive Pop and Rock(and Beyond). They turned me on to a lot of Kool stuff-- but because I heard all this stuff lumped together, I was never sure what was considered "new wave", what was progressive, what was just Pop, etc. I wasn't making any distinctions, anyway... I always got the sense that while Punk was actually more of a movement, the term "New Wave" eventually would become more of a marketing ploy, like the way "neo-soul" gets thrown around now...                              
... [Edited 5/17/07 15:10pm] " I've got six things on my mind --you're no longer one of them." - Paddy McAloon, Prefab Sprout | |
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dancerella said: my definition of new wave is a mixture of dance music, punk and sometimes rock & funk. my favorite new wave bands are...
Berlin Shalamar (yup, they did some new wave albums is the 80's) Apollonia 6 Vanity 6 Andre cymone Rockwell I would consider none of those band to be new wave, except berlin. Perhaps americal r&b with a new wave-ish sound...maybe Christian Zombie Vampires | |
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sextonseven said: superspaceboy said: I thought it was mostly the catch all term for bands from the UK that had a very synth like sound to them. There are a lot of American bands that are quintessential new wave--who's more new wave than the B-52's? Or Devo? edit: And Missing Persons, another American band. I shouldn't have left them out in my original post. That's hardcore new wave there. [Edited 5/17/07 11:37am] I never considered B-52's new wave. Devo...maybe closer. I always thought of B-52's as more of a rock/surf band with a punk edge. Christian Zombie Vampires | |
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You guys pretty much said everything that I would say anyways.  NEW WAVE FOREVER: SLAVE TO THE WAVE FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE. | |
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theAudience said: sextonseven said: Oh yeah, "Drive" was definitely The Cars' biggest hit, but it came late in their career after they already had a successful string of more upbeat tunes. I don't think anyone would say that song epitomized the band's sound. The equivalent to KROQ in NY was WLIR which sprinkled in questionable artists like Prince and Rockwell among the usual suspects on their playlist. I don't think they would have gone so far as Tom Petty though--at least not in their heydey before they tinkered with their format (that's a whole 'nother sad story ).
And look for an endless list of "real" new wave bands from NWF when he arrives. Me either. But for the soft-core listener, that may be the only Cars song they're aware of.
Was WLIR the only station of its kind in the city? I'm waiting. Hope he's not on one of his sabbaticals.
tA Tribal Disorder
http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431 WLIR/WDRE was the only station in NY that played alternative in the 80s. In the 90s they started to lose their audience to new stations like WXRK (K-Rock) which played harder stuff and they tried doing the triple-A thing for awhile. I can remember the one morning I woke up, turned on WDRE and heard Hootie And The Blowfish for the first time.  That didn't last too long and they briefly went back to the WLIR call letters before calling it a day a few years ago. Now the frequency is owned by a Latin station. 
station edit [Edited 5/17/07 14:47pm] | |
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superspaceboy said: dancerella said: my definition of new wave is a mixture of dance music, punk and sometimes rock & funk. my favorite new wave bands are...
Berlin Shalamar (yup, they did some new wave albums is the 80's) Apollonia 6 Vanity 6 Andre cymone Rockwell I would consider none of those band to be new wave, except berlin. Perhaps americal r&b with a new wave-ish sound...maybe Vanity 6 perhaps in the extremely broad sense, but the other funk acts, no way. | |
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superspaceboy said: sextonseven said: There are a lot of American bands that are quintessential new wave--who's more new wave than the B-52's? Or Devo? edit: And Missing Persons, another American band. I shouldn't have left them out in my original post. That's hardcore new wave there. [Edited 5/17/07 11:37am] I never considered B-52's new wave. Devo...maybe closer. I always thought of B-52's as more of a rock/surf band with a punk edge. Nah, the B's were definitely new wave. All those synth/new romantic bands came later in the 80s after the term had already been applied to the original artists from the late 70s. | |
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NWF said: You guys pretty much said everything that I would say anyways.
How anticlimactic. I was getting ready to be schooled. | |
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pzlyprk said: The original term encompassed bands from the late seventies like Talking Heads, B-52s, Gary Numan and The Cars. By that original definition, the style was gone by the very early 80s. The synth-pop or techno-pop bands influenced by Numan, Kraftwerk, Bowie were technically not part of new wave movement. They were after post-punk/new wave, but America took the term and applied it to all of the synth bands from the early 80s and even into the mid 80s. Bands like Depeche scoff when labeled New Wave or New Romantic, because they came after those styles or movements (even in '80-81 when they were just starting).
The most important post in the whole thread. Well said. | |
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theAudience said:[quote] blackguitaristz said: Growing up as a kid in Southern California, especially in the valley, I listened to KROQ who were world known for playing shit FIRST. In the late 70's and all through the 80's, they OWNED New Wave artists. Everything they played had a strong new wave slant to it. Every single act that u listed, they played. This list is based on music I heard on KROQ when I moved to L.A. Coming from a steady diet of Jazz/Fusion & Funk, I had no clue that New Wave had become the latest fad. I figured i'd better get a crash course in the church of What's Happenin' Now and someone told me that KROQ would give the best sermon. So KROQ (with small portions of KMET & KLOS) became a daily regimen for about 6 months. tA Wow, I remember KMET. Used to have their stickers. Just like KLOS stickers. I always was all over the place when it came to radio. I started that when I was 8. FM/AM, didn't matter. KDAY, KMET, KLOS, KROQ, it didn't matter. As long as I dug the music. Aud, remember the station out here called KIQQ? I loved that station as well. SynthiaRose said "I'm in love with blackguitaristz. Especially when he talks about Hendrix."
nammie "What BGZ says I believe. I have the biggest crush on him." http://ccoshea19.googlepa...ssanctuary http://ccoshea19.googlepages.com | |
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superspaceboy said: dancerella said: my definition of new wave is a mixture of dance music, punk and sometimes rock & funk. my favorite new wave bands are...
Berlin Shalamar (yup, they did some new wave albums is the 80's) Apollonia 6 Vanity 6 Andre cymone Rockwell I would consider none of those band to be new wave, except berlin. Perhaps americal r&b with a new wave-ish sound...maybe I know most people woudn't consider them new wave acts but they are to me. I also love Missing Persons, Adam Ant & Billy Idol! | |
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sextonseven said: superspaceboy said: I would consider none of those band to be new wave, except berlin. Perhaps americal r&b with a new wave-ish sound...maybe Vanity 6 perhaps in the extremely broad sense, but the other funk acts, no way. Rockwell's album Somebody's watching me is pure new wave. have you heard it?? | |
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dancerella said: sextonseven said: Vanity 6 perhaps in the extremely broad sense, but the other funk acts, no way. Rockwell's album Somebody's watching me is pure new wave. have you heard it?? My friend had it and played it for me several years ago (like the year it came out). I don't remember what it sounded like other than the second single "Obscene Phone Caller". I doubt anything with Michael Jackson singing on it can be described as "pure new wave". He's a new wave killer. | |
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sextonseven said: superspaceboy said: I never considered B-52's new wave. Devo...maybe closer. I always thought of B-52's as more of a rock/surf band with a punk edge. Nah, the B's were definitely new wave. All those synth/new romantic bands came later in the 80s after the term had already been applied to the original artists from the late 70s. Yeah, what he said.  NEW WAVE FOREVER: SLAVE TO THE WAVE FROM THE CRADLE TO THE GRAVE. | |
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