New Wave

New Wave Music

Listen To Blondie

Visage

The Cure

Adam & The Ants

New Wave is 'an ambiguous

category of Pop or Rock music from

between the late 1970s to mid-1980s with

ties to the original wave of Punk rock. New

wave music was first considered the same

as Punk rock before being identified as a

genre in its own right, incorporating aspects

of electronic and experimental music, Mod

subculture, Disco and 1960s Pop music.'

The Police - Roxane

RM Radio
Coming Soon

Elvis Costello

Pet Shop Boys

Big Country

Stuessy observed 'With the negative publicity received in 1978 to 1979 by the Sex

pistols and other punk bands, some sought to establish a new designation with less

negative connotations. Thus the term new wave was widely circulated. As observers

can note, 'one can view new wave as an offshoot of punk, somewhat subtler and less

prone to the gruesome, the overtly repulsive, and the sadomasochistic; or new wave

may simply be a term coined to escape the criticism and censure heaped upon punk

groups..... As is often the case, the truth may be a bit of both.

After all, most bands (and their record companies) can

tolerate - and at times even encourage-public outrage, unless

it becomes so extreme that customers refuse to buy records

and concert tickets. Also, it is understandable that impaling

oneself with pins and slicing one's chest open with broken

glass begins, after a few performances, to lose its appeal,

even to the most devoted of fans and performers....Thus

beginning in about 1979, many of the revolutionary punk

bands, including the Clash, lessened the aggressive tone of

their music, making it more palatable and acccessible to a

wider audience. This change thus initiated a move towards

the 'New Wave'...' (sources)

Ian Drury

Duran Duran

Blondie

The Police

The Cars

New Wave first emerged as a rock music genre in the early 1970s. The term was used

to label such formerly ‘punk artists’ as the Velvet Underground and New York Dolls.

Broadly, the label meant bands not exactly punk, but related to, and part of the same

musical scene. Between 1976 and 1977, the two labels were interchangeable. However

by the end of 1977, 'punk' was replaced by 'New Wave' as the definition for the new

underground music emerging in the UK.

Gary Numan - Cars

As part of the New

Wave Movement, some

refocused punk bands

such as The Police,

The Cars and Blondie

offered a bright, pop

alternative to postpunk

depression.

Blondie - Heart Of Glass

In essence, New Wave music was a post-punk, alternative rock genre. Major artists

include Blondie, Boomtown Rats, Talking Heads, Simple Minds, Duran Duran, B52s,

Culture Club, Elvis Costello, Ian Drury, The Pretenders, The Cars. New Wave differed

from other styles related to punk because it was similar to pop music, rather than more

"arty" post-punk, It also included much of original punk rock sound and ethos. New

Wave's common characteristics apart from its punk influences, included more lyrical

complexity, the use of synthesizers and electronic productions, the importance of

styling and the arts, and considerable diversity.

The Psychedelic Furs

The Jam

Human League

Ultravox

New Wave was very close to punk originally but came and went more quickly in the

UK than in the United States. When punk began, it was a major phenomenon in Britain

but more in the United States. Thus when New Wave acts became noticed in America,

punk meant little to the mainstream.

Duran Duran - Planet Earth

'Bit by bit the last traces

of Punk were drained

from New Wave, as New

Wave went from

meaning Talking Heads

to meaning the Cars to

Squeeze to Duran

Duran to, finally, Wham! "

- Music critic Bill

Flannigan writing in 1989

Wham - Wake Me Up Before You
Go Go

One expert argued, ‘Like the filmmakers of the French New Wave movement whom

the genre was named after, its new artists, such as the Ramones and Talking Heads,

were anti-corporate and experimental. At first, most American writers exclusively used

the term "new wave" for British punk acts. Starting in December 1976, The New York

Rocker, which was suspicious of the term "punk", became the first American journal to

enthusiastically use the term starting with British acts, ...' Music historian Vernon

Joynson stated 'that new wave emerged in the UK in late 1976, when many bands

began disassociating themselves from punk. Music that followed the anarchic garage

band ethos of the Sex Pistols was distinguished as "punk", while music that tended

toward experimentation, lyrical complexity, or more polished production, came to be

categorized as "new wave". In the US, the first new wavers were the not-so-punk acts

associated with the New York club CBGB, such as Talking Heads, Mink DeVille and

Blondie.' (sources)

The New Wave sound of the late 1970s represented a break from the smooth-oriented

blues and rock & roll sounds of late 1960s to mid-1970s rock music. According to

music journalist Simon Reynolds, the music had a twitchy, agitated feel to it.

Flock Of Seagulls - I Ran

New Wave musicians

quite often played 'choppy

rhythm' guitars with fast

tempos. Common also

were keyboards and stop-

and-start song structures

and melodies. New Wave

vocalists often sounded

'high-pitched, geeky and

suburban'.

Visage - Fade To Grey

New Wave fans were often considered to have a 'nervous, nerdy persona' as did acts

such as Talking Heads, Devo and Elvis Costello. They often presented with 'robotic or

spastic dancing, jittery high-pitched vocals, and clothing fashions such as suits and big

glasses that hid the body'. To audiences accustomed to post-counterculture forms this

seemed radical. The former were more used to disco dancing and macho "cock rock"

attitudes emphasizing a 'let it hang loose' philosophy, open sexuality and sexual

bravado.

Talking Heads - Psycho Killer

By the early 1980s,

British journalists largely

had abandoned using the

term "new wave" in favor

of subgenre terms such as

"synthpop".

The Cure - Friday I'm In Love

By 1983, in the US the term 'new music'

largely replaced 'new wave' within the

industry. However to the majority of US

fans it was still 'new wave'. While it is

generally believed new wave ended in the

mid-1980s, due to the emergence of

various guitar-driven rock music in

response to new wave, for the rest

the 1980s the term "new wave" was used

in the US for nearly every new pop or pop

rock artist predominantly using

synthesizers.

Moreover, during the early 21st century in

the US, "new wave" was still used to

describe artists such as Morrissey, Duran

Duran, Cyndi Lauper and Devo.

Tears For Fears - Mad World

Simple Minds - Love Song

In the mid - 1970s, the British pub rock scene saw the emergence of several new wave

acts such as Ian Dury, Nick Lowe, Eddie and the Hot Rods, Dr. Feelgood among

others. Some other singer-songwriters also emerged considered 'angry' and 'intelligent' .

They appeared to approach their music with sardonic attitudes and tense, and with

aggressive punk energy, These included Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, and Graham

Parker. With Rock being considered a serious art form by the late 1960s, New Wave

seemed to look just prior to this. It appeared to adopt an ironic look at consumer and

pop culture of the 1950s and early 1960s. The B-52's became most noted for a kitsch

and camp presentation with their bouffant wigs, beach party and sci-fi movie

references. Other groups adoptive of the pre-progressive rock era included The Go-

Go's, Blondie and Devo.

Experience Some New Wave Bands Below

The B-52's - Private Idaho

Ian Dury & The Blockheads -
Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick

The Human League - Fascination

Ultravox - Dancing With Tears

The Psychedelic Furs - love My Way

The Jam - Town Called Malice

Elvis Costello - Everyday

The Knack - My Sharona

Haircut 100 - Love Plus One

And Some More

Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark - If You Leave

Missing Persons - Words

Cyndi Lauper - I Drove All Night

New Wave Sub Genres - Ska, The New

Romantics, Power Pop, Post Punk & More

In essence, New Wave represented a

massive onset of music - post rock, post

pop , post punk, 'new romantics',

whatever terminology you choose. 'New

Wave' is really an umbrella term for the

sub gneres of music that emerged in the

1980s and 1990s. All were a form of New

Wave if you like, as has Ska, Synthpop,

Technopop, Postpop, etc. You can go left

now to see them.

Go To New Wave Sub Genres

NEW WAVE AND MTV

New Wave is seen as one of the definitive

genres of the 1980s. It also became a

major fixture on MTV, with many New

Wave artists receiving considerable

exposure because of it. New Wave

has continued a resurgence since the

1990s.

Enter The Age Of MTV