Redartz: A couple of years ago we did a post in which we discussed our favorite New Wave acts from the UK. We concluded with a promise to look at the US contingent. Never let it be said that we don't follow up on things, even if it takes us awhile!
The late 70's and early 80's were rich times musically, with the surging presence of new sounds from new performers; a wide variety of approaches all encompassed beneath the umbrella term of
"New Wave". Much of that arose from the wondrous environs of the UK. But the USA
was not to be left out, as these bands (and the others which you all will be naming) can attest . This discussion isn't really about the 'best', as obviously that is a relative and subjective judgement. This post we're dealing with our favorites; and here are three of mine.
Talking Heads
Probably the first 'New Wave' band I came to enjoy was Talking Heads. I was at first slow to jump on the bandwagon, still hanging on to my standard pop tastes. But the persuasive efforts of some art school friends, and this song, broke the ice for me. Shortly I was incurably hooked, hunting for any 'alternative' act I could find. And one of the first was the album from which this song came, "More Songs About Buildings and Food". I loved that lp, and every subsequent offering from David Byrne and Co. And that includes the excellent "Tom Tom Club". But anyway, here's the tune that started it all for me.
"Take Me to the River"
Devo
Next on my personal list of US New Wave faves is Devo. At first, I found their offerings to be rather weird. Too weird for my tastes. However, once my eyes (and more specifically, ears) were opened a bit, the Spudboys' brand of strangeness was irresistable. Although I didn't purchase any Devo records until "Whip It" hit big, I then made up for lost time. Within a short time I picked up all their previous lps, and was sure to grab the new ones that followed. Here's one great track from "Oh No! It's Devo!"
"Explosions"
The Go-Go's
Much as I loved the above two groups, I never had the pleasure of seeing them live. On the other hand, I had the pleasure of seeing these girls live not once, not twice but three times! Once at a small club in Indianapolis. Once as the opening act for the Police. And once as headliners themselves (at Purdue University, I believe our friend Charlie Horse 47 was there too).
The Go-Go's output may have been smaller than many other acts, but the sheer fun they exuded made up for that. One great aspect of the 'New Wave' was a return to 'fun'. And that perfectly describes this group's music. And what's more fun than this cut from the group's second album?
"Vacation"
Okay, there's my three picks. There were many many others, but these three acts had a place close to my heart and mind. What acts from the American New Wave set your blood to pumping?
20 comments:
My fave American band around 1980-ish were the Residents. I suppose you could quibble about whether they were really "new wave" - whatever that actually means (not noisy enough to be "punk"?) - as their first record, the brilliant seasonal non-hit Santa Dog came out in 1972. But that just shows how ahead they were of everyone else (even Captain Beefheart).
And then there was Pere Ubu. Between them and Howard the Duck, Cleveland seemed like an impossibly exotic place from this side of the Atlantic.
So far as actual hits go, the fab Kid Creole and the Coconuts! (Although I think maybe they were bigger here than in the US...?)
And Laurie Anderson's O Superman still sounds fantastic now, let alone back then.
-sean
Sean, I think Kid Creole & the Coconuts were indeed more popular outside of the US; I remember I first heard of them when I was still in high school in the mid-1980s. The only song of theirs I'm familiar with is "Stool Pigeon."
Otherwise, yes: I would count the Talking Heads and Devo as among my favorite American 'new wave' (as nebulous as that term may be) bands. The Go-Gos were pretty good, too.
Another personal favorite of mine is Missing Persons. Back then, I loved their album "Spring Session M" and wore out my cassette because I played it so much. And I still like the album - I have the CD now.
I'm with Edo on Missing Persons, although I appreciate them more now than as a kid. (And wasn't Dale Bozzio hot? Remember those crazy outfits she wore?)
I'm not sure exactly what counts as New Wave, but I guess my favourites would be the Cars. Always had great songs and some cool videos too.
“New Wave” is such a broadly-defined genre, encompassing everything from Post-Punk to Synth-Pop to New Romantic to Power-Pop, etc. Which is both a good thing and a bad thing, I guess.
When I think of “New Wave”, yeah, I immediately picture British bands — OMD, INXS, ABC, XTC, Psychadelic Furs, Simple Minds, Echo and the Bunnymen, and MTV mainstays Haircut 100 and A Flock of Seagulls. Very few of the American “New Wave” acts that I can think of fit so obviously under that umbrella.
Talking Heads, sure — though, in my head I tend to think of them more as “Art Rock”. And The Cars are comfortably in that “New Wave” pocket, I guess.
The B-52s and Devo both played up the Retro Sci-Fi Kitsch thing to varying degrees — but for some reason, neither band feels very “New Wave” to me.
The Go-go’s started out quite a bit more “punk” before embracing that spunky sparkly upbeat Party-Pop sound. Blondie was also a lot more raw on their first few albums before getting the Glam Pop makeover that made them millionaires.
The Bangles were originally a straight-up Retro band (like “The Kinks and Shocking Blue had a baby”), but got cleaned-up and somewhat homogenized by their micro-managing record label. If they’d had a bit more say in their own direction, they MIGHT have evolved into something more “New Wave”. Hard to say.
R.E.M. are sometimes described as a “New Wave” band but I just think of them as the Quintessential Indie band.
The Motels? Kinda. The Tubes? Ehhh, not really.
b.t.
“New Wave” covers so much. The Cars were considered new wave when they came out. They had that poppy sound compared to the Album Oriented Radio was startling. I love the Stray Cats with their Rockabilly revival. Odd, they had to go to England to be discovered. Blondie defined New Wave for me. The Violent Femmes with there stripped down sound that was Folk on speed. The Smithereens with there retro ‘60s sound. Do the Pretenders count as a US or British band? Chrissie Hynde was originally from Akron, Ohio. The Ramones who straddled Punk and New Wave.
Sean, I grew up in the suburbs of Cleveland and you’re not missing much. 🤣
Travis Morgan
Yeah, I see others share my hesitation to use the term 'New Wave' - and how broad the term is. I guess both the Cars and the B-52s (*love* them) could also be considered New Wave at that.
I'm just shocked and disillusioned to hear that Cleveland may not be the fabulous place I imagined.
-sean
I'm totally uncool when it comes to music and I don't have a clue what counts as New Wave. The only songs I knew were the ones that made the UK Top 40 and appeared on the BBC's TOP OF THE POPS music show every week but the UK Top 40 was pretty eclectic. Blondie had five UK #1 hits in 1979/80 and numerous other Top 10 hits so they were the American band I was most aware of, New Wave or not.
INXS were actually Australian, not British as b.t. suggested.
Kid Creole & The Coconuts' biggest British hit was "Annie, I'm Not Your Daddy" (which reached #2 in the singles chart in 1982).
The Go-Gos didn't have any UK hits but Belinda Carlisle was much more successful - "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" made #1 and she had several other hits such as "Leave A Light On" and "I Get Weak". Jane Wiedlin also had a hit with "Rush Hour".
Sean - Cleveland did have a substantial Hungarian community. So at least that made it cool.
Charlie is going to cheat b/c his memory is fading... he looked at Wiki for the list of USA New Wave groups, lol.
Berlin
The Cars
Ebn Ozn - A, E, I...
Missing Persons
Romeo Void - A Girl In Trouble
Talking Heads
Tom Tom Club - Genius of Love
Wall of Voodoo - Mexican Radio
In truth, I only liked 1-2 songs by these groups but for the Cars and Talking Heads. there's a good half dozen.
But I associate New Wave with the 2nd British Invasion / British Synth / first Sheffield, UK invasion: ABC, Cabaret Voltaire, Heaven 17, Human League, Thompson Twin, and Joe Cocker.
Loved Kid Creole and the Coconuts. Actually picked up a collection of their “hits” on CD a couple of years ago.
“Mexican Radio” was another favorite (wishing I was in Tijuana eating BBQ iguana). Also liked the Police’s “Canary In A Coal Mine.”
I picked up the Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense and liked it as well, but I sort of lost interest in the popular stuff at the time after a while and moved on to more earthy rock and later blues.
Charlie, I think you might have your cockers mixed up there. Joe Cocker played Woodstock, man - whatever anyone means by the term "new wave", I'm fairly certain we could all agree that isn't it (;
Fwiw, I believe he was from the peoples republic of Sheffield though.
-sean
Sean - good catch!
In 1980, Linda Ronstadt did MAD LOVE, an entire album that leaned into the stripped-down DIY aesthetic of “New Wave / Post-Punk / Whatever”. That same year, The Ramones attempted to broaden their fan base (and increase their record sales) by moving in the opposite direction — working with Phil Spector to create a more mainstream / radio-friendly sound on their album END OF THE CENTURY. Both albums are kinda hit-and-miss but pretty good.
b.t.
Wikipedia's list of New Wave acts is a little eccentric. It has Donna Summer and the Village People on it.
But, Donna aside, of the American acts that it labels as being New Wave, Blondie seem to stand out by a mile as the outstanding group.
I liked the Cars' first couple of hits but, after those, they pretty much disappeared from British radio until the famous song came out. They then disappeared from the radio again, straight after it.
The B52's were, of course, irresistible.
I'm not familiar with the Bangles' albums but their singles always seemed to work.
Lene Lovich is American by birth. So I'll fling her into the pot.
Chrissie Hynde has, over the years, built up a seriously formidable back-catalogue.
Excellent comments all!
Sean- ah, the Residents. How to categorize them? Hmmmmm. Guess New Wave works as well as anything!
Edo and Mike- Missing Persons were striking, as was Ms. Bozzio. A friend gave me that lp back in college and I loved it.
Incidentally, here's agreement with all of you who question the efficacy of the term "New Wave". Perhaps my fondness for the term stems from the excitement it provoked in my youthful head- the wide array of music it encompassed was like a brisk slap after some of the more lugubrious 70's offerings ( and don't get me wrong, I liked 70's music as well). After all, even Kim Wilde warned of a new wave coming.
Steve DC- Lene Lovich ? Wow, wouldn't have guessed that. Would have sworn she was Brit...
What IS the difference between “New Wave” and “Punk” and “Power Pop” etc ?
Blondie is definitely “New Wave” but Pat Benatar isn’t. Right? But then, what about Patty Smyth and Scandal? Or Toni Basil for that matter?
Bands like The Plimsouls and The Beat (the Paul Collins Beat, not the UK Beat) were fairly huge for a hot minute on Alternative Radio in the early 80s but they don’t really feel very “New Wave”, do they? And Cheap Trick, no, DEFINITELY not.
What is it that makes some bands distinctly “New Wave” and others distinctly not? Is it just the keyboards?
The first Pretenders album is mostly heavy “Punk” (and pretty badass too) but the harshest edges are mostly rounded off by the second album and onward — leaving what, exactly? Chrissie and Co. tend to get classified as “New Wave” for lack of a better term, I guess. But to me, her stuff doesn’t sound any more “New Wave” than, say, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.
Sorry to keep going on about this — I just find it fascinating.
b.t.
b.t. this is a GREAT question!
I can give you Charlie's very general definition of "new wave"
It's British synth sound or part of what Rolling Stone (and others?) referred to as the 2nd UK invasion. The first part of the equation would be Human League, etc. The latter part of the equation being groups like Spandau Ballet, Culture Club, etc. And then you have groups like Duran Duran which sort of position between the two.
Pretenders, Pat Benetar, - just popular rock n roll at the time. Never once would I consider them new wave.
Talking Heads - They'd been around for a while so I would not include them but Speaking in Tongues from 1982 clearly seems New Wave wit the electronic sound. Then I have the US groups listed above which have elements of it.
But... this is such a daunting question. I think it should keep going! And the more I think about it the more I find myself going in circles, lol.
It's the curse of humanity that we put everything, including and especially our fellow human beings, into boxes, pigeon-holes, lists, categories, tribes, classes, castes, races...
My favorites were Talking Heads, Blancmange, Eno, Nona Hendryx,The Smiths, The cure, Gary Numan, Simple Minds, Psych Furs,Patti Smith, Television, Joy division/New Order--people like that
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