New wave?

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sowhat
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New wave?

Post by sowhat »

What's your opinion about this music genre? Where did it come from, what were the main influences apart from punk rock, and what was special about it? What are/were your favourite New wave artists? What other genres did New wave influence? Etc, etc. Some say it was kind of against punk rock ethics, still it was far from being "mainstream", so can we say that two negatives do not always make an affirmative?
As always, all kinds of opinions welcome.
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scotty
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Re: New wave?

Post by scotty »

New Wave I hope this thread totally fuc*ing explodes i love it its been the absolute backbone of my musical being this it what changed my music and Millions of kids in the late 70s and 80s were waiting for after the stalling of punk.The British invasion of New wave bands used their influences for many cultures and taste from Post punk ,Ska /Reggie and mod to name but a few.Bands that emerged from Post punk were The boomtown rats ,The jam and the Stranglers ,Blondie, Patti smith and Elvis Costello.( this is a excerpt fromWikipedia)The term New Wave itself is a source of much confusion. Originally, Seymour Stein, the head of Sire Records, needed a term by which he could market his newly signed bands, who had frequently played the club CBGB. Because radio consultants in the U.S. had advised their clients that punk rock was a fad (and because many stations that had embraced disco had been hurt by the backlash), Stein settled on the term "new wave". He felt that the music was the musical equivalent of the French New Wave film movement of the 1960s.
New wave is fitting for many a sub topic as it has its American Bands as it has its British.Blondie who had Phenomenal success in The US also toped the charts in the UK also.So what have we got here with this wonderful thread i think this could mushroom to fantastic heights. Were do we go from here along this road I hope we'll discuss Mod culture and were bands like The Vapors and The Jam came from.Discuss the fact that Did Tom Petty really take the credit for new wave"When the Time Comes" from the You’re Gonna Get It! album (1978).Or was that a Joke in itself.And most of all im looking forward to hearing peoples thoughts on who influenced who.Also long after New wave burned down to a whispering flame the 90s reeled round and brought us a revivalist New Wave creed such as Blur Oasis Echobelly and Sleeper.Which brings us up to date with bands like The killers where do they fit in are they new wave did new wave ever break or is the new wave ready to crash once again on our shores with a new revitalization and energy that it brought so many years ago.Looking forward to this thread cheers Scotty :mrgreen:
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scotty
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Re: New wave?

Post by scotty »

Also what did new wave do for fashion and the local kids in your area.Scooters Beehive haircuts Two-tone weekenders , Merrydown cider and lager are all new wave add ons :mrgreen: !
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winston
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Re: New wave?

Post by winston »

Hahahaha Scotty has been unmasked. LOL

Just so you know, I toured with Western Canada with Kraftwerk. That was an experience.

Strange Advance anybody? Their founder, Drew Arnott was a neighbor of mine for a number of years. I loved their single "Worlds Away". Their video was cool too, but a bit.......ahem, strange. 8)
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scotty
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Re: New wave?

Post by scotty »


Just for you Brian. An Extraordinary collective of sound commonly known as Kraftwerk.Pioneers of the electronic artsound that is known as synthtastic. Lots of synthesized madness with some voice through a vocoder.Some gr8 stuff produced one of my favs The Robots from 78` Enjoy you might need to let this load to watch all the way through.Im having problems watching the vid go to YT direct to view this!
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paologregorio
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Re: New wave?

Post by paologregorio »

sowhat wrote:What's your opinion about this music genre? Where did it come from, what were the main influences apart from punk rock, and what was special about it? What are/were your favourite New wave artists? What other genres did New wave influence? Etc, etc. Some say it was kind of against punk rock ethics, still it was far from being "mainstream", so can we say that two negatives do not always make an affirmative?
As always, all kinds of opinions welcome.
Hmm, a new way of thinking about guitar, recycling of fashion with a new twist(skinny ties and thin lapel suits, camo and military gear(The Clash, Echo and the Bunnymen), hair stylings. The whole anti rockstar image with shirts buttoned up to the top instead of half way open in some cases. An increasing role for women in music. An innovative use of both keyboards, guitar, and bass in ways that were digestible to the listener's ear in a pop song format(I am using pop in the highest sense of the word). Interesting use of effects on all of said instruments. A lot of electronics for the textures of the instruments. In many ways New Wave was a more digestible, lighter styling of stripping down of musical compositions to the three minute pop song as it was in the 50s and early 60s, similar to punk but with a less roughened edge than punk. Also, a lot of different types of sounds in a pop format that complemented each other. The Clash and the English Beat shared a tour bill for example, as did Flesh for Lulu and PIL, or even Echo and the Bunnymen and Let's Active(three later new wave-ish bills that come to mind).
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Re: New wave?

Post by shamustwin »

I loved New Wave. The return of the pop single, pretty much.
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antipodean
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Re: New wave?

Post by antipodean »

Where does one start? New Wave electronica like Kraftwerk? Synth pop like Gary Numan, New Order and early OMD? The proto Brit-pop of Elvis Costello, XTC, Ian Dury, and Nick Lowe? The proto-emo of the Cure? The dark rumblings of Joy Division? The post-punk-rock-pop of the Cars and early U2? The rock-reggae of the early Police (Outlandis D'armor and Regatta De Blanc)? The pop-funk of The Talking Heads? The weirdness of Devo (IMHO their version of Satisfaction kills the original) and the B52s? The list goes on and on...

On top of that, New Wave spawned an uncountable number of one-hit wonders as the A&R people wrestled to find the next big thing. It was one of the most innovative and exciting periods of popular music. Just about everyone I knew was in a band. A pity that it faded into New Romantic....
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Re: New wave?

Post by bitzerguy »

+1 on the Strange Advance Brian!! I still have She Controls Me on regular rotation in the cd changer. Loved those guys.
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Re: New wave?

Post by rickenmetal »

Maybe too obscure for most people on here, but I really like two 1980s Polish New Wave bands: Brak and Kontrola W.

Of course in Poland at that time New Wave music had nothing to do with the mainstream.
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winston
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Re: New wave?

Post by winston »

bitzerguy wrote:+1 on the Strange Advance Brian!! I still have She Controls Me on regular rotation in the cd changer. Loved those guys.
"She Controls Me" was a cool song Dean. It was a bigger hit than the title song of their album "Worlds Away" I am in agreement with your comments. Strange Advance was a great band and I too find that they are still worth listening to.
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paologregorio
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Re: New wave?

Post by paologregorio »

shamustwin wrote:I loved New Wave. The return of the pop single, pretty much.
+1!!! :D :D
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Re: New wave?

Post by scotty »

As new wave was probably not as Brash as its Punk forefathers .Lyrically music was becoming more intelligent and people were standing up for what they believe in and were ready to shout about it.Yes mods had been around for years but after the launch of Quadrophenia from the who a revivalist movement was hatched in the UK.Many of those bands were influenced by New wave/Punk bands.Secret affair The lambrettas Purple hearts and the chords were all snapping at the heels of the jam for no1 mod sales.At the Ska and reggie end The Specials were the most remarkable number one in British chart history. Despairing of rising unemployment and frustrated by the most unpopular government of the post-war era Ghost town hit no1.British pop music appeared to be commenting on the news as it happened. Though the eyes of youth life was going down the tubes. Madness The Beat and the Selecter were among other twotone masters that must not go unmentioned aswell.1981 was was the end of punk, but it was also the beginning of a more engaged politics of the 1980s as a response to Thatcherism. 1981 was the year Glastonbury was revived as a CND-supporting festival. Ghost Town wasn't just the end of everything, it also marked the beginning of something different. That built up to the miners' strike and a generation of youth that were not prepared to take it anymore!
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sowhat
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Re: New wave?

Post by sowhat »

Funny that, Scott. You've mentioned Madness, and i was thinking about them just today. I still don't know what to think of them, whether i like or don't like them. One thing i am sure of is that they were weird (imho, of course). But funny indeed.
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Re: New wave?

Post by captsandwich »

The Specials debut was a life-altering moment for me in the way that the Beatles on Ed Sullivan was for some members of this forum.
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