New Wave music

When I was a kid, my oldest brother ocassionally brought home piles of new records - Elvis Costello, XTC, Devo, The Cars, The Police, Cheap Trick, The Jam, The Clash, Stray Cats, The Pretenders, Blondie, Psychedelic Furs, etc

(At the time, I was listening to Boston, Pink Floyd, Kansas, Neil Young, The Beatles, and The Rolling Stones, etc)

It was indeed a “New Wave” of musical sounds and expressions that flooded into my consciousness!

 

Brilliant band that has straddled hard rock, new wave, and metal

 

Hidden gem

 

A Flock of Seagulls

 

While I was a Long Island kid at the same time....The floor was always packed when THIS came on!

 

Not one of those bands could be classed as new wave!

 

By your definition maybe but by everyone elses they can!

What's in your list?

 

Can't believe nobody has mentioned Bowie yet - he inspired virtually every other artist listed so far with his seminal Berlin trilogy and first album of the 80s Scary Monsters.

I think OP would enjoy The Cure's early work.

 

Bowie was indebted to Kraftwerk, Neu! and The Velvet Underground so maybe they need an honourable mention too?

But I think the point of the thread is to identify specific New Wave artists not necessarily the artists who influenced them or their contemporaneous work?

 

I'd suggest you look into this compilation
https://www.amazon.com/80-British-Gold-Various-Artists/dp/B000NJWSPI

For the most part, this gives you a good view of the 2nd British Invasion, plenty of 'new wave' and a bit of everything in between.

 

I loved the Motels pop stuff like Only The Lonely and Suddenly Last Summer but their earlier album Danger is my favorite.

Motels - Envy

 

None of those bands were/are new wave, not by a very long shot.

 

Punk rock, the lot of 'em.

 

Most of the artists were contemporaneous enough to have grown up with Bowie's sources (Neu, Kraftwerk, Velvets, Roxy, Battiato, etc.,) for their own use (sans Newley), not needing the Dame to interpret anything for them.

 

Someday there'll be people trying to label older bands as "Wave"

 

Can’t go wrong with Romeo Void.

 

Post-punk / New Wave sometimes gets mixed together. But I would recommend

APB
Big Country
Depeche Mode
Erasure
Joy Division
Ultravox
OMD
Tears for Fears
The Psychedelic Furs
The The
The Human League
The Cure

 

May already be occurring.

When is "New" no longer "New"?

 

A issue I see with real 'new wave' is they never idolized themselves or much else so not much yellow brick road of success just Great local talent for a time & place that passed too quickly ..

 

The Waitresses

 

Off the top of my head here are some recommendations of albums that I really love from the new wave era -

ABC - Lexicon Of Love. Generally seen as a classic album. Check out "All Of My Heart" - an absolutely gorgeous song!

Big Country - The Crossing. In America the big hit was "In A Big Country" but I always recommend people check out the UK top ten single "Chance". This album was huge in the UK in 1983 and is a really strong selection of songs.

Roxy Music - Avalon. A band who along with David Bowie and Kraftwerk influenced so many of the new wave acts. This record is just a beautiful work of art. I'd suggest checking out the title track.

The Cure - Seventeen Seconds. I'm sure there are many arguments as to whether The Cure would be considered new wave. Who cares if the music is this good, right? "A Forest" is a great track and one of my favourites from this era.

Japan - Tin Drum. A band who were not afraid to explore and push musical boundaries. Check out the spine-tingling "Ghosts".

Echo & The Bunnymen - Ocean Rain. An album of real substance. Check out "The Killing Moon".

Eurythmics - Savage. If you are looking for albums that were just released during the new wave era then I would suggest "Sweet Dreams" but "Savage" is my favourite album by the Eurythmics. The song "You have placed a chill in my heart" should have been a monster hit!

Human League - Dare. I'm sure you are familiar with "Don't You Want Me" but this record is so much more than that! "Seconds" demands to be played LOUD and needs repeated listens!

Icehouse - Primitive Man. This is my favourite album by them. The opening track "Great Southern Land" is a great way to start this album.

Ben Orr - The Lace. You said that you enjoy certain albums by The Cars. I would suggest checking out this solo album by Ben Orr - a real gem! Check out the title track.

Re-Flex - Politics of Dancing. A very underrated album in my opinion. Check out "Keep in touch" and "Praying to the beat".

Soft Cell - Non-stop Erotic Cabaret. This album is so much more than "Tainted Love". Listen to "Bedsitter" and "Sex Dwarf" and get lost in the streets of Soho...

Comsat Angels - Fiction. Heard this band at the time but only properly discovered their music a few years ago. Their first three albums are as good as any of the more high profile bands who were putting out records at the time. I chose this one for the song "After The Rain".

Talk Talk - It's My Life. I would suggest exploring their entire catalogue but this would probably be the place to start - particularly the title track which got into the US top 40 as a single.

The The - Infected. Another act you which you could argue were not new wave but this album is a classic! I really also love their album "Soul Mining". Check out "Heartland".

Siouxsie & The Banshees - Juju. From the era but more post-punk. Just a great record. Listen to "Spellbound" and enjoy!

Tears For Fears - The Hurting. A great debut album and the track "Mad World" was a great debut hit single in the UK!

XTC - English Settlement. Beatles-esque pop from one of the UK's finest bands. "Senses Working Overtime" is a real highlight.



I have lots of other great records from the new wave era but I'm going to stop my list here. For Missing Persons I would suggest "Spring Sessions M" as that has got most of their most popular songs and is also in my opinion their strongest album. A greatest hits album could also be a good way to go. A couple of suggestions of post 80's bands that are influenced by this genre of music -

The Night Game. Cracking live band and their debut album is a great listen from start to finish - check out "Once In A Lifetime" and "American Nights".

St Lucia. "Elevate" is one of my favourite songs of this century - puts you in a great feel-good mood! Great band!

Cold Showers. Very Joy Division. Their song "Whatever You Want" is a real stand out from the crowd anthem waiting to be discovered by the masses!



There are also some really talented acts out there which were considered new wave that are still making important and vital music today and should not be forgotten -

Alison Moyet. Her albums "Other" and "The Minutes" are incredible records where she has gone back to her electronic roots but really pushing the boundaries.

Gary Numan. His last two albums "Splinter" and "Savage" are two of the best albums of his career!

Nick Heyward. He's consistently made great solo records since his Haircut 100 days but his last album "Woodland Echoes" is truly exceptional!

 

I only know of them from their appearance in the horror movie HOUSE ON SORORITY ROW.

 

Kids don't smoke, Patty (lead singer) died at age 40 from lung cancer.

Patty Donahue duet with Alice Cooper
YouTube