80's New Wave Movement.....

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Permalink Reply by MDS on November 7, 2009 at 11:48pm

I would go with some songs from Queen having that "New Wave" sound to it. But, I guess that really depends on what your personal opinions are of "New Wave". I always felt that "New Wave" (In my opinion) was that middle ground between Disco/Punk and Punk/Rock. There were aspects that brought new sounds (Due to synthesizers and other new equipment), but there were the aspects of the "Underlying beat" that had disco feels, but with some songs (not all) being hard hitting with the lyrics like punk was. While "punk" tended to go more "Rougher-sounding", and "new wave" had a bit more "polish" to the sound. There were aspects from almost all genres that the "New Wave" sound could bring to the table yet contained it in the band's own way. (Like Adam Ant breaking the "Rules" of band-members with using 2 drummers when everyone else had only 1 drummer).

Several bands were able to bounce back and forth between the genres with easy (Queen, David Bowie, others) while some stayed in their specific genre (Ozzy, Alice Cooper, Ramones, and others)

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Permalink Reply by steven cowie on November 9, 2009 at 7:33am

thanks for a good laugh on a monday morning...wasnt "new wave" an american record company ploy to sell shit like THE KNACK, OINGO BOINGO etc?? ok so maybe the machinations of the period went over kids heads, but the thompson twins??? QUEEN?? never heard the term "bandwagon jumping"??? most of the records mentioned here were/are POP records, regardless of "genre"...

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Permalink Reply by MDS on November 9, 2009 at 11:21am

There is a bit of truth to the fact that it was a "ploy". Mostly it was used to avoid the "Bad reputation" that had been associated with "Punk Music" and American radio stations. It's true that the "New Wave sound" would eventually evolve into what is known today AS Pop-rock. But, the bands listed (so far) have that specific sound that came around during roughly a decade of bands (roughly 1975-1985) that gathered popularity.

In a way, I'm agreeing with you that what would eventually BECOME "Pop Rock" started to sound a lot like the "New Wave" bands. But in a big way, "New Wave Bands" were that transitional period of music styles. Just like Heavy Metal/Thrash Metal/Death Metal (Whatever you want to call it) had a transitional period of bands and what would be known as "Hair-Bands" too. RATT, Poison, G&R, Motley Crew, and other bands were called "Heavy Metal" at one point, yet had more of a Rock-n-Roll sound than what would be called "Heavy Metal" today.

The musical stylings changed with the audiences that grew up listening to it. For those of us that recall the music scene of the mid 70's to mid 80's, "New Wave" is a legit genre that doesn't survive BEYOND the mid 80's. The genre ITSELF morphed into something else.

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Permalink Reply by steven cowie on November 10, 2009 at 7:32am

yes, i recall the music back then...insipid FM rock...turgid balladers...manufactured bands...same as it ever was..."a bit of truth"?? whatever...obviously, culturally you will have a different take on these things...but as we get further from that period (75-85), the only legitimate "movements" that i can see ARE disco and punk..all the rest ie hip hop, synthpop, NWOBHM etc are either reactions against or for them.

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Permalink Reply by Gojira Boy on November 10, 2009 at 5:01pm

I Liked the following 80's / New Wave Songs (My Dirty Dozen)

Flock of Seagulls: "I Ran"



Gang of Four: "I Love a Man in a Uniform"




ULTAVOX: "Vienna" (LOVE THIS Group & this song)




ULTRAVOX: "The Voice"




ULTRAVOX: "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes"




ROXY MUSIC: "Same Old Scene" (Great song by a Phenomenal Band)




ROXY MUSIC: "More Than This"




MODERN ENGLISH: "I Melt With You"




WHEN IN ROME: "The Promise"





REAL LIFE: "Send Me an Angel"





ICEHOUSE: "Icehouse"




ICEHOUSE: "Great Southern Land" (1989 ver. of a AMAZING 1982 Song)

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Permalink Reply by Raoul Duke on November 10, 2009 at 8:21pm

this kept vienna of the no1 spot in the british charts

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Permalink Reply by Gojira Boy on November 11, 2009 at 5:34pm

LOL....WOW! What a CRIME! Ultravox deserved BETTER!

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Permalink Reply by bullrap2 on November 17, 2009 at 4:26pm

A classic tune from The Cars

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Permalink Reply by Rudy on November 18, 2009 at 3:42pm

The Comsat Angels


The Fixx

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Permalink Reply by Gojira Boy on November 19, 2009 at 2:20pm

Hey, Rudy, LOVE "The Fixx"..saw them back in 1983 they opened for "The Police" Synchronicity tour..
They were HANDS DOWN the LOUDEST Band I had ever heard.. I've seen my share of Metal / Rock concerts
Scorpions, Kiss, Judas Priest, OZZY, Motley Crue, AC/DC, Queensryche, Rush, etc. and NONE of them were
as loud as "The Fixx". The guitarist Jamie West-Oram had his guitar Amplified SO High it seriously did Hurt your ears listening it, this was a DOME show, not a small venue too! Still LOVE the band.

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