Hello All! Just wanted to correct something. In the Roxy Music section I mention that Brian Eno produced David Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy which he did not do. While Eno was a heavy collaborator, songwriter, and influence on the sound and style of those albums he technically does not have a producer credit. The producer credit goes to Tony Visconti. Apologies for any confusion
I was there in the late 70's and early 80's while living in Vancouver. Most of the new wave bands and punk bands were not popular back then. People did not cut their long hair and got rid of their bellbottoms once 1980 hit. It was great back then being able to see a band like Depeche Mode and only 50 people being there. Bands like the Cure and Simple minds played in big nightclubs, not arenas
Not only did I see 75% of these people live in the 70s and 80s, I have a massive brag- I saw The Sex Pistols in one of their only 6 shows in the US ever. I also used to buy coffee and pastries for the B52s and REM in Athens, GA before they got too famous for the city. This was a cool video to run across. YT has changed their algorithm again, I see.
Thanks for mentioning A Flock of Seagulls in a good light. The band has been unfairly labeled a one hit wonder . Go beyond the haircuts and you'll discover their first three albums are actually quite good.
Adam And The Ants, Bow Wow Wow, The Police, Blondie, The B-52’s, The Human League, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soft Cell, Duran Duran, Tears For Fears, The Go-Go’s, Missing Persons, Talking Heads, Devo, Psychedelic Furs, Culture Club, Grace Jones, Prince and The Revolution, Haircut 100, The Fixx, JoBoxers, Depeche Mode, ABC, INXS to name a few were one of my favorite new wave bands and artists.
The first Numan I heard was Cars followed by Engineers on my local college radio station in the U.S. (Montana of all places)... right away I bought the Pleasure Principle and soon after it was Replicas that really blew my mind.
I was 20 years old in 1980, and started working at a record store. Music was my life for the following decades. I was so into New Wave, and it's still my favorite genre of music all these years later. I was able to see many of these bands live at the time, and I cherish the memories. It warms my old black heart to see a thoughtful video essay about my lifelong favorite music. I think anyone interested in getting into New Wave should make a playlist of all the songs you featured as a starting point. Great job on the essay, you have a new subscriber.
Working at a record store in 1980 sounds like a dream job 💜 so glad you enjoyed the video! Also link to the playlist from this video is in the description 🙌
@@JukeboxHistory Of course you did, how silly of me. Working at the record store paid peanuts, I was poor as a church mouse, but I loved it. We also had a Ticketmaster so I spent any little extra I had on shows. So many shows I lost count.
I know there are too many artists to name all of them but I love Devo and would've loved to hear a word or two about Oingo Boingo also. As Devo made theme music for the cult movie "Doctor Detroit" (1983, with Dan Aykroyd), Oingo Boingo made the theme song for another cult movie "Weird Science" (1985, by John Hughes).... Great show BTW. I'm 71yo and you did well considered your young age.
Really enjoyed this m8. I grew up in the 80’s UK and honestly you’ve no idea how much of an institution Top of the pops was. Every kid watched it glued to the count down, hoping their favourite song would get played while disapproving parents tutted or laughed in the background!!! Glad you mentioned Depeche Mode but more attention imo should have been on the influence of founding member Vince Clarke. IMO His influence on 80’s music cannot be overstated. Anyway bravo and I’m looking forward to see what you do next.
Nice video. I'd like to see your take on The Jam and the Two Tone bands - The Specials, Madness, The (English) Beat, The Selecter and The Bodysnatchers. Speaking of The Specials, Terry Hall co-wrote Our Lips Are Sealed with Jane Wiedlin. Also, Scritti Politti never gets mentioned with the other new wave artists but Cupid and Psyche 85 was a great record.
At 63, and being someone who came out of the LES, I always find it amazing how Blondie is referenced. I agree she was considered punk early on as she came up in that whole CBGB crew, but the way I remember it, she became a Disco diva and that's where she stayed. I would have never thought to consider her New Wave. Oh well, guess I'm just old and remembering things wrong. I will argue with bringing the B-52's in late in the 80's. It truly does them a disservice. I discovered the "B's" in high school, 1979. I also remember their SNL debut, which was in 1980. Granted, they weren't mainstream, but for those of us in the scene, they were pioneers. I'd say DEVO and B's were the two most influential bands in my life, and it was definitely not in the late 80's.
Agreed. The B 52’s had been around for a while - maybe because they didn’t hit super popularity until the song “Love Shack” and the corresponding video on MTV in the later 1980’s is where the confusion comes from? That would be my guess. My friends and I had been listening to them since 1980 and on before that.
Nice one. I admit New Wave is generally something I didn't get deeply into as a kid of the 80s (first a metalhead, then incorporated punk, then later in life realized I needed to go back and learn all about post-punk). Only very recently have I bothered doing a deeper dive into the New Wave that dominated the airwaves when I was young. The New Romantic stuff still makes me nauseous, though. Too light for me. Talking Heads, though, will probably always be my favorite of bands discussed in this video. I got into them when "Wild Wild Life" was released and pretty much have always had their albums on constant play for literally decades.
Fascinating Segment. Having seen DEVO several times including during the 1980 Riverside, CA Riot and a Lolapalooza over 10yrs later it’s always great to see them. I was at Adam Ants first US appearance in Pasadena 1981 where members of the punk band Black Flag passed out stickers that read Black Flag Kills Ants on Contact. Until recently, the 1979 Wall of Voodoo show at The Barn at UCR was one of the Best Shows I ever attended. Ironically, the 2022 Danny Elfman: From Boingo to Batman to Big Mess & Beyond show at The Hollywood Bowl became the best show I’ve seen. Which is ironic since I’m a BIG Oingo Boingo Fan, having seen them 5 or 6 times including their final show at the Universal Amphitheater. Keep up the good work. 🤘😎🤘
This is very well done, especially for someone so young (I saw the Police before they broke up 😅). The artists here make up a large portion of my Spotify playlists. While I agree with much of the content, I never really considered groups like Duran Duran, Culture Club, Banarama, Billy Idol, or the Go Go’s as New Wave. Glad you emphasized the Cars as they seem to be mostly forgotten, but were huge for a short period of time. Even as an American, I knew the importance of Soft Cell outside of Tainted Love. Non Stop Erotic Cabaret was genius. You are forgiven for leaving out my main man Joe Jackson (Elvis equivalent), but his music is very diverse. Excellent work.
The time flew by just like my life. I’m 62 and grew up with all of that beautiful music. Your research is stellar and your voice is sweeter than buddah and beer. Much respect for the Devo hat. William.
That was great. I was 10 years old when MTV premiered, so a lot of what you covered was formative listening material for me. Good work here. I’ll be sticking around.
Speak and Spell.. Black Celebration... Cassette given to me when I was 10 years old.. by my friends Sister.. Listen to this and you'll be cool forever.. haha.. that was 1984..
“Our Lips Are Sealed” was actually co-written between The Go-Gos’ Jane Wiedlin and the late great Terry Hall, of The Specials and The Funboy Three. It’s about the relationship the couple were having while The Specials and The Go-Gos were on tour together. Check out The Funboy Three’s version of the song released a bit later, it’s also great.
My personal favorite new wave bands definitely have to be Soft Cell, Kajagoogoo, and Dead or alive - all super catchy, some lived longer than others, all the more "pop-oriented" kind of new wave
For those of us born in the 60s we met the 80s with much resistance. MTV helped change that view The Cars '79 at The Warehouse New Orleans , phenomenal. Early 80's seeing Adam Ant twice and Devo twice... four of the best shows that I've cherished the last 40+ years of my life
This was a very through and educational anthology! However...I know you can't cover everyone, 🤔 but no Thomas Dolby Information Society Fine Young Canibals??? It doesn't feel complete. Yet, excellent video!
I can't stress this enough, check out, Scandal w/Patty Smyth & the video/song, "Goodbye to You". Scandal was underrated/ under-appreciated new wave...American style.
The Cars, Gary Newman, Flock of Seagulls, Duran Duran, The Fixx, the Clash, even a Billy Idol had certain songs that would fit the bill. Even older stuff like Gary Wright with all the synth.
I was 16 in 1980, the more melodious post punk and new wave of around 79-82 was huge in my life... I didn't mind Devo, Talking Heads or The Cars, they were all great but the U K stuff latched on to my head and my heart far more... The Only Ones, Fad Gadget, Ultravox MK1 with John Foxx, Japan & OMD were just a few of my standouts... I never took to Ultravox Mk2 (Midge Ure era)...
I'm a bit younger than you but not by much. Must admit I like both versions of Ultravox, though I only discovered the John Foxx era in retrospect. I do see them as different bands with the only real overlap being the album Vienna. And I followed both John Foxx and Ultravox/Visage for the rest of the 80's.
Honestly.. I believe Depeche Mode actually used every single switch on their Synthesizers .. Someday.. they will get the recognition.. Cheers from Southern California
That's strange, here in the Philippines, Post Punk is also considered "New Wave", and the New Wave era is a consolidated heap of different musical styles that came out from that era, specifically the 80s.
Pretenders, Blondie, Nick Lowe , Elvis Costello, The Clash...not sure if they were New Wave or punk but those were my fave artists in the late 70s/early 80s (that weren't metal/hardrock). 80s MTV new wave had a lot of songs I liked but no artists I specifically embraced. Well, maybe Adam Ant or The Police...
I've learned about a ton of different artists through Elvis Costello as well as different genres. Funny how his popular songs are not his best songs. I guess that's why Radio Radio was written. Very good TH-cam post and a list of great artists even if I didn't like some of them.....Devo????
Where is Berlin in this video???? To me they were the epitome of synth-pop, with Love Life being one of my all-time favorite albums. And they are still together and touring (I got to see them live recently)! Also, you mentioned the Police being a British band, but like the Pretenders, they were an American-British band. Steward Copland is American.
Hi there i really appreciate your "attitude" in making the videos, they are quite pitch perfect, but still when you made the video about punk, you were addessing all the other "sub-genres" (?) coming after... I know you're going to release _soon i hope_ a video about hard core punk, so i am here BEGGING you not to forget what is (to me, at least) the most powerful and highly regretted band of it all... Please do not forget about the Germs... Respect.
Love & Rockets, Lightning Seeds, Care, The Wild Swans, China Crisis, The Bolshoi, Blancmange, Seona Dancing, The Chills, Prefab Sprout, The Style Council, Danny Wilson, Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield.
A lot of Brits on here harassing me because i love American New Wave. I love all kinds of music, dont be so defensive ! Dont forget my British friends that it was Georgio Morodors I Feel Love that had Brian Eno saying this is the future of music! Certainly plenty is owed to the German music scene and especially Kraftwerk and Klaus Naomi!!! The thing about New Wave was that it appeared all over the world simultaneously, we did live in the first era of mass media after all! The fun thing about being a teen then was seeing that there were new wavers all over the world, this was a mini revolution. New Zealand gave us Split Enz, Australia gave us Men At Work, Midnight Oil, INXS and Real Life, Japan gave us The Plastics! The Germans gave us so many from Trio to Alphaville to Nina Hagen, the Europeans giving us Falco, A-Ha. Canadians had multiple bands like Images In Vogue, Men Without Hats, Rough Trade, Blue Peter, The Spoons. I had so many of these bands in my repertoire I cant imagine kids listening so internationally now!? We all had different experiences in different countries and I cant believe some people have to get so pissy about their version of music history!? The 80s made me a more open person, open to new ideas, concepts, sounds, structures of music, i dont know how someone could have lived thru it and not come out super accepting of all ideas? I did!
Some mention of Sparks (another group dating from the 70s glam era that were highly influential on this genre) and Oingo Boingo (Elfman's old group before he turned to movie scoring) would have been in order. Also, no mention of KROQ. That's a radio station in Los Angeles that was playing THIS music even when nothing else was, including MTV, and was secretly instrumental in launching it into American popular consciousness.
And if you want to be really specific, Rodney Bingenheimer (KROQ DJ-Rodney on the Roq) was responsible for breaking more bands from that era than any other person.
And also MV3 hosted by Richard Bade from 82-84. It’s this show, which we were able to get on an obscure UHF channel in Portland, OR., is what introduced me to all these new wave bands and more. Our radio stations weren’t playing this music and MTV wasn’t really much either.
All great picks! The Cure are one of those interesting ones that really walk the line between Post-Punk and New Wave but are great in most of their ventures. Thanks for watching!
@@JukeboxHistory Thanks for actually seeing passed the modern genre tag...the Cure as Goth... I use to laugh and just say if they are so are the Smiths... Hahaha.. Yes.. and the Smiths are called Goth.. this has to stop... Cheers from Southern California...
Today is my 61st birthday. One of the only things I enjoy about growing older is this type of retrospective - hearing thoughts from a modern perspective on pop culture from back in "my" day. Their legacies, their places in history. It's a feeling of having one foot in the past and one in the future. The 80s really were a fun time to be young. Fashion was ridiculous, music was exciting, there was a "do your own thing" vibe in the air, and it seemed like something fresh and new to see or hear would pop up all the time. I remember going to Record World and buying record albums of bands that I'd seen on MTV (later cassette tapes for my boombox and Walkman!) I really can't describe how exciting it was to discover people like Prince, U2, Blondie, the Police, and so many others. Then again, all young people know that feeling - when you branch out from music you grew up with to music that you're discovering on your own, but not only that - you're discovering who you are in part through that music. Thank you for the walk down memory lane; this was a well researched and enjoyable video, and I'm going to check out your post-punk video next.
I think the 80s - especially the early 80s - was the last time that pop music actually invented something new. Everying before or after was very derivative: Even Punk was an attempt to restart the fire of the 1950s. New Wave owes a lot to the availability of electronic music equiptment at affordable prices so that young musicians could experiment - there's a similar moment around 1990 and the birth of Techno.
Truly a great era in modern music history. Besides having a cool and novel musical sound these groups seemed to have a real sense of style and theatricality and were often good performers as well as musicians. A movement in which imagination and pioneer spirit truly abounded and ruled the scene.
It's amazing how you can talk in depth about a musical genre you weren't even born to appreciate when it was around. Trust me; it was a brilliant time musically to be alive. many of those acts are in their 60s and 70s now and still have it.
Agree. All these bands I grew up with. Seems like yesterday. There remains a freshness with some of this music. Doesn’t even feel nostalgic to me. The newness hasn’t diminished.
I grew up in the Hamptons I’m 60 years old and I remember working at restaurants during the summers when all this music was coming out , being out to 2,3 4 o’clock in the morning
duran duran will always be number one in my heart but i also LOVE LOVE LOVE til tuesday, missing persons, the go go's and adam ant also dude this video was really good. appreciate it keep doing it !!!!
Duran Duran was a godsend for MTV. At a time when many bands were working with 'look, colored smoke!' budgets, Duran Duran were releasing short movies.
great video! duran duran is great but they were heavily influenced by the group "Japan" who came before them in 1974. th-cam.com/video/xhm-EqcPta0/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared
In the 80s, New Wave was what you listened to when you weren't listening to Hair Bands, Rap, Club Music, actual Punk, or any indescribable sound which there were many...and trying to decide what you liked more! 80s had so many genres at once it was a feast for the ears and tickled any taste. I guarantee anyone not familiar with the real diversity of sound then would find a dozen or more artists they'd fall madly in love with.
Your description is spot on. I was a hair band/metal head who could not deny the New Wave bands. As much as I loved me some hair bands, to me New Wave defined the true essence of the 80’s.
Absolutely brilliant! Thank you for this trip back to my teen years! (Graduated in 1985) Music was what absolutely ruled our lives, and I was a total New Wave kind of girl. Soft Cells album Nonstop Erotic Cabaret played on repeat, and I saw Missing Persons live. As a matter of fact, my best friend (since we were 7) and I are going to see Adam Ant tomorrow night! Sorry for the novel, lol.
Soft Cell are great! It seems like such an exciting time to have been a teenager. I’ve heard Adam Ant still kills it live so I hope you have fun 😎 thank you for watching!
Just as I was thinking to myself "no one ever mentions Aztec Camera in videos about New Wave history"...but then you DID! They are my absolute favourite, but they're so often overlooked. Roddy Frame is a ridiculously talented songwriter. He was a guitar prodigy, too! I still have all of Aztec Camera and RF's solo stuff on heavy rotation in my home/car!
The Jam? Have you mentioned them? English Beat? I think you need to do a 3 hour version. I have some quibbles but overall a very good effort. Oh and for goth... The Cult
SPARKS, how can you not mention the brothers Ron and Russell Mael. They fit into every sub-genre you cover AND are influential heroes to most of these artists. Have you seen the Edgar Wright documentary “ The Sparks Brothers”
Black US music in the UK. 60's into 70's, a cult scene now called called Northern Soul, think music snobbery personified as DJs in the UK hunted down dance floor fillers from the USA, specifically Stax, Motown and adjacent labels. Specifically looking for what was known as "Slipped Discs", singles that failed despite being good and no word of a lie, the more obscure, the harder failing, the better! That is the scene where Soft Cell picked up on Tainted Love as they were both regulars at those club nights. Dexy's Midnight Runners was another band that explicitly owed their formation to that scene. You had Spandau Ballet claiming to be Soul Boys at heart (as can be seen with True), Paul Young's whole career was about reviving lost songs by Black American artists. In working class areas, the pubs would have soul records on the Jukebox and they would get worn out regularly (Punk etc, that was for kids and art school students, maybe coffee shops). You also had a Reggae scene here, mostly thanks to Island Records. Our ears were primed for what was to come. With unsegregated radio in the UK, black artists started getting radio play, even on BBC radio 1, the national pop station (which was not just the chart). And we are not talking revivals via re-release of 60's songs. End of the 70's and early 80's, even though disco was generally a has been elsewhere you had Black R&B artists like Odyssey and Shalamar who were largely ignored in the USA being a big deal here in the UK for about 3 or 4 albums each. With the Electro Funk more came through, mostly one hit wonders. Forrest with "Rock the Boat" Rockers Revenge with "Walking on Sunshine" being constructed out of samples/pastices of other Electronic R&B tracks (That is was an Arthur Baker side project totally flew over our heads at the time), even Sylvester would have more than one hit here in the UK.
Oh man this is awesome information thank you for sharing! As someone who has to dig through old sources it’s nice to get specifics like this. It def sounds like the UK had a love for these genres and it’s no surprise the New Wave artists were able to take it in and make it their own thing. As an American it’s really nice to get some UK perspective on this thanks again
@@JukeboxHistory In a lot of ways it was a cult thing. akin to the indie/alternative of today, a strong fan base that every so often someone in the scene would have a actual honest to goodness hit, a couple of acts would be regular top 30. But its impact was huge. There were UK bands in the style of US Black dance music as well, Hot Chocolate were likely the biggest and best known, you also had bands like Imagination. But the Career of Rod Temperton is the real strange one, He was friends with Quincy Jones and wrote a few songs for an artist he was working with, nothing major, just Thriller, Rock with you, Off the Wall.
Missing Persons deserve much more fame & attention than they received at the time. The story of how they started in 1980 is truly a fascinating one (4 out of the original 5 band members performed with Frank Zappa). Dale Bozzio’s unique voice & appearance has had a strong influence on many female artists since. Her then-husband Terry is also a phenomenal drummer on the level of Stewart Copeland & guitarist Warren Cuccurullo went on to replace Andy Taylor in Duran Duran when MP first broke up in 1986. I think 1984’s Rhyme & Reason is as good of an album as 1982’s Spring Session M, contrary to what the critics said at the time
@@latentsea People really confused Missing Persons with The Motels? Martha Davis is also a phenomenal vocalist, but she & Dale Bozzio have their own very distinct voices & styles. There were also those superficially comparing MP to Blondie & Plasmatics
The Ramones performed on the Sha Na Na show once. Bowser called them new wave. Punk was seen as a dirty word, so the mainstream media and radio between 79-81 were calling everything new wave. Even the Dead Kennedys were labeled new wave. As the 80s wore on, new wave adjacent bands (goth, industrial, post punk) along with hardcore and post-hardcore punk, jangle pop, noise, and early dream pop became the backbone of UK indie and American college radio. The original alternative music scene.
Very good video. I'll add a couple of things to be pedantic... First - definitions - in the UK 'New Wave' referred to most of the eclectic music that followed Punk, but by something like '82 the term 'New Pop' had replaced it, with 'New Romantic' being a specific sub genre which occurred between the two. In the US the term 'New Wave' was more or less applied to all the bands who got big via MTV. It would also be worth adding how influential the first version of Ultravox was to many early synth acts (like Gary Numan), and mentioning how important both Midge Ure (Ultravox's replacement lead singer after John Foxx went solo), and Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode's synth player on their first album) were to music in the first half of the 80's. And finally, I will say one band that should have been mentioned but wasn't - an act who also - like Depeche Mode - really got big in the US at the end of the 80's - was 'The Cure'. Minor quibbles all. Again - very good vid. PS: OMD.
I did find that the labels for this movement changed quite a bit depending on which side of the pond you were on. It was a lot of fun to see the British perspective of New Wave as an American too. I included The Cure in my Post Punk video but they have some material that certainly could have gone here. Thanks for watching!
@@henrywallace7996You are absolutely correct! Possibly throw in the Police, The Stranglers, Joe Jackson and sprinkle in some Madness. Then you have a list of “New Wave” bands that I saw (all of them) play live back in the day….😊 Then you had synth-pop (Depeche, Human League, Heaven 17, OMD, Soft Cell etc). Then you had the New Romantics (Duran, Spandau, ABC, Culture Club, etc). New Wave was not really a genre, or sub-genre. It was more used as a catch-all label to contain all the acts that were too alternative to be considered mainstream at that time. Most New Romantic and a lot of synth-pop artists went mainstream anyway. That was their intention. Having lived through it all in my prime, it was an exhilarating time for music!
Where’s the Australian artists like INXS, Midnight Oil,Men at Work, Spit Enz and the Divinals that are totally ignored in this video because they are not American or British
The Stranglers were criminally under rated. Before Hugh got locked up for being a rabid junkie, they took loads of punk, lo fi, raggae and baroque and made some very good pop songs.
I feel Sparks should have also gotten a mention in the proto new wave section, they were doing that kind of stuff before it was even really a thing and was probably a large contributor as to why they didn't gain commercial success at the beginning.
This is pretty good bro. I missed a lot of this while it was happening. It was like drinking from a firehose. Glad to hear you mention XTC. I didn’t miss that one. 😁
Great video!!! It was great to see the history laid out the way you did. I was in High School from 1979 to 1983 so this was MY music. Your video brought back so many memories. I didn't know the back story of New Wave. Once, maybe in the late 80's, I heard the song "moving in stereo" by the Cars. I was shocked it came out in 1978. At the time I was thinking it was way ahead of it's time because it sounded so new wave. But watching your video gives me the actual answer. I lived in NJ for 10 years from 2011 to 2021. My landlord had worked at MTV in 1981 when it started. He had a lot of great stories, and my ex partner worked at MTV from 1986 to 2007. I miss the era of New Wave SO MUCH! Music is mostly crap to me today. I guess I'm just like all the older folks that look back at the music of their youth as the best music. In 1983 when I graduated from HS, I took a cross country trip with a friend to CA. Our top song of the trip was "Sex, I'm a" by Berlin, next was "Safety Dance" by Men without Hats, and third was "Goody Two Shoes" by Adam Ant. Oh, and who could ever forget "Sweet Dreams were made of this" by the Eurythmics, which was beyond 1st.....Oh man, I'm forgetting "Kids in America" by Kim Wilde, which I'm not sure is New Wave.....Oh, in the fall, after that trip, I had my first great sexual experience to the song "King of Pain" by the Police. I don't think that was new wave either.
Wall of Voodoo was an AMAZING band, though their only hit “Mexican Radio” might actually be their worst song. Everyone should check out their cover of the Johnny Cash classic “Ring of Fire”
@@markallen2984 Mexican Radio was wall of Voodoo's worst song? Hardly!! Still, Ring of Fire is most assuredly one of their crowning achievements, and remains to this day one Hell of an atmospheric listen!! Can't make Love, Red Light, Big Talk, Back in Flesh and Grandma's House were all top notch tunes!
Excellent job for an overview from a person who was not around at the time, about a "genre" that if you ask 100 people to define you will get 100 different answers.
Yea someone on my community post said trying to define New Wave would be like trying to nail jello to the wall which I’d say is pretty accurate lol thanks for watching!
This was such a well made video and very well explained! I’ve been looking for a channel that dives into music history in this way and was happy to find this channel. I’d love to see more videos like this for other genres!
just wanna say that this is the most perfect video essay i've seen. it's the perfect length and it focuses on something that i LOVE to learn about. thank you for this i am def subscribing
Excellent work young man! as a guy who grew up in the 70/80's I think you got exactly right the feelings and sentiments of that era and for that you get a salute o7! I just wish you could have added another one of Trevor Horns big succeses Frankie Goes To Hollywood! How massive that band was in the 80's can't be denied. First 3 songs no 1's in the UK. I thought they deserve a wee mention! Overall your good work gets a 9/10 for me thoroughly enjoyed it!
great video and an awesome intro to new wave!! My favourite new wave groups would have to be DEVO (nice energy dome btw), talking heads, XTC, the B52's, the buggles, split enz, wall of voodoo, gary numan, elvis costello andddd sparks! If you'd classify sparks as new wave that is, they did influence almost everyone from around that era so i'd highly recommended checking them out if you haven't already!!
Another great video! The music nerd in me loved your new wave family tree chart! Ps. Do you know the New Zealand band Split Enz? They were also around in that golden age of Post Punk/New Wave, I think you would like them. ‘One Step Ahead’, ‘My Mistake’ and ‘Dirty Creature’ are my fave tracks, cool goofy film clips too ☺️
Loved New Wave in late 70's and was kind of alone in my neck of the woods with only Rolling Stone to guide me and then MTV came on cable and I realized I was NOT alone - then so many great years of seeing these bands on TV. Actually SEEING your favorite artists perform was nearly impossible unless you saw them live, before MTV. New Wave was in some ways so mature and Avante Garde with its somewhat non-conformist themes but seems so sweet and innocent now - such a lovely view of the world and it filled me with hope as a young man.
So do great compositional talents, which is why Mark Mothersbaugh (of Devo) and Danny Elfman (of group Oingo boingo, who weren't mentioned in the video by the way) went on to become succesful and prolific film scorists after the movement had ended.
Thanks. Great work. I lived through the period during my formative years and you covered the key players well. Still think I lived in a golden age of popular music. I saw Adam Ant, who was not respected like some of those others, BUT he was great live, and the songs were not far off XTC style/quality. Really good. I also saw New Order at the peak of their powers in 87 - they forged a few different kinds of "Sound" (indie guitar, goth, electropop) which were imitated by U2, Cure, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche. Killing Joke were great live. I saw Gary Numan play with The Church, great. This is an unhumble-brag. A gen x clinging to this life raft. Regrets? I wish I had seen XTC (who stopped doing gigs early) and The Pixies.
Those are some amazing artists to have seen live in their hey day! Yea I think most people would have to be lucky to have caught XTC before they quit touring 😂 thanks for watching!
No R. E.M.? The Smiths?? Siouxsie & the Banshees??? All qualify during the key 80's new wave years. Excellent overview nonetheless. Perhaps you shouldve begun with the b52s instead of ending with them?? Their early success truly defined what new wave was all about, which is the strange & offbeat looks & sounds outside of your typical commercial FM radio, which represented the old wave. ❤🎉😊
R.E.M. & The Smiths are really more alternative as opposed to new wave, though what the former genre has in common with the latter is being animated by that same independent, rebellious spirit/undercurrent
To Depeche Mode myself I just can't get enough of new wave music in all its forms. To save up enough scratch to buy a copy of Dare back in the day was a defining moment for me.
Hello All! Just wanted to correct something. In the Roxy Music section I mention that Brian Eno produced David Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy which he did not do. While Eno was a heavy collaborator, songwriter, and influence on the sound and style of those albums he technically does not have a producer credit. The producer credit goes to Tony Visconti. Apologies for any confusion
I was there in the late 70's and early 80's while living in Vancouver.
Most of the new wave bands and punk bands were not popular back then.
People did not cut their long hair and got rid of their bellbottoms once 1980 hit. It was great back then being able to see a band like Depeche Mode and only 50 people being there.
Bands like the Cure and Simple minds played in big nightclubs, not arenas
JOY DIVISION->NEW ORDER->THE CURE!
Not only did I see 75% of these people live in the 70s and 80s, I have a massive brag- I saw The Sex Pistols in one of their only 6 shows in the US ever. I also used to buy coffee and pastries for the B52s and REM in Athens, GA before they got too famous for the city.
This was a cool video to run across. YT has changed their algorithm again, I see.
How does the two-tone bands fit in? Many of the so called nu wave bands also recorded ska and reggae.
@mstayloronline What you on about? Going woke retroactive back into the 80s?
Thanks for mentioning A Flock of Seagulls in a good light. The band has been unfairly labeled a one hit wonder . Go beyond the haircuts and you'll discover their first three albums are actually quite good.
I actually recall them having TWO "hit" songs - I ran and Space Age Love Song.
@@McVicar-ks8qb Yup! Plus "Wishing" was a number 10 hit in the UK charts.
I saw them a couple years ago. Fantastic band
I always thought that they would have had tremendous success if they had slightly different haircuts. Great band, bad stylist.
NOBODY has EVER called FOS a "one-hit wonder band". NOBODY. They had a string of hits and you've been taking too many hits of your own...
Adam And The Ants, Bow Wow Wow, The Police, Blondie, The B-52’s, The Human League, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Soft Cell, Duran Duran, Tears For Fears, The Go-Go’s, Missing Persons, Talking Heads, Devo, Psychedelic Furs, Culture Club, Grace Jones, Prince and The Revolution, Haircut 100, The Fixx, JoBoxers, Depeche Mode, ABC, INXS to name a few were one of my favorite new wave bands and artists.
Wall of Voodoo
You mentioned Soft Cell twice
INXS were NOT New Wave
@@SmartCookie2022so?
@@opietwoep1247they’re okay
I'll never forget the first time I heard 'Are Friends Electric?' in 1979. That was my musical Year Zero.
The first Numan I heard was Cars followed by Engineers on my local college radio station in the U.S. (Montana of all places)... right away I bought the Pleasure Principle and soon after it was Replicas that really blew my mind.
Song is bad ass.
I was 20 years old in 1980, and started working at a record store. Music was my life for the following decades. I was so into New Wave, and it's still my favorite genre of music all these years later. I was able to see many of these bands live at the time, and I cherish the memories. It warms my old black heart to see a thoughtful video essay about my lifelong favorite music. I think anyone interested in getting into New Wave should make a playlist of all the songs you featured as a starting point. Great job on the essay, you have a new subscriber.
Working at a record store in 1980 sounds like a dream job 💜 so glad you enjoyed the video!
Also link to the playlist from this video is in the description 🙌
@@JukeboxHistory Of course you did, how silly of me. Working at the record store paid peanuts, I was poor as a church mouse, but I loved it. We also had a Ticketmaster so I spent any little extra I had on shows. So many shows I lost count.
I know there are too many artists to name all of them but I love Devo and would've loved to hear a word or two about Oingo Boingo also. As Devo made theme music for the cult movie "Doctor Detroit" (1983, with Dan Aykroyd), Oingo Boingo made the theme song for another cult movie "Weird Science" (1985, by John Hughes).... Great show BTW. I'm 71yo and you did well considered your young age.
How popular was morrisey and the smiths
@@Patrickhit87 They were very popular for alternative, but not as popular as best-seller mainstream acts.
Very impressive I found this video captivating and would be a great intro for people discovering this kind of music! Bravo
Thank you!
Really enjoyed this m8. I grew up in the 80’s UK and honestly you’ve no idea how much of an institution Top of the pops was. Every kid watched it glued to the count down, hoping their favourite song would get played while disapproving parents tutted or laughed in the background!!!
Glad you mentioned Depeche Mode but more attention imo should have been on the influence of founding member Vince Clarke. IMO His influence on 80’s music cannot be overstated. Anyway bravo and I’m looking forward to see what you do next.
Nice video. I'd like to see your take on The Jam and the Two Tone bands - The Specials, Madness, The (English) Beat, The Selecter and The Bodysnatchers. Speaking of The Specials, Terry Hall co-wrote Our Lips Are Sealed with Jane Wiedlin.
Also, Scritti Politti never gets mentioned with the other new wave artists but Cupid and Psyche 85 was a great record.
Having grown up with all this music, it was awesome to hear the history laid out in such a fun and informative manner. Great work.
At 63, and being someone who came out of the LES, I always find it amazing how Blondie is referenced. I agree she was considered punk early on as she came up in that whole CBGB crew, but the way I remember it, she became a Disco diva and that's where she stayed. I would have never thought to consider her New Wave. Oh well, guess I'm just old and remembering things wrong.
I will argue with bringing the B-52's in late in the 80's. It truly does them a disservice. I discovered the "B's" in high school, 1979. I also remember their SNL debut, which was in 1980. Granted, they weren't mainstream, but for those of us in the scene, they were pioneers. I'd say DEVO and B's were the two most influential bands in my life, and it was definitely not in the late 80's.
Spot on. Me.too. Blondie 🤮
B's ! 52 Girls . Devo , saw them both live in 79.
Truly cutting edge.
Eno's Here Come The Warm Jets also did it for me.
Agreed. The B 52’s had been around for a while - maybe because they didn’t hit super popularity until the song “Love Shack” and the corresponding video on MTV in the later 1980’s is where the confusion comes from? That would be my guess. My friends and I had been listening to them since 1980 and on before that.
Nice one. I admit New Wave is generally something I didn't get deeply into as a kid of the 80s (first a metalhead, then incorporated punk, then later in life realized I needed to go back and learn all about post-punk). Only very recently have I bothered doing a deeper dive into the New Wave that dominated the airwaves when I was young. The New Romantic stuff still makes me nauseous, though. Too light for me.
Talking Heads, though, will probably always be my favorite of bands discussed in this video. I got into them when "Wild Wild Life" was released and pretty much have always had their albums on constant play for literally decades.
I’m really starting to get into new wave music and this was a great video!!
Great video!
Thank you!
Fascinating Segment.
Having seen DEVO several times including during the 1980 Riverside, CA Riot and a
Lolapalooza over 10yrs later it’s always great to see them.
I was at Adam Ants first US appearance in Pasadena 1981 where members of the punk band Black Flag passed out stickers that read Black Flag Kills Ants on Contact.
Until recently, the 1979 Wall of Voodoo show at The Barn at UCR was one of the Best Shows I ever attended. Ironically, the 2022 Danny Elfman: From Boingo to Batman to Big Mess & Beyond show at The Hollywood Bowl became the best show I’ve seen. Which is ironic since I’m a BIG Oingo Boingo Fan, having seen them 5 or 6 times including their final show at the Universal Amphitheater.
Keep up the good work. 🤘😎🤘
This is very well done, especially for someone so young (I saw the Police before they broke up 😅). The artists here make up a large portion of my Spotify playlists. While I agree with much of the content, I never really considered groups like Duran Duran, Culture Club, Banarama, Billy Idol, or the Go Go’s as New Wave.
Glad you emphasized the Cars as they seem to be mostly forgotten, but were huge for a short period of time. Even as an American, I knew the importance of Soft Cell outside of Tainted Love. Non Stop Erotic Cabaret was genius.
You are forgiven for leaving out my main man Joe Jackson (Elvis equivalent), but his music is very diverse. Excellent work.
The time flew by just like my life. I’m 62 and grew up with all of that beautiful music. Your research is stellar and your voice is sweeter than buddah and beer. Much respect for the Devo hat. William.
That was great. I was 10 years old when MTV premiered, so a lot of what you covered was formative listening material for me.
Good work here. I’ll be sticking around.
My favorite is Depeche Mode. Close second is New Order.
Two great picks! Do you have a favorite Depeche Mode album?
Speak and Spell.. Black Celebration...
Cassette given to me when I was 10 years old.. by my friends Sister..
Listen to this and you'll be cool forever.. haha.. that was 1984..
@@JukeboxHistorySome Great Reward
I have loved all those music styles since the late 70s.
Reeeeally nice and professional presentation, thank you much!
“Our Lips Are Sealed” was actually co-written between The Go-Gos’ Jane Wiedlin and the late great Terry Hall, of The Specials and The Funboy Three. It’s about the relationship the couple were having while The Specials and The Go-Gos were on tour together. Check out The Funboy Three’s version of the song released a bit later, it’s also great.
This is the first video I’ve watched of yours. I loved it and can’t wait to watch more.
Bruh; when I seen that hat; I knew it was serious.
Good video
loved your video. Thank you ❤
Thank you!
My introduction to New Wave was when my older brother played Turning Japanese by the Vapors for me on his Walkman.
🗣️🗣️🗣️🗣️Talking Heads, _ALWAYS._
My personal favorite new wave bands definitely have to be Soft Cell, Kajagoogoo, and Dead or alive - all super catchy, some lived longer than others, all the more "pop-oriented" kind of new wave
New Wave = Talking Heads. The most underrated band ever
For those of us born in the 60s we met the 80s with much resistance. MTV helped change that view
The Cars '79 at The Warehouse New Orleans , phenomenal.
Early 80's seeing Adam Ant twice and Devo twice... four of the best shows that I've cherished the last 40+ years of my life
WE ARE SO BACK
WE’VE NEVER BEEN MORE BACK
I'm gonna be checking out Orange Juice in the morning!! No really it's on a new playlist I just made
They’re a great band!
This was a very through and educational anthology!
However...I know you can't cover everyone,
🤔 but no
Thomas Dolby
Information Society
Fine Young Canibals???
It doesn't feel complete. Yet, excellent video!
I can't stress this enough, check out, Scandal w/Patty Smyth & the video/song, "Goodbye to You". Scandal was underrated/ under-appreciated new wave...American style.
The Cars, Gary Newman, Flock of Seagulls, Duran Duran, The Fixx, the Clash, even a Billy Idol had certain songs that would fit the bill. Even older stuff like Gary Wright with all the synth.
I was 16 in 1980, the more melodious post punk and new wave of around 79-82 was huge in my life... I didn't mind Devo, Talking Heads or The Cars, they were all great but the U K stuff latched on to my head and my heart far more... The Only Ones, Fad Gadget, Ultravox MK1 with John Foxx, Japan & OMD were just a few of my standouts... I never took to Ultravox Mk2 (Midge Ure era)...
All great bands! 1980 must have been a fantastic year to be 16. So much exciting music coming out. Thanks for watching!
🙂
I'm a bit younger than you but not by much. Must admit I like both versions of Ultravox, though I only discovered the John Foxx era in retrospect. I do see them as different bands with the only real overlap being the album Vienna. And I followed both John Foxx and Ultravox/Visage for the rest of the 80's.
I just wanted to pop in here to say that Belinda Carlisle from The Go Gos was actually briefly the drummer of The Germs.
Really?!...
Wow...
Cheers from Orange County California 🇺🇸..
In 1980, a band called 3-D appeared on Saturday Night Live playing a song called "All Night Television." That was a catchy, poppy New Wave song.
DEPECHE MODE LETS GOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!
Such a fantastic group 🖤
Honestly.. I believe Depeche Mode actually used every single switch on their Synthesizers ..
Someday.. they will get the recognition..
Cheers from Southern California
That's strange, here in the Philippines, Post Punk is also considered "New Wave", and the New Wave era is a consolidated heap of different musical styles that came out from that era, specifically the 80s.
Pretenders, Blondie, Nick Lowe , Elvis Costello, The Clash...not sure if they were New Wave or punk but those were my fave artists in the late 70s/early 80s (that weren't metal/hardrock). 80s MTV new wave had a lot of songs I liked but no artists I specifically embraced. Well, maybe Adam Ant or The Police...
All great picks! The Clash definitely walked the line between Punk and New Wave sometimes but I fit them in in my punk video
I've learned about a ton of different artists through Elvis Costello as well as different genres. Funny how his popular songs are not his best songs. I guess that's why Radio Radio was written.
Very good TH-cam post and a list of great artists even if I didn't like some of them.....Devo????
Coming from a Small Town In CNY, I went to SUNY New Paltz in 1978, Got so exposed to The New Wave Big Time!
A fellow CNYer huh? Respect 🫡
@@JukeboxHistory Yes, A new Yorker that Lived on AZ, CA And Now In Biden State of Delaware!
Where is Berlin in this video???? To me they were the epitome of synth-pop, with Love Life being one of my all-time favorite albums. And they are still together and touring (I got to see them live recently)! Also, you mentioned the Police being a British band, but like the Pretenders, they were an American-British band. Steward Copland is American.
Hi there
i really appreciate your "attitude" in making the videos, they are quite pitch perfect, but still when you made the video about punk, you were addessing all the other "sub-genres" (?) coming after...
I know you're going to release _soon i hope_ a video about hard core punk, so i am here BEGGING you not to forget what is (to me, at least) the most powerful and highly regretted band of it all... Please do not forget about the Germs...
Respect.
Oh we’ll talk about The Germs in the last part 🫡
Love & Rockets, Lightning Seeds, Care, The Wild Swans, China Crisis, The Bolshoi, Blancmange, Seona Dancing, The Chills, Prefab Sprout, The Style Council, Danny Wilson, Fun Boy Three, The Colourfield.
Was that new wave in the Philippines?
DEVO is a rock band. ROCK!
Devo were actually the kind of group that DEFIED genre classification. THEY were just WEIRD and ORIGINAL.
I have a pet coachwhip snake named Devo.
That’s awesome 😂 thanks for watching!
Mentioned New Wave, New Romantic, Synth Pop AND Industrial... But didnt mention Minstry.
Nice.
A lot of Brits on here harassing me because i love American New Wave. I love all kinds of music, dont be so defensive ! Dont forget my British friends that it was Georgio Morodors I Feel Love that had Brian Eno saying this is the future of music! Certainly plenty is owed to the German music scene and especially Kraftwerk and Klaus Naomi!!! The thing about New Wave was that it appeared all over the world simultaneously, we did live in the first era of mass media after all! The fun thing about being a teen then was seeing that there were new wavers all over the world, this was a mini revolution. New Zealand gave us Split Enz, Australia gave us Men At Work, Midnight Oil, INXS and Real Life, Japan gave us The Plastics! The Germans gave us so many from Trio to Alphaville to Nina Hagen, the Europeans giving us Falco, A-Ha. Canadians had multiple bands like Images In Vogue, Men Without Hats, Rough Trade, Blue Peter, The Spoons. I had so many of these bands in my repertoire I cant imagine kids listening so internationally now!? We all had different experiences in different countries and I cant believe some people have to get so pissy about their version of music history!? The 80s made me a more open person, open to new ideas, concepts, sounds, structures of music, i dont know how someone could have lived thru it and not come out super accepting of all ideas? I did!
Some mention of Sparks (another group dating from the 70s glam era that were highly influential on this genre) and Oingo Boingo (Elfman's old group before he turned to movie scoring) would have been in order. Also, no mention of KROQ. That's a radio station in Los Angeles that was playing THIS music even when nothing else was, including MTV, and was secretly instrumental in launching it into American popular consciousness.
And if you want to be really specific, Rodney Bingenheimer (KROQ DJ-Rodney on the Roq) was responsible for breaking more bands from that era than any other person.
Omg I LOVED Oingo Boingo❤
@@Cooper1he was a busy guy
92.3 ( later k-rock) New York was breaking Euro-punk before LA KROQ even heard of it and then Infinity bought them both out.
And also MV3 hosted by Richard Bade from 82-84. It’s this show, which we were able to get on an obscure UHF channel in Portland, OR., is what introduced me to all these new wave bands and more. Our radio stations weren’t playing this music and MTV wasn’t really much either.
Missing Persons, Smithereens, Talking Heads, The Fixx, OMD, The Go-Go's, Tears for Fears, The Cure
All good stuff
All great picks! The Cure are one of those interesting ones that really walk the line between Post-Punk and New Wave but are great in most of their ventures. Thanks for watching!
The Fixx is underrated!
Been listening to Missing Persons again recently.
Terry Bozzio and Warren Cuccurrulo never cease to blow my mind. Then they are Zappa alumni
@@JukeboxHistory Thanks for actually seeing passed the modern genre tag...the Cure as Goth...
I use to laugh and just say if they are so are the Smiths...
Hahaha..
Yes.. and the Smiths are called Goth.. this has to stop...
Cheers from Southern California...
ha ha ha....Average American, I don't think you know anything about the UK scene.
New wave is basically Punks that went to college and got nerdy.
Yes!!!
art school punks
Yes
Didn't go to college, but I still got nerdy.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Today is my 61st birthday. One of the only things I enjoy about growing older is this type of retrospective - hearing thoughts from a modern perspective on pop culture from back in "my" day. Their legacies, their places in history. It's a feeling of having one foot in the past and one in the future.
The 80s really were a fun time to be young. Fashion was ridiculous, music was exciting, there was a "do your own thing" vibe in the air, and it seemed like something fresh and new to see or hear would pop up all the time. I remember going to Record World and buying record albums of bands that I'd seen on MTV (later cassette tapes for my boombox and Walkman!) I really can't describe how exciting it was to discover people like Prince, U2, Blondie, the Police, and so many others. Then again, all young people know that feeling - when you branch out from music you grew up with to music that you're discovering on your own, but not only that - you're discovering who you are in part through that music.
Thank you for the walk down memory lane; this was a well researched and enjoyable video, and I'm going to check out your post-punk video next.
Happy Birthday!! 🎁🎈🎉
Glad you enjoyed the video. Thank you for watching
I think the 80s - especially the early 80s - was the last time that pop music actually invented something new. Everying before or after was very derivative: Even Punk was an attempt to restart the fire of the 1950s.
New Wave owes a lot to the availability of electronic music equiptment at affordable prices so that young musicians could experiment - there's a similar moment around 1990 and the birth of Techno.
Truly a great era in modern music history. Besides having a cool and novel musical sound these groups seemed to have a real sense of style and theatricality and were often good performers as well as musicians. A movement in which imagination and pioneer spirit truly abounded and ruled the scene.
It was depressing man. Synth & drums machine 😱
@@likearollingstone007 Yeah well, not everyone of us is a hippy synthphobe.
Probably in 1059 there were guys going: oh,man, it's terrible now, electric guitars and stuff...
Theatricality? 😂
@@eddiesaddict Yeah, in particular Devo, Adam Ant, and Talking Heads (with the big suit for example). Do yo know the definition?
It's amazing how you can talk in depth about a musical genre you weren't even born to appreciate when it was around. Trust me; it was a brilliant time musically to be alive. many of those acts are in their 60s and 70s now and still have it.
Agree. All these bands I grew up with. Seems like yesterday. There remains a freshness with some of this music. Doesn’t even feel nostalgic to me. The newness hasn’t diminished.
Watched it right to the very end. I’m 61, and lived through all this glorious music! Great video!
Im 60 and love all this music. So grateful I experienced it as it came out.
I grew up in the Hamptons I’m 60 years old and I remember working at restaurants during the summers when all this music was coming out , being out to 2,3 4 o’clock in the morning
58 and from the UK, at the time I was more of a metalhead but time has given me a deeper appreciation of this musical style.
I'm 59. Likewise!
@@Para2normal I was a punk metalhead myself. But the musician in me listed to it all, and appreciated so many of these bands. Cheers.
duran duran will always be number one in my heart but i also LOVE LOVE LOVE til tuesday, missing persons, the go go's and adam ant
also dude this video was really good. appreciate it keep doing it !!!!
Duran Duran is one of the best! Thanks for watching
Duran Duran was a godsend for MTV. At a time when many bands were working with 'look, colored smoke!' budgets, Duran Duran were releasing short movies.
I saw Duran Duran in the 3rd row in 1984, my first concert. So insane!
great video! duran duran is great but they were heavily influenced by the group "Japan" who came before them in 1974. th-cam.com/video/xhm-EqcPta0/w-d-xo.htmlfeature=shared
Duran Duran still putting out music today. Just released a CD last year? They also have utube channels.
From someone who lived through this time you did any excellent job.
Thank you!
In the 80s, New Wave was what you listened to when you weren't listening to Hair Bands, Rap, Club Music, actual Punk, or any indescribable sound which there were many...and trying to decide what you liked more! 80s had so many genres at once it was a feast for the ears and tickled any taste. I guarantee anyone not familiar with the real diversity of sound then would find a dozen or more artists they'd fall madly in love with.
Your description is spot on. I was a hair band/metal head who could not deny the New Wave bands. As much as I loved me some hair bands, to me New Wave defined the true essence of the 80’s.
I was a teenager in the 80's . This was very special to me . Thanks
It's worth knowing that Gary Numan is still performing, and his voice is just as spectacular as it was in the 80s.
Absolutely brilliant! Thank you for this trip back to my teen years! (Graduated in 1985) Music was what absolutely ruled our lives, and I was a total New Wave kind of girl. Soft Cells album Nonstop Erotic Cabaret played on repeat, and I saw Missing Persons live. As a matter of fact, my best friend (since we were 7) and I are going to see Adam Ant tomorrow night! Sorry for the novel, lol.
Soft Cell are great! It seems like such an exciting time to have been a teenager. I’ve heard Adam Ant still kills it live so I hope you have fun 😎 thank you for watching!
@@JukeboxHistoryIt was! I love that our music is still loved!
@jukeboxhistory The concert was PHENOMENAL!!!! Adam was on FIRE and still soooo gorgeous, lol😍😁
Just as I was thinking to myself "no one ever mentions Aztec Camera in videos about New Wave history"...but then you DID! They are my absolute favourite, but they're so often overlooked. Roddy Frame is a ridiculously talented songwriter. He was a guitar prodigy, too! I still have all of Aztec Camera and RF's solo stuff on heavy rotation in my home/car!
I never hear Wall of Voodoo mentioned either. Stan Ridgway was a geeky genius.
The Jam? Have you mentioned them?
English Beat?
I think you need to do a 3 hour version.
I have some quibbles but overall a very good effort.
Oh and for goth... The Cult
That needs to be his Ska/Reggae video, if he didn't already cover that.
Two of my favorites as well👍
The Jam a 3 piece band that had more energy than most 5 piece bands.
SPARKS, how can you not mention the brothers Ron and Russell Mael.
They fit into every sub-genre you cover AND are influential heroes to most of these artists.
Have you seen the Edgar Wright documentary “ The Sparks Brothers”
Yeah they were predecessors of a lot of new wave sounds, and doing it in the early 70's.
Would you believe Depeche Mode were a big fan of them?
@@imrytebeehyneu
Absolutely
Black US music in the UK. 60's into 70's, a cult scene now called called Northern Soul, think music snobbery personified as DJs in the UK hunted down dance floor fillers from the USA, specifically Stax, Motown and adjacent labels. Specifically looking for what was known as "Slipped Discs", singles that failed despite being good and no word of a lie, the more obscure, the harder failing, the better! That is the scene where Soft Cell picked up on Tainted Love as they were both regulars at those club nights. Dexy's Midnight Runners was another band that explicitly owed their formation to that scene. You had Spandau Ballet claiming to be Soul Boys at heart (as can be seen with True), Paul Young's whole career was about reviving lost songs by Black American artists. In working class areas, the pubs would have soul records on the Jukebox and they would get worn out regularly (Punk etc, that was for kids and art school students, maybe coffee shops).
You also had a Reggae scene here, mostly thanks to Island Records. Our ears were primed for what was to come.
With unsegregated radio in the UK, black artists started getting radio play, even on BBC radio 1, the national pop station (which was not just the chart). And we are not talking revivals via re-release of 60's songs. End of the 70's and early 80's, even though disco was generally a has been elsewhere you had Black R&B artists like Odyssey and Shalamar who were largely ignored in the USA being a big deal here in the UK for about 3 or 4 albums each. With the Electro Funk more came through, mostly one hit wonders. Forrest with "Rock the Boat" Rockers Revenge with "Walking on Sunshine" being constructed out of samples/pastices of other Electronic R&B tracks (That is was an Arthur Baker side project totally flew over our heads at the time), even Sylvester would have more than one hit here in the UK.
Oh man this is awesome information thank you for sharing! As someone who has to dig through old sources it’s nice to get specifics like this. It def sounds like the UK had a love for these genres and it’s no surprise the New Wave artists were able to take it in and make it their own thing. As an American it’s really nice to get some UK perspective on this thanks again
@@JukeboxHistory In a lot of ways it was a cult thing. akin to the indie/alternative of today, a strong fan base that every so often someone in the scene would have a actual honest to goodness hit, a couple of acts would be regular top 30.
But its impact was huge.
There were UK bands in the style of US Black dance music as well, Hot Chocolate were likely the biggest and best known, you also had bands like Imagination. But the Career of Rod Temperton is the real strange one, He was friends with Quincy Jones and wrote a few songs for an artist he was working with, nothing major, just Thriller, Rock with you, Off the Wall.
I love it when the algorithm serves up gold like this.
Songs From The Big Chair is the greatest pop album ever made, great video!
It’s crazy how well it’s held up. Everybody Wants To Rule The World and Shout are some of the best pop songs ever written
Still being wowed by it in 2024 ❤
It's a great album but not as good as Rio.
Missing Persons deserve much more fame & attention than they received at the time. The story of how they started in 1980 is truly a fascinating one (4 out of the original 5 band members performed with Frank Zappa). Dale Bozzio’s unique voice & appearance has had a strong influence on many female artists since. Her then-husband Terry is also a phenomenal drummer on the level of Stewart Copeland & guitarist Warren Cuccurullo went on to replace Andy Taylor in Duran Duran when MP first broke up in 1986. I think 1984’s Rhyme & Reason is as good of an album as 1982’s Spring Session M, contrary to what the critics said at the time
Saw them live in (I think) 1982. Dale is still my spirit animal. ❤
@@LCarolineSparks I met Dale after one of her shows this January, I gave her a drawing I did of her & she gave me an autograph! A true sweetheart ❤️
u spoke volumes.
Some confused them with The Motels. Missing Persons was definitely under the radar as far as organic musicianship..Great players.
@@latentsea People really confused Missing Persons with The Motels? Martha Davis is also a phenomenal vocalist, but she & Dale Bozzio have their own very distinct voices & styles. There were also those superficially comparing MP to Blondie & Plasmatics
Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark, very important to early electronic and the only place I heard industrial music at the time!
They instantly put me in a happy place!
@@Frankie_Frawgz right, like Enola Gay?
OMD! Yes!
yesss and Telegraph, that's my jam!@@gaywizard2000
Yep, that is definitely one of em!
The Ramones performed on the Sha Na Na show once. Bowser called them new wave. Punk was seen as a dirty word, so the mainstream media and radio between 79-81 were calling everything new wave. Even the Dead Kennedys were labeled new wave. As the 80s wore on, new wave adjacent bands (goth, industrial, post punk) along with hardcore and post-hardcore punk, jangle pop, noise, and early dream pop became the backbone of UK indie and American college radio. The original alternative music scene.
This is a fantastic well put together video/documentary, well done 👍
Thank you!!
Very good video. I'll add a couple of things to be pedantic... First - definitions - in the UK 'New Wave' referred to most of the eclectic music that followed Punk, but by something like '82 the term 'New Pop' had replaced it, with 'New Romantic' being a specific sub genre which occurred between the two. In the US the term 'New Wave' was more or less applied to all the bands who got big via MTV. It would also be worth adding how influential the first version of Ultravox was to many early synth acts (like Gary Numan), and mentioning how important both Midge Ure (Ultravox's replacement lead singer after John Foxx went solo), and Vince Clarke (Depeche Mode's synth player on their first album) were to music in the first half of the 80's. And finally, I will say one band that should have been mentioned but wasn't - an act who also - like Depeche Mode - really got big in the US at the end of the 80's - was 'The Cure'. Minor quibbles all. Again - very good vid. PS: OMD.
I did find that the labels for this movement changed quite a bit depending on which side of the pond you were on. It was a lot of fun to see the British perspective of New Wave as an American too. I included The Cure in my Post Punk video but they have some material that certainly could have gone here. Thanks for watching!
You're absolutely correct. The Jam, Elvis Costello, Blondie, Ian Dury, Squeeze, skinny ties and farfisas...now that's what I call New Wave!
@@henrywallace7996You are absolutely correct! Possibly throw in the Police, The Stranglers, Joe Jackson and sprinkle in some Madness. Then you have a list of “New Wave” bands that I saw (all of them) play live back in the day….😊
Then you had synth-pop (Depeche, Human League, Heaven 17, OMD, Soft Cell etc). Then you had the New Romantics (Duran, Spandau, ABC, Culture Club, etc).
New Wave was not really a genre, or sub-genre. It was more used as a catch-all label to contain all the acts that were too alternative to be considered mainstream at that time. Most New Romantic and a lot of synth-pop artists went mainstream anyway. That was their intention.
Having lived through it all in my prime, it was an exhilarating time for music!
Where’s the Australian artists like INXS, Midnight Oil,Men at Work, Spit Enz and the Divinals that are totally ignored in this video because they are not American or British
INXS brought up at the end of the video
Split Enz were mostly from New Zealand.
Machinations, the models, dynamic hepnotics. Dugites , the Agents, the sunnyboys, the divynals, the Reels etc
And Mi-Sex (also from NZ)
The Stranglers were criminally under rated. Before Hugh got locked up for being a rabid junkie, they took loads of punk, lo fi, raggae and baroque and made some very good pop songs.
I feel Sparks should have also gotten a mention in the proto new wave section, they were doing that kind of stuff before it was even really a thing and was probably a large contributor as to why they didn't gain commercial success at the beginning.
Very enjoyable for someone born in the mid-70s like me. I will always have a soft spot for 80s synth pop.
DEVO MENTIONED
🫡❤️
A fellow beautiful mutant here!
Devo, the b52's,and sousie and the banshees should be in the hof,
Duty now for the future!
They were so good. They sounded like nothing else on top 20 radio at the time, which is what attracted us "New Wavers"!
This is pretty good bro. I missed a lot of this while it was happening. It was like drinking from a firehose. Glad to hear you mention XTC. I didn’t miss that one. 😁
Oh I can only imagine! There was so much happening all at once I couldn’t imagine living through it. XTC were one of the greats 💚
Xtc were sadly overlooked and yet as almost profound as The Beatles in their era!!
Great video!!! It was great to see the history laid out the way you did. I was in High School from 1979 to 1983 so this was MY music. Your video brought back so many memories. I didn't know the back story of New Wave. Once, maybe in the late 80's, I heard the song "moving in stereo" by the Cars. I was shocked it came out in 1978. At the time I was thinking it was way ahead of it's time because it sounded so new wave. But watching your video gives me the actual answer. I lived in NJ for 10 years from 2011 to 2021. My landlord had worked at MTV in 1981 when it started. He had a lot of great stories, and my ex partner worked at MTV from 1986 to 2007. I miss the era of New Wave SO MUCH! Music is mostly crap to me today. I guess I'm just like all the older folks that look back at the music of their youth as the best music. In 1983 when I graduated from HS, I took a cross country trip with a friend to CA. Our top song of the trip was "Sex, I'm a" by Berlin, next was "Safety Dance" by Men without Hats, and third was "Goody Two Shoes" by Adam Ant. Oh, and who could ever forget "Sweet Dreams were made of this" by the Eurythmics, which was beyond 1st.....Oh man, I'm forgetting "Kids in America" by Kim Wilde, which I'm not sure is New Wave.....Oh, in the fall, after that trip, I had my first great sexual experience to the song "King of Pain" by the Police. I don't think that was new wave either.
Wall of Voodoo was an AMAZING band, though their only hit “Mexican Radio” might actually be their worst song. Everyone should check out their cover of the Johnny Cash classic “Ring of Fire”
@@markallen2984 Oh I like Mexican Radio. It's very catchy. But now I will have to check out their other stuff! Thanks for the info!!
@@markallen2984 Mexican Radio was wall of Voodoo's worst song? Hardly!! Still, Ring of Fire is most assuredly one of their crowning achievements, and remains to this day one Hell of an atmospheric listen!! Can't make Love, Red Light, Big Talk, Back in Flesh and Grandma's House were all top notch tunes!
Excellent job for an overview from a person who was not around at the time, about a "genre" that if you ask 100 people to define you will get 100 different answers.
Yea someone on my community post said trying to define New Wave would be like trying to nail jello to the wall which I’d say is pretty accurate lol thanks for watching!
These vids go too hard to have this amount of views. keep going.
Thank you!
Missing Persons and Wall of Woodoo
Wall of voodoo!!!
This was such a well made video and very well explained! I’ve been looking for a channel that dives into music history in this way and was happy to find this channel. I’d love to see more videos like this for other genres!
just wanna say that this is the most perfect video essay i've seen. it's the perfect length and it focuses on something that i LOVE to learn about. thank you for this i am def subscribing
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching
Such a fantastic job!! Truly your best work so far. Absolutely amazing and informative! Thank you 😊
Thank you!!
Great video. I recommend you give Talk Talk a listen. Amazing band
Excellent work young man! as a guy who grew up in the 70/80's I think you got exactly right the feelings and sentiments of that era and for that you get a salute o7! I just wish you could have added another one of Trevor Horns big succeses Frankie Goes To Hollywood! How massive that band was in the 80's can't be denied. First 3 songs no 1's in the UK. I thought they deserve a wee mention! Overall your good work gets a 9/10 for me thoroughly enjoyed it!
great video and an awesome intro to new wave!! My favourite new wave groups would have to be DEVO (nice energy dome btw), talking heads, XTC, the B52's, the buggles, split enz, wall of voodoo, gary numan, elvis costello andddd sparks! If you'd classify sparks as new wave that is, they did influence almost everyone from around that era so i'd highly recommended checking them out if you haven't already!!
Sparks are certainly one of the best duos to ever do it. Honestly deserve their own video. Thanks for watching!
@@JukeboxHistory omg I'd be so invested in a sparks video if you ever did make one!!! And no problem
This video covers all the music of my high school years, back when MTV played music videos 24/7. Thanks for the trip down memory lane!
Thanks for watching!
MTV stands for Music Television. Now it's " reality shows".
Another great video! The music nerd in me loved your new wave family tree chart!
Ps. Do you know the New Zealand band Split Enz? They were also around in that golden age of Post Punk/New Wave, I think you would like them. ‘One Step Ahead’, ‘My Mistake’ and ‘Dirty Creature’ are my fave tracks, cool goofy film clips too ☺️
I don’t think I’ve heard of them 🤔 I’ll have to give them a spin! Thanks for watching!
@@JukeboxHistory 🫶🏻
hell yeah, one step ahead is a favourite of mine. definitely worth checking out
@@halloweenjeanYes indeedy. I particularly love the bass guitar on that track. Less is more
split enz are fantastic!! I'm been recently getting into them
Loved New Wave in late 70's and was kind of alone in my neck of the woods with only Rolling Stone to guide me and then MTV came on cable and I realized I was NOT alone - then so many great years of seeing these bands on TV. Actually SEEING your favorite artists perform was nearly impossible unless you saw them live, before MTV. New Wave was in some ways so mature and Avante Garde with its somewhat non-conformist themes but seems so sweet and innocent now - such a lovely view of the world and it filled me with hope as a young man.
Talk Talk!!! R.I.P. Mark Hollis, the greatest and most unique NW vocalist
Matching your headgear to a phaser pedal in the background is goated
Technically orange and red but close enough 🧡
Great video on the New Wave movement! Depeche Mode's longevity shows great lyrics and songsmith outlast music trends.
So do great compositional talents, which is why Mark Mothersbaugh (of Devo) and Danny Elfman (of group Oingo boingo, who weren't mentioned in the video by the way) went on to become succesful and prolific film scorists after the movement had ended.
I subscribed do your channel because I enjoyed this video so much.
Thank you for the sub 🫡 glad you enjoyed the video!
Thanks. Great work. I lived through the period during my formative years and you covered the key players well. Still think I lived in a golden age of popular music. I saw Adam Ant, who was not respected like some of those others, BUT he was great live, and the songs were not far off XTC style/quality. Really good. I also saw New Order at the peak of their powers in 87 - they forged a few different kinds of "Sound" (indie guitar, goth, electropop) which were imitated by U2, Cure, Pet Shop Boys, Depeche. Killing Joke were great live. I saw Gary Numan play with The Church, great. This is an unhumble-brag. A gen x clinging to this life raft. Regrets? I wish I had seen XTC (who stopped doing gigs early) and The Pixies.
Those are some amazing artists to have seen live in their hey day! Yea I think most people would have to be lucky to have caught XTC before they quit touring 😂 thanks for watching!
No R. E.M.? The Smiths?? Siouxsie & the Banshees??? All qualify during the key 80's new wave years. Excellent overview nonetheless. Perhaps you shouldve begun with the b52s instead of ending with them?? Their early success truly defined what new wave was all about, which is the strange & offbeat looks & sounds outside of your typical commercial FM radio, which represented the old wave.
❤🎉😊
R.E.M. & The Smiths are really more alternative as opposed to new wave, though what the former genre has in common with the latter is being animated by that same independent, rebellious spirit/undercurrent
R.E.M. probably wouldn’t fit in the first part of this series. Siouxsie and The Smiths were brought up in the Post-Punk video. Hope you check it out!
Post Punk bands gave you Alternative bands life.. REM just being one example
To Depeche Mode myself I just can't get enough of new wave music in all its forms. To save up enough scratch to buy a copy of Dare back in the day was a defining moment for me.
I couldn’t imagine hearing Dare for the first time when it dropped. Thank you for sharing!