How New Wave Ruled The 1980's 

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

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 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.

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.

Watched it right to the very end. I’m 61, and lived through all this glorious music! Great video!

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.

Missing Persons, Smithereens, Talking Heads, The Fixx, OMD, The Go-Go's, Tears for Fears, The Cure All good stuff

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.

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.

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.

From someone who lived through this time you did any excellent job.

I was a teenager in the 80's . This was very special to me . Thanks

New wave is basically Punks that went to college and got nerdy.

I love it when the algorithm serves up gold like this.

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!

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 !!!!

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.

It's worth knowing that Gary Numan is still performing, and his voice is just as spectacular as it was in the 80s.

Songs From The Big Chair is the greatest pop album ever made, great video!

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.

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.

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

I'll never forget the first time I heard 'Are Friends Electric?' in 1979. That was my musical Year Zero.

This is a fantastic well put together video/documentary, well done 👍

Very enjoyable for someone born in the mid-70s like me. I will always have a soft spot for 80s synth pop.

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.

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!

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

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.

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.

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”

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.

Orchestral Maneuvers In The Dark, very important to early electronic and the only place I heard industrial music at the time!

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.

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.

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!

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

Matching your headgear to a phaser pedal in the background is goated

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.

I am 67, MTV changed so much in music. I installed satellite tv in the ‘80’s. The first channel the kids turned to was MTV. I remember it was normal to be asked to hook their tv to a stereo.

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. 😁

Ive been WAITING for this one.

Man, I really want to thank you for putting this video together as it took me back in time to a lot of groups I enjoyed listening to.

I subscribed do your channel because I enjoyed this video so much.

DEVO MENTIONED

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!

As someone who lived through that glorious era and has loved it since the beginning, you did a GREAT job breaking it down. You covered it as if you were there as well. Keep up the great videos!

Nicely done, two big omissions: The Cure , The Clash…..well researched! Bravo!!!

Great video on the New Wave movement! Depeche Mode's longevity shows great lyrics and songsmith outlast music trends.

Such a fantastic job!! Truly your best work so far. Absolutely amazing and informative! Thank you 😊

This is so well written! Thank you!

Wow what a trip through memory lane that was for me!! 60 years old now and I still remember my huge posters of Adam Ant and Duran Duran on my bedroom wall. 😂

So nostalgic! Amazing job!

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.

My New Wave favs: Ultravox, DM, Visage, John Foxx, Gary Numan, Soft Cell, Classix Nouveaux, Japan, OMD, Yazoo, Talk Talk❤

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.

Great video!

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!!

Great video! New Wave was such an influential part of growing up in the 80s. Thank goodness I grew-up in the 80s. #generation_X

Thanks so much for this! 😊

"...playing shows with the likes of Iggy Pop, and Siouxie and the Banshees. Not at the same time. Could you imagine?" Yes, I could, and I imagine that combination would be utterly epic, and very, very intense. I want to thank you for that thought.

Great video. I recommend you give Talk Talk a listen. Amazing band

Glad to find someone like you who shows such competence, extensive research and passion about the music i grew up with back then

your deep dive here is incredible. thank you, brother

These vids go too hard to have this amount of views. keep going.

Very thorough. The music I grew up with and you hit the highlights ... and some pretty deep cuts as well - Orange Juice, man! That is a comparatively obscure one. This is a great series and I get the sense we may be kindred spirits.

effing tremendous content. thank you!

This was brilliant, thankyou for taking the time to make it.

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.

Love seeing 70s Roxy Music acknowledgement

Reeeeally nice and professional presentation, thank you much!

Thanks so much for this deep dive. Born in 1979, this music is core to some essential part of me that I can't even put words to. I was nostalgic for it during the 90s (when I was totally disinterested in grunge and we scoured vintage shops for 80s vinyl and was I utterly, totally, devoted to Sting) and continue to (re)discover it over a lifetime. There is still so much to learn and enjoy.

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.

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

I graduated HS in 1980 and married in '89, so the 80s was memorable decade in many ways. Great video of the most influential genre in the greatest decade of music. Thank you.

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.

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 ☺️

My favorite is Depeche Mode. Close second is New Order.

Excellent video man, Thank you

That was fun! Thank you! 🙏 🎉🧚‍♀️💜

Favorite New Wave artist: Simple Minds.

Missing Persons and Wall of Woodoo

Great job! Excellent video

Wonderful video and great history!

I feel sorry for those that didn’t live it. It was a BLAST! The 80s: _Lived ‘em. Loved ‘em. Miss ‘em._

I remember the name New Wave came about referencing the British Invasion of the 60's was the first wave and this is the new wave.

You did a phenomenal job with this! It was a magical time to come of age. It’s always nice to see newer generations appreciate our music.

This was great content. I was there for the early 80s explosion and you articulate that era the best. Thanks!

The 80's will never be matched for variety , and quality of the music produced in that decade .

Xtc, The Jam, Police, English Beat, The Specials, The Selector…any 2 Tone band for that matter…pub rockers: Graham Parker, Costello, J. Jackson, Nick Lowe, Rockpile, Stiff Records, The Clash…

Very well done! I was in the 1970s-80s Hollywood Punk/New Wave scene. You could easily fill an hour on LA bands alone. We covered Punk, New Wave, Power Pop, Rockabilly, Ska, etc.. Today, the Hollywood scene is largely overlooked, yet we had more cool bands than any other city in America. Just a cross-section includes: X, The Runaways, The Nerves (which gave birth to Paul Collins Beat & The Plimsouls - and wrote "Hangin' On The Telephone"), Suburban Lawns, Little Girls, The Dickies, The Knack, Fear, Black Flag, The Go Go's, The Textones, Circle Jerks, Van Halen, Quiet Riot, Oingo Boingo, The Bangles, Agent Orange, The Pop, The Blasters, Los Lobos, The Zeros, The Weirdos, 20/20, The Last . . . and The Bings. (We played in Hollywood but, mostly criss-crossed the Southern California suburbs, where Punk & New Wave weren't on the radio yet. Our 3-hr. shows brought together our songs with the best of US & UK club bands.). It was an amazing scene - and holding court over the whole thing was KROQ disc jockey, Rodney Bingenheimer, the "Mayor of Sunset Strip".

This is a fantastic video. Thank you !

Top of the Pops in the UK, artists would often record in a studio earlier in the day the track they would mime to. To appear on it meant you were in the living rooms of at least a 1/3rd of the country! In the 70's, 80's and 90's for a band to consider itself to have "made it" in the UK, a band/artist needed to score the trilogy, a TotP appearance, a John Peel Session (John Peel was a big deal for indie and alternative music, his radio show broke dozens of bands, record 3-5 songs in a studio for special broadcast), front cover of one of the big 3 music press weeklies. That now all 3 are gone, no band can truly make it in the UK.

Rip It Up by Orange Juice, both name checked and sound checked Buzzcocks song boredom... The line "My favourite song is Boredom", followed by the jarring guitar line were both inspired and copied from Buzzcocks, check the two songs out back to back and you will hear it. Also you had Japan on your visualiser... They deserve a whole video of their own. If you don't know their full back catalogue and what they produced later, you are missing out on some amazing musicses.

Excellent Summary of my fave music from the Soundtrack of my Life!!

I was a teenager in the 1980's and I'm so glad to find out that all of my favorite artists are mentioned in your video. Thank you so much for making this video. I just loved it!

The Go-Go's hit,"Our Lips Are Sealed", was a song by Fun Boy Three, a group created by Terry Hall from The Specials. Bananarama did the backing vocals for Fun Boy Three.

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. ❤🎉😊

Thank you. This is excellent and truely insightful content.

I have an uncontrollable urge to say that Devo started as a punk band!