New Wave Hall of Fame

Steve claims New Wave is the greatest genre in the history of music. But can he back up that claim? We each nominate three picks for the New Wave wing of the LTMBYM Hall of Fame.

6 thoughts on “New Wave Hall of Fame

  1. Thanks very much guys, an interesting discussion which really showed me how different the meanings of New Wave in the UK and the US are. While I would disagree with much of your choices, due to my geographic biases, and the fact that I’m a bit older than you are, I am very happy to consider good music whatever it gets labelled. My take on New Wave is really limited to late ’70 through early ’80s, and then once the New Romantic movement became a real thing, New Wave as a genre was really gone. For us, Joe Jackson, Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, Echo & the Bunnymen, Psychedelic Furs would be things that spring to mind. With Punk having been and gone, that was really the reaction to Prog Rock and the complexity of that genre, and a lot of the bands that were initially considered New Wave morphed into something else, as time moved on.
    On another note, to suggest that Goth as a genre doesn’t exist, is something I would disagree with, but maybe that’s a discussion for another show yet to come. I’ve only just begun my LTMBYM journey and will be happy to share my thoughts as I travel.

    1. KEVIN! Thanks for listening. I guess I’m becoming more optimistic Goth 🙂 though I’ve heard it applied to The Cure and even Joy Division, neither of whom I would consider Goth. I think the first band I heard of called Goth was Sisters of Mercy, and then I guess I get it with say Bauhaus :). For sure all the bands you mention are in the mainstream of New Wave…no argument there. I do like the NEW Psychedelic Furs album btw! All best brother!

  2. Thanks for listening and sharing your thoughts, Kevin! My guess is that Steve would share your definition of the genre, while the rest of us that didn’t live through it in real time get confused since in 1989 our local “New Wave” radio station was still referring to itself as such while playing all the current songs by Depeche, Erasure, Tears for Fears, etc. Harder for us to shed our preconceived ideas of what the term means 🙂

  3. Hey Fellas,
    This is the first LTMBYM episode for me. For reference I’m the same age as Dr. Steven EL. New Wave is really a huge umbrella but what first comes to mind is the look, Flock of Seagulls, Adam Ant, Culture Club. For me New Wave was something that I and my friends listen to vs. the country music my stepdad listened to and the pop music that the “other” kids listened to. I love it because a lot of it was just fun music that you could move to. At the time I didn’t really listen to what the words were about, it was just about the sound.

    Your draft pick of three songs is great. My three picks would be, (based on do they have the sound, look and they are just fun songs you want to crank up), 1. Gary Newman- Cars 2. Wall of Vodoo- Mexican Radio 3. Modern English- I Melt with You. Note: This list will be different tomorrow and I didn’t include bands you guys used.

    Oh, if you want an all female list: 1. The GoGo’s – This Town, 2. Missing Persons- Walking in LA 3. Bow Wow Wow- I want Candy.

    PS- There is an 80’s new wave band that I think is synonims with Utah that I thought for sure one of you would have mentioned, Erasure.

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