History Main / NewWaveMusic

+ occasional {{Rockabilly}}, PsychedelicRock, ProgressiveRock, {{Reggae}}, {{Ska}}, {{Funk}}, RAndB, and/or {{Disco}} influences

* Music/MindlessSelfIndulgence

+ occasional {{Rockabilly}}, PsychedelicRock, ProgressiveRock, {{Reggae}}, {{Funk}}, RAndB, and/or {{Disco}} influences

* Music/TheKillers

* Music/{{Rush}} (mixed with their usual progressive rock on most of their 80's releases)

* Music/{{ABC}}

* Music/DarkCity

New Wave started making a dent on the charts in 1978, and record companies took notice. 1979-83 were the peak years, starting with "My Sharona" by Music/TheKnack. Pretty much all of the pioneers were rocketed to stardom in the first two years; some of those stars stayed up, [[SophomoreSlump others fell]]. The whole genre was fading back into obscurity by the summer of '81; a lot of the early bands turned out to be too eclectic for mainstream audiences, which instead went for the similar NewRomantic movement.

* Music/{{Visage}}

* Music/CyndiLauper
* Music/DepecheMode
** 1981 - ''Music/SpeakAndSpell''
** 1982 - ''Music/ABrokenFrame''
** 1983 - ''Music/ConstructionTimeAgain''
** 1984 - ''Music/SomeGreatReward''
** 1986 - ''Music/BlackCelebration''
** 1987 - ''Music/MusicForTheMasses''

* Music/TearsForFears
** 1983 - ''Music/TheHurting''
** 1985 - ''Music/SongsFromTheBigChair''
** 1989 - ''Music/TheSeedsOfLove''
** 1993 - ''Music/{{Elemental|Album}}''
** 1995 - ''Music/RaoulAndTheKingsOfSpain''
** 2004 - ''Music/EverybodyLovesAHappyEnding''

* Music/{{Squeeze}}

One aspect of New Wave that's difficult to adequately determine is the dividing line between it and PostPunk, largely due to the fact that the latter wasn't defined as a distinct entity until the 2000's; before then, what is now called post-punk was previously regarded as New Wave and AlternativeRock, the effects of which are still visible today in certain corners of the music community. The distinction is especially muddy with American acts, due to New Wave and post-punk having a much greater amount of overlap there; general consensus is that American post-punk bands like Music/{{Devo}}, Music/TalkingHeads, and Music/MissionOfBurma are also believably classifiable as New Wave, while most American New Wave acts can't be classified as post-punk in turn (try to call Music/{{Blondie}} or Music/TheCars post-punk and you'll probably be met with puzzled looks at best). As post-punk is generally regarded in hindsight to be more of a musical aesthetic than a concrete genre, the classification of post-punk bands is based more around the atmosphere, aesthetic, and ethos of the bands and music involved, as opposed to the black-and-white list of conventions and lines in the sand that can more easily identify New Wave acts.

* Music/{{Blondie}}

* Music/{{Madness}}
** 1979 - ''Music/OneStepBeyond''
** 1980 - ''Music/{{Absolutely}}''

The line between UsefulNotes/{{Punk}} and New Wave is blurry; many New Wave bands started out as Punk bands. But New Wave expanded on Punk's primitivism, embracing experimentation and variety, to the point that New Wave is literally Genre Salad Music. Because of this, New Wave is an umbrella term for a wide variety of subgenres, though it is often used to refer to [[{{Flanderization}} one particular subgenre]], as will be discussed later. Along with its sister movement PostPunk, it is a major influence on AlternativeRock, and several New Wave bands such as Music/TheThe, Music/MidnightOil, Music/DepecheMode and Music/NewOrder became AlternativeRock bands later in their careers. New wave songs also remained early alternative airplay staples through the '80s.

* Music/TheMostMysteriousSongOnTheInternet

Everyone was inspired by the [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth simple, direct]] rock of the '50s and '60s, and the Glam of the early '70s. But New Wave went outside of rock, and at times consciously avoided sounding like it. Some of the synth players had classical training. Some bands had saxophone players steeped in jazz. Andy Summers of Music/ThePolice and James Honeyman-Scott of Music/{{Pretenders}} popularized a clean guitar tone with the then-new chorus effect, and New Wave guitarists in general tried to avoid sounding like Music/EricClapton or Music/JimiHendrix even as some acts like The Teardrop Explodes and Music/EchoAndTheBunnymen were influenced by PsychedelicRock. New Wave bands used elaborate studio technology like flanging, [[EchoingAcoustics delay]], synthesizers, electronic drums, drum machines, and early digital samplers like the Synclavier, the E-mu Emulator and the Fairlight CMI. The sense of futurism extended to the lyrics, which often drew from science fiction themes, particularly the works of J.G. Ballard. The offbeat nature of new wave even caught the attention of older acts like Music/KingCrimson and Music/DavidBowie, both of whom spent a fair amount of time dabbling in the genre and continued to take influence from it afterward (with Bowie additionally taking influence from post-punk).

Everyone was inspired by the [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth simple, direct]] rock of the '50s and '60s, and the Glam of the early '70s. But New Wave went outside of rock, and at times consciously avoided sounding like it. Some of the synth players had classical training. Some bands had saxophone players steeped in jazz. Andy Summers of Music/ThePolice and James Honeyman-Scott of Music/{{Pretenders}} popularized a clean guitar tone with the then-new chorus effect, and New Wave guitarists in general tried to avoid sounding like Music/EricClapton or Music/JimiHendrix even as some acts like The Teardrop Explodes and Music/EchoAndTheBunnymen were influenced by PsychedelicRock. New Wave bands used elaborate studio technology like flanging, [[EchoingAcoustics delay]], synthesizers, drum machines and early digital samplers like the Synclavier, the E-mu Emulator and the Fairlight CMI. The sense of futurism extended to the lyrics, which often drew from science fiction themes, particularly the works of J.G. Ballard. The offbeat nature of new wave even caught the attention of older acts like Music/KingCrimson and Music/DavidBowie, both of whom spent a fair amount of time dabbling in the genre and continued to take influence from it afterward (with Bowie additionally taking influence from post-punk).

Everyone was inspired by the [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth simple, direct]] rock of the '50s and '60s, and the Glam of the '70s. But New Wave went outside of rock, and at times consciously avoided sounding like it. Some of the synth players had classical training. Some bands had saxophone players steeped in jazz. Andy Summers of Music/ThePolice and James Honeyman-Scott of Music/{{Pretenders}} popularized a clean guitar tone with the then-new chorus effect, and New Wave guitarists in general tried to avoid sounding like Music/EricClapton or Music/JimiHendrix even as some acts like The Teardrop Explodes and Music/EchoAndTheBunnymen were influenced by PsychedelicRock. New Wave bands used elaborate studio technology like flanging, [[EchoingAcoustics delay]], synthesizers, drum machines and early digital samplers like the Synclavier, the E-mu Emulator and the Fairlight CMI. The sense of futurism extended to the lyrics, which often drew from science fiction themes, particularly the works of J.G. Ballard. The offbeat nature of new wave even caught the attention of older acts like Music/KingCrimson and Music/DavidBowie, both of whom spent a fair amount of time dabbling in the genre and continued to take influence from it afterward (with Bowie additionally taking influence from post-punk).

** 1980 - ''Music/{{Pretenders|Album}}''

Everyone was inspired by the [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth simple, direct]] rock of the '50s and '60s, and the Glam of the '70s. But New Wave went outside of rock, and at times consciously avoided sounding like it. Some of the synth players had classical training. Some bands had saxophone players steeped in jazz. Andy Summers of Music/ThePolice and James Honeyman-Scott of Music/ThePretenders popularized a clean guitar tone with the then-new chorus effect, and New Wave guitarists in general tried to avoid sounding like Music/EricClapton or Music/JimiHendrix even as some acts like The Teardrop Explodes and Music/EchoAndTheBunnymen were influenced by PsychedelicRock. New Wave bands used elaborate studio technology like flanging, [[EchoingAcoustics delay]], synthesizers, drum machines and early digital samplers like the Synclavier, the E-mu Emulator and the Fairlight CMI. The sense of futurism extended to the lyrics, which often drew from science fiction themes, particularly the works of J.G. Ballard. The offbeat nature of new wave even caught the attention of older acts like Music/KingCrimson and Music/DavidBowie, both of whom spent a fair amount of time dabbling in the genre and continued to take influence from it afterward (with Bowie additionally taking influence from post-punk).

* Music/ThePretenders
** 1980 - ''Music/{{Pretenders}}''

The LighterAndSofter counterpart to PunkRock and PostPunk (itself a LighterAndSofter verion of PostHardcore).

The LighterAndSofter counterpart to PunkRock and PostPunk.

The line between UsefulNotes/{{Punk}} and New Wave is blurry; many New Wave bands started out as Punk bands. But New Wave expanded on Punk's primitivism, embracing experimentation and variety, to the point that New Wave is literally Genre Salad Music. Because of this, New Wave is an umbrella term for a wide variety of subgenres, though it is often used to refer to [[{{Flanderization}} one particular subgenre]], as will be discussed later. Along with its sister movement PostPunk, it is a major influence on AlternativeRock, and several New Wave bands such as Music/TheThe, Music/MidnightOil, Music/DepecheMode and Music/NewOrder became AlternativeRock bands later in their careers.