New Wave

A friend recently mentioned not having explored New Wave much at the time it was happening. I thought it would be good to illustrate here just how strong a period that was for rock. The term “synthpop” came up. The two are not synonymous. Synthpop was a thread in the tapestry but there was a ton of beautiful rock coming out. There may have been some incorporation of electronics in the new sound, but often it was not predominant and sometimes it was absent entirely. And there was plenty of fine guitar work on display.

Many of the artists came out of the punk movement but in my eyes went far beyond that. A perfect example is Gary Numan. His earliest work in Tubeway Army was punky and crude:

Tubeway Army – My Shadow in Vain – 1978
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSSGadJh8kI

But he morphed into something new under the sun. There were lots of synths, yes, but Gary became a master producer, exploiting a full panoply of instruments and effects. He created not just a wall of sound but a rich and sophisticated room of sound which transported the listener. Within only a few years Gary was making big sound like the following:

Gary Numan – Music for Chameleons – 1982 (3+)

Often there was even exciting guitar worked in, along with female backing vocals. There was a slew of ep’s with excellent extended mixes and non-lp tracks. Much of his stuff was dance oriented, which can be fine with me.

I’ll wrap up this little digression about Mr. Numan with an example of yet further evolution of his sound:

Gary Numan – Pump It Up – 1984 (4)

In this treatment of New Wave I’m going to expand the boundaries a little and allow in some folks who might appear controversial to any purists out there. Most New Wave was from the U.K., in fact England proper. There were a few artists from Scotland and Ireland, e.g. Simple Minds and U2 respectively, but for the most part New Wave was a British Invasion that never got the big exposure here in the U.S. that the original Invasion of the 60’s enjoyed.

In my expansion of boundaries here I’m allowing in non-U.K. acts from the U.S., Canada, and Down Under. And there are bands who are straightahead rock or who might cause an eyebrow to turn up. Some of the artists I’m including are better associated with other subgenres or periods or sounds. What they have in common with New Wave is that the songs I’m including were from the very late 70’s to the late 80’s, may reflect the trend at the time for extended mixes, or otherwise fit the vibe here well enough by being perhaps a current sound for the period, as opposed to what they may have sounded like before or since.

Cliff Richard was around from the late 50’s but here he was making fantastic smooth rock. Phil Collins and Genesis were prog rockers from the 60’s onward but here they were making smooth dance rock. Yes is another prog rock stalwart dating from the 60’s who had an updated sound and lots of extended mixes during the 80’s. Don Henley was an Eagle since the early 70’s but here he was kicking major butt with extended dance mixes. David Bowie had been around since the 60’s but he was now going strong with, you guessed it, extended dance mixes. I’ve never been a disco fan, but this blurred the line. This was dance rock. Not that danceablility was something foreign to rock — rock ‘n’ roll was no stranger to the dance hall. Of course not all New Wave was dance-oriented. But this was a thread uniting much of the music of the time.

Some of the artists I’ll be showcasing show up more than once. Bill Nelson is here with Be Bop Deluxe and solo. The Comsat Angels are here under that name and also as Dream Command. Genesis is here as well as Phil Collins and Steve Hackett and Peter Gabriel (the latter of whom who had left the band long before the sounds displayed here). Japan is here as well as spin-off The Dolphin Brothers. The Stranglers and Hugh Cornwell are both here. Bryan Ferry shows up with Roxy Music and solo. Phil Manzanera from Roxy Music also shows up as half of Manzanera & Mackay. Joy Division and New Order are both here. Limahl is here with Kajagoogoo and solo. Morrissey is here with The Smiths and solo. Duran Duran is here as well as The Power Station, featuring two of the guys from DD. Bob Welch is here with Paris and solo. Though Gary Numan only appears here explicitly as himself, a few artists in this thread are closely affiliated with Gary: Steve Braun, Grey Parade, and Paul Gardiner.

New Wave was a breath of fresh air for those of us who had witnessed more or less the demise of classic rock in the 70’s. This was for the most part a new generation of musicians creating a new brand of music. Though many people here in the U.S. had no idea that this music existed. Some of the bands finally did surface after years of putting out great releases, e.g. U2, Simple Minds, Tears for Fears, and Duran Duran. I fondly recall dragging two buddies to see this new unknown band Duran Duran in a dancehall in northern New Jersey just when their second album was coming out. They were blown away.

I also remember my desperation in the late 70’s when trying to find new good music. I started trawling the electronic stuff being done by German groups such as Tangerine Dream, French artists like Richard Pinhas, and Greeks such as Vangelis. Some of this was great and I still enjoy it, but it wasn’t rock. A door was opened for me one night back in that dark period when David Bowie was a guest on a radio program. He played some newfangled tunes by people like Bill Nelson’s Red Noise and his own “African Night Flight.” Around this time I believe it was Scott Muni, the old AM radio guy, who played The Psychedelic Furs’ “Sister Europe.” Something was brewing and this was a first glimpse for me. In the next few years, kickstarting the 80’s and well into them, this became a flood of outstanding music.

Bill Nelson’s Red Noise – Furniture Music – 1979 (3+)

David Bowie – African Night Flight – 1979 (3+)

The Psychedelic Furs- Sister Europe – 1980

Some final notes on this renaissance of rock — these releases were on vinyl, especially 12-inch singles (ep’s). This period could be looked at as the last great hurrah for vinyl, as CD’s came on the scene in the late 80’s. The digital age was just around the corner. This period also held the seeds of what would later become subgenres of the 90’s and beyond such as goth, shoegaze, and grunge. Though there were some common threads and sounds in New Wave, there was also diversity, as you will see in this and upcoming sets.

So without further ado, here are some New Wave artists with Himalayas.

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