POLL: Favorite 80's New Wave Band?

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Lot's of rock n' roll on here recently, time to get our 80's new wave on! What is 'new wave'? It's pretty broad (by my definition); not just synthesizers and moody lyrics - but plenty of those too. Notice I said 'Favorite', not 'Best,' which tends to irk some people.

Question: Who is/was your favorite 80's New Wave band/act?

Criteria: This is always tricky; tried to pick bands who were sort of at the 'forefront' of new wave music birthed out of the post punk movement in England. That said, some of these could be a bit 'iffy' (looking at you, The Police)....

Rules: Two votes per person; spread the love (and hair gel!).

Write In's: Welcome! Add to the nostalgia (and someone try to keep track...).


1. The Cure

2. The Smiths

3. The Police

4. The Eurythmics

5. New Order

6. Talking Heads

7. Duran Duran

8. The Go Go's

9. Depeche Mode

10. Culture Club

Close but didn't make my Top Ten:

Tears for Fears, Flock of Seagulls, Eurasure, Pet Shop Boys, INXS, Bananarama, The Cars, and David Bowie, but it's really, really, really hard to pin him down to one genre...

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

wow, from that list it's easier to pick out the losers than the winners.


Losers = Duran, Duran Go Go's, Culture Club and Eurythmics....

Everyone else is awesome. I would have liked Erasure and Yaz/Yazoo to have been on the list too.

Interesting....your 'losers' were the most 'radio friendly' of the bunch.....You don't like 'Sweet Dreams'? Or 'Rio'? Or 'Vacation'??

I will say this - The Go Go's are really, really, really underrated - to date, they are the first and only, all-female band that both wrote their own songs and played their own instruments to top the Billboard album charts.

 

[Player2BNamedL8r]

Two words - Belinda & Carlisle....

Still have a crush!!!!

 

[Obliviax]

Lot's of rock n' roll on here recently, time to get our 80's new wave on! What is 'new wave'? It's pretty broad (by my definition); not just synthesizers and moody lyrics - but plenty of those too. Notice I said 'Favorite', not 'Best,' which tends to irk some people.

Question: Who is/was your favorite 80's New Wave band/act?

Criteria: This is always tricky; tried to pick bands who were sort of at the 'forefront' of new wave music birthed out of the post punk movement in England. That said, some of these could be a bit 'iffy' (looking at you, The Police)....

Rules: Two votes per person; spread the love (and hair gel!).

Write In's: Welcome! Add to the nostalgia (and someone try to keep track...).


1. The Cure

2. The Smiths

3. The Police

4. The Eurythmics

5. New Order

6. Talking Heads

7. Duran Duran

8. The Go Go's

9. Depeche Mode

10. Culture Club

Close but didn't make my Top Ten:

Tears for Fears, Flock of Seagulls, Eurasure, Pet Shop Boys, INXS, Bananarama, The Cars, and David Bowie, but it's really, really, really hard to pin him down to one genre...

Buggles, because their one hit wonder "Video Killed the Radio Star" was fantastically fortelling. I also like "Flock of Seagulls" because their music vid is the first one I ever personally saw on MTV.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

IMO, the losers are not new wave so much as they are POP (Brit or American). In any event they were all way, way over played and have become so 80's clitche'... Just my opinion, no offense intended.



FWIW, I have pulled up my Yaz stuff and listening to it now....very cool.

Well, like I said, my definition was pretty broad. Most resources list the Go Go's as one of the most influential new wave acts of the 80's, but I would agree they have pop tendencies. Same with Culture Club and Duran Duran.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Buggles, because their one hit wonder "Video Killed the Radio Star" was fantastically fortelling. I also like "Flock of Seagulls" because their music vid is the first one I ever personally saw on MTV.

Flock of Seagulls is maybe the most 80's new wave band ever.

 

[BBrown]

wow, from that list it's easier to pick out the losers than the winners.


Losers = Duran, Duran Go Go's, Culture Club and Eurythmics....

Everyone else is awesome. I would have liked Erasure and Yaz/Yazoo to have been on the list too.

I'd disagree with you on Eurythimcs.
As for Duran, Duran I hated them in college but I've actually grown to kind of like their music now.
I like Yazoo but did they do anything besides Upstairs at Eric's?

 

[mn78psu83]

Chose the Talking Heads. Police would be a close second.

 

[BBrown]

Lot's of rock n' roll on here recently, time to get our 80's new wave on! What is 'new wave'? It's pretty broad (by my definition); not just synthesizers and moody lyrics - but plenty of those too. Notice I said 'Favorite', not 'Best,' which tends to irk some people.

Question: Who is/was your favorite 80's New Wave band/act?

Criteria: This is always tricky; tried to pick bands who were sort of at the 'forefront' of new wave music birthed out of the post punk movement in England. That said, some of these could be a bit 'iffy' (looking at you, The Police)....

Rules: Two votes per person; spread the love (and hair gel!).

Write In's: Welcome! Add to the nostalgia (and someone try to keep track...).


1. The Cure

2. The Smiths

3. The Police

4. The Eurythmics

5. New Order

6. Talking Heads

7. Duran Duran

8. The Go Go's

9. Depeche Mode

10. Culture Club

Close but didn't make my Top Ten:

Tears for Fears, Flock of Seagulls, Eurasure, Pet Shop Boys, INXS, Bananarama, The Cars, and David Bowie, but it's really, really, really hard to pin him down to one genre...

Thats a tough choice but Talking Heads and The Smiths.

 

[CF LION]

Talking Heads......Speaking in Tongues came out my senior year at PSU.....Burning Down the House was pretty much the anthem at my house on West College Ave.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Thats a tough choice but Talking Heads and The Smiths.

I went New Order and Go Go's; but thinking about it some more I'd probably pick Depeche Mode over the Go Go's....

 

[Sandinista!]

For go sakes you leave out Devo and the Modern Lovers?!

 

[bwifan]

Tough call I picked the police but depeche mode and new order and talking heads and cure right there with them...

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

For go sakes you leave out Devo and the Modern Lovers?!

Devo was a strong contender, but they pre-date the 80's by a good bit (they formed in '72). I had to look up 'Modern Lovers'. I see they were formed in '70 but their first record didn't come out until '76. This was also the reason I left Blondie off the list (big success in the 70's). Anyway, what was their big song?

 

[ApexLion]

Easy. None of those awesome bands.

The winner is The Ocean Blue from Hershey, PA.

If you can play Between Something and Nothing and do it well...you get votes for best act.

BTW, good to see The Smiths in there.

 

[mn78psu83]

I went New Order and Go Go's; but thinking about it some more I'd probably pick Depeche Mode over the Go Go's....

I'm glad you included the Talking Heads, my top pick. They formed in 1975 though and Talking Heads 77 was released in the fall of 1977. A group of us used to listen to Psycho Killer before some of our ice hockey games. We were young and idiotic. Now we're old and idiotic.

 

[BBrown]

I'm glad you included the Talking Heads, my top pick. They formed in 1975 though and Talking Heads 77 was released in the fall of 1977. A group of us used to listen to Psycho Killer before some of our ice hockey games. We were young and idiotic. Now we're old and idiotic.

Saw the Stop Making Sense tour in Philly. One of the best concerts I have ever seen.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

I'm glad you included the Talking Heads, my top pick. They formed in 1975 though and Talking Heads 77 was released in the fall of 1977. A group of us used to listen to Psycho Killer before some of our ice hockey games. We were young and idiotic. Now we're old and idiotic.

Well, I remember them from Burning Down the House, Once in a Lifetime, and And She Was, and those were all big, generation defining 80's hits, so I thought they deserved inclusion.

 

[mn78psu83]

Saw the Stop Making Sense tour in Philly. One of the best concerts I have ever seen.

Stop Making Sense is one of my favorite concert videos. Outstanding. I just looked it up and it seems that it was edited from three shows. Love it.

 

[Mid-Hudson Nit fan]

This is a tough assignment - part of that being, as you suggested, what defines "New Wave"? (endless debates on this from writers of NME, Trouser Press, etc.). Your example of the The Police being very valid - Sting acknowledged the band formed during the heyday of the Punk era, but got tagged as New Wave, in part, due to their reggae sound - in vogue for many new English bands in the early 80's. That said......faves; XTC, The Plimsouls, Elvis Costello, The Clash (that band not sure if really can be called New Wave).

 

[mn78psu83]

This is a tough assignment - part of that being, as you suggested, what defines "New Wave"? (endless debates on this from writers of NME, Trouser Press, etc.). Your example of the The Police being very valid - Sting acknowledged the band formed during the heyday of the Punk era, but got tagged as New Wave, in part, due to their reggae sound - in vogue for many new English bands in the early 80's. That said......faves; XTC, The Plimsouls, Elvis Costello, The Clash (that band not sure if really can be called New Wave).

I'd say the Clash is British Punk all the way.

 

[ericstratton-rushchairman]

I went New Order and Go Go's; but thinking about it some more I'd probably pick Depeche Mode over the Go Go's....

I was, and remain, a huge New Order fan. I had my "Smith's" period while in school as well as D-Mode. But fo r me, no one was stronger longer in this group than New Order.

A Joy Division/New Order LP came out in 2011 with previously unreleased material called Total. There is a great New Order song called "Hellbent". Check it out.

 

[Ten Thousan Marbles]

For go sakes you leave out Devo and the Modern Lovers?!

Modern Lovers was off the radar of very many people. I did not discover them myself until just a few years ago.

......Roadrunner being considered and important song.....yet very likely most people around here have never heard it.

I like them. I wish I had been more aware.

 

[Ten Thousan Marbles]

Lot's of rock n' roll on here recently, time to get our 80's new wave on! What is 'new wave'? It's pretty broad (by my definition); not just synthesizers and moody lyrics - but plenty of those too. Notice I said 'Favorite', not 'Best,' which tends to irk some people.

Question: Who is/was your favorite 80's New Wave band/act?

Criteria: This is always tricky; tried to pick bands who were sort of at the 'forefront' of new wave music birthed out of the post punk movement in England. That said, some of these could be a bit 'iffy' (looking at you, The Police)....

Rules: Two votes per person; spread the love (and hair gel!).

Write In's: Welcome! Add to the nostalgia (and someone try to keep track...).


1. The Cure

2. The Smiths

3. The Police

4. The Eurythmics

5. New Order

6. Talking Heads

7. Duran Duran

8. The Go Go's

9. Depeche Mode

10. Culture Club

Close but didn't make my Top Ten:

Tears for Fears, Flock of Seagulls, Eurasure, Pet Shop Boys, INXS, Bananarama, The Cars, and David Bowie, but it's really, really, really hard to pin him down to one genre...

Delete Culture club.

Add:

 

[jabba2]

Todays music is pretty bad in comparision to the 80's.

Pet shop boys?

 

[LionDeNittany]

One miss here is Men At Work. They had two huge albums in the early 80s. #1 and #3 respectively in the US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_at_Work_discography

The GoGos were pop. As underrated as they were, still pop.

The Cure strangely I view as a 90s band. Similar in timing to gnR with their hit albums coming very late 80's and early 90s.

But with that I'd give it to the Cure and the Smiths. Buth hugely influential and changed music.

Of course Flock of Seagulls has the best Keyboardist but I'd place in third to the above.

LdN

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Todays music is pretty bad in comparision to the 80's.

Pet shop boys?

Pet Shop Boys and Tears For Fears are two I wanted to include.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

One miss here is Men At Work. They had two huge albums in the early 80s. #1 and #3 respectively in the US.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Men_at_Work_discography

The GoGos were pop. As underrated as they were, still pop.

The Cure strangely I view as a 90s band. Similar in timing to gnR with their hit albums coming very late 80's and early 90s.

But with that I'd give it to the Cure and the Smiths. Buth hugely influential and changed music.

Of course Flock of Seagulls has the best Keyboardist but I'd place in third to the above.

LdN

I think Go Go's are New Wave, but it's pretty subjective. All Music classify them as New Wave, but to be honest, I think Bananarama was more New Wave than them. Agree about The Cure but I thought it was close enough, and they were important enough, to include.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Delete Culture club.

Add:

View embedded media

Great song! Also I would have loved to add Berlin...this is quintessential American New Wave IMO...

The Metro

 

[LionDeNittany]

Berlin was on the show "Bands Reunited" along with a few others. It was quite interesting some of the backstories and "where are they now" parts.

Worth watching if you like this era.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Todays music is pretty bad in comparision to the 80's.

Pet shop boys?

Today's music really has no identity or movement; it's really pop and everything else. There are cutting edge acts out there, but they're difficult to discover and cultivate through today's micro-attention span disposable social media lens. We did have our 'gentle music' phase for a year or two, and now, no one cares about Mumford and Sons or Fleet Foxes.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Holy sh*t - just realized I left Gary Numan off the poll.....

 

[LafayetteBear]

The Cars and the Police.

 

[Ten Thousan Marbles]

Today's music really has no identity or movement; it's really pop and everything else. There are cutting edge acts out there, but they're difficult to discover and cultivate through today's micro-attention span disposable social media lens. We did have our 'gentle music' phase for a year or two, and now, no one cares about Mumford and Sons or Fleet Foxes.

Plus 1 for : "micro-attention span disposable social media lens"

I have nephs who are musicians in Austin, so I probably am a little bit more aware that there actually is a vibrant music scene....live music at clubs....in the US.

However, the 140 character and less crew have basically ruined it for all of us. And the licensed broadcast stations are apparently receiving money to play the same old crap over and over again. No creativity in the media whatsoever, not like the 70s and 80s at all.

 

[anon_xdc8rmuek44eq]

Plus 1 for : "micro-attention span disposable social media lens"

I have nephs who are musicians in Austin, so I probably am a little bit more aware that there actually is a vibrant music scene....live music at clubs....in the US.

However, the 140 character and less crew have basically ruined it for all of us. And the licensed broadcast stations are apparently receiving money to play the same old crap over and over again. No creativity in the media whatsoever, not like the 70s and 80s at all.

Oh, it exists - there just are too many outlets these days and standing out is harder and harder. In the 80's, if you had a cool or clever video, you got to be on MTV. And to be honest, filmmakers and movie soundtracks really helped put new wave music on the map - think Simple Minds and The Breakfast Club, Duran Duran and James Bond, Psychedelic Furs and Pretty in Pink, Tears for Fears and Real Genius, Peter Gabriel and Say Anything, Oingo Boingo and Weird Science, etc. You just don't see that kind of effort these days IMO and soundtracks are less important than ever.

 

[mn78psu83]

Oh, it exists - there just are too many outlets these days and standing out is harder and harder. In the 80's, if you had a cool or clever video, you got to be on MTV. And to be honest, filmmakers and movie soundtracks really helped put new wave music on the map - think Simple Minds and The Breakfast Club, Duran Duran and James Bond, Psychedelic Furs and Pretty in Pink, Tears for Fears and Real Genius, Peter Gabriel and Say Anything, Oingo Boingo and Weird Science, etc. You just don't see that kind of effort these days IMO and soundtracks are less important than ever.

Oingo Boingo and Back to School too. Check out Rodney's rug. Funny stuff.

 

[BBrown]

Todays music is pretty bad in comparision to the 80's.

Pet shop boys?

We will have to differ on that. I think there is a lot of good music being done its just not being played on mainstream radio.

 

[Player2BNamedL8r]

Winner, winner chicken dinner!!!!

 

[ClarkstonMark]

New Order and The Cure.
Coming from small town PA, PSU definitely opened my eyes to a lot of New Music

 

[jjsocrates]

Anybody but Depeche Mode.

Not sure if The Smiths are "new Wave" - I kinda think of them as alternative rock, almost like a different movement. They got my vote, although R.E.M. and 10,000 Maniacs were my go to bands at the time.

Dat Jane Weidlin tho'