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The 100 Greatest “New Wave” songs 1. Everybody Wants to Rule the World-Tears for Fears (1 Viewer)

joey said:
THE quintessential New Wave radio station of the 80s was WLIR, based in Long Island, NY (there’s a great documentary "New Wave: Dare to Be Different" about WLIR's fame and eventual demise). They would occasionally do a Top 100 of all time countdown and The Smiths "How Soon is Now?" almost always topped that list. I believe the Cure's "In Between Days" was up there as well, plus Depeche Mode. WLIR shaped what I consider "New Wave" and what drove kids like me from Brooklyn to listen to a static-y little radio station from out on Long Island instead of powerful, crystal clear, NYC, rock radio station mainstays like WPLJ.  
 

if you haven’t seen that doc and love New Wave, check it out. 
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:thanks:

This was fantastic!

 
How bad it gets, you can't imagine
The burning wax, the breath of reptiles
God is not mocked, he owns our business
Karma could take us at any moment
Cover him up, I think we're finished
You know it's never been so exotic
But I don't know, my dreams are visions
We could still end up with the great big fishes

 
timschochet said:
.

2. As I wrote before, I don't really have too many particular restrictions myself. If some expert is calling this song a New Wave song, that's good enough for me. There are a few I excluded because IMO prior to 1978 and after 1985 seems too early and late to me to qualify. Also if a band is known primarily for another kind of genre, I'm probably not going to include them here just because they made a good New Wave record (there is at least one exception to this rule, however.)
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Paging Ministry's "With Sympathy" album to the white courtesy phone. 

 
In honor of this thread, I listened to First Wave on the drive to work today

Not exactly what I expected. What exactly does First Wave promote themselves as? Like Lithium is 90s Grunge and alternative (although they play Beastie Boys songs from the 80s but that is another discussion)

 
90. “Antmusic” Adam and the Ants (1980, from Kings of the Wild Frontier) 

https://youtu.be/Rm9drIwmmU4

I always liked these guys, thought they had a great sound (particularly the percussion.) Didn’t like him so much; I thought his music lost something when he went solo (I know that “Goody Two Shoes” was his biggest hit ever but I’m not in love with it so it’s not on this list.) 

So unplug the jukebox, and do us all a favor...

 
timschochet said:
90. “Antmusic” Adam and the Ants (1980, from Kings of the Wild Frontier) 

https://youtu.be/Rm9drIwmmU4

I always liked these guys, thought they had a great sound (particularly the percussion.) Didn’t like him so much; I thought his music lost something when he went solo (I know that “Goody Two Shoes” was his biggest hit ever but I’m not in love with it so it’s not on this list.) 

So unplug the jukebox, and do us all a favor...
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Trivia question: when Adam and the Ants parted ways, do you know what band the Ants joined (someone mentioned the lead singer earlier in this thread)? 
 

ETA: I’ve seen Adam Ant twice in the last 3 years. Both were great shows. Fantastic stage presence.

 
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AcerFC said:
In honor of this thread, I listened to First Wave on the drive to work today

Not exactly what I expected. What exactly does First Wave promote themselves as? Like Lithium is 90s Grunge and alternative (although they play Beastie Boys songs from the 80s but that is another discussion)
Click to expand...
~80s alternative 

 
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AcerFC said:
In honor of this thread, I listened to First Wave on the drive to work today

Not exactly what I expected. What exactly does First Wave promote themselves as? Like Lithium is 90s Grunge and alternative (although they play Beastie Boys songs from the 80s but that is another discussion)
Click to expand...
What ever it’s supposed to be, Take On Me is on right now and I’m absolutely owning the high notes!

 
timschochet said:
90. “Antmusic” Adam and the Ants (1980, from Kings of the Wild Frontier) 

https://youtu.be/Rm9drIwmmU4

I always liked these guys, thought they had a great sound (particularly the percussion.) Didn’t like him so much; I thought his music lost something when he went solo (I know that “Goody Two Shoes” was his biggest hit ever but I’m not in love with it so it’s not on this list.) 

So unplug the jukebox, and do us all a favor...
Click to expand...
Nice pick. There's one particular Ants song I like quite a bit more, but don't want to spotlight in case they show up again.

 
Osaurus said:
Trivia question: when Adam and the Ants parted ways, do you know what band the Ants joined (someone mentioned the lead singer earlier in this thread)? 
 
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There is also a drummer who played with the Ants early on, and later was part of a popular band who may be on this list as well (going by Tim taste). 

 
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zamboni said:
There is also a drummer who played with the Ants early on, and later was part of a popular band who may be on this list as well (going by Tim taste). 
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... if he's the fella i'm thinking of, he also spent time in the 🦇 Damned 🦇

 
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AcerFC said:
In honor of this thread, I listened to First Wave on the drive to work today

Not exactly what I expected. What exactly does First Wave promote themselves as? Like Lithium is 90s Grunge and alternative (although they play Beastie Boys songs from the 80s but that is another discussion)
Click to expand...
The name "First Wave" might suggest "new wave -- and new wave only". But that's not quite right.

Here's what First Wave typically plays. Their definitions are fairly narrow ... they don't play too many blurry edge cases:

1) Pretty much any new wave.

2) Pretty much any post-punk.

3) A little 1970s punk ... but if they play punk, 90% of the time it will be a Ramones song. Side note: They don't touch 1980s hardcore with a 10-foot-pole -- no Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Minutemen, Bad Religion, etc.

4) A little 1980s college rock ... but if they play it, 90% of the time it will be an R.E.M. song.

5) Almost any David Bowie song between 1977-1983, basically between "Heroes" and "Blue Jean", inclusive. First Wave has decided that this period of Bowie's career was alternative enough. They've even played "Under Pressure" from time to time, which really leans hard to classic rock.

6) They're fairly elastic with U2's catalog as well. They generally stick with pre-Rattle and Hum material ... but I heard "The Sweetest Thing" on First Wave a few days ago. 1998 is not "80s alternative", guys.

7) A limited number of late-80s/early-90s songs from new wave/post-punk acts that hung around that long (e.g. Siouxsie and the Banshees "Kiss them for Me" [1991], The Cure's "Pictures of You" [1989]).

And finally, Billy Idol has a program on First Wave called "Live Transmission" where he selects the songs and tells stories about the artists, the influence of the piece on his career, or whatever else comes to his mind. On "Live Transmission", Billy will play much more punk than the usual First Wave playlist.

 
89. “Someday, Someway” Marshall Crenshaw  (1982, from Marshall Crenshaw) 

 https://youtu.be/YKZkhdvSNSI

Some of the best music called New Wave was just good old fashioned power pop style rock and roll sung by guys with jackets and long skinny ties. One of my favorite examples. The link is to a live version from the early days of the Dave Letterman show. 

 
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Good picks on Graham Parker and Marshall Crenshaw.  This is more what I consider new wave and what I like.  Guitars!!

 
timschochet said:
89. “Someday, Someway” Marshall Crenshaw  (1982, from Marshall Crenshaw) 

 https://youtu.be/YKZkhdvSNSI

Some of the best music called New Wave was just good old fashioned power pop style rock and roll sung by guys with jackets and long skinny ties. One of my favorite examples. The link is to a live version from the early days of the Dave Letterman show. 
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Crenshaw is awesome. You may get blasted because he didn't wear enough mascara, but very nice pick.

 
timschochet said:
89. “Someday, Someway” Marshall Crenshaw  (1982, from Marshall Crenshaw) 
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Many here know this, but: Crenshaw portrayed Buddy Holly in the 1987 film La Bamba.

...

While totally ignoring Wham's catalog ... First Wave does spin "Someday, Someway" a few times a week.

 
Doug B said:
Many here know this, but: Crenshaw portrayed Buddy Holly in the 1987 film La Bamba.

...

While totally ignoring Wham's catalog ... First Wave does spin "Someday, Someway" a few times a week.
Click to expand...
Correct on Crenshaw on First Wave, but they do play Wham! from time to time. Wham! (c)Rap! comes to mind. It’s definitely rare, but it does happen. 

 
Doug B said:
Many here know this, but: Crenshaw portrayed Buddy Holly in the 1987 film La Bamba.

...

While totally ignoring Wham's catalog ... First Wave does spin "Someday, Someway" a few times a week.
Click to expand...
Yes and we know who played Eddie Cochran. 

Which reminds me: I debated this greatly,  but there will not be any Stray Cats material on this list, much as I love them. While Marshall Crenshaw and a few other musicians listed are borderline rockabilly, the Stray Cats were ALL rockabilly. So I didn’t do it. 

There are a couple of other bands who cross the line between punk and New Wave and I had a real difficult time deciding...

 
Other bands I didn’t include: The Clash, X. 

REALLY struggled with these. Both bands have numerous songs that fit right in with any New Wave playlist. Yet...somehow they weren’t. I can’t really explain. 

 
Osaurus said:
Correct on Crenshaw on First Wave, but they do play Wham! from time to time. "Wham Rap!" comes to mind. It’s definitely rare, but it does happen. 
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Ah, OK. Never caught "Wham Rap!", but that would be from before Make it Big!, anyway. I had wondered whether Wham! was at least "born" in new wave, so to speak ... and it sounds like they were.

 
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