Was New Wave the last truly innovative musical genre?

[Vincent Vega]

What say you?

I'm a big fuckin New Wave fan. Yes Rap and Hip Hop were innovative but they started around the same time as New Wave.

Allmusic said this of the genre: "[it] retained the fresh vigor and irreverence of punk music, as well as a fascination with electronics, style, and art."

I just feel New Wave set the score for a lot that followed, Industrial, Electronica, modern day Electro-Pop, etc. Even some alternative elements in the old New Wave songs.

And she was lying in the grass

And she could hear the highway breathing

And she could see a nearby factory

She's making sure she is not dreaming

See the lights of a neighbor's house

Now she's starting to rise

Take a minute to concentrate

And she opens up her eyes

[Chorus:]

The world was moving and she was right there with it (and she was)

The world was moving she was floating above it (and she was) and she was

And she was drifting through the backyard

And she was taking off her dress

And she was moving very slowly

Rising up above the earth

Moving into the universe

Drifting this way and that

Not touching ground at all

Up above the yard

[Chorus]

She was glad about it...no doubt about it

She isn't sure where she's gone

No time to think about what to tell them

No time to think about what she's done

And she was

And she was looking at herself

And things were looking like a movie

She had a pleasant elevation

She's moving out in all directions

[Chorus]

Joining the world of missing persons (and she was)

Missing enough to feel alright (and she was)

Edited September 11, 2012 by Vincent Vega

[JKKDARK]

No.

It was just another MTV product of the time. No real Punk fan rocked to The Police or Duran Duran.

[Zint]

It was like Mom and Dad snuck the Sex Pistols records out of the bedrooms and left behind a box of crayons.

[Vincent Vega]

[bacardimayne]

Considering there are hardly any traces of it remaining today, I wouldn't call it innovative.

[Jabberwocky]

It was about as innovative as hair metal.

[Crash Diet]

No

[bran]

Considering there are hardly any traces of it remaining today, I wouldn't call it innovative.

[dalsh327]

I actually like power pop and post punk a lot, to me, that's what holds up the most out of that era, but "new wave" is a broad name for the type of music people were doing then.

I guess Lady Gaga and Gwen Stefani used a lot of new wave influences, but Bowie and Bryan Ferry had already laid the foundation for most of it. But what's overlooked are the bands that brought R&B into new wave.

[Zint]

I guess Lady Gaga and Gwen Stefani used a lot of new wave influences

New Wave or Disco?

Seems to me there's more of a calculated, deliberate attempt to tap into the "dance" markets.

[MB.]

No.

It was just another MTV product of the time. No real Punk fan rocked to The Police or Duran Duran.

That are not really new wave bands imo.

These are:

Joy Division

The Cure

The Smiths

Depeche Mode

New Order

Siouxsie and the Banshees

Don't think it was that innovative, just post Punk.

[Guest Len B'stard]

New Wave is a very vague and imprecise name that was applied a lot in the early days of punk to punk music by certain journalists but by and large it's just a name given to a load of fuckin' bands and artists that actually don't really have jack shit to do with each other , there's absolutely nothing that ties them together, it's not even a proper genre, nobody can really define it it narrow enough terms to warrant it having a name other than just being pop music..and thats outside of the bands that are just falsely stuck under that label, music deserves more respect.

It's a really really really lazy umbrella term. I mean really, Joy Division and Duran Duran under the same classification, really? Fuckin' Siouxsie and the Banshees, who came out of the punk scene, right from it's fuckin inception, they're New Wave as well? And good ol' four eyes, fuckin' Elvis Cholesterol? Leave off.

The term means nothing and it defines nothing, it's just a nicer label than punk with less stigma attached and was just slung on old fuckin band that came along, there is no new fucking wave, never was.

The closest to any group of bands that warranted that label (cuz the majority of the bands that got that label did so through just sheer falsehood, i mean Siouxsie and the Banshees, really?!?!) were bands like The Knack and whatever and...y'know, that power pop fuckin' stuff, thats early 70s, massively pre-dates anything that might be called New Wave.

The entire label is a really really broad umbrella term that means absolutely nothing and serves no purpose other than to homogenise.

Edited September 11, 2012 by sugaraylen

[Zint]

And good ol' four eyes, fuckin' Elvis Cholesterol? Leave off.

I saw Elvis C and the Attractions in 1978.Those boys had snarl man, and knew how to work a room into a froth.

Punk communities from Toronto to Windsor gathered for that gig...it was a huge fuckin' deal.

And it was cool as shit!

Siouxsie and the Banshees, really?!?!

Not even.

To me they were "punk" enough to take things over here..know what I mean?

Some of the best punk bands were the ones that spit into the wind, did their own thing rather than ape what was already tried and true.

[MB.]

So Siouxsie was Punk? Cause to me, New Wave is like post punk. Punk what became more mainstream, but I can be so wrong. So please explain. I had it wrong all along, after 30 years I learn something new? Oh and what about joy division

That means I was Punk, when I was 14, not New wave, which I thought I was

Edited September 11, 2012 by MBRose

[Zint]

So Siouxsie was Punk? Cause to me, New Wave is like post punk. Punk what became more mainstream, but I can be so wrong. So please explain. I had it wrong all along, after 30 years I learn something new? Oh and what about joy division

That means I was Punk, when I was 14, not New wave, which I thought I was

Siouxsie herself was one of the very first punks, like..right there when it all unfolded.

Siouxsie and the Banshees were always connected to the early scene.

Everything wasn't all snarls and spit. Lots of things were going on.

Experimentation and expansion was welcomed and reverred.

They had their own flavour.

I'd heard this band long before I ever heard the term New Wave.

Very original band, and that made them far more "punk" than a lot of other "gotta sound like the Pistols to fit in" bands.

To me...New Wave is watered down pablum like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEmJ-VWPDM4

And stuff like this, that had completely lost its edge.

[Zint]

And in Canada, it was stuff like this;

To me, that stuff is New Wave personified.

[MB.]

And what about Joy Division? Is that punk?

I feel a little stupid now, haha. It really means I was punk as a teenager and didn't know it. Ofcourse, the matching clothes (army jacket, boots, high hair, was all there ).

[dalsh327]

Zint, I thought for sure you were going to include this one:

[Zint]

And what about Joy Division? Is that punk?

Joy Division to me were one of those bands kind of doing their own thing.

They weren't really dancing around on their tippy toes were they...and they weren't hanging off a mic stand glaring at people.

They didn't have that independent flare that the Banshees had that made them unique.

I just kind of liken them unto themselves.

It really means I was punk as a teenager and didn't know it.

If you didn't know it, then chances are you were not.

It's not so much about the music you listened to, it's about who you were..but that's down to you.

[dalsh327]

It's not quite punk, but it isn't disco either.

[Zint]

Zint, I thought for sure you were going to include this one:

Yeah you can toss that in as well.

[MB.]

And what about Joy Division? Is that punk?

Joy Division to me were one of those bands kind of doing their own thing.

They weren't really dancing around on their tippy toes were they...and they weren't hanging off a mic stand glaring at people.

They didn't have that independent flare that the Banshees had that made them unique.

I just kind of liken them unto themselves.

It really means I was punk as a teenager and didn't know it.

If you didn't know it, then chances are you were not.

It's not so much about the music you listened to, it's about who you were..but that's down to you.

Haha,, I was probably not, at age 14 you are still searching who you are. You can't be anything yet. But I loved that music, hated school severly, was the worst dresser in the world on purpose. To be honest I didn't like anything, troubled teen. I just liked to piss everybody off.

I was just joking about being punk

Edited September 12, 2012 by MBRose

[Guest Len B'stard]

So Siouxsie was Punk? Cause to me, New Wave is like post punk. Punk what became more mainstream, but I can be so wrong. So please explain. I had it wrong all along, after 30 years I learn something new? Oh and what about joy division

That means I was Punk, when I was 14, not New wave, which I thought I was

Siouxsie and the Banshees weren't just punk, they were THE fucking punks, Siouxsie Sioux, Severin, Marco Pirroni, these people were from the original like, 15 or 25 people that started the punk crowd/scene in London. This is why Joy Division to me are punk as fuck, their albums sounded like they did because of Martin Hannett, otherwise listen to em as Warsaw, they were just straightahead punk. And even if they were and you were to take it on the basis of sound, the original punks were never carbon copy 3 chord punk anyway, not the best of em anyway. I mean your X Ray Spex and Siousie and the Banshees and The Slits and The Pistols and The Clash and The Adverts and them lot. Joy Division are perhaps like a fraction out in terms of the time frame (although not hugely, Joy Division were pretty much formed as a result of being in the crowd at The Pistols seminal gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall, Joy Division literally formed from seeing that gig and they were up and running about 6 to 8 months after forming to some degree.

What is typically called post punk is actually the more experimental stuff that came out after punk, stuff like Joy Division, Magazine, PiL etc, New Wave is seperate from that, New Wave is more like, Half Japanese and The Knack and all that, New Wave was a lot more traditional, doesn't mean it didn't have like, modern elements to it, it just means that the structures of songs etc, it was more pop stuff.

[MB.]

Thank you Lenny for the information! I truly learned something new

I have decided to listen to my old records again, it's been a long time since I have done that. I grew out of it after a while. Maybe I should give it another change.

[Zint]

So Siouxsie was Punk? Cause to me, New Wave is like post punk. Punk what became more mainstream, but I can be so wrong. So please explain. I had it wrong all along, after 30 years I learn something new? Oh and what about joy division

That means I was Punk, when I was 14, not New wave, which I thought I was

Siouxsie and the Banshees weren't just punk, they were THE fucking punks, Siouxsie Sioux, Severin, Marco Pirroni, these people were from the original like, 15 or 25 people that started the punk crowd/scene in London. This is why Joy Division to me are punk as fuck, their albums sounded like they did because of Martin Hannett, otherwise listen to em as Warsaw, they were just straightahead punk. And even if they were and you were to take it on the basis of sound, the original punks were never carbon copy 3 chord punk anyway, not the best of em anyway. I mean your X Ray Spex and Siousie and the Banshees and The Slits and The Pistols and The Clash and The Adverts and them lot. Joy Division are perhaps like a fraction out in terms of the time frame (although not hugely, Joy Division were pretty much formed as a result of being in the crowd at The Pistols seminal gig at the Lesser Free Trade Hall, Joy Division literally formed from seeing that gig and they were up and running about 6 to 8 months after forming to some degree.

What is typically called post punk is actually the more experimental stuff that came out after punk, stuff like Joy Division, Magazine, PiL etc, New Wave is seperate from that, New Wave is more like, Half Japanese and The Knack and all that, New Wave was a lot more traditional, doesn't mean it didn't have like, modern elements to it, it just means that the structures of songs etc, it was more pop stuff.

I think Joy Division were the band that "bridged" punk to New Wave.

Maybe not directly, but though influence unquestionably.

They had the raw emotion of punk, and the sound was definitely heavier than a lot of that tippy-toe stuff that would follow, but that had that sound that would eventually become synonymous with New Wave..by default perhaps.

But it's def there, you can hear it and see it in those vids posted above.

Oh and...

X Ray Spex... aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh