So, when did "new wave" die?

[profpike]

it's kinda fun batting around the whole "new wave" "not new wave thing"

I'm kind of thinking the New Wave was kind of over when REM's first album came out, It seems like after that, "alternative" was born. Thoughts?



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[Frau_Blucher]

It's funny because something like this has always been my recollection. I associated 83-84ish to be when new wave felt less private and less special somehow. People would come up to me with a huff about "Have you heard REM? They're great. I love em. I love new wave." No you don't, fuck off. Soon after, break dancers started showing up at clubs and that's all she wrote as far as how novel and underground those early days of Rodney on the Roq etc felt. Mind you, there was plenty of more good music to come, but it wasn't really "my" new wave anymore. Honestly, it's probably why I still kinda hold a grudge against REM, post-Vince DMode, and all the people who came into the scene around that time. It's silly and random (I don't feel that way about the Smiths for example), but it's how I've always felt.

[profpike]

Not sure how you would have regarded me at that time---I came kinda late to the new wave party-being in Central Wisconsin and all. Weird. Wisconsin new wavers loved the Violent Femmes-but they really weren't new wave, were they-I got into new wave through a girl I was dating at the time and kept on with the tunes after we broke up and I got into college radio at that point and I really got the sense that "new wave" was over-it was "alternative" and that's what I've clung to ever since.

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[Rubellan]

I've always seen 81-83 as the peak years, but the decline began in 84. Music started becoming more dancey and less new wave. Case in point, Re-Flex 'The Politics of Dancing' signaled the change from New Wave to Dance in 84, as did SPK's 'Machine Age Voodoo'. I always view Pseudo Echo's 1984 debut album 'Autumnal Park' as the last true New Wave album. You still had some good stuff in 1985, such as The Three O'Clock's 'Arrive Without Travelling', but by that time it was more Alternative than New Wave. By 86, New Wave was gone.

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by profpike[/i]
<br>Not sure how you would have regarded me at that time
[/quote]
Hah, I doubt it would have been negative. Again, not saying the stuff coming up wasn't good - there was tons of good stuff. It just was different somehow than what had come before. I recoiled against the notion that this new alternative was something novel and just birthed around this time because more of the mainstream was discovering. That's doesn't seem to be what you're saying. In fact, you seem to be saying that you look at it specifically as something else, which I agree.

[schwenko]

when was "Violins" released?

Sugoi !!!

[pranavc]

it is hard for me to answer this since I was only born in the 80s. But based on the music that I have listened to that from that era, my guess is that New Wave in its purest form died by 1986 but lingered on till 1989. When grunge came in, New Wave as officially OUT!

www.radiocremebrulee.com - the world's most eclectic mix of current pop/rock music from today and the last 3 decades!

[djcraig]

It was 1984. I went to tune in my favorite little, low watt, eclectic radio station, KNAC. I loved their somewhat free-form, avant garde, adventurous mix of New Wave and Alt/Post Punk. But all I heard was metal- WTF? How could such a great station change to head banger music? I felt like I just lost a good friend.

A few years later, KROQ starting playing Grunge and all was lost but I'll never forget that night.

[plagiarism]

[quote][i]Originally posted by schwenko[/i]
<br>when was "Violins" released?

[/quote]

About 80 years too early.

[zill]

It was right after Doot Doot came out. Nothing else mattered after that.

[thegoldenyear]

Live Aid?

I mean, fashion dictates. And new wave music went hand-in-hand with fashion as much as various strains of country, metal, punk and hip-hop.

Teased hair and pastel clothing persisted awhile longer, so I can forgive Duran's and Spandau's and Bowie's sartorial cherces at the gig, if not Midge Ure's trench coat. But my favourite band at the time - Thompson Twins - looked ridiculous, as Alannah Currie's decision to bring pearls and satin into the Twins' image killed their momentum. And Adam Ant looked more out of place than he did at [i]Motown 25[/i].

Once the rote new wave look degenerated into johnny-come-lately, OTT schtick - Dr. And The Medics, Sigue Sigue, etc. - it was over. And that's, what, 1985-86?

[KYYX4ever]

Agreed with all of you, esp. Frau Blucher. ([i]I associated 83-84ish to be when new wave felt less private and less special somehow[/i].

We had this discussion years ago on this board. I was and remain fascinated by your opinions. NW ended in 1984-ish for me. It started to segue into something more polished, smooth, dance-y. I still enjoyed a lot of it, but it was def. different. Less special. More co-opted.

I think the last "great" new wave song was "West End Girls" by Pet Shop Boys, altho NW was already in serious decline by then.

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by KYYX4ever[/i]
<br>More co-opted.
[/quote]
Ooh. That's the word!

[oldnewwaver]

I know for me the music died around 1988
it seemed to me from 1985-1988, the main bands were going into different directions and there were a lot of bands that came and went, and lot of the bands either split up, went solo or formed new bands

[bpdp3]

I can't and won't argue your dates, but would add...

Having kept all my music mags from that era and seen the ads/images endlessly, I think the initial use of 'new wave' as a marketing concept, and seeing the influx of labels releasing new wave albums, was over by 81. This is when you see the strong use of 'new wave' images like artists in skinny ties and sunglasses and kitschy graphic design (think B52's debut cover or the Epic records 10" Nu-Disc series graphics).

For further proof, this was when non new-wave artists would 'try out' the style, ie alice cooper and linda ronstadt. There are countless one-off albums by new wave artists from those years.

What this doesn't include is the early mtv bands, like AFOS, that I know are still tied to the concept of new wave but to me are very different. Call it new pop? Labels are tiring, so who knows.

I was born in 66, discovered music and new wave at 13 in 79, and started college in 84. I always thought the smiths, rem, etc that i listened to in college was different from new wave...but sometimes I wondered if it was because of MY changing life experience, not the actual change in music. Your input tells me that it wasn't just me!