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Re: Why does it seem late 80s new wave is so frowned upon?

PostPosted: Fri Jun 28, 2019 5:11 pm
by WeLiveSoFastx83
If new wave "died" in 84-85, that would mean:

Celebrate the Nun – Meanwhile (1989)
Kraftwerk – Electric Café (1986)
Boys Don't Cry – Boys Don't Cry (1986)
Depeche Mode – Black Celebration (1986)
Secession – A Dark Enchantment (1987)
Pete Shelley – Heaven and the Sea (1986)
Camouflage – Voices & Images (1988)
Red Flag – Naive Art (1989)
Book of Love – Book of Love (1986)
Book of Love – Lullaby (1988)
China Crisis – What Price Paradise (1986)
Men Without Hats – Pop Goes the World (1987)
Erasure – Wonderland (1986)
Dead or Alive – Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know (1986)
Information Society – Information Society (1988)
Images in Vogue – The Spell (1988)
Boytronic – Love for Sale (1988)
Until December – Until December (1986)

are not new wave. While I agree new wave was at its height and very best during the late seventies until about 1985, the genre didn't outright "die". Perhaps it evolved, just like every other genre.

Re: Why does it seem late 80s new wave is so frowned upon?

PostPosted: Thu Jul 04, 2019 4:20 pm
by Passing_Stranger
Yes, these are not "new wave" - or only the genre's dull, lifeless retreads and last gasps. It just simply run out of steam. And if the performers associated with it kept releasing albums, it doesn't mean that music they played was "new wave".

Re: Why does it seem late 80s new wave is so frowned upon?

PostPosted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 2:40 pm
by blaaah
Interesting question because the term 'new wave' means and meant nothing to me as an english teenager. Depeche Mode were indie, The Cure were goth, OMD and Blancmange synthpop, interesting that an earlier post mentioned Propaganda, they were just 'ZTT'. Is it a US (or other) specific phrase because it seems to be used as a catchall for most english early 80s bands? The only band i ever heard the tag applied to were The Cars and probably because they didnt fit the other tags in england!

Re: Why does it seem late 80s new wave is so frowned upon?

PostPosted: Fri Sep 06, 2019 7:02 am
by new_romantic
for me 1987 was the break. The best time was 1982-1986
in 1987 began Stock Aitken Waterman and Communards. All was more commercial, the synthsound was to clean without the Moog sound...
But there were exceptions like Sugarcubes or Sundays ....(later)

Re: Why does it seem late 80s new wave is so frowned upon?

PostPosted: Tue Sep 17, 2019 10:06 am
by 1983
I agree that by the late 80s New Wave was on life support- ready for the ascension of Grunge. I don't think MW was dead- many bands such as Hipsway were still making that type of music. But you could sense the end. It was a nice run though- starting with the late 70s more guitar driven form of NW in the Cars, Squeeze, Elvis, Clash, the Kings, Devo, the Ants and the Knack and then morphing into the more synth based with DD, Blancmange, Thompson Twins, Human League, ABC, etc. By late eighties it was the Last Days of Disco for the genre.

Re: Why does it seem late 80s new wave is so frowned upon?

PostPosted: Thu Sep 26, 2019 6:46 pm
by WeLiveSoFastx83
1983 wrote:I agree that by the late 80s New Wave was on life support- ready for the ascension of Grunge. I don't think MW was dead- many bands such as Hipsway were still making that type of music. But you could sense the end. It was a nice run though- starting with the late 70s more guitar driven form of NW in the Cars, Squeeze, Elvis, Clash, the Kings, Devo, the Ants and the Knack and then morphing into the more synth based with DD, Blancmange, Thompson Twins, Human League, ABC, etc. By late eighties it was the Last Days of Disco for the genre.


Well hang on now, the genre seemed to pick up at least a little bit by 1989 with bands like Camouflage on the charts (Great Commandment), Celebrate the Nun and Red Flag. There just seems to be some ridiculous standards for certain new wave enthusiasts; someone on this thread literally said only Depeche Mode's debut album was new wave.