How to pick the right genre...

[Max Murdoc]

I find this extremely hard. For instance, how would you label Talking Heads? I have found them under punk, new wave, rock, alternative...I myself always put them in the new wave for lack of an exact description. Elvis Costello is another one..punk? new wave?

Anyone know where there's a good list on the net or does anyone have their input on this?

Maybe all of us could put together a poll or a New Wave Outpost genre listing. We could list groups and then vote on a genre.

Max

The music you listen to is the soundtrack of your life.

[EverydayItsTomorrow]

I think the whole reason the term New Wave was created was to make a blanket term for seemingly disparate music. When you can lump X, Bananarama and the Go-betweens under one umbrella it gets tricky or easy depending how you look at it.

Talking Heads and Elvis Costello definitely started as New Wave. The term was created originally by journalists to describe musicians like them before it became more associated with style bands like Culture Club and Duran Duran. Elvis used to bitch about it in articles.

Talking Heads were also described as No wave, which means they were "arty"

[rotator]

I've been pretty liberal with my use of 'New Wave' in the past couple years. As time goes on the line seems to have blurred. I now catagorize 999 in New Wave, whereas they may have used to fit in the 'Punk' catagory . Same with The Specials/Selecter/Beat. same with Negativland.....it mostly makes for a tidy all encompasing Genre list for my iPod®[;)]

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[hutter]

Labels suck. New Wave music, to me, encompasses ANY music that wasn't the established radio norm in the late 70's - early to mid 80's...whether it was Eddy Grant, Duran Duran, Roger Troutman, or UB40. Once this music became the radio norm, the label "New Wave" didn't mean anything. Just MHO.

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[Max Murdoc]

I have a program called "The Brain" which organizes your thoughts in a kinda "parent", "children" tree. Every now and then I try and organize my music in it but I always get hung up on who falls under what. Sometimes it is easy (the obvious ones like punk, Sham 69, Dead Boys) and other times it's near impossible. Then you have the problem of groups that I switched genres on us (I wouldn't call Elvis new wave anymore)....I dunno. I think I'll just call everything "music".

Max

The music you listen to is the soundtrack of your life.

[eight6]

I've never been good at "gerneology", so I've settled for I like, or I don't like. That system has never let me down. Saves a lot of headaches trying to decide just where to slot an artist/group in the big scheme of things.

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