New Wave Outpost Forum

The kind of question with no answer but will be great fun for those with too muc time on their hands! I've pondered it many times; what's the key ingredient, the essence if you will, of a great New Wave group? OK, so all great groups are more than the sum of their parts, granted, but what most marks out the great NW groups from their non-NW contemporaries? For some time I was firmly in the bass-guitar camp (how many other genres make such good use of the bass for drive and expression, particularly the slap style?) but recently I've been focusing in on the vital role of the guitar for both riff and rhythm (thank John Foxx and Midge Ure for this - reference The Garden, The Golden Section, Vienna and Rage in Eden). Synth naturally plays a huge role from the synth-pop of Kraftwerk to the stylistic cues of Nick Rhodes. Then I come to production; maybe the key element in outstanding 80s music. Colin Thurston, Mike Howlett, Martin Rushent, Alex Sadkin...say no more. Vocals are in there due to the huge influence of certain individuals, maybe more so than in any other genre - David Sylvian, Gary Numan, Bowie, Phi Oakey; all so distinctive. Finally, I've thrown style in there partly as it was so important but also as a bit of fun for the style-over-substance angle...[:)]

So..let the voting and arguing begin!