New Wave Outpost Forum

When specifically did New Wave DIE? Vote and then write exactly why you picked the year you chose. [xx(]

I'll vote for 1985. That crappy Bowling For Soup song is all the proof I need.

Late 1985 was when New Wave sort of faded out, IMO. To be specific, Pet Shop Boys' "West End Girls" was the last great NW song (we've discussed this before on a long-ago thread). '85 was really when the synthy heart of NW started to fade, and music was morphing into something else. There was still some amazing stuff, such as the Smiths, the Church, Echo, etc., but for me, the rise of "college radio" was instrumental in developing a newer, more textured richer sound that left behind the fresh, synthy, silly sounds of NW.

I miss it still.

1985 had some gems, but 1986 started the decline. By the time '87 rolled around, it was all gone.

It died at the end of 1984. I'd say 1984 was the year it died. 1985 offered nothing like the previous years.

If you're talking "jumping the shark" like the other thread did, I'd say 84 - mostly dead but not dead like Billy Crystal would say. But "dead" is another matter. New Wave may have been weezing and gasping for it's last breath, but like I've mentioned elsewhere (apologies for repeating), 1988 actually saw a final frenzy of some cool tracks that felt very new wave to me:

The Promise - When In Rome
The Chameleons - Nathan's Phase
Camouflage - The Great Commandment
Morrissey - Everyday Is Like Sunday
Marc Almond - Tears Run Rings
Pet Shop Boys - Domino Dancing
The Go-Betweens - Streets of Your Town
The Church - Under the Milky Way
Concrete Blond - Joey

After this, I really didn't [i]feel[/i] it anymore...I was running around aimlessly like on that "I can't taste my beer" commercial.

I had to go with 88 myself. While it ran out of steam past 85 I thought the last few years still had enough material those last years to compensate for a lack of freshness. The sounds of 88 on sounds a lot different to me then the difference between the years before it.

[quote][i]Originally posted by Blir[/i]
<br>

The Church - Under the Milky Way

[/quote]

What a great CD! I still listen to it often.

[quote][i]Originally posted by Blir[/i]
<br>If you're talking "jumping the shark" like the other thread did, I'd say 84 - mostly dead but not dead like Billy Crystal would say. But "dead" is another matter. New Wave may have been weezing and gasping for it's last breath, but like I've mentioned elsewhere (apologies for repeating), 1988 actually saw a final frenzy of some cool tracks that felt very new wave to me:

The Promise - When In Rome
The Chameleons - Nathan's Phase
Camouflage - The Great Commandment
Morrissey - Everyday Is Like Sunday
Marc Almond - Tears Run Rings
Pet Shop Boys - Domino Dancing
The Go-Betweens - Streets of Your Town
The Church - Under the Milky Way
Concrete Blond - Joey

After this, I really didn't [i]feel[/i] it anymore...I was running around aimlessly like on that "I can't taste my beer" commercial.
[/quote]

that's so funny...I had the same thought. New Wave kinda died in the mid-80s, only to have a brief return at the end of the decade before being slayed once and for all by the...ughh...'90s.

For me, the last main year was 1985.

Sure 1986 had Sigue Sigue Sputnik, did anyone listen after the initial single? I know it's a cliche to say that all songs sound the same, but in their case it was TRUE. [xx(]

Same lines, same drums, same everything, just different lyrics. And the adverts between the tracks on the first album didn't help matters.


For me, it all finally ended in 1990. Even though there were slim pickings, there were still enough gems to be had:

Cetu Javu - Situations & the first album
Camouflage
Kon Kan - I Beg Your Pardon. The first album was pretty nifty, shame about the second.

When in Rome - The Promise, shame about the album
Wax - Bridge To Your Heart

They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul and Flood, a great combination

'85 for me. A lot of money had been pumped into the genre by the record companies, bands created for it, slicker videos created to showcase it.
The companies started to shun the bands that had any quirkiness or individuality - which is what the genre was all about to me. Mtv got a lot more selective, and started to diversify it's playlist. I can't remember the year that the original vj's quit - but that seemed like an end of an era to me also. I know Mtv wasn't what defined new wave, but it was a great doorway for people to explore all kinds of new bands & sounds.

To me, Til Tuesday's Voices Carry was one of the last great new wave lps.

Goth groups and bands like The Cult were getting a lot of club play and although it was new waveish...it was something else too. I don't know what that intermediate period was though.

i voted for 1984 because that was when the truly great new wave station in seattle went off the air...KYYX

[quote][i]Originally posted by Frank_Chickens[/i]
<br>For me, the last main year was 1985.

Sure 1986 had Sigue Sigue Sputnik, did anyone listen after the initial single? I know it's a cliche to say that all songs sound the same, but in their case it was TRUE. [xx(]

Same lines, same drums, same everything, just different lyrics. And the adverts between the tracks on the first album didn't help matters.


For me, it all finally ended in 1990. Even though there were slim pickings, there were still enough gems to be had:

Cetu Javu - Situations & the first album
Camouflage
Kon Kan - I Beg Your Pardon. The first album was pretty nifty, shame about the second.

When in Rome - The Promise, shame about the album
Wax - Bridge To Your Heart

They Might Be Giants - Birdhouse in Your Soul and Flood, a great combination
[/quote]

Agree with you and Blir that a burst of "Classic" wave reappeared toward the end of the '80. I've always considered The Ocean Blue as kinda the last gasp band of classic NW (exempting all the Neo NW stuff today, of course)

As from 1985 a lot of New-Wave artists allready had 1 or 2 flop singles. So after that they started to lose their creativity and began to think of 'How to be more commercial' to keep up with the trends. For most New-Wave artists it just 'did not work' as they just made sloppy 'commercial' singles (& Albums) that did not score, and so New-Wave just 'died'.....

While there were still many gems in '85-86...I think it had definitely run its course by then. By '85-86 the focus was more on production rather than making good music. The image (hair, make-up, clothes) was definitely history by 1986 except for Sigue Sigue Sputnik as someone else mentioned...