2011 NWO Top Songs Poll

[djcraig]

[quote][i]Originally posted by zill[/i]
<br>Hang on a minute. The instructions ask "1. That people post their Top 50 favorite songs to this thread, In Order." THEIR favorite songs. It doesn't say anything about songs that you think had an "impact on the overall New Wave scene".

My list is based on songs I actually listen to...a lot. Undoubtedly it relfects the fact that I've currently overdosed on Fade to Grey and The Look Of Love. It is a list of the moment, and also reflects my new found deep appreciation for the Vancouver scene that most on this board don't know much about. I'm not expecting any of those songs to be on your list.

Further, what defined New Wave for each of us is very different depending how old you are and where you lived. If you're under 40, your musical awareness probably coincided with the rise of Pet Shop Boys, Erasure and Violator-era Depeche Mode, and your list will look much different than the geezers on the board. Where I lived, bands like Echo & The Bunnymen got little if no airplay, so as much as I appreciate them, they don't really define anything for me.

Frank has said before that he wasn't part of "the scene" when it was happening. He is not influenced by what the cool kids or the teen-zines were telling us back in the day. He just likes what he likes. I admit I find it hard to predict what he will or will not like, but it doesn't matter, it is his list.

I think Frau is correct in his assertion that it will all wash out in the end. If you want the songs that defined the era, go pick up a various artists compilation. What makes this exercise interesting is the wide range of individual preferences and tastes of the people on the board.

"If the list is missing such New Wave stalwarts/ground breakers like The Cars, U2, The Clash, Pretenders, R.E.M., B-52s, etc. can it truly be reflective of the ultimate Top 50?" Personally, I think U2 had maybe one good album. I typically lump R.E.M. and the Smiths into some other category of music in my head, not new wave, but that's just me. And currently I would put The Cars and B-52's into my aforementioned overdose category. You can't tell people what to like or not to like. That's why Kajagoogoo will be right up there next to Pluta Connexion.
[/quote]

Point taken. Put me down for 1-49 being Toya songs and #50 reserved for Doot Doot.[:D]


<a href="http://www.djcraig.net/los_angeles_dj">DJ Craig</a>

[wherewereuin82]

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

I'll probably have the only list with both Culture Club and Throbbing Gristle on it. [B)]
[/quote]

I doubt it. I'll be re-doing mine. I tried to keep it as "mainstream" as I could last time around since that's what I thought was expected. I think I may have slipped a couple of times or added songs I never would have to round out my 100.

[ghosty]

[quote][i]Originally posted by i_like_lectric_motors[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by Frau_Blucher[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by i_like_lectric_motors[/i]
<br>I really want to do this but I'm having trouble with it because I have the same concerns as Craig and because I can't stop beating myself up over what is and isn't new wave. I see others listing The Clash but I'm not sure I should and if I do, where do I draw the line? Do I list Black Flag or Fear or The Germs or what? Fucking headache is what it is.
[/quote]
I'd say put em all in there. I know when I say new wave, I mean that whole period from 76 to the late 80s of punk, post-punk, new wave, ska revival, even early nascent indie pop, etc. The fact that they're even under consideration means they should be part of the conversation. Then if you scan you list, wondering where it'll drop in, and you feel it ought to drop in "there", then freakin drop in the there IMHO.
[/quote]

I tried doing it and when I start throwing in punk I also end up throwing in mid-80s hardcore and whatever the Hell you want to call what was going on in the midwest (stuff like Big Black, Scratch Acid, etc ...) and then I start thinking Hell, if I can add that, then I can add industrial and Wax Trax shit and goth and then it's just this huge slippery slope. So then I tried to keep it VERY strictly new wave but the problem with that is that I didn't really listen to all that much new wave other than what was on at parties and clubs and my list comes out looking pretty bland and commercial. Oh well, I'll make it work somehow. I'll probably have the only list with both Culture Club and Throbbing Gristle on it. [B)]
[/quote]

If only Culture Club had covered "Hamburger Lady"!

[zill]

[quote][i]Originally posted by djcraig[/i]
<br>Point taken. Put me down for 1-49 being Toya songs and #50 reserved for Doot Doot.[:D]
[/quote]

That's "Toyah" not "Toya". Get it right or your answers will be disqualified - see "5. Proper Spelling is a must".

[NuWaveRx]

As always a big thanks up front to Frau--I'll learned a lot about statistical analysis in the last 5 years, and the stuff he does to this data still boggles my mind

As to "best" of NW or my personal favorites, I've done what I've always done on these, I try to pick bands that I feel may be a bit more "iconic" in the overall NW "scheme", but then try to pick one of my "personal" favorite songs by that band. In the end--like the endless definitions of "NW"--it all comes down (within reason of course) to personal preference.

Interestingly I found myself limited a bit more by time than genre. for example this time around I found myself wanting to add songs by Concrete Blonde, They Might Be Giants, or the Ocean Blue, but decided to limit my choices to music before 1990.

Also this is "today's" list. I tried not to agonize over it--it could be different tomorrow and I'm ok with that[:D]

Lloyd Cole and Commotions - Perfect Skin
ABC - The Look of Love
A Flock of Seagulls - DNA
Duran Duran - Lonely In Your Nightmare
INXS - The One Thing
Fixx - Stand or Fall
Simple Minds - New Gold Dream
Smiths - This Charming Man
Depeche Mode - But Not Tonight
Chameleons - Swamp Thing
Prefab Sprout - Appetite
China Crisis - Working With Fire and Steel
English Beat - I Confess
Cure - Primary
Heaven 17 - We Live So Fast
Icehouse - Great Southern Land
Men Without Hats - I Like
Pet Shop Boys - What Have I Done To Deserve This
Big Country - In A Big Country
REM - Pilgrimage
OMD - Enola Gay
Tears For Fears - Change
Pretenders - Tattooed Love Boys
Thomas Dolby - One of Our Submarines
Vitamin Z - Burning Flame
XTC - Senses Working Overtime
Bad Manners - Special Brew
Violent Femmes - Add It Up
Cars - Touch and Go
Talk Talk - Living In Another World
Spoons - Nova Heart
Modern English - Someone's Calling
Shriekback - Fish Below The Ice
Cetu Javu - Have In Mind
Propaganda - Sorry For Laughing
Ultravox - Reap the Wild Wind
Talking Heads - Girlfriend is Better
Joe Jackson - It's Different For Girls
Japan - Gentlemen Take Polaroids
Gang of Four - I Love a Man In A Uniform
Devo - Beautiful World
Police - When The World Is Running Down
Real Life - Catch Me I'm Falling
Big Audio Dynamite - E=MC2
Industry - State Of The Nation
10,000 Maniacs - What's The Matter Here
Suicidal Tendencies - Institutionalized
Roman Holliday - Stand By
Alphaville - The Jet Set
U2 - Two Hearts Beat As One

[coop41]

[quote][i]Originally posted by i_like_lectric_motors[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by Frau_Blucher[/i]
<br>[quote][i]Originally posted by i_like_lectric_motors[/i]
<br>I really want to do this but I'm having trouble with it because I have the same concerns as Craig and because I can't stop beating myself up over what is and isn't new wave. I see others listing The Clash but I'm not sure I should and if I do, where do I draw the line? Do I list Black Flag or Fear or The Germs or what? Fucking headache is what it is.
[/quote]
I'd say put em all in there. I know when I say new wave, I mean that whole period from 76 to the late 80s of punk, post-punk, new wave, ska revival, even early nascent indie pop, etc. The fact that they're even under consideration means they should be part of the conversation. Then if you scan you list, wondering where it'll drop in, and you feel it ought to drop in "there", then freakin drop in the there IMHO.
[/quote]

I tried doing it and when I start throwing in punk I also end up throwing in mid-80s hardcore and whatever the Hell you want to call what was going on in the midwest (stuff like Big Black, Scratch Acid, etc ...) and then I start thinking Hell, if I can add that, then I can add industrial and Wax Trax shit and goth and then it's just this huge slippery slope. So then I tried to keep it VERY strictly new wave but the problem with that is that I didn't really listen to all that much new wave other than what was on at parties and clubs and my list comes out looking pretty bland and commercial. Oh well, I'll make it work somehow. I'll probably have the only list with both Culture Club and Throbbing Gristle on it. [B)]
[/quote]


This.

It's funny how I will spend (waste?) so much time fretting over some Top 50 list than I will over a business decision that has way more importance. I'm not afraid to mention my rap phase either during the 80's because it fits so perfectly with my punk and new wave ones.

[Frau_Blucher]

[quote][i]Originally posted by coop41[/i]
<br> I'm not afraid to mention my rap phase either during the 80's because it fits so perfectly with my punk and new wave ones.
[/quote]
Word to ya mutha.

[tileboy]

Just listened to all of Fingerprintz " Distinguishing Marks " trying to decide which tune to include. If this trend continues there's no way I'm making the deadline.

[Frank_Chickens]

Seems my post has caused quite a stir.

In reply:

i_like_lectric_motors: Coming from yourself, thanks! [8D]

Schwenko: bleep bleep bleep!

Frau_Blucher: Lol!

Zil: Thank you for your eloquent post. [:)]

djcraig: I am not trying to score hipster points by trying to be cool, this is a collection of music that I like listening to a lot, no more and no less.

This is my music history: (Long post ahead)

In the early 80s due to the TV show I liked the Monkees a lot; bought albums and best ofs and received their first two albums as a Christmas present one year. I watched Top of the Pops, Crackerjack and Razzmatazz and purchased the occasional single but that was as far as it went. The most notable purchase was Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick by Ian Dury and the Blockheads which was made in the 70s and used to drive my parents mad by playing it all the time! Just as well I never played the b-side..

Around the turn of the decade I became a massive Gianthead thanks to the brilliant 'Birdhouse in your Soul' and their album, Miscellaneous T, was my first ever CD purchase.

Fast forward to the end of the 90s and an article in Planet Sound on Channel 4 Teletext sparked my interest in the early 80s and coincidentally Record Collector were doing an article on must-have early 80s albums. I went out and purchased Dare, Penthouse and Pavement, The Age of Consent, Non-Stop Erotic Caberet, Catching Up with Depeche Mode (as it's know in the US), stuff by Numan and Siouxsie and the Banshees, you get the idea.

At first I thought, 'wow, this is great!' but after six months of buying compilations and the albums thereof I became bored of it; it all sounded the same and nothing sounded interesting, I was getting bored of it. Not many bands survived that period, the main one that did was Landscape. I liked it so much that I interviewed the whole band. Richard James Burgess was by the best interview and John Walters the worst.

Then came the day my music world changed; there was a link on a messageboard about a site called Torchamatic which had rare 80s songs to download. Intrigued I started downloading tracks by bands like Dekka Danse, Haircut 100 (v2), Leisure Process, Power etc. and until I looked it up I thought some of these were massive hits at the time.

By the time the sad, but inevitable end came I was using Usenet a lot and finding interesting things, one of the most being The New Wave Complex series. By this time I discovered Smash Hits magazine and bought every issue between 78-84 and found they covered some great bands like Small Ads, Space, Malaria!, The Europeans etc. as well as being a great read.

Then it's this old place, the 'request centre', the hub and in turn a variety of blogs. People on here over the years have been great on the whole and had a good time.

Now I discovered library music and the damning thing is most of the synth stuff is of a very high quality so know going to spend lots of time going through that, can't wait!

[Panorama]

Impossible to keep the list to 50... I've got 231 songs in my Absolute favorites and 955 in my favorites list (of course the 231 are included in the 955 as well). I'll look over the lists and hopefully find some songs I need to listen to more often, thanks everyone.

OK, I used itunes, sorted by plays and year and made my selects, I rearranged a few here and there, but I love all these 50 songs:

Icehouse - We Can Get Together
Talk Talk - Talk Talk
The Human League - Don't You Want Me
Soft Cell - Tainted love
A Flock of Seagulls - Space Age Love Song
Eurythmics - Love Is a Stranger
The Smiths - How Soon Is Now?
Pet Shop Boys - West End Girls
A Flock of Seagulls - The More You Live, the More You Love
The Stranglers - Skin Deep
Psychedelic Furs - Love My Way
Fischer-Z - So Long
Blanket of Secrecy - Say You Will
Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
Haircut 100 - Love Plus One
New Order - Bizarre Love Triangle
Our Daughter's Wedding - Lawnchairs
The Fixx - Stand or Fall
Peter Schilling - Major Tom (Coming Home)
Camouflage - The Great Commandment
The Dream Academy - The Love Parade
Eurythmics - Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)
Opus - Live is Life
Depeche Mode - Just Can't Get Enough
A Flock of Seagulls - Telecommunication
The Lords of the New Church - Open Your Eyes
Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark - Souvenir
Ministry - Revenge
New Order - Blue Monday
The Chameleons U.K. - Swamp Thing
Gary Numan - Metal
Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
Split Enz - I Got You
Blancmange - Living On The Ceiling
Depeche Mode - Policy of Truth
New Order - Age Of Consent
New Order - Love Vigilantes
Pixies - Here Comes Your Man
The Church - Under the Milky Way
Naked Eyes - The Time Is Now
Visage - Fade to Grey
Gary Numan - Me! I Disconnect From You
Peter Godwin - Images Of Heaven
Depeche Mode - Never Let Me Down Again
B-Movie - Nowhere Girl
Alphaville - Iron John
Chris & Cosey - October Love Song
Gary Numan - Are 'Friends' Electric?
The Cars - Panorama
Pete Wylie - Sinful

<HR width="185" align="left">
"Photography with a Vision"
http://www.cooganphoto.com

[hello_world]

Anybody notice how most of the lists here would make far superior compilation albums to the ones that actually exist? I'm in the process of putting together a 10 CDR set of my favorites (I've abandoned mp3s entirely). The existing comps just aren't doing it for me.

p.s. The 10th CD has 20 different versions of "Doot Doot" (jk).

[hello_world]

[quote][i]Originally posted by Panorama[/i]

OK, I used itunes, sorted by plays and year and made my selects, I rearranged a few here and there, but I love all these 50 songs:

Icehouse - We Can Get Together

[/quote]

Thanks for turning me on to this one. It's great!

[cygnus66]

[quote][i]Originally posted by hello_world[/i]
<br>Anybody notice how most of the lists here would make far superior compilation albums to the ones that actually exist?
[/quote]

Too many compilations have the same songs on them anyways e.g. Tainted Love, I Ran, Come On Eileen, etc. And some of them like to randomly include something like a Loverboy tune for no good reason.

[plagiarism]

I've got to get this list posted before it drives me mad.

My list is basically half what I've been listening to the last few months, half historical. As such, there were some brutal, brutal cuts for me, such as Blondie, The Police, Squeeze, and Talking Heads. But the truth is that I don't play them like I used to. There were also lesser-known songs I really wanted to be on here, but I can't have it all.

Here's my top 50. A few comments to follow:

Bush Tetras - Too Many Creeps
Pylon - Stop It
The Cars - Bye Bye Love
XTC - The Mayor of Simpleton
Echo & the Bunnymen - The Killing Moon
B-Movie - Nowhere Girl
Violent Femmes - Gone Daddy Gone
Altered Images - I Could Be Happy
Bluebells - Cath
Blue Peter - Falling
Slow Children - Spring in Fialta
The Cure - Just Like Heaven
The Psychedelic Furs - Pretty in Pink
The Church - The Unguarded Moment
OMD - Genetic Engineering
Devo - Beautiful World
The Ramones - I Wanna Be Sedated
Romeo Void - Never Say Never
Tears for Fears - Mad World
Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill
Killing Joke - Eighties
The Plimsouls - A Million Miles Away
Midnight Oil - Best of Both Worlds
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - Pump It Up
Ministry - Revenge
Icehouse - We Can Get Together
Split Enz - I Got You
The The - Uncertain Smile
Simple Minds - New Gold Dream (81-82-83-84)
Pete Shelley - (Millions of People) No One Like You
New Order - The Beach
Cabaret Voltaire - Sensoria
Sad Lovers and Giants - Things We Never Did
The Lucy Show - A Million Things
Joe Jackson - Is She Really Going Out with Him?
999 - Homicide
R.E.M. - Catapult
Gang of Four - Natural’s Not In It
Yaz - Only You
Passion Puppets - Like Dust
Wire Train - I'll Do You
RandyAndy - The People in the USA
Belfegore - All That I Wanted
The Stranglers - Skin Deep
The Pinkees - Holding Me Tight
The B-52s - Legal Tender
The Fleshtones - Right Side of a Good Thing
Depeche Mode - People Are People
Wire - Map Ref. 41°N 93°W
This Mortal Coil - Song to the Siren

I only allowed myself one song per artist. Otherwise, I'd be paralyzed trying to make these rankings.

What really struck me when I was assembling this list is how much C-86 stuff I've been listening to lately. I have enough problems with the slippery slope as it is, so I tried not to include any of that.

Gang of Four gets on the list thanks to the Kinect commercial.

My list is still too commercial, but there's a few items to counteract that. [}:)]

[wherewereuin82]

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

Smashers - Gleason

My list is still too commercial, but there's a few items to counteract that. [}:)]
[/quote]


WTF? Holy crap.

That is all.

**Is that part of the settlement from the law suite?