I was just curious as to what all of you new wavers were listening to - either openly with pride, or covertly in shame - besides new wave/punk/alterno. What bands were unheralded geniuses in your opinion, or merely good guilty pleasures that you stashed in the recesses of your closets away from your NW collection and your friends?
I have quite a few of these that I (think) I am able to admit to. Some I proudly claim that I am HUGE fans of and others...well, not so proudly. Some of the ones I am not ashamed to admit to (because they're fantastic) are:
Marianne Faithfull - Have been a huge fan since I was about 8 or 9 and was in love with her. Yeah, she did a cool new wave album (Broken English) but I even love her folky sixties stuff.
Black Sabbath - I was the youngest brother of 7 kids. Most of them teenagers in the '70's. How could I not be a fan.
Johnny Cash - Too cool. Period.
Rolling Stones - Ok, I HATE anything after, say 1972. But was obsessive over the "Flowers" album when my big sister brought it home.
I also love all of that 1950's American pop music pre-British invasion.
Now the hard part. The GUILTY PLEASURE music:
OK, I'll say it - I LOVE Neil Diamond. I think Neil is so kitschy cool that I even went to see him in concert with my sister (all of my friends were too 'cool' to go.) It has to be said that my sister wasn't too thrilled about going either, but after a few swigs out of a flask even she was singing along to "I Am, I Said".
So, what are some of your non-new wave faves?
