New Wave, but not really

[TheMunDial]

What bands or acts do other people refer to as "New Wave," but you, personally, feel as if that band is not really New Wave at all? Hmmm?

[MARV]

I met a friend of Bono's a few weeks ago who vehemently denied that U2 were ever New Wave. I don't know. I thought they came from that era with their first album coming out in 1980, being on the radio with contemporaries like Big Country, Simple Minds, you know the rest, playing shows with them, etc. I really did'nt get this guy. Was it me?

And I've heard the same with the Pet Shop Boys every now and then. Like U2, they've hung in the game for a couple of decades now and naturally their sound has evolved so TODAY it's hard to classify them as New Wave but back in the day I think they were. I'd say the same for New Order, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Morrissey and the Cure also. Funny how all my favs never stopped making music all these years. Anyway.....what do you guys think?

[WolverineSyr]

I think Bono may be a bit too pretentious to be identified as part of a genre.
I absolutely think U2 were part of the scene. Pet Shop Boys I think are a little harder - they were marketed so heavilly to the dance crowd, although lumping them into that category isn't fair either.
Whereas a lot of the groups you mentioned were definitly New Wave (to me,) Pet Shop Boys straddled a couple genres.

I always think it's weird to see Cutting Crew or Frozen Ghost categorized as new wave - never seemed like it to me.

[MARV]

True on the Pet Shop Boys Wolvinator. They're almost unclassifiable. They really are. Calling them a dance act I think just cheapens them. Does'nt give justice to the actual depth of their songwriting, marketing, live shows, etc. They're so much more and more than any other dance act ever. They're just so...I don't know not RANDOM.

[geoffolehane]

Some bands just had the misfortune of appearing about the time New Wave did...and got lumped into the category.

A good example is The Motels.

[medication881]

...or The Knack and Greg Kihn for that matter.

[WolverineSyr]

[quote][i]Originally posted by geoffolehane[/i]
<br>Some bands just had the misfortune of appearing about the time New Wave did...and got lumped into the category.
A good example is The Motels.
[/quote]

I really think the first two Motels albums are New Wave (the motels & Careful) - granted they're a little polished.
I think that as the band became more influenced by their record company they moved more towards the top 40 - All4One, Little Robbers and Shock became slicker and slicker and more oriented towards AOR. I do think Martha's vocal style and persona was new wave throughout their career though. Unfortunatly new wave sort of pushed them away, they were a little odd for consistant top 40 sucess, and there was no chance that AOR would play them with any regularity.

[mjlauf]

[quote][i]Originally posted by medication881[/i]
<br>...or The Knack and Greg Kihn for that matter.


[/quote]

In the late 70s/early 80s, the line between new wave and power-pop got pretty blurry. New wave was a lot more marketable (probably still is).

M

(now playing: The Clientele "Since K Got Over Me")

[firefall]

I think Bethnal were a special case of unidentified music style.Somewhere between early Who,progressive rock and ''new wave''nergy.But their album''Crash landing'', its very nice.Add to this the electric violin they used.

[TheMunDial]

Since I think that New Wave was more of synth thing, I feel as though U2 and The Smiths aren't really New Wave. Perhaps only [i]marginally[/i]...

[General Boy]

I have really specific ideas about what constitutes "new wave." I see a lot of folks nowadays extending the definition to include acts from the mid to late '80s--or, in some cases, the entire decade--but I tend to see it as ending much earlier than that.

I think as new wave got more diverse, the technology got better and the sound got more mainstream, new wave morphed into other things.

[KYYX4ever]

I never thought the Knack were NEw Wave, myself.

[mabas9395]

I've never considered U2 to be New Wave, but I have found that if you like good New Wave, you often like good (i.e. older) U2 (not always but often).

Slightly off topic but with regards to U2 and New Wave.

Anybody heard the U2 mp3 floating around of With Or Without You from a live show where they throw in a line or two from Love Will Tear Us Apart at the end? An excellent version!!!

If you like Joy Division and/or New Wave but don't like U2, it won't make you like them any better. But.....if you like Joy Division/New Wave AND you also like U2, its worth checking out. I have a copy if anyone wants one.

[MARV]

[quote][i]Originally posted by mabas9395[/i]
<br>I've never considered U2 to be New Wave, but I have found that if you like good New Wave, you often like good (i.e. older) U2 (not always but often).

Slightly off topic but with regards to U2 and New Wave.

Anybody heard the U2 mp3 floating around of With Or Without You from a live show where they throw in a line or two from Love Will Tear Us Apart at the end? An excellent version!!!

If you like Joy Division and/or New Wave but don't like U2, it won't make you like them any better. But.....if you like Joy Division/New Wave AND you also like U2, its worth checking out. I have a copy if anyone wants one.


[/quote]

That must be from a recent show they did in Manchester earlier this summer, the birthplace of Joy Division. They did a few Joy Division tributes in honor of the 25th anniversary of Ian Curtis' passing [|)] Peter Hook was there [^]

[TheMunDial]

I guess U2 has a knack for sneaking in others' lyrics. Consider:

U2 sings lines from a-ha song

The biggest and most talked about concert on Norwegian soil this year has been the U2 gig at Valle Hovin yesterday. (That is until the great a-ha event in Frognerparken on August 27, of course.) U2 paid a tribute to Norway's greatest band by singing a few lines from "The Sun Always Shines On TV" incorporated in their own hit "Beautiful Day."

It's no secret that the song already had some similarities with "The Sun Always Shines On TV," and some have even accused U2 of plagiarism. "The resemblance is scary," The Edge told Dagbladet. "We didn't notice before we read it in Q."

"Those guys have ripped us off so many times anyway," Bono jokingly commented on the issue. Bass player Adam Clayton said that he think a-ha has been a misunderstood band. "They were looked upon as a group for teenage girls, but in reality they were a very creative band."

The forthcoming a-ha studio album has been mixed by the renowned engineer and producer Flood, who became known as an engineer on U2's landmark album "The Joshua Tree" from 1987.