New wave music

New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of punk culture".[4] It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock.[30][31] Later, following its usage as a marketing term to cover musical styles as disparate as synth-pop, alternative dance and post-punk, critical thought discredited "new wave" as a definable genre, regarding it as a "virtually meaningless" umbrella term.[15][32][31] The main new wave movement coincided with late 1970s punk and continued into the early 1980s.[33]

The common characteristics of new wave music include a humorous or quirky pop approach, angular guitar riffs, jerky rhythms, the use of electronics, and a distinctive visual style in fashion.[31][5] In the early 1980s, virtually every new pop and rock act – and particularly those that employed synthesizers – were tagged as "new wave" in the United States.[31] Although new wave shares punk's do-it-yourself philosophy, the musicians were more influenced by the styles of the 1950s along with the lighter strains of 1960s pop and were opposed to the generally abrasive, political bents of punk rock, as well as what was considered to be creatively stagnant "corporate rock".[5]

New wave commercially peaked from the late 1970s into the early 1980s with numerous major musicians and an abundance of one-hit wonders. MTV, which was launched in 1981, heavily promoted new-wave acts, boosting the genre's popularity in the United States.[31] In the UK, new wave faded at the beginning of the 1980s with the emergence of the New Romantic movement.[33] In the US, new wave continued into the mid-1980s but declined with the popularity of the New Romantic, new pop, and new music genres.[34][35] Since the 1990s, new wave resurged several times with the growing nostalgia for several new-wave-influenced musicians.[36][37][38]

  1. ^ "What is New Wave Music? 9 Examples & History". musicindustryhowto.com. 28 February 2023.
  2. ^ "33 Best New Wave Songs In The World". musicindustryhowto.com. 12 April 2022.
  3. ^ a b Larson, Thomas E. (2014). History of Rock and Roll (4 ed.). Lincoln, Nebraska: Kendall Hunt. p. 269. ISBN 978-1-4652-3886-3.
  4. ^ a b c d e Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "New Wave". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Archived from the original on 25 October 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2014.
  5. ^ a b c d Seddon, Stephen. "New wave". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  6. ^ Lynch, Joe (14 January 2016). "David Bowie Influenced More Musical Genres Than Any Other Rock Star". Billboard. Retrieved 20 October 2016.
  7. ^ "What Is Art Pop? A Guide To The Music Genre". walnutcreekband.org. 4 October 2022.
  8. ^ Cateforis 2011, pp. 9–12.
  9. ^ Joynson, Vernon (2001). Up Yours! A Guide to UK Punk, New Wave & Early Post Punk. Wolverhampton: Borderline Publications. p. 11. ISBN 1-899855-13-0.
  10. ^ "New Wave Music: The History and Bands of New Wave Music". masterclass.com. 8 June 2021.
  11. ^ "What Is Art Pop? A Guide To The Music Genre". walnutcreekband.org. 4 October 2022.
  12. ^ "A Guide to Progressive Pop". tidal.com. 20 November 2019.
  13. ^ "The New Synthesizer Rock". Keyboard. June 1982. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  14. ^ "Bernard Edwards, 43, Musician In Disco Band and Pop Producer". The New York Times. 22 April 1996. As disco waned in the late 70s, so did Chic's album sales. But its influence lingered on as new wave, rap and dance-pop bands found inspiration in Chic's club anthems
  15. ^ a b Cooper, Kim, Smay, David, Bubblegum Music is the Naked Truth (2001), page 248 "Nobody took the bubblegum ethos to heart like the new wave bands"/
  16. ^ "A Guide to Progressive Pop". tidal.com. 20 November 2019.
  17. ^ Brian McNair, Striptease Culture: Sex, Media and the Democratization of Desire (London: Routledge, 2002), ISBN 0-415-23734-3, p. 136.
  18. ^ Pirnia, Garin (13 March 2010). "Is Chillwave the Next Big Music Trend?". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  19. ^ a b Gordon, Claire (23 October 2009). "The decade that never dies". Yale Daily News. Archived from the original on 13 February 2010. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  20. ^ Synth Pop at AllMusic
  21. ^ Shaw, Greg (14 January 1978). "New Trends of the New Wave". Billboard. Retrieved 23 November 2015.
  22. ^ "25 Essential Sophisti-Pop Songs". Westwoodhorizon.com.
  23. ^ Ogiba, Jeff (11 July 2012). "A Brief History Of Musical Waves From NEW To NEXT". Vice.
  24. ^ Ogiba, Jeff (11 July 2012). "A Brief History Of Musical Waves From NEW To NEXT". Vice.
  25. ^ "Ska Revival". AllMusic.
  26. ^ Filipinojournal.com Archived 12 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine A Tribute to the '80s Philippine New Wave Scene
  27. ^ Božilović, Jelena (2013). "New Wave in Yugoslavia-Socio-Political Context" (PDF). Facta Universitatis. Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology and History. 12 (1): 69–83.
  28. ^ Petridis, Alexis (16 September 2019). "Ric Ocasek: Cars frontman who drove new wave into the mainstream". TheGuardian.com.
  29. ^ Sullivan, Jim (16 September 2019). "The Cars Frontman Ric Ocasek Paved Path From Boston Punk To Mainstream New Wave". Wbur.org.
  30. ^ Graham Thompson,American Culture in the 1980s, Edinburgh University Press, 2007, p. 163
  31. ^ a b c d e "New Wave Music Genre Overview". AllMusic.
  32. ^ Cite error: The named reference page11 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ a b Nickson, Chris (25 September 2012). "New Wave Music in The 70s". ministryofrock.co.uk. Retrieved 16 February 2024.
  34. ^ Collins, Andrew (18 March 2005). "And then came the wave...: When he was growing up in 1970s Northampton, Andrew Collins would have killed anyone who'd called his favourite bands new wave". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 February 2024. Costello, new wave's patron saint, was smart enough to put its musical licks behind him by 1980. In the US, of course, it flourished for years after, with bands as sappy as the Bangles and Huey Lewis & The News rocking the look into 1986 and beyond.
  35. ^ Cateforis, Theo (2009). The Death of New Wave (PDF). IASPM US. San Diego. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 February 2013.
  36. ^ Cite error: The named reference EncyclopediaofContemporaryBritishCulture was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  37. ^ Cite error: The named reference Revival was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  38. ^ "Q&A with Theo Cateforis, author of Are We Not New Wave? Modern Pop at the Turn of the 1980s" (PDF). University of Michigan Press. 2011.