User:Editingpersona/New wave music2

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Article Draft[edit]

Popularity in the United States[edit]

Painting of a Devo energy dome hat

1970s[edit]

In mid-1977, Time[1] and Newsweek wrote favorable lead stories on the "punk/new wave" movement.[2] Acts associated with the movement received little or no radio airplay, or music industry support. Small scenes developed in major cities. Continuing into the next year, public support remained limited to select elements of the artistic, bohemian, and intellectual population[3] as arena rock and disco dominated the charts.[4]

Starting in late 1978 and continuing into 1979, acts associated with punk and acts that mixed punk with other genres began to make chart appearances and receive airplay on rock stations and rock discos.[5] Blondie, Talking Heads, The Police, and The Cars charted during this period.[6][4] "My Sharona", a single from The Knack, was Billboard magazine's number-one single of 1979; its success, combined with new wave albums being much cheaper to produce during the music industry's worst slump in decades,[5] prompted record companies to sign new wave groups.[6] New wave music scenes developed in Ohio[4] and the college town Athens, Georgia with iconic bands such as the B-52s and R.E.M.[7] In 1980, there were brief forays into new-wave-style music by non-new-wave artists Billy Joel, Donna Summer, and Linda Ronstadt.[6]

1980s[edit]

Early in 1980, influential radio consultant Lee Abrams wrote a memo saying with a few exceptions, "we're not going to be seeing many of the new wave circuit acts happening very big [in the US]. As a movement, we don't expect it to have much influence."[8] Lee Ferguson, a consultant to KWST, said in an interview Los Angeles radio stations were banning disc jockeys from using the term and noted; "Most of the people who call music new wave are the ones looking for a way not to play it".[9] Second albums by new wave artists who had successful debut albums, along with newly signed artists, failed to sell and stations pulled most new wave programming.[6] Such as with Devo's socially critical but widely misunderstood song "Whip It".[10]

In 1981, the start of MTV began new wave's most successful era in the US. British artists, unlike many of their American counterparts, had learned how to use the music video early on.[4][11] Several British acts on independent labels were able to outmarket and outsell American artists on major labels, a phenomenon journalists labeled the "Second British Invasion".[11][12] MTV continued its heavy rotation of videos by new wave-oriented acts until 1987, when it changed to a heavy metal and rock-dominated format.[13]

Martha Davis of the Motels performs at Hollywood Park.

In a December-1982 Gallup poll, 14% of teenagers rated new wave as their favorite type of music, making it the third-most-popular genre.[14] New wave had its greatest popularity on the West Coast. Unlike other genres, race was not a factor in the popularity of new wave music, according to the poll.[14] Urban contemporary radio stations were the first to play dance-oriented new wave artists such as the B-52's, Culture Club, Duran Duran, and ABC.[15]

New wave soundtracks were used in mainstream Brat Pack films such as Sixteen Candles, Pretty in Pink, and The Breakfast Club, as well as in the low-budget hit Valley Girl.[4][16] John Hughes, the director of several of these films, was enthralled with British new wave music, and placed songs from acts such as The Psychedelic Furs, Simple Minds, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and Echo and the Bunnymen in his films, helping to keep new wave in the mainstream. Several of these songs remain standards of the era.[17] Critics described the MTV acts of the period as shallow or vapid.[4][11] Homophobic slurs were used to describe some of the new wave musicians.[18] Despite the criticism, the danceable quality of the music and the quirky fashion sense associated with new wave artists appealed to audiences.[4]

In September 1988, Billboard launched its Modern Rock chart, the acts on which reflected a wide variety of stylistic influences. New wave's legacy remained in the large influx of acts from the UK, and acts that were popular in rock discos, as well as the chart's name, which reflects the way new wave was marketed as "modern".[19] New wave's indie spirit was crucial to the development of college rock and grunge/alternative rock in the latter half of the 1980s and onward.[4]


References[edit]

  1. ^ "Anthems of the Blank Generation". Time. 11 July 1977. Archived from the original on 24 January 2009. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  2. ^ Genre Punk/New Wave Allmusic
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference Gendron was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Graves, Steve. "New Wave Music". St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Retrieved 30 March 2019 – via Encyclopedia.com.
  5. ^ a b Cateforis 2011, p. 37.
  6. ^ a b c d Cite error: The named reference dissertation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ American Punk Rock Allmusic
  8. ^ Abrams, Lee; Goldstein, Patrick (February 16, 1980). "Is New-Wave Rock on the Way Out?" (Image). Retrieved 18 March 2022. with the exception of the Boomtown Rats, the Police and a few other bands, we're not going to be seeing many of the New Wave circuit acts happening very big over here (in America). As a movement, we don't expect it to have much influence.
  9. ^ Goldstein, Patrick (16 February 2010). "Is New-Wave Rock on the Way Out?". Latimesblogs.latimes.com. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  10. ^ Allmusic Whip It Review "But even though most of the listening public took "Whip It" as just a catchy bit of weirdness with nonsensical lyrics about a vaguely sexy topic, the song's actual purpose – like much of Devo's work – was social satire. Putting the somewhat abstract lyrics together, "Whip It" emerges as a sardonic portrait of a general, problematic aspect of the American psyche: the predilection for using force and violence to solve problems, vent frustration, and prove oneself to others"
  11. ^ a b c Rip It Up and Start Again Postpunk 1978–1984 by Simon Reynolds Pages 340, 342–343
  12. ^ "1986 Knight Ridder news article". Nl.newsbank.com. 3 October 1986. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  13. ^ Holden, Stephen (15 June 1988). "The Pop Life". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  14. ^ a b "Rock Still Favorite Teen-Age music". Gainesville Sun. 13 April 1983. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  15. ^ "Crossover: Pop Music thrives on black-white blend". Knight Ridder News Service. 4 September 1986. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  16. ^ "But what does it all mean? How to decode the John Hughes high school movies". The Guardian. UK. 26 September 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  17. ^ Gora, Susannah (7 March 2010). "Why John Hughes Still Matters". MTV. Retrieved 15 May 2011.
  18. ^ Cateforis 2011, p. 233.
  19. ^ Cateforis 2011, pp. 65–66.
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