Tribute To New Wave
Mid 70's. Rock music started to become stale. Kansas. Boston. Styx. Foreigner. Back in those days, the music business was powerful, but they were still looking for artists to exploit, as opposed to today, where they are looking for good looks and talent to exploit. Artists need not apply.
Punk was out there, but it wasn't being embraced by the masses. Then, a bunch of musicians either collectively or independently decided that it was time for rock and roll to mean something again.
Those were some good days.
Elvis. In retrospect, you can see that it was planned, but it was still very cool. The Attractions rocked the house down.
Radio Radio.
Rockpile. Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds had separate record deals, but were in the same band, and what a band it was.
Cover of the Elvis tune, featuring Dave Edmunds. Obviously a promo film, but I don't care.
Girls Talk.
Cruel to be Kind. Nick Lowe. Also a promo film. Damn.
XTC. The best band since The Beatles.
Statue of Liberty. Andy Partridge's lyrics were clever and spot-on from day one.
Respectable Street. The Beach Boys with balls and an attitude. (Spare me ok, I love The Beach Boys.)
Joe Jackson. Couldn't find anything I wanted from the first record, but here's I'm The Man from his second effort. Another rockin' band from that great era.
The Police. I'm sure everyone's choice would be Roxanne, but this my tribute, and I prefer Message in a Bottle.
Squeeze. I still like to pull out Argy Bargy and give that a spin, along with Cool For Cats, which is where this one comes from.
Up The Junction.
The Clash. Were they truly New Wave, or were they punk?
Who cares? They were "the only band that mattered."
Train in Vain.
Punk was out there, but it wasn't being embraced by the masses. Then, a bunch of musicians either collectively or independently decided that it was time for rock and roll to mean something again.
Those were some good days.
Elvis. In retrospect, you can see that it was planned, but it was still very cool. The Attractions rocked the house down.
Radio Radio.
Rockpile. Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds had separate record deals, but were in the same band, and what a band it was.
Cover of the Elvis tune, featuring Dave Edmunds. Obviously a promo film, but I don't care.
Girls Talk.
Cruel to be Kind. Nick Lowe. Also a promo film. Damn.
XTC. The best band since The Beatles.
Statue of Liberty. Andy Partridge's lyrics were clever and spot-on from day one.
Respectable Street. The Beach Boys with balls and an attitude. (Spare me ok, I love The Beach Boys.)
Joe Jackson. Couldn't find anything I wanted from the first record, but here's I'm The Man from his second effort. Another rockin' band from that great era.
The Police. I'm sure everyone's choice would be Roxanne, but this my tribute, and I prefer Message in a Bottle.
Squeeze. I still like to pull out Argy Bargy and give that a spin, along with Cool For Cats, which is where this one comes from.
Up The Junction.
The Clash. Were they truly New Wave, or were they punk?
Who cares? They were "the only band that mattered."
Train in Vain.
posted by The Viscount LaCarte at 9:24 AM
9 Comments:
Thanks. This is like someone else chose the highlights of my record collection at that time :)
I think about this a lot -- how the late 70's really changed music again, and how many lasting, great acts we got from that era. Patti Smith is about to be inducted into the hall of fame. Talking Heads. Devo (more of a joke, but they did record the greatest cover song of all time). X. Oh, how they ruled live. Peter Gabriel & David Bowie re-invented themselves in honor of the times, and did some outstanding work.
Not that I live entirely in the past, but that was RADIO music back then. I can still remember the first time I heard the Pretenders on the radio -- I was stopped dead in my tracks by that. I think I just stared at the receiver for 3 minutes while having my brain rearranged.
There's still good music out there, tons of it, everywhere, but you're not going to find it on Warner Bros. or KISS FM any more. Sigh.
I still listen to a lot of this stuff. Great period for music.
BTW, ever heard Joe Jackson's cover of "Statue of Liberty"? Fun.
Joe Jackson's cover of "Statue of Liberty"?
He did a great job. It sounds like it is one of his one from that era and still retains the attitude of the original.
I'll take Message in a Bottle any day over Roxanne. I always thought that song was overrated. I like When the World Is Running Down and also, Driven To Tears.
Not that I live entirely in the past
I can be guilty of that. I'm sure there's a TON of great music out there, but I need it to *hit me* immediately. And so few songs do. My heart must not be as open to it as my younger heart was. I don't know. But, I still *love what I love.* It's in my soul. Can't live without it.
Blue Girl -- Two words: Porcupine Tree. If you don't like the first song you come across, try another. They've a pretty wide spectrum of soft-->hard.
Actually that Attractions abrupt song change on SNL was not planned - at least as far as SNL was concerned. Lorne Michaels was to pissed that he banned Costello from playing SNL for something like 15 years.
- at least as far as SNL was concerned. Lorne Michaels was to pissed that he banned Costello from playing SNL for something like 15 years.
Yeah - I think Elvis planned it but didn't tell Michaels.
Great stunt either way!
New Wave. Squeeze's East Side Story (Woman's World, Messed Around), Joe Jackson's Look Sharp (Look Sharp), Police Reggatta de Blanc (Bring on the Night, The Bed's Too Big), Elvis (Alison).
Thoughtful, clever, genre blending, fun music, moving listeners from the glam/arena rockers, using punk energy, into a new place for rock music.
I think the amount of great music around today (only on college and independent radio or the web - commercial radio is dead)can trace a lot of threads back to the New Wave.
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