TS: New Wave - The British Vs. The American Definition

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New Wave (UK): Sort of a punk influenced genre with elements of pubrock, reggae and 60s pop thrown into the mix along with punk's enerty.

New Wave (US): A catch all term for virtually all "new" music that appeared in the US hitlists during the late 70s and early 80s. Covering punk, powerpop, synthpop, new romantics, UK ska, postpunk and even some rather mainstream AOR-like stuff such as Pat Benatar.

What is the most accurate one?

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 5 May 2005 00:16 (twenty years ago)

whichever seymour stein meant. ie. the latter.

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 5 May 2005 00:21 (twenty years ago)

How the hell can a definition - which is used as a term to describe whatever the writer wants to include - be more or less accurate?

Get one Godard.

― TV's Mr Noodle Vague (noodle vague), Thursday, 5 May 2005 01:13 (twenty years ago)

new wave was coined by a label as a marketing term.

― tonight is what it means to be young (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 5 May 2005 01:24 (twenty years ago)

that said if i had to choose which one i PREFER, definitely the american stuff.

― tonight is what it means to be young (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 5 May 2005 01:25 (twenty years ago)

Well, obviously your definition of "definition" is wildly inaccurate.

― Telephonething, Thursday, 5 May 2005 01:25 (twenty years ago)

i don't think that pat benatar was ever considered "new wave."

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Thursday, 5 May 2005 01:28 (twenty years ago)

i actually prefer nu-rock and techno-pop, which is what they used to call it on the radio where i lived in 1980/1981.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 5 May 2005 01:28 (twenty years ago)

ts: neue deutsche welle vs. polska nowa fala

― tonight is what it means to be young (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 5 May 2005 02:32 (twenty years ago)

If you watch Cheech and Chong's 'Up in Smoke' near the end you'll see an American interpretation of British New Wave long before the term became a catch all definition of music that came later. :)

― Scott Warner (thream), Thursday, 5 May 2005 13:17 (twenty years ago)

And that edition of "Throb" where Sammy Hagar and two actors pretend to be a punk band.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 5 May 2005 13:21 (twenty years ago)

We had this late '70's radio promo thing when I worked in the used record store. IIRC 2 of the acts on it were ramones & talking heads. The text on the sleeve read "new wave; catch it before it washes over you" or something like that. Haha the crap that goes on behind the scenes.

I prefer the american meaning, anyway. Peter Gabriel = New Wave!!

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Thursday, 5 May 2005 13:26 (twenty years ago)

I think the slogan was "New Wave: Get behind it before it gets past you"

― Dr Benway (dr benway), Thursday, 5 May 2005 13:29 (twenty years ago)

Has anyone mentioned the notion/theory that "New Wave" was coined by Sire Records' chief Seymour Stein after a PRESIDENTIAL DECREE FROM JIMMY CARTER attempted to clamp down on Punk Rock?

I promise I'm not making this up.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 5 May 2005 13:35 (twenty years ago)

whichever seymour stein meant. ie. the latter.

Oh whoops, blount. Apologies.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 5 May 2005 13:35 (twenty years ago)

Far be it from me to defend Seymour Stein, but the four Sire bands originally marketed under the "New Wave" name were the Ramones, Dead Boys, Saints and Takling Heads. "New Wave" bands under the later defeinition, like the Cars and, God forbid, the Knack, were on other labels.

― Dr Benway (dr benway), Thursday, 5 May 2005 13:47 (twenty years ago)

Cars and even The Knack were still way closer to what I would define as new wave than Human League or Soft Cell were. The latter were either synthpop or new romantic. I prefer accurate terms, not huge and wide radio programming terms that are meant to describe a radio programming format rather than the actual music.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Thursday, 5 May 2005 18:25 (twenty years ago)

I own that Sire 2-EP comp. It's actually Richard Hell, rather than Ramones. One of my very first glimpses of the "New Wave," which used to annoy my Pure Prairie League-loving roommate no end.

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Thursday, 5 May 2005 18:38 (twenty years ago)

And that edition of "Throb" where Sammy Hagar and two actors pretend to be a punk band.

OH MY GOD THROB!!!! I've been trying to remember the name of that show for like a week!

― kyle (akmonday), Thursday, 5 May 2005 18:41 (twenty years ago)

Has anyone mentioned the notion/theory that "New Wave" was coined by Sire Records' chief Seymour Stein after a PRESIDENTIAL DECREE FROM JIMMY CARTER attempted to clamp down on Punk Rock?
I promise I'm not making this up.

Really? is there an article on that somewhere?

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 5 May 2005 18:54 (twenty years ago)

Well, I remember a cartoon penned by John Holstrom and written by Legs McNeil in a 1985 issue of SPIN (Debbie Harry on the cover). That's probably the first place I heard about it.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Thursday, 5 May 2005 19:27 (twenty years ago)

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