Talk:List of New Wave bands and artists

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hi.. just wondering if most people consider 80's U2 as New Wave? I was kind of thrown off by not seeing U2 on the list.. seems like a song like 'New Year's Day' is classic New Wave. (I posted this some time months ago.. just made an account today. --Pulseczar 16:24, 21 May 2006 (UTC))

U2 is post-punk, not New Wave. The genres overlap a bit, so there's some confusion for those unfamiliar with the terms. WesleyDodds 02:42, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

U2 of course should be on the list, they had pure new wave albums (e.g. War and Unforgettable Fire, maybe even Zooropa can be considered also new wave). I added them under U... But J.M.Jarre shouldn't be under new wave, he is - New AGE (like Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schultze, Kitaro, Vangelis, Mark Shrieve etc.) It's however not New WAVE, althought new wave was mostly synth-based (electronic), as we know.

btw, does anyone know how to make columns? (like here on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Classical_era_composers). Maybe having columns would be a good idea. I actually like this classification under letter groups, just much better would be with columns by my opinion.

greetings, Ndru01

At the time U2 was definitely regarded as New Wave with songs as "I Will Follow", "New Years Day", and everything from the "The Unforgetable Fire" album. I was a DJ at the time and played them side by side with Duran Duran and Spandau Ballet. Never heard them being referred to as Post punk, have to say --Bigar 23:39, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

They were certainly referred to as post-punk at the time, and the Simon Reynolds book Rip it Up and Start Again, among other sources, certainly classify them as post-punk. The main issue is that "post-punk" was predominantly used in Britain and only now has come into regular use in America when discussing genres. But yes, U2 is post-punk, not New Wave. WesleyDodds 10:27, 14 August 2006 (UTC)

Contents 1 Bunnymen/Julian Cope/Jesus and Mary Chain 2 The Smiths 3 New Wave hits 4 Are Wham! new wave?

[edit] Bunnymen/Julian Cope/Jesus and Mary Chain

Why should these acts not be classified as New Wave? The Bunnymen started off as post-punk, but even if you don't consider post-punk to be a sub-genre of New Wave, their mid-80s material had definitely moved away from the original post-punk sound. And if Julian Cope isn't New Wave then it makes no sense to include The Teardrop Explodes in the list- they were post-punk, much like the Bunnymen, Cope's solo stuff moved away from that and was unmistakably New Wave.

And if the Jesus and Mary Chain aren't New Wave... then what the heck are they? I'm not trying to start an argument, I just don't see why these artists should not be included in the list, so I'm adding them back until someone can present a convincing counter-argument. User:Mosquitor

While Cope and the Bunnymen are arguable, the Mary Chain are definitely not New Wave. The buzzsaw wall of distortion they employed on their early releases has nothing to do with the genre, and they emerged from the British indie scene which really had nothing to do with and was opposed to New Wave. They're an alternative rock band. WesleyDodds 22:00, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

I can accept your points about the Jesus and Mary Chain; it may be necessary to include links on the page to genres such as alternative rock and indie rock which can be easily confused with New Wave. Though provided that the Bunnymen and Julian Cope are cited frequently in articles about New Wave music, I feel it is at least necessary that these two acts remain listed here. Mosquitor 11:14, 9 May 2006 (GMT)

The Bunnymen are an interesting situation. Certainly they were post-punk, but their later material is comparable to R.E.M., which is what gets them classified as alternative rock as well. I don't see too many people calling them New Wave nowadays, although people who listened to the genre in the 80s probably considered them as such even if they weren't technically part of the genre. I mena, they were on a few John Hughes soundtracks.

I really don't see New Wave becoming confused with alt-rock too often, unless we're talking about shoddly-compiled 80's alternative comps or "classic alternative" radio stations that play Nirvana next to Oingo Boingo (there's a reason for this, but that's a story for another time). New Wave is more confused with post-punk, since they existed at the same time and unless you were paying attention they could be confused as being the same thing. WesleyDodds 02:09, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

As I see it New Wave was exactly that: A wave that swept over the musical landscape and merged many genres, including the much cited Post-Punk. I don't get all these little sub divisions that are made. U2: New Wave - yes, Echo and the Bunnymen - yes, Jesus and the Mary Chain - No, they're more related to (hard) rock than to New Wave. --Bigar 23:39, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] The Smiths

Considerd new wave back then, alt/rock now worth a mention IMO blu_sonic

They seem to only considered New Wave in America, possibly because New Wave stations like KROQ would play them. But even at the time, they were a reaction to New Wave, most notably in that they focused on guitar-driven music instead of synths (yes, I know New Wave isn't exclusively synth-driven, but that was the feeling at the time). WesleyDodds 22:02, 8 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] New Wave hits

Do we really need to list certain bands' best-known songs? WesleyDodds 06:48, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

I am hoping there would be a colberation to fill the hit songs of each band/singer - such as it has already been done to the disco hit songs.--Acidburn24m 09:41, 17 June 2006 (UTC)

In my personal opinion this would be done better by starting a separate article for key songs of the New Wave scene, listed by artist. Mosquitor 22.57, 21 June 2006 (GMT)

I can see where the listing of songs works for the list of disco artists, since you have a number of artists simply dabbling in the style for a single or two, but I don't think it's really necessary for this page. Actually, I don't think it's necessary at all, but that's what I see. WesleyDodds 02:56, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

Mosquitor is right - in my opinion this might be done even better by creating a separate article for key songs of the New Wave scene, listed by artist. are there any more people in favor of this idea? --Acidburn24m 13:01, 29 June 2006 (UTC)

Since no one objected I created a seprate article for Key songs of the New Wave scene. --Acidburn24m 12:06, 2 July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Are Wham! new wave?

I was just wondering, should Wham! be considered a new wave group? A lot of people think they were new wave. I notice on this list that Duran Duran and Culture Club are considered new wave, so it really seems that Wham! should be considered new wave as well, since all three groups had similar images and appealed to largely the same fans.