Rock Music and More...: Top 100 Songs of the New Wave Era

Thursday, January 1, 2015

Top 100 Songs of the New Wave Era

New Wave music is a style of music that first came to life in the late 70's with it's roots branching from punk. Some of the earliest new wave groups include Blondie, Talking Heads, The Ramones, Devo and Gary Numan.

New wave includes several sub-genres such as new romantic, ska, electronic, mod, synth-pop, alt-rock, goth and disco.

The following list is my personal Top 100 favorites of the new wave KROQ era of the late 70's through the 80's.

Top 100 Songs of The New Wave Era

100. Take Me To Your Leader – The Sinceros
99. Rock Wrok – Ultravox
98. In The Midnight Hour - Roxy Music
97. The Robots – Kraftwerk
96. Ashes To Ashes – David Bowie
95. Sunday Bloody Sunday – U2
94. Free Nelson Mandela – The Specials
93. Love Will Tear Us Apart – Joy Division
92. Drugs – Talking Heads
91. Cities – Talking Heads
90. Nowhere Girl – B-Movie
89. Heaven – Talking Heads
88. L’Elephant- Tom Tom Club
87. White Wedding – Billy Idol
86. Cars – Gary Numan
85. Three Of A Perfect Pair – King Crimson
84. Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others – The Smiths
83. The Model – Kraftwerk
82. Don’t Care – Klark Kent (Stewart Copeland)
81. Slice Of Life – Bauhaus
80. Broke N Idol – Anthony More (aka Anthony Moore or A. More)
79. Big Mouth Strikes Again – The Smiths
78. Don’t Box Me In – Stan Ridgway & Stewart Copeland
77. Underpass – John Foxx
76. Excess – Klark Kent (Stewart Copeland)
75. We’re Having Much More Fun – X
74. Fire – U2
73. Rock Lobster – B-52’s
72. Scary Monsters – David Bowie
71. She’s Lost Control – Joy Division
70. The Great Curve – Talking Heads
69. Motorcrash – Sugarcubes
68. I Got You – Split Enz
67. Are Friends Electric? – Gary Numan
66. Burning Down The House – Talking Heads
65. Rebel Yell – Billy Idol
64. Genius Of Love – Tom Tom Club
63. Identity – X Ray Spex
62. I Think I’m Go-Go – Squeeze
61. Major Tom – Peter Schilling
60. Computer Games – Mi-Sex
59. White Mice – Mo-Dettes
58. Hong Kong Garden – Siouxsie & The banshees
57. Superman – Kinks
56. All Stood Still – Ultravox
55. Lions – Tones On Tails
54. Mexican Radio –Wall Of Voodoo
53. Nite Klub – The Specials
52. I Spy for The FBI – The Untouchables
51. Bad Connection – Yaz
50. Third Uncle – Brian Eno
49. Can’t Make Love – Wall Of Voodoo
48. Never Let You Down – Depeche Mode
47. It Could Be Sunshine – Love And Rockets
46. Night Train – Visage
45. It’s You, Only You (Mein Schmerz) – Lene Lovich
44. Take me To The River – Talking Heads
43. Ring Of Fire – Wall Of Voodoo
42. Stranger In A Strange Land – U2
41. Young Savage – Ultravox
40. Blue Monday – New Order
39. Diving Girls – Anthony More
38. Roxanne – The Police
37. Me I Disconnect From You – Gary Numan
36. Message In A Bottle – The Police
35. Mad World – Tears For Fears
34. The Great Beautician In The Sky – Magazine
33. Invisible Sun – The Police
32. Moving Pictures – Kinks
31. Into You Like a Train – Psychedelic Furs
30. Red Light – Wall Of Voodoo
29. Baggy Trousers – Madness
28. Eyes Without A Face – Billy Idol
27. On, On, On, On – Tom Tom Club
26. I Must Not Have Bad Thoughts – X
25. Christine – Siouxsie & The Banshees
24. World Service – Anthony More
23. Sowing The Seeds Of Love – Tears For Fears
22. Shot By Both Sides – Magazine
21. Quiet Life – Japan
20. Electric Guitar – Talking Heads
19. One Way Or Another – Blondie
18. I Will Follow – U2
17. Gentlemen Take Polaroids – Japan
16. Oh Yeah – Roxy Music
15. Once In A Lifetime – Talking Heads
14. Chamber Of Hellos – Wire Train
13. Love Is The Drug – Roxy Music
12. Night Boat To Cairo – Madness
11. Judy (Get Down) – Anthony More

The Top Ten

10. Fire In Cairo – The Cure (1979)

Written by: Robert Smith, Michael Dempsey and Lol Tolhurst
Produced by: Chris Parry
Featured On The Album: Three Imaginary Boys
Label: Fiction
Chart Positions: Not released as a single

Fire In Cairo (video)

This song is about a dream or maybe an imagination in the mind (also known as a hallucination). He sees a girl in his mind that he thinks is beautiful. He has her in his arms and it’s hot, it’s like magic, it’s burning hot. But then he realizes it’s only an illusion and she disappears.

This is ultimately one of the great songs of all-time. It’s catchy but catchy in such an underscored manner. This song has been so influential that there’s even a Cure cover band called Fire In Cairo. The song was first released in 1979 on The Cure’s debut album “Three Imaginary Boys.” They didn’t release any singles from the album though many of the songs, including “Fire In Cairo,” have gone on to become classics. The first known recorded version of “Fire In Cairo” is from The Cure’s Peel Sessions recorded on December 4, 1978 and finally released in 1988 on the Strange Fruit label.

Click Here for info on "Three Imaginary Boys" by The Cure

9. Definitive Gaze – Magazine (1978)

Written by: Howard Devoto & John McGeoch
Produced by: John Leckie
Featured On The Album: Real Life
Label: Virgin/IRS
Chart Positions: Not released as a single

Definitive Gaze (Video)

The song is short on lyrics but heavy on powerful feeling and creativity. With this song Magazine sounds very much like early Roxy Music ala Brian Eno meets Bryan Ferry.
“Definitive Gaze” was featured on Magazine’s first studio album “Real Life” and is the title song of the album as the lyrics read, “so this is real life you’re telling me.” Howard Devoto formed Magazine in 1977 after he left the punk band Buzzcocks earlier that year.

Click Here for info on "Real Life" by Magazine

8. You Are In My Vision – Gary Numan & The Tubeway Army (1979)

Written by: Gary Numan

Produced by: Gary Numan
Featured On The Album: Replicas
Label: Beggars Banquet/Atco
Chart Positions: Not released as a single

You Are In My Vision (Video)

I call this “machine rock,” Numan makes great use of synth and beats. “You Are In My Vision” was the perfect blend of the mini-moog and electric guitar. The song has a hard rock sensibility with a robot sort of metallic sound.

There were many aspects of this song that caught my attention, the guitar, the synth sounds, Gary’s robotic lead vocal. But mostly it was the dark and somewhat cold lyrics that really hooked me. It was creative but in a bleak sort of icy way. I was hooked the instant I heard this song and Gary Numan became a lifelong favorite.
“Delicate bodies that decay beneath their clothing. Play cards in an empty house in Paris. The wreckage of a hero lies broken in a corner and everyone pretends they like to live that way. You are in my vision (I can't turn my face) You are in my vision (I can't move my eyes) You are in my vision (I can't move at all) You are in my vision.”

Click Here for more info on "Replicas" by Gary Numan & The Tubeway Army

7. DJ By David Bowie (1979)

Written by: David Bowie, Brian Eno and Carlos Alomar

Produced by: David Bowie and Tony Visconti
Featured On The Album: Lodger
Label: RCA
Chart Positions: #29 UK

DJ (Video)

Crunchy, groovy and arty that is pretty much the mood and feel of Bowie’s 13^th studio album “Lodger” from which DJ is featured. The song is a mocking look at the world of the DJ. DJ is David Bowie’s attempt to sing like David Byrne of the Talking Heads. Probably the best part of the song is Adrian Belew’s guitar solo, which was recorded in multiple takes and then stitched together in the studio for the album. Just for note Adrian Belew is one of my favorite musicians of all-time and during this time period Belew was working on the Talking Heads’ album “Remain In Light” which was produced by Brian Eno. Eno by the way did synthesizers, electronic keyboard, guitars and other work on Bowie’s “Lodger” album. DJ was released as a single only in the UK. RCA felt it was not commercial enough to release in any other markets. The music video for the song was filmed at Earls Court in London in 1979.

Click Here for more info on "Lodger" by David Bowie

6. Transmission – Joy Division (1979)

Written by: Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Ian Curtis
Produced by: Martin Hannett
Featured On The Album: Non-LP later released on the compilation “Substance”
Label: Factory
Chart Positions: #2 New Zealand, #4 UK Indie

Transmission (Video)

“Transmission” is the epitome of Joy Division… gloomy, dark and moody. With the first strains of Ian Curtis’ deep and rough voice you can feel the understated angst and fury of the song. It’s a fury of emotion not a fury of “the world is in peril.” The song is not at all a complex composition the bass line is simplistic and remains the same, without change, all the way through creating a bleak foreboding mood. The repetitious bass line give the song a feeling of grayness and darkness. The repetitive 5-note guitar riff and dark cold synth adds to the coldness of the song. The song reaches a pinnacle as; lead singer Ian Curtis lets out a rough sustained yelp in the last chorus of the song, a scream of sorts. It’s a scream of a man who has reached the end of his rope, he is yelling for help. The song emits loneliness and pain; it’s digs into your soul with a sharpness of emotion.

The lyric “we would have a fine time living in the night,” gives a double sense of living in the carefree moment of nightlife or living in a world of darkness and knowing there is no other choice. The very next line “left to blind destruction, waiting for our sight,” confirms that the world of darkness in this song is desolate and grim and quite possibly not fit for human life. As the song progresses it comes back to that dark nightlife where words are no longer needed, just sound and the beat of the music and all we do is dance, dance, dance, dance, dance to the radio.
“Transmission” was Joy Division’s first single and was released in October 1979. It was a non-album release although due to the popularity of “Transmission” sales of their debut album “Unknown Pleasures” increased tremendously. The song eventually found its way onto the compilation album “Substance,” which was released in 1988. A live performance of “Transmission” was included in the film “24 Hour Party People,” in which Ian Curtis suffers an epileptic fit.
The song has been covered by several well known acts including Low, Complot Bronswick, Bauhaus, Innerpartysystem, Hot Chip and others.

Click Here for more info on "Substance" by Joy Division

5. Big Electric Cat – Adrian Belew (1982)

Written by: Adrian Belew

Produced by: Adrian Belew
Featured On The Album: Lone Rhino
Label: Island
Chart Positions: Non-charting single released in UK, Netherlands, Denmark, Japan

Big Electric Cat (Video)

“Big Electric Cat” is one of those songs I can listen to over and over in amazement. The guitar work is just so fantastic. This hard rocking song beats with great propulsive percussion. Much of Belew’s earliest work was fret with Afro-beat rhythms and percussions most notably his work with Talking Heads and David Bowie. Ted Mills of allmusic.com described the song as “Howling five stringed felines over a propulsive Afro-funk beat.” Belew has always had an attraction for making animal sounds with his guitar. He would add electronic effects and incorporate unusual techniques. In songs such as Tom Tom Club’s “L’Elephant” or King Crimson’s “Elephant Talk” Belew mimic the sound of an elephant with his guitar. He mimics the rhinoceros in his own songs most predominantly in “Big Electric Cat,” in which he also mimics a screaming jaguar.

The song includes layers of Adrian’s vocals and layers of synthesized musical effects and a rhythm that doesn’t end. “Big Electric Cat” is one of the most influential tunes of the 80’s, amongst rock guitarists.

As an interesting sidenote "The Big Electric Cat," named for the Adrian Belew song, was a public access computer system in New York City in the late 1980's, known on Usenet as node dasys1.

Click Here for more info on "Lone Rhino" by Adrian Belew

4. Ghost Town – The Specials (1981)

Written by: Jerry Dammers

Produced by: John Collins
Featured On The Album: None Album Release
Label: 2-Tone
Chart Positions: #1 UK, #3 Ireland, #7 Norway, #12 Netherlands, #15 Belgium, #20 New Zealand, #68 Australia

Ghost Town (Video)

THE SONG THAT DEFINED AN ERA
The song did not just define a musical genre but also social and
governmental unrest. “Ghost Town” was inspired by the recession growing in the UK in the latter part of 1980. Shops were closing down and people were selling their belonging on the streets. It was a time of depression and the UK, in the mind of Jerry Dammers, was becoming a Ghost town, it was a becoming a shadow of it’s former self. The song addresses the decay of a once great country, it’s increasing unemployment and the impending violence and riots on the street. “This town is coming like a Ghost town, all the clubs have been closed down. This place is coming like a Ghost Town, bands won’t play no more. Too much fighting on the dancefloor. Do you remember the good old days before the Ghost Town?”

The song had a huge impact on the UK music scene and the culture of the country. All three major UK music magazines, Melody Maker, NME and Sounds, named the song “Single of the Year” and it topped the UK charts for three weeks.

I love the song for it’s haunting sound of impending doom. Overall this song just gives me chills. One of the best things out of the 80’s.

Click Here for more info on "The Singles Collection"

by The Specials

#3. Roxy Music – The Same Old Scene (1980)

Written by: Bryan Ferry
Produced by: Rhett Davies and Roxy Music
Featured On The Album: Flesh & Blood
Label: Reprise, E.G.
Chart Positions: #12 UK, #27 Belgium, #29 Netherlands, #35 Australia

Same Old Scene (Video)

The best thing about this song is it’s ferocious groove… it is unstoppable. This funk-filled synth tune gets you going and keeps you going. It’s an “up” sound and I love “up” sounds! The Bernard Edwards (Chic) styled bass-line propels the song into a dance craze that is both in your face and mysterious. As with previous Roxy Music songs this one is filled with a good amount of saxophone, which just sets Roxy Music apart from other bands at the time. Right from day one this song became a staple in the London club scene, becoming a classic of sorts. The song got further exposure when it was featured during the opening and closing credits of the 1980 Robert Stigwood/Tim Curry film “Times Square.”

What captures me most about this song? Phil Manzanera’s agile and energetic guitar work, it gets me every time.

Click Here for more info on "Flesh + Blood" by Roxy Music

#2. Pale Shelter – Tears For Fears (1983)

Written by: Roland Orzabal

Produced by: Chris Hughes, Ross Cullum
Featured On The Album: The Hurting
Label: Phonogram, Mercury, Vertigo
Chart Positions: #5 UK, Ireland, #12 Canada, #16 Poland, #25 Germany

Tears For Fears landed their first recording contract in 1981 with Phonogram using a demo recording of “Pale Shelter” and “Suffer The Children.” An early recording of “Pale Shelter” was released as a single in 1982 but did not chart. A year later the song was re-recorded for the 1983 album “The Hurting,” and was released as the third single from that album. At this time the song became a big hit on the charts. After the success of 1985’s “Songs From The Big Chair,” Mercury Records rereleased the 1982 recording of “Pale Shelter” as a single again.

On the meaning of the song Roland Orzabal states, “It’s a kind of love song, though more referring to one’s parents than to a girl.” “You don’t give me love, you give me pale shelter. You don’t give me love, you give me cold hands.”

I relate to this song on many different levels, the lyrics put me in a sense of deep contemplation, while the music puts me in a joyous mood. It’s a song with irony and layers of emotion.

Click Here for more info on "The Hurting" by Tears For Fears

#1. New Dawn Fades – Joy Division (1979)

Written by: Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Ian Curtis
Produced by: Martin Hannett, Joy Division
Featured On The Album: Unknown Pleasures
Label: Factory Records
Chart Positions: Not released as a single

New Dawn Fades (Video)

Chilling and brooding is how I describe this song. Joy Division is the epitome of the directions music in the 80’s was going. Heavy use of rhythms and bass seemed to dominate much of the popular music of the 80’s. Though, Joy Division was highly influential in shaping the direction of rock and club music of the 80’s, they themselves were not present making music as their life as a band came to an unexpected halt in 1980. Due to uncontrollable epileptic seizures, lead singer Ian Curtis fell into a heavy depression and hung himself on May 18, 1980. Two months later the remaining band members began gigging as a trio and later took on the name New Order. As New Order they achieved worldwide success with albums and singles reaching the Top 20 throughout the world.

“New Dawn Fades” is featured on Joy division’s debut album “Unknown Pleasures” released in 1979. The song is built upon a forward moving guitar part played by Bernard Sumner combined with a diminishing bass-line expertly played by Peter Hook. The song ends with a dark and brooding guitar solo. In a rarity for Joy Division “New Dawn Fades,” includes two clear cut guitar parts. One is obscured and pushed toward the back of the mix, the other is a crisp electric guitar played with a forward jangling tone.

The song has been covered by Moby (with cooperation from New Order) and is included on his 1997 compilation “I Like To Score.” Others to cover the song are John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers), The Sight Below and Rheinallt H. Rowlands.