New Wave is often remembered more for skinny ties and silly haircuts than for musical merits. The Police, Elvis Costello, The Cars and Blondie all lent some respect to the genre,…
Browsing: New Wave
The Police was formed by American drummer Stewart Copeland (who had previously been in Curved Air) in January 1977. Copeland remembered Gordon Sumner – aka “Sting”…
Nick Lowe has probably the greatest ear for melody in the modern world – but this is not just a pop melody composing genius -…
Devo was formed in Akron, Ohio (the rubber town 40 miles away from Cleveland) in 1972 by Kent State art students Jerry Casale and Mark…
The Go-Go’s formed in 1978 as The Misfits – The line-up, at the time, consisted of Belinda Carlisle (vocals), Jane Wiedlin (guitar, vocals), Charlotte Caffey…
The Cars were the most successful American New Wave band in the late 70s/early 80s. With their sleek, mechanical pop-rock, the band racked up a string of…
It was in 1973, at New York’s Boburn Tavern, that former Playboy bunny waitress Deborah Harry met Chris Stein. She was performing as one-third of The Stilettos, who…
The B-52’s formed in 1977 in Athens, Georgia. Kate Pierson had been playing in a folk protest band called The Sun Donuts while raising goats…
Barney Bubbles is a cult figure among other designers but is barely known outside the field. Unlike contemporaries and followers like Peter Saville, Neville Brody,…
The New York club that propelled American rock into the 1970s by launching unsigned and untried bands such as Television, Talking Heads and The Ramones, was started by a…
Though short-lived, The Specials Mk I were punk’s multi-racial idealism made flesh. The group came together almost by osmosis, gathering together the remnants of several…
Born Declan McManus in Paddington in 1954, his family moved to Liverpool when he was 13 where he began writing songs. His father, Ross McManus, was a singer…