Fritz's New Wave Relics

[mrbluesky]

This used to be played so much on the indie rock show on local radio in the late 80s.

[acidtripper666]

Sept 30, 2019 9:20:55 GMT -6 Fritz said:

Okay, here's one that's not rare or obscure...

The B-52's "Rock Lobster" from The B-52's (1979)



Hailing from Athens, Georgia, perhaps no other group typified American New Wave music more than The B-52's.  Their quite intentionally kitschy throw-back dance surf music style, complete with bee-hive hairdoos, and unusual guitar tuning made them a natural for parties and this tune in particular was a staple at college fraternity parties in the early 80s.  Hell, they were just fun! 

RIP Ricky

[Fritz]

Nick Gilder "Wild Ones (Feeling Electric)" from Rock America (1980)




English-born Canadian singer/songwriter Nick Gilder is best known for his 1978 #1 Pop hit "Hot Child in the City".   He also wrote songs for the likes of Bette Midler, Joe Cocker, Pat Benatar, and Toni Basil, and the 1984 Top 10 hit "The Warrior" for Scandal, which he co-wrote with Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee, Holly Knight.

"Wild Ones (Feeling Electric)" come from his 1980 Power Pop album Rock America.

[Fritz]

Tubeway Army "Are 'Friends' Electric?" from Replicas (1979)




Tubeway Army was the first band of the electronic era to have a synthesizer-based #1 hit in the UK. After their album Replicas, frontman Gary Numan dropped the Tubeway Army moniker and promoted as just Gary Numan, but the group had the same members. Later in 1979, Gary Numan would break-out worldwide with the hit "Cars".

Trivia: The title of this song "Are 'Friends' Electric?" was a reference to a Philip K. Dick novel, "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"

[mrbluesky]

Love that album. One of the first albums I owned. Includes the creepy Down In The Park.

[MissChromeNun]

Just finished listening to Rock Lobster - loved it! I'm off to check out more of the B-52s' catalog.

[Fritz]

Oct 2, 2019 15:58:50 GMT -6 MissChromeNun said:

Just finished listening to Rock Lobster - loved it! I'm off to check out more of the B-52s' catalog.

Their first two albums (The B-52's & Wild Planet) are great.  Then they had a couple of "meh" records, before having a huge resurgence in 1989 with Cosmic Thing and the Top 40 hits "Love Shack" and "Roam".

[Fritz]

Pseudo Echo "See Through" from Autumnal Park (1984)




This new wave / synthpop act enjoyed considerable success in their native Australia, but is sadly only known as a one-hit-wonder in the USA for their cover of Lipps Inc.'s disco tune "Funky Town", which reached #1 on the pop charts in 1986.

[MissChromeNun]

Oct 3, 2019 6:02:25 GMT -6 Fritz said:

Oct 2, 2019 15:58:50 GMT -6 MissChromeNun said:

Just finished listening to Rock Lobster - loved it! I'm off to check out more of the B-52s' catalog.

Their first two albums (The B-52's & Wild Planet) are great.  Then they had a couple of "meh" records, before having a huge resurgence in 1989 with Cosmic Thing and the Top 40 hits "Love Shack" and "Roam".

Thanks for the recs 

[Fritz]

Blue Angel "Fade" from Blue Angel (1980)




This short-lived retro-rockabilly New Wave band hailed from New York City. They only released the one album. If the lead vocalist sounds familiar, it's because it's Cyndi Lauper, who a few years later would quit her waitress and bar singer gigs to go onto great success as a solo artist.

[Fritz]

Devo "Freedom of Choice" from Freedom of Choice (1980)




Another track from the not-so-obscurity files is the title track from the 1980 break-out 3rd album by Devo. Their single "Whip It" from the same album reached #14 on the Pop charts and got heavy play on the fledgling MTV. Originally formed way back in 1973, Devo virtually were the poster boys for American New Wave in the late 70s and early 80s.

[Fritz]

Zaine Griff "Ashes and Diamonds" from Ashes and Diamonds (1980)




After moving to England in the mid-70s to pursue his musical career, Kiwi-born Zaine Griff was a member of several unsuccessful bands. He also played bass guitar with The Kinks on their album Misfits (1978). Launching his solo career in 1980, many noted his uncanny resemblance to David Bowie and the two even worked together in the studio at the time and this song even sounds a bit like Bowie of the period.

[Fritz]

The Europeans "The Animal Song" - 12" Single (1982)




Not to be confused with the Bristol-based Post-Punk group, Europeans, this New Wave band was composed from the members of the Scottish band, Motion Pictures, and a new keyboard player, Steve Hogarth. They released three albums, but never had much commercial success. "The Animal Song" is probably their best known track.

Trivia: Steve Hogarth later became lead singer for the Neo-Prog group Marillion.

[Fritz]

Duran Duran "Like an Angel" - B-Side of "My Own Way" Single (1981)




This rare synthpop gem from the legendary band was a B-Side not included on the later-released hit album Rio (1982).

[Fritz]

The Stranglers "Golden Brown" from La folie (1981)




Originally formed in 1974, The Stranglers emerged from the UK's punk rock scene in the late 70s to explore a variety of musical styles, from New Wave, Art Rock, and Gothic. Their greatest commercial success came with "Golden Brown", which reached #2 on the UK Singles Chart in 1982.

The unusual alternating time signatures made "Golden Brown" nearly impossible to dance to. The song's lyrics have been described as an aural Rorschach test - people only hear in it what they wanted to hear. Some say it's about heroin, some about a dark-skinned girl. Hugh Cornwell, the song's writer, later confessed it was both.   ;)

"Golden Brown" was later featured in the British crime comedy film Snatch (2000) and has been covered by a number of other acts, including British soul singer Omar (1997) and Cage the Elephant (2017).