The Go-Go’s emerged from the late 1970s L.A. punk scene. They were originally named the Misfits, and featured core members Charlotte Caffey (lead guitar), Belinda Carlisle (vocals), and Jane Wiedlin (rhythm guitar). Drummer Gina Schock and bassist Kathy Valentine eventually formed the band’s enduring lineup,…
When they formed The Police in London in 1977, Stewart Copeland, Sting, and Andy Summers were all veteran musicians. Copeland had drummed for progressive rock band Curved Air, Sting had played in the jazz fusion band Last Exit, while Summers’…
The Jam formed in 1972 in Woking, a satellite town 20 miles from London. Leader Paul Weller formed a three-piece band with bassist Bruce Foxton and drummer Rick Buckler. The trio were indebted to the 1960s. Weller played a Rickenbacker,…
Robyn Hitchcock started his recording career as the frontman for the Cambridge band The Soft Boys. Kimberley Rew joined on lead guitar. Rew wrote ‘Walking on Sunshine’ for his next band, Katrina and the Waves – one of the biggest hits…
Cleveland, Ohio, has a rich musical history. It has a celebrated orchestra and it hosts the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It also birthed Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, the Raspberries, and Joe Walsh’s James Gang. It still seems an unlikely birthplace…
The punk and new wave movements lowered the barriers to entry to a musical career, promising a more egalitarian future. Yet with the occasional exception, like Debbie Harry, The Go-Gos, and Tina Weymouth, guitar-based music remained a largely male domain…
Robyn Hitchcock started his recording career with the psychedelic new wave band The Soft Boys. They formed in Cambridge, England, originally known as Dennis and the Experts. The lineup that recorded their 1978 debut A Can of Bees featured Hitchcock…
Boston quintet The Cars were arguably the quintessential New Wave band. They combined the back-to-basics approach of new wave, forward-thinking synthesiser textures, and bright power pop melodies. It’s not difficult to see influences from art-rockers David Bowie and Roxy Music…
Hüsker Dü started as a hardcore punk act in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1979. The three-piece featured Bob Mould on guitar and vocals, Grant Hart on drums and vocals, and Greg Norton on bass and occasional vocals. Over their first…
It’s difficult to explain the appeal of Australian indie band The Go-Betweens; Robert Forster and Grant McLennan are neither strikingly talented guitarists nor vocalists. But despite their limitations, they made some great albums during the 1980s, eloquent, literate, melodic, and…
English trio The Police released their first album in 1978. Despite the timing, they weren’t especially punk, something that’s immediately apparent from their choice of band name. The Police were already music industry veterans when they formed – guitarist Andy…
U2 started as a post-punk band, emerging from Ireland with their 1980 debut Boy. Like many bands originating from the DIY ethos of the punk era, they had limitations. Paul Hewson (better known as Bono) became lead singer because the…
The members of The dB’s are all from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, also the birthplace of Mitch Easter (Let’s Active) and Ben Folds. As teens, future dB’s Chris Stamey and Peter Holsapple joined Easter in a band named Rittenhouse Square, playing…
Echo & the Bunnymen vocalist Ian McCulloch started his career in the humbly named Crucial Three, alongside Julian Cope and Pete Wylie. As the Crucial Three morphed into The Teardrop Explodes, McCulloch formed a new band with guitarist Will Sergeant,…
The Talking Heads started out playing in legendary New York club CBGB, effectively the focal point for American New Wave; The Ramones, Television, Patti Smith Group, and Blondie also launched their careers there. While these groups all came from the same place…
Formed in Swindon around songwriters Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding, XTC started their career as a glam band. Their recording career started in 1978, with a pair of abrasive new-wave albums. Once keyboardist Barry Andrews was replaced by guitarist Dave…
Perhaps the most celebrated band to emerge from the 1970s punk movement, The Clash started as a straight-out punk band. But their music soon expanded, incorporating the reggae and dub they heard on London’s streets, as well as venturing into…
The Jam was formed by young teens in Woking, a town on the edge of London. Guitarist and songwriter Paul Weller was eventually joined by drummer Rick Buckler and bassist Bruce Foxton. Like many young bands from the era, The…
Rock music underwent a revolution in the late 1970s. A new generation of acts arrived, often stripping their sound back with basic songs and simple arrangements. Some of these bands failed to make a huge dent commercially, despite critical acclaim.…
Of all the musicians who emerged in the wake of punk in the late 1970s, Elvis Costello perhaps has the richest back catalogue. Musically literate and stylistically restless, in some ways Costello had little in common with the punk movement.…
A plethora of musical acts originated from the CBGBs club in New York in the mid-1970s. The Ramones, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, and Blondie all went on to achieve acclaim, occupying different niches in the punk and new wave spectrum. Television…
These punk and new wave artists are covered briefly below: The B-52’s Time Capsule: Songs for a Future Generation 1998, 7/10Despite ubiquitous songs like ‘Love Shack’ and ‘Roam’, The B-52’s are an acquired taste. I blame it on Aqua; the…
Joy Division were one of several prominent bands who were inspired by the Sex Pistols’ famous 1976 gig in Manchester – members of The Buzzcocks, The Fall, The Smiths, and Simply Red were reportedly also in attendance. Producer Martin Hannett was…
Yet another great musical act to come out of the state of Minnesota (see also Bob Dylan, Prince, Hüsker Dü, and The Hold Steady). The Impediments changed their name to The Replacements after they were banned from most of Minneapolis’s…
