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. Others like U2 and Blondie rode their stripped-down sound to international success.
Punk and new wave allowed a new generation of musicians to gain record deals. But ambitious composers like Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson and Andy Partridge didn’t stay punk for long, instead veering off into different genres.
Major acts that I’m planning to cover include Blondie, X, The Pretenders, and Joe Jackson. Some bands that are new-wave influenced, but who started their careers during the 1980s, like New Order and R.E.M., are covered on the 1980s Review page.
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Boston quintet The Cars were arguably the quintessential New Wave…
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Perhaps the most celebrated band to emerge from the 1970s…
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Of all the musicians who emerged in the wake of…
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The members of The dB’s are all from Winston-Salem, North…
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Echo & the Bunnymen vocalist Ian McCulloch started his career…
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It’s difficult to explain the appeal of Australian indie band…
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The Go-Go’s emerged from the late 1970s L.A. punk scene.…
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Hüsker Dü started as a hardcore punk act in Saint…
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The Jam was formed by young teens in Woking, a…
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Joy Division were one of several prominent bands who were…
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Rob Hirst and Jim Moginie formed Farm in Sydney in…
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English trio The Police released their first album in 1978.…
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The punk and new wave movements lowered the barriers to…
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Yet another great musical act to come out of the…
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Robyn Hitchcock started his recording career with the psychedelic new…
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The Talking Heads started out playing in legendary New York…
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A plethora of musical acts originated from the CBGBs club…
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U2 started as a post-punk band, emerging from Ireland with…
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Formed in Swindon around songwriters Andy Partridge and Colin Moulding,…
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These punk and new wave artists are covered briefly below:…
Read about the discographies of musical acts from the 1960s to the present day. Browse this site's review archives or enjoy these random selections:
I add new blog posts to this website every week. Browse the archives or enjoy these random selections:
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