As much as I want nothing to do with the state of Florida, I'd be lying if I -- who lives a stone's throw away from several of the most celebrated art museums in the world -- didn't admit to having exhibition envy after seeing this photo from "Torn Apart: Punk + New Wave Graphics, Fashion and Culture, 1976-86," on display through Feb. 2 at the Orlando(!) Museum of Art. (There's probably a snooty joke in here about how only in the Sunshine State would music posters qualify as works of art, but it probably says as much about me as it does them since I totally agree that they are!)
Andrew Dineley writes:
[The exhibition] brings together an extensive collection of punk graphics and ephemera, Malcolm Garrett, MBE’s collection of garments designed by Malcolm McLaren/Vivienne Westwood for Seditionaries and SEX, and Sheila Rock’s photography. One of the most comprehensive punk exhibitions to date, "Torn Apart" highlights the brilliant designs of the era and the designers who created them. Graphic design and music in the punk era were closely fused; designs in print were the public face of the music, with the visual often as important as the music itself. The exhibition includes iconic works by Jamie Reid (Sex Pistols), Peter Saville (New Order/Joy Division), Raymond Pettibon (Black Flag), and Barney Bubbles (Elvis Costello). On view are approximately 400 posters, 200 flyers, 400 pieces of ephemera (zines, clothing, buttons, stickers, etc.), over 30 garments, and 30 photographs by Sheila Rock.
As Prefab Sprout would say: Swoon!
See if you can spot Blondie's "Parallel Lines" and "Eat to the Beat" in the photos above and below.
In addition to transporting me back to my childhood bedroom -- and those of friends Greg and Mark -- I found the cutoff year of 1986 to be interesting. When I surveyed a bunch of my Gen X friends to come up with lists of favorite new wave songs and albums, I got pushback from some for choosing anything beyond 1984, which struck me as a tad premature. I graduated from high school in 1985 -- with Tears for Fears ruling the charts -- and I can't think of a more quintessential new wave band than those guys.
Nonetheless, as appealing as the Orlando show is, I'll be settling for browsing the catalog online as I already have to give money to another problematic state later in the week since we're traveling to Arizona to celebrate my brother Terence's birthday!
In response to Ultimate Classic Rock's recent male-dominated list of the Top 40 new wave albums, I give you my list of 40 new wave favorites.
A couple of caveats: Unlike UCR, I only allowed one album per artist. (Still reeling over the fact that their list had FOUR Talking Heads albums, and THREE Elvis Costello and THREE Devo albums!) Suffice to say, if I'm a fan of Romeo Void's "Benefactor" you can guess that I'm also wild about "It's a Condition" ... and so on. I didn't grow up in a Talking Heads-Costello-Devo environment -- or even David Bowie -- so none of their albums made my list. (Please don't excoriate me for only being a casual fan of all four.)
What's here are the albums I truly love -- not the ones I think I'm supposed to love -- records I have listened to 100+ plus times, that I know every word and every breath of. And it's no surprise that the Top 10 features all female singers. Also, my best "new wave" friend chastised me when I included songs from after 1984 on a list in the past, so I'm using that year as the (I feel random) cutoff point. If I hadn't, the debut albums by Lone Justice, 'Til Tuesday and Pet Shop Boys may very well have made the cut, as well as "The Queen Is Dead" by the Smiths.
Regular readers won't be terribly surprised by many of these. But here's hoping a few of you learn something you'd never heard of before -- and that you send me your picks in the comments so that I may learn a thing or two, too!
I'd never heard of the Scottish band Travis before. But I'm OK with anyone who wants to work with Bangles beauty Susanna Hoffs. The song is apparently the fourth the band has shared from their forthcoming album "10 Songs," having previously released the tracks "Valentine," "A Ghost" and "Kissing in the Wind.")
Frontman Fran Healy told NME of the new video: “This is definitely my Covideo. One of the main prerequisites was to somehow get us all on the same stage and try to capture the spontaneity of a duet while the performers are in different locations.
“Leading up to the shoot, I would send Susanna a video of a great duet. ‘Summer Wine,’ ‘I Got You Babe,’ ‘Islands In The Stream. I hired a small film crew and persuaded Glasgow’s Theatre Royal to open its doors to us. I directed the shoot remotely, via three phones. One in the DP’s ear, one FaceTime trained on the monitor and one iPhone with the band. There were so many moving parts. I’m amazed we got there and it turned out great.”
Susanna seems a little embarrassed by the whole thing, but this is cute.
And speaking of video finds: Over the weekend I discovered the "I.R.S. Presents the Cutting Edge" episode from MTV when the Bangles filled in for host Peter Zaremba of the Fleshtones. It's totally adorable. And how surprised was I to see in the credits that it was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the husband-wife team behind "Little Miss Sunshine" and, more importantly, "Battle of the Sexes." Damian and I actually met them at a Q&A and how I wish I could go back to ask them about this old MTV show.
This, of course, got me all the more excited about the upcoming documentary about I.R.S. Records, home to nearly all the coolest new wave bands, including the Go-Go's, R.E.M., the English Beat, Wall of Voodoo and the Alarm. to Watch the trailer HERE.
The Au Pairs were one of those out-of-reach artists I grew up hearing about in the British press, along with A Certain Ratio, the Monochrome Set and Cabaret Voltaire. Their names constantly appeared on the pages of NME and Melody Maker and in my Rock Yearbooks. But with no songs on U.S. radio or videos on MTV -- and no allowance and babysitting jobs that paid $1 an hour -- it was virtually impossible to know what they sounded like. Perhaps this is part of the reason why I have virtually no space in my brain for actually new music -- too busy playing catch up from the the post-punk era on.
The closest I came to the Au Pairs was during their brief performance of "Come Again" in "Urgh! A Music War." Although my brother Bill brought home a review copy of the soundtrack during his summer internship at the Phoenix Gazette, no further Au Pairs purchases followed. (With songs by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Magazine, the Go-Go's, Toyah Willcox, the Fleshtones, Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, X, XTC, Devo, the Cramps, Oingo Boingo, Dead Kennedys, Gary Numan, Klaus Nomi, Wall of Voodoo, Pere Ubu, Steel Pulse, Surf Punks, 999, the Alley Cats, UB40, Echo & the Bunnymen and the Police, there was a lot to unpack there!)
But the Au Pairs were definitely a band I would have enjoyed contemporaneously. Formed in Birmingham in 1978 and fronted by the gifted feminist Lesley Woods, the Guardian said their songs have "contempt for the cliches of contemporary sexual politics" while the New York Times compared their sound to Gang of Four and the Young Marble Giants.
Today's pick is "It's Obvious," a 1980 single that actually hit No. 37 on the U,S, Billboard Club Play Singles charts It's just one of several songs that I am kicking myself over for not including on my list of forgotten gems by women-led new wave bands.
Here is the latest installment of forgotten gems by women-led new wave bands, this time by my Michigan childhood best friend Mark, whose hilarious Twitter account can be followed HERE.
For now it's the last one. But if you'd like to submit your own list, I would love to see it. Email me here.
The Pandoras, 'Stop Pretending' (1986)
I discovered The Pandoras the same way Kenneth's brother Bill discovered the Catholic Girls -- I loved the cover of their first album, “It’s About Time,” when I saw it on the wall at Off the Record in Royal Oak, Mich. Bought it and loved the garage sound of all of the fun songs. Fast-forward a few years later and they released the brilliant “Stop Pretending.” The lineup changed a bit but as long as Paula Pierce, Melanie Vammen, and Kim “The Muffs” Shattuck were in the band I was happy!
The Cucumbers, 'My Boyfriend' (1983)
This is the only song I know by this band. I had a promotional copy of the LP but no other song caught my ear like the fun, perfect song, “My Boyfriend.” I still know no other song by them and I don’t care to. :)
Vertical Pillows, 'Jump Back' (1985)
I was obsessed with these Detroit darlings' 45 single "Jump Back" and another song they had called "Born to Love." I always thought they'd be much bigger than they ever became, but, at least we have YouTube.
Nikki and the Corvettes, 'Summertime Fun' (1980)
I should’ve just purchased anything on Bomp! records in the '80s. There’s no question I would’ve loved it including another Detroit band that put out that fast new wave beach sound. The manager of the record store where I worked (Record Outlet in Roseville, Mich.) knew Nikki personally and I was star-struck just knowing someone who KNEW Nikki Corvette! They were mildly popular in the Detroit area and from what I heard, Nikki went to Hollywood after the band broke up to try her hand at acting. My manager, Lynn, told me Nikki played a waitress in a scene in “Body Heat” but, “Don’t blink or you’ll miss her!” That’s all I know about the band and her other than the fact that I loved this album and have no idea what happened to the vinyl I used to have of it. I’m sure I sold it to a used record store when I needed a few bucks back then. We’ve Got a Fuzzbox (and We’re Gonna Use It), 'Spirit in the Sky' (1986)
Another album I bought just because of their look and the fact that they were all girls! Saw them once at St. Andrews Hall in Detroit. One member (Jo?) had a broken leg but did the concert with a cast and on crutches. The sound was pure "fuzzbox" sound -- which is how they got their name. An accidental sound they got out of their amplifiers they decided to make their trademark!
Unit 3 With Venus, 'Pajama Party' (1982)
Classic L.A. KROQ fun new wave! I don't know much more than that about this early '80s fun group!
Karen Finley, 'Tales of Taboo' (1986)
I think everyone knows "Tales of Taboo" from performance artist Karen Finley but just in case. I never saw her smear yams on her ass in concert, but always wanted to. :)
Anne Clark, 'Our Darkness' (1984)
This song and the next are PURE TODD'S -- the greatest new wave/gay club Detroit ever had! Every Monday and Thursday night you could hear these two songs BLASTING as you walked drunkenly through the cloud of cloves at the front door!
Vicious Pink,'“Cccan’t You See' (1984)
See "Our Darkness." Pat Wilson, 'Bop Girl' (1983)
Super fluff lightweight pop/new wave Australian songstress Pat Wilson. I only knew this one song by her but I hear she was pretty big Down Under.
Lene Lovich, 'New Toy' (1981)
Detroit's own Lene had two BRILLIANT songs that I know of and I'll bet you do, too! "New Toy" and "Lucky Number"! I could play both over and over 24/7.
Nina Hagen, 'Born in Xixax' (1982)
This song is not only hilarious, it's THE sound I loved most from Nina Hagen. "Nunsexmonkrock" and "In Ekstasy" were two of my favorite '80s albums of all time.
Bonus:
The 'B' Girls, 'Fun at the Beach' (1979)
Just discovered this all-female band (1977-1981) from Toronto while looking to make sure I didn't miss anyone for this list and thank God I checked! Yet another album I would've purchased just based on the cover. This song is the epitome of the fast new wave/beach music sound I have always loved!
NOTE FROM KENNETH:
The ‘B’ Girls with (Debbie & Nigel Harrison of) Blondie and Rodney Bingenheimer at the Whisky a Go Go in 1979. (Photo by Theresa Kereakes)
The "B" Girls first came to my attention when they were credited with singing backup on the song "Live It Up" on Blondie's "Autoamerican" album. (Legend has it the movie "The Fabulous Stains" was inspired by the "B" Girls.) Model Citizen has more about their story -- relocating from Toronto to NYC's downtown CBGB/Max's scene, opening for the Clash, B-52s, Undertones, demos produced by Debbie Harry ("Two Hearts"), and interest from Phil Spector and IRS Records -- HERE.
Although they were robbed of a major-label deal, the band's collected recordings were released on CD in 1997 under the title "Who Says Girls Can't Rock."
Do you remember the first time you met Debbie Harry?
Ross: It was probably at a show at CBGBs or Max’s … Debbie gave me sage advice about the music business and also introduced me to her lawyer early on. I have a lot of respect for her. She’s extremely talented, and in control of her career. The ‘B’ Girls opened for Blondie a few times in Toronto and we became friends. Debbie came to a lot of our New York shows and once she agreed to produce us she did our sound at a show. She did this to prepare for the studio. In the studio she was fantastic. We trusted her and she knew our sound. She didn’t try to change anything about us. She just captured who we were. Debbie produced two songs for us in 1980. They are on our record that recently came out on Bomp. When I gave her a copy … she said “Congratulations, you really deserve it!” We are still friends and she hasn’t changed with success.
Here is the latest installment of forgotten gems by women-led new wave bands, this time by my friend and noted DJ Bruce "Taffy" Derfler. So many great ones -- I had totally forgotten about this funky M+M song that got played on MTV a decent amount. Best discovery: I had no idea "Crazy" was a cover -- I only knew the R.E.M. version!
Altered Images, 'Don't Talk to Me About Love' (1983)
Perfectly, girlishly helium vocals from Claire Grogan backed with heavenly new wave gone disco on my fave track of theirs.
Belle Stars, 'Sign of the Times' (1983)
Seven women strong, rising from the ashes of the Bodysnatchers, a Dutch friend sent me a cassette back in (I think) 1983 with "Sign of the Times" on it and i fell in love with its quirky charms.
Blue Angel, 'Maybe He'll Know' (1980)
Before Cyndi Lauper was a solo superstar, she was the singer in this groovy little rockabilly combo. "Maybe He'll Know" was a bouncy highlight of their only album (beware the inferior remake on "True Colors"!).
Book of Love, 'I Touch Roses' (1985)
Three women, one gay dude, gorgeously minimal yet lush synthpop.
Bush Tetras, 'Too Many Creeps' (1983)
Slashing, funky post-punk from downtown NYC. "Too Many Creeps" is iconic.
Dominatrix, 'The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight' (1984)
This mysterious act only ever produced one song, but what a doozy. "The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight" combined icy new wave with Latin freestyle and was the epitome of mid-'80s New York cool.
Lene Lovich, 'Lucky Number' (1978)
Maybe not forgotten, but totally underrated. More quirkiness, a new wave pogo classic!
M+M, 'Black Stations/White Stations' (1984)
"Echo Beach" was the great pop single, but I'm going for the later "Black Stations/White Stations," a sturdily funky dance track with a great anti-racism lyric.
November Group, 'Work That Dream' (1985)
Seminal Boston synth band with a chilly Teutonic sound and image...sort of a Kraftwerk with less smiling! They released three EPs, a high point being this gem.
The Photos, 'I'm So Attractive' (1979)
Wendy Wu led these Brits through a quick run of bouncy power-pop tunes, best exemplified by this one.
Pylon, 'Crazy' (1981)
Pivotal to the Athens (Georgia) postpunk scene, this moody little band fronted by Vanessa Briscoe always had more critical than popular acclaim, but was much lauded by their peers in the B-52s and R.E.M., who covered this song. "Crazy" is jittery pop music for weirdos.
Tribe, 'Abort' (1987)
Maybe a bit of a cheat, as they were a late '80s band, huge in Boston, unknown elsewhere. Janet LaValley's strong moody vocals set the tone for this rock song with tension so thick you could cut it with a knife.
EDITOR'S NOTE: I previously linked to Brian Ferrari's list of forgotten new wave classics by women, but wanted to share it in its entirety here for people who didn't have time to click through.
He writes:
Last week, the New York Times posted a piece by Doug Brod titled 12 Forgotten Classics by Women-Led New Wave Bands. Brod writes: “... for every Kate Bush, Blondie, Bow Wow Wow or Go-Go, there were lesser-known female artists who exuded both sharp, shoulder-padded glamour and beehived, boho cool, often mixed with quick wit and sass.”
It’s an admirable dozen, evenly weighted with some of my favorites (the Waitresses, Josie Cotton, Rachel Sweet, Pearl Harbor & the Explosions, the Passions, Holly & the Italians) and tracks I had forgotten or never heard before (the Cosmopolitans, Nervus Rex, Spider, Robin Lane & the Chartbusters, Pulsallama, Suzanne Fellini).
Kenneth Walsh of KennethInThe212 blog posted a link to the article noting “I guess every writer finds himself saying, ‘How did I not write this’ at some point or another ... Seriously, how did I NOT write this?”
I thought I would take the bait and compile my own list. And here we are:
Of course, “forgotten” is subjective. Is the Flirts’ "Don’t Put Another Dime in the Jukebox" forgotten just because nobody can remember the band name or mis-identifies them as the Bangles? If I say “I might like you better if we slept together” to the most casual fan of new wave music and they get the reference but can’t place the band, does that make Romeo Void forgotten? Can a song be considered forgotten when it is on the soundtrack of one of the most popular video games of all time? (I’m looking at you, Passions. With a side-eye towards Romeo Void as well).
Both of these lists assume that you are already familiar with prominent post-punk / new wave acts like the Raincoats, Marine Girls, Slits, Go-Go’s, Blondie, Berlin, Eurythmics, Motels, Altered Images, Bananarama, Divinyls, Missing Persons, Pretenders, Kim Wilde, Siouxsie, Yaz, Nena, Lena, Nina… the list goes on.
So -- now that I have set the playing field, here are my picks -- chosen by a middle-aged New Yorker who still loves the music of the '80s but with little nostalgia for the decade. The music was great, but it was the pits to live through. Don’t kid yourself.
The Shirts, 'Laugh and Walk Away' (1979)
The Shirts were the CBGB’s band that got away. Rubbing shoulders with the Ramones, Blondie and Talking Heads did not lead to worldwide success, although they garnered a few hits in Europe. "Laugh and Walk Away" was a single from their second LP, "Streetlight Shine." Post-1981 breakup, lead singer Annie Golden’s "Hang Up the Phone" was a highlight of the "Sixteen Candles" soundtrack. Her eclectic career is now in its fifth decade, spanning film ("Hair"), Broadway ("Leader of the Pack"), and television ("Cheers," "Orange Is the New Black"). By all accounts she’s also one of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet. And the Shirts do get back together from time to time.
Hilary, 'Drop Your Pants' (1983)
Hilary Blake released one EP -- the Stephen Hague-produced "Kinetic." Both the title tune and "Drop Your Pants" were voted “Screamer of the Week” -- the coveted top-voted song by listeners to New York’s influential WLIR alternative radio station. "Drop Your Pants" -- with a repetitive pulsating chorus of “Drop you pants around your ankles / You make me shiver when you deliver” was a commentary on how ridiculous the fear of sex in United States was.
Hilary and Hague were married for many years but had divorced before she died of cancer in 2007.
Jane Aire and the Belvederes, 'Breaking Down the Walls of Heartache' (1979)
Jane Aire, aka Jane Ashley was one of several acts (the Waitresses and Rachel Sweet among them) featured on Liam Sternberg’s Akron compilation LP. Like Chrissie Hynde before her, Ashley left the wilds of Ohio to record in London, where her Belvederes were the U.K. band also known as the Edge: Lu Edmonds, Gavin Povey, Glyn Havard and Jon Moss (later of Culture Club).
Following a couple of Stiff singles, an LP was released on Virgin with background vocals provided by Ms. Sweet and Kirsty MacColl. The album features several choice covers: Pearl Harbour & the Explosions’ "Driving," the Supremes’ "Come See About Me," and this Northern Soul classic by Johnny Johnson & His Bandwagon, which was also later recorded by Dexy’s Midnight Runners.
Mari Wilson, 'Just What I Always Wanted' (1982)
Mari Wilson was the epitome of the “beehive boho cool” that Brod writes about in the New York Times piece. And the foot-high beehive was her real hair. Do other people consider this song forgotten? It’s a default earworm in my head, so my perception may be off. But I am happy to introduce it to anyone who doesn’t know it. "Just What I Always Wanted" was Wilson’s biggest hit -- reaching the U.K. top 10 accompanied by a video that gave glimpses of the dynamic stage show Mari and her Wilsations were famous for. As it turned out, being a pop star wasn’t just what she always wanted, and she moved on to successful forays in jazz and stage musicals. Wilson may not have garnered more pop hits, but her catalog is considerable and definitely worth checking out.
Face to Face, '10-9-8' (1984)
Laurie Sargent fronted the Boston-based quintet Face to Face. In the 1984 movie "Streets of Fire," the fictional band Ellen Aim and the Attackers were played onscreen by Diane Lane and the male members of Face to Face, with Lane lip-synching Laurie‘s lead vocals on several tracks. "10-9-8" was Face to Face’s debut single on Epic Records and also their biggest hit -- peaking at #38 on the U.S. Billboard Top 100.
Book of Love, 'Boy' (1985)
"Boy" was the debut single by Book of Love, a New York by way of Philadelphia synthpop band fronted by Susan Ottaviano. Signed by Seymour Stein to his Sire Records, the band gained exposure opening for Depeche Mode on their 1985 and 1986 tours.
Although "Boy" was popular enough in NY to become a WLIR “Screamer of the Week” in February 1985, the song did not chart nationally until 2001, when a Peter Rauhofer remix topped the U.S. Dance Charts. In a 2016 Village Voice interview, keyboardist/songwriter Ted Ottaviano revealed that the song was written about the gay East Village night spot Boy Bar.
Burns Sisters Band, 'I Wonder Who’s Out Tonight' (1986)
Nowadays, Ithaca, N.Y.’s Burns Sisters are a well-regarded folk duo with 10 albums under their belt. Back in the mid-'80s, the Burns Sisters Band launched as a quintet of siblings giving the Bangles a run for their money. Marie, Annie, Jeannie, Sheila and Terry had the WLIR “Screamer of the Week” with this single in July of 1986 -- perfect listening while "takin’ the time to do your hair / puttin’ on something HOT to wear."
The Tourists, 'So Good to Be Back Home Again' (1980)
The Tourists’ output included three LPs and a handful of hit singles in their native U.K. A peppy cover of Dusty Springfield’s "I Only Wanna Be With You" scraped the U.S. charts as well. Keyboardist Ann Lennox shared lead vocal duties with guitarist Pete Coombs. There was also a guy named David Stewart in the band. After the Tourists split in 1980, David and Ann went on to do some other stuff you may have heard of, but their Tourists output is seldom mentioned and definitely worth a revisit, starting with this track -- a top 10 hit in the U.K. and Ireland.
November Group, 'Put Your Back to It' (1983)
I actually ventured into the comments section of the NYT article (I know -- the comments section can be a scary place. But for the most part, this time it wasn’t.) There were quite a few mentions of this alt band from the Boston new wave scene. November Group formed in the early 1980s with Ann Prim and Kearney Kirby, both previously of Wunderkind. "Put Your Back to It" was a single from their second LP, "Persistent Memories."
Suburban Lawns, 'Janitor' (1981)
“What do you do?”
Su Tissue was trying to have a conversation in a noisy room. She misheard the response “I’m a janitor” as “Oh, my genitals.” And a song chorus was born. Suburban Lawns was formed in Long Beach, Calif., in 1978 by CalArts students William “Vex Billingsgate” Ranson and Sue “Su Tissue” McLane. Their first single, "Gidget Goes to Hell," may be more likely to turn up on new wave compilations, but "Janitor" -- the lead single from their self-titled IRS LP -- is an overlooked gem.
Cristina, 'Is That All There Is?' (1980)
This slashing cover of the Peggy Lee classic was produced with broken glass and cuckoo clocks by August Darnell, a.k.a. Kid Creole. When the single was originally released in 1980, songwriters Lieber and Stoller successfully sued to have it withdrawn, objecting to the lyric changes embracing drugs, physical abuse and the club scene. They later changed their mind.
Cristina, aka New York socialite Cristina Monet-Palaci Zilkha, recorded two highly regarded but commercially unsuccessful albums for ZE records before turning her attention elsewhere. She succumbed to coronavirus at the age of 64 on March 31, 2020.
And as sure as I’m standing here talking at you, I was not ready for that kind of a come down.
Strawberry Switchblade, 'Let Her Go' (1985)
Strawberry Switchblade -- Jill Bryson and Rose McDowall -- were a Glasgow duo formed in 1981. They released one album and had a top 5 U.K. hit with "Since Yesterday." Follow-up single "Let Her Go" and a synthpop cover of Dolly Parton’s "Jolene" also charted -- especially in Japan -- before the duo split in 1986. Both continued to make music but were unable to recreate their Switchblade success.
Following Doug Brod's epic list of forgotten songs by women-led new wave bands HERE, my friend Brian Ferrari wrote his HERE followed by mine HERE.
Today we have my friend Christopher Schelling's list, which he describes as a "Baker's Dozen (Offshore Edition)." As was the case with the previous two, I concurred with a couple songs (Dolly Mixture, the Primitives), was reminded of a couple I'd completely forgotten (Jane Siberry, Young Marble Giants) and, best of all, learned about a bunch I'd never heard of before.
Enjoy!
Fay Lovsky, 'Maggie' (1981)
Lovsky is a Dutch artist who has been releasing interesting music since 1980 and she's still at it and still good. I didn't know her until a 1996 album that bounces wildly amongst genres and features her on theremin and musical saw. Her '80s output is vast -- tuneful and slightly strange, like Kirsty MacColl if she came from Amsterdam.
Jane Siberry, 'Mimi on the Beach' (1984)
She's always been genreless but Siberry's early works arguably fall under the new wave banner. This is a three-minute video edit of an eight minute epic, one of her specialties. She should be a Canadian national treasure and she should have had Kate Bush's audience. I can't say I loved the direction she was going by the late '90s but she made five superb albums in a row from 1984-1993 and she has always followed her singular vision.
Hazel O'Connor, 'Writing on the Wall' (1980)
O'Connor's main claim was starring in "Breaking Glass," a rags-to-riches-to-mental-institution British musical film (produced by Dodi Fayed). She had a credible, strident new wave voice and she wrote all the songs but it doesn't seem to have launched her. I like that this song is over the film's opening credits, a musical number on the filthy underground.
Jo Kennedy, 'Temper Temper' (1982)
This Australian musical has a couple decent songs but unless my memory is unkind (and I mean, imagine that), it's a really bad movie. Shockingly, it was Gillian Armstrong's second film, after "My Brilliant Career." I guess this character was supposed to be a Cyndi Lauper-type, and the plot is about prize money in a singing contest, very much like a Brady Bunch episode. There was also a cute bouncy number that was a minor U.K. hit.
Martha & the Muffins, 'Echo Beach' (1980)
Canadian one-hit wonders. The song got some decent U.S. airplay back in the day -- maybe enough that it doesn't count as "forgotten." I looked them up a few years ago and they'd reformed and recorded a children's Christmas song and...well, I stopped looking. But this is a classic.
The Primitives, 'Crash' (1988)
1988 is too late for new wave purists but try and tell me this isn't classic new wave melody and production minus the synths. Plus the singer's name is Tracy Tracy. Deal sealed. The song had a life on the "Dumb & Dumber" soundtrack and the band put out solid jangly Brit pop into the '90s.
Les Calamites, 'Velomoteur' (1987)
This girl group, the "French Go-Go's" if their own press was to be believed, had a grittier sound in the mid-'80s, but they were definitely descendants of the ye-ye girls from the '60s. I thought I'd found a cool international girl group until a French guy told me, "It's a song about riding around on a moped. It's for 12-year-old girls."
Algebra Suicide, 'True Romance at the World's Fair' (1982)
It's more "Laurie Anderson-esque spoken word over drum machine and guitar drone" than "song" but clocking in at 1:39, it fit neatly at the end of many a new wave mix tape. (Speaking of tapes, the initial graphic for the YouTube video is of a Trouser Press cassette sampler I had that came in a can. It would probably be worth something in mint condition now but instead I played the hell out of it and it brought a different kind of wealth.) The broad Chicago accent is its own music, especially in this rare live clip.
Young Marble Giants, 'Final Day' (1980)
Technically post-punk not new wave, this Welsh band released one album and broke up before I ever knew of them. Kurt Cobain loved the album and Hole later covered one of their songs. It's stark and minimalist with a lot of dark gems under two minutes.
The Revillos, 'Bitten by a Love Bug' (1984)
Originally formed as the Rezillos in Edinburgh, there was a clear B-52's feel to their punk sound. The lead guitarist and songwriter left and eventually became part of the Human League, and the Rezillos rebranded as the Revillos with an extra dose of '60s girl group.
Dolly Mixture, 'Miss Candy Twist' (1983)
Janglepop girl group Brit new wave. They were named for a U.K. candy assortment of gumdrops and gross things that look decades old. I'm sure we had a disgusting counterpart but I hope it disappeared with the 20th century. Anyway, sweet song.
Karen Marks, 'Won't Wear It for Long' (1981)
Another one who's barely known outside her native Australia, Marks is credited as their first female new wave artist but she disappeared shortly after releasing one album, the appropriately titled "Cold Cafe."
Canadian geek honorable mention:
Eva Everything, 'Boob Tube' (1984)
I doubt this was even a hit in her homeland, where they probably weren't ready for a tamer, blonde, brightly-colored Lena Lovich. Pretty sure this came up once in a Jane Siberry search.
Follow Christopher on Twitter HERE and read his hilarious posts on Medium HERE.
My music friends and I have been reeling since Doug Brod's "12 Forgotten Classics by Women-Led New Wave Bands" piece ran in the New York Times, asking ourselves why we didn't pitch it first. (I thought *I* invented Holly Beth Vincent and *I* was the only one who went around quoting "No Guilt" by the Waitresses!)
In it, Brod writes, "For every Kate Bush, Blondie, Bow Wow Wow or Go-Go, there were lesser-known female artists who exuded both sharp, shoulder-padded glamour and beehived, boho cool, often mixed with quick wit and sass.”
How right he is. So instead of kicking myself further, I decided to add to his impressive list and ask other friends to do the same. One of them, Brian Ferrari, was already on the case. His LIST -- like Brod's -- caught me off guard by introducing me to a few gems I didn't know about at all, while also concurring on things I love and reminding me of others I'd completely forgotten.
So without further ado, here's mine. And as other friends' lists come in, I'll be sure to share them as well.
The Vels, 'Look My Way' (1984)
L
The Vels were a synth-pop trio from New York City by way of Philadelphia led by singer Alice DeSoto. Many of their songs could be mistaken for early Madonna demos ("Day After Day,""Tell Me Something"). But it was their MTV hit, "Look My Way," -- featuring bandmate Chris Larkin on co-lead vocals and a bit of a post-"Rapture" white-girl rap -- that earned them a place on the Billboard Hot 100 and in my heart. Larkin, who died in 2007, exited following the first album, and after one LP as a duo, she and Charles Hanson disbanded. Alice went back to her real name (Cohen) when she started singing for Die Monster Die and later Espadrille as well as numerous solo albums -- but she'll always be the fun girl in the quirky video singing "everybody, if you can't get down get up!” to me.
Eurogliders, 'Heaven (Must Be Here)' (1984)
Although "Heaven (Must Be Here)" was an enduring hit in their Aussie homeland, the Eurogliders barely made a dent here in the U.S., Still, singer Grace Knight's spiritual voice has stayed with me nearly four decades later. “Heaven” is the lead track off the group’s 1984 sophomore LP, "This Island." a shamefully overlooked masterpiece of the era. Next I need to compile a list of bands whose second record was their best, starting with these guys and Blondie.
Slow Children, 'President Am I' (1981)
Slow Children have long been my obscure '80s trivia trump card -- a brilliant new wave band that not even the most diehard music fans of the genre have ever heard of. Which is a shame. Pal Shazar (vocals) and Andrew Chinich (everything else) had Stephen Hague and Jules Shear at the helm when they recorded two idiosyncratic albums that combined quirky themes and lyrics -- about domesticity, world travel (“I’m on my knees for a ticket to France”), Lolita, Brazilian magazines -- with unique arrangements, They were loved by the likes of Trouser Press, Richard Blade and book nerds everywhere. And Jean Cocteau's "The Blood of a Poet" inspired one of their album covers and Robert Mapplethorpe shot another.
Yet the closest they came to stardom was this video for "President Am I," a song that goes into heavy rotation at my house every four years. The clip was only in light rotation on MTV. But the scene where Pal sings "Ice in a vodka ... a touch of lime. I'm not running for president, am I?" as she suddenly appears in her highball glass next to a giant straw was featured in an MTV promo alongside Yaz(oo)'s "Don't Go," making it a familiar sight to fans of the music channel's earliest days on the air.
Dolly Mixture, 'Baby, It's You' (1980)
I discovered these British birds when they sang backup on Captain Sensible's "Wot," an early treat on MTV. And then I fell in love with them when I found an import 45 in the used bin at Roads to Moscow in Tempe, Ariz., of their cover of "Baby, It's You.," which it turns out they hated and disowned. I still adore it -- and everything on their (avowed) double album, "Demonstration Tapes." ("New Look Baby" will knock your socks off!) These days I enjoy seeing bassist/vocalist Debsey Wykes sing backup for Saint Etienne whenever they cross the pond.
Killer Pussy, 'Pepperoni Ice Cream' (1983)
Growing up in uncool (literally and figuratively) Phoenix in the late '70s and early '80s wasn't ideal. So we felt incredibly fortunate to have a "cool" band like Killer Pussy to call our own. Led by the charismatic Lucy La Mode with songs like "Teenage Enema Nurses in Bondage" (a KROQ favorite), "Pocket Pool," "Herpes" and "Dildo Desire," we thought of them as the NC-17 answer to the B-52s. ("Moist Toilette" was a note-by-note spoof of Grace Jones's "Warm Leatherette"!) "Pepperoni Ice Cream" was the closest they ever came to mainstream, which is kind of like saying "Polyester" was John Waters playing it straight.
Bonnie Hayes With the Wild Combo, 'Shelley's Boyfriend' (1982)
Bonnie Hayes was known for two quintessential power pop songs in the early '80s that gained new wave credibility after being included on the soundtrack to the punk Romeo & Juliet, "Valley Girl." "Girls Like Me" was the one I fell for first. But it was "Shelley's Boyfriend," originally recorded in 1981 with her band called the Punts, that was her finest three minutes. Hayes, whose brother was in Huey Lewis's News, later worked with Belinda Carlisle, Bonnie Rait, Billy Idol and others.
The Catholic Girls, 'C'est Impossible' (1982)
My brother Bill bought the Catholic Girls’ eponymous debut album based on the cover alone. We were obsessed with "Beauty and the Beat" and the Bangles' debut EP and just itching for the next big girl thing. Although I was initially creeped out by the religious overtones -- I was raised without ever setting foot in a church, and the sight of a crucifix, rosary beads or a prayer card in a friend's house made me really uncomfortable as a kid -- I came to appreciate the clever songwriting and Gail Peterson's unusual vibrato.
Tracie Young, 'The House That Jack Built' (1983)
As an obsessed fan of the Jam and the Style Council, I was overjoyed when Paul Weller started his own label and began recruiting new artists. There were quite a few to love -- the Questions and Big Sound Authority come to mind -- but by far the best was Tracie Young, or Tracie! as it was styled on her records. As someone who prefers female vocalists, Tracie -- only a teen when she signed on -- was just what the music doctor ordered: a blue-eyed soul singer under Paul’s tutelage, staring off by singing backup on the Jam's final single and the Style Council's first. Although she served her mentor well over the course of a handful of singles and two albums (one released after the fact) -- "I Can't Leave You Alone," "Nothing Happens Here but You" and "You Must Be Kidding" remain timeless -- "The House That Jack Built," her first release, wound up being her biggest if not most memorable one of all.
Kirsty MacColl, 'See That Girl' (1981)
The closest Americans ever came to appreciating Kirsty MacColl was when Stiff label mate Tracey Ullman covered "They Don't Know" back in 1983, or perhaps if they've ever heard the Pogues' profane Christmas classic, "Fairtyale of New York." But a deeper dive into the catalog of the singer/songwriter -- who died in a freak accident in 2000 at just 41 years of age -- reveals she was one of the most clever artists of the era, incorporating punk, country, new wave and girl-group sensibilities into her repertoire, perhaps never better than on this one. (MacColl made Brian Ferrari's list as a backing vocalist for Jane Aire and the Belvederes, who were also on Stiff.)
Shell & the Crush, 'When You Look My Way' (1983)
This was a real shocker at the time. Shell Kepler, who played goody-two-shoes nurse Amy Vining on "General Hospital," must have tired of Dr. Noah Drake getting all the attention, so released a five-song EP of new wave songs under the moniker Shell & the Crush. (She even wrote her own material!) Perhaps the most surprising thing of all? It was kind of great. (Also check out "Popular Girl.") Kepler died of kidney failure on Feb. 1, 2008, at 49.
Dislocation Dance, 'Show Me' (1983)
Dislocation Dance was a post-punk band from Manchester who reminded me a little of Haircut 100 with a fun-girl twist. One critic said they were a group "out of time -- too eclectic to cross over into a mainstream," which is to say heaven.
Velveteen, 'Nightline' (1983)
And lastly, one of the best things about these lists is being able to learn about music that slipped through the cracks, which happened regularly in the pre-internet days. Same goes for writing a blog. Velveteen -- led by singer Lisa Burns and bassist Sal Maida -- look and sound exactly like the kind of music I grew up with, yet I didn't discover them until a reader alerted me to them about a decade ago. (The same person also introduced me to the Passions, who made Doug Brod's New York Times list.) Velveteen released just one six-song EP, "After Hours," but it didn't take long for it to register as an "old" favorite.
Honorable mentions
These two maybe don't technically qualify as new wave, but are lost gems by women of a similar vein more people should know about.
Voice of the Beehive, 'Don't Call Me Baby' (1988)
Pure pop perfection from the Anglo-American band formed in London in 1986 by Californian sisters Tracey Bryn and Melissa Brooke Belland. Somewhere when "Don't Call Me Baby" was released, Phil Spector was approvingly nodding at its production while shaking his head at its message.
The Darling Buds, 'Burst' (1988)
Andrea Lewis was my favorite bombshell of the short-lived Indie Rock Blond Movement that also included Transvision Vamp, the Sundays and the Primitives. That she and her band said they drew their inspiration from Blondie and the Beatles explains why, as demonstrated on this song that could have been an outtake from "Eat to the Beat."
I guess every writer finds himself saying, "How did I not write this" at some point or another. But a New York Times piece about "12 forgotten songs by women-led New Wave bands" -- featuring Josie Cotton, Holly and the Italians and the Waitresses? Seriously, how did I NOT write this?!!!! Best part: I've recently been on a Rachel Sweet kick -- someone I haven't given my full attention despite loving "Voo Doo" and her theme for John Waters's "Hairspray" -- so this confirmed I'm totally on the right track. Read HERE.
Former Spin magazine editor in chief Doug Brod writes:
On her second album, released when she was just 17, this Midwestern squeaker and howler convincingly covers the Damned’s 1976 classic about the glory of the burgeoning British punk movement. Strangely, her version replaces the signature slashing opening riff, as she employs her Ronnie Spector-ish pipes to make the song all her own. Perhaps even stranger, after leaving the music business Sweet went on to write and produce TV sitcoms, including “2 Broke Girls” and “The Goldbergs.”
P.S.
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