Just Missed My Top 200: Big Audio Dynamite - E=MC²

After his career with The Clash came to an end, Mick Jones formed Big Audio Dynamite in 1984. The new band's first album, This Is Big Audio Dynamite, dropped in 1985. It was an eclectic mix of post-punk, new wave, and rock that caught on with the music-buying public to the tune of half a million records sold. Second single "E=MC²" was a catchy tribute to the films of director Nicolas Roeg, a favorite of Jones's. It reached #11 on the UK chart and #37 on the American dance chart. It also just missed my Top 200.

See you next week with another entry, the first of 2018.

WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #9: The Greedies - A Merry Jingle

This week's entry comes in between Christmas and New Year's so let’s do a holiday song!   It isn’t exactly a new wave song or a synthpop song … or even an 80s song for that matter … but it’s close enough!  

First, it appears on the infamous CD “Punk Rock Xmas”.  Punk Rock?  Well, there is a CD called “New Wave Christmas” … but it’s just OK.  It does have the absolute classic “Fairytale of New York” by the Pogues on it (which isn't exactly ”New Wave” either) - but for the most part the songs are forgettable (I’m looking at you Pretenders and 2000 Miles).  

"Punk Rock Xmas" on the other hand is filled with a abundance of yuletide joy, and contains such heartwarming holiday nuggets like “Homo Christmas” by Pansy Division, “Daddy Drank Our Christmas Money” by TVTV$ and that heartwarming chestnut “Fuck Christmas” by Fear.   Sure, great songs all, but the best song on the CD is “A Merry Jingle”.   It’s a hummable zinger from a short-lived band called “The Greedies” that was crafted in 1979.  It features Sex Pistols Paul Cook & Steve Jones (punk rock royalty!) along with Phil Lynott of Thin Lizzy (!).  The song combines “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” and “Jingle Bells” into a tuneful romp through the holiday season and is one of the more upbeat songs on the disc (as you probably already guessed from the other titles). The band is clearly having a blast doing it and living in the moment… despite the Sex Pistols having disbanded and Phil Lynott still being 5 years away from the high-water mark of his career …  which was of course the day in 1984 that he gave the annoyingly self-righteous Morrissey a sound thrashing on the music trivia game show “Pop Quiz”!   

So yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus .. and today he brings us “A Merry Jingle”!   Happy New Year!

-WAS

Bonus: A plethora of New Wave artists playing Pop Quiz!

Just Missed My Top 200: The Cure - Boys Don't Cry

This is the song that made The Cure stars. The year was 1979, disco and punk were waging war on the charts, and along came Robert Smith and his band of dark, brooding goths. The look was different, the sound was different, and the record-buying public ate it up. The Cure's career was off to a flying start. Note: avoid the awful 1986 re-recording of this song, which seems to have had every ounce of soul and emotion drained from the vocals by studio shenanigans and a misguided desire by Smith to sound more "mature". No, like most things in life, the original is the best (by a mile in this case).

The Cure appeared on my Top 200 at #190 ("Just Like Heaven"), #77 ("In-between Days"), and #49 ("Close To Me"). "Boys Don't Cry" just missed becoming the band's fourth addition to the list.

See you next week with another great song that almost made it.

WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #8: Paul Haig - Justice

If you say the name Paul Haig to the less scholarly music fans of the 1980s, you may get a glimmer of recognition, and maybe a dim recollection that he crafted a nifty number called “The Only Truth”.  But Paul Haig was no one-hit wonder - far from it.  He started out with a post-punk band named Josef K that was interesting but not very melodious, ultimately making for a monotonous listening experience.  It was when Josef K began to break up that Paul was freed to do his own thing, and began his most prolific period of awesomeness.  After he cleared his pipes out with a cassette-only release of home-recorded electronica called Drama (parts of which are reminiscent of Lou Reed’s contractual obligation album “Metal Machine Music”. i.e. unlistenable garbage) — he got serious.  

In 1982 and 1985 Paul delivered a one-two punch of synthpop perfection - the album “Rhythm of Life” followed by “The Warp of Pure Fun”.  Both albums are full of absolute gems, hooks, innovative melodies, and plenty of synth perfection.  My current favorite off his 1982 album is “Justice” but I love the entire platter.  The vocals, beats and synth always lead to intriguing places; nothing formulaic in these songs.  

Enjoy the right jab to the head of “Justice” and check back … in the future we will return with a left hook from “The Warp of Pure Fun”!

-WAS

Just Missed My Top 200: Propaganda - P:Machinery

Propaganda took the #16 spot on my Top 200 with "Duel", the fantastic song from their debut 1985 album A Secret Wish. Another song from the album, "P:Machinery" was also considered for the list, but ended up not making it. With a fantastic synth hook and driving beats, "P:Machinery" reached #50 on the British charts and was also a success in American clubs.

Propaganda broke up soon after the song charted, but they ended up re-uniting 18 months later (with lineup changes) for their follow-up LP, 1234.

I've always liked "P:Machinery" and it's amazingly weird video. It's a solid song that had a real chance of appearing on my Top 200.

I'll be back next week with another song that just missed.

WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #7: Kraftwerk - Home Computer

Achtung!  Hear me now und believe me later meine freunde.  Now it is the time when we address der Elefant in der zimmer.  We can go no further down this treacherously delightful path without paying homage to the Grand Opas of New Wave…. the Obergruppenfuhrers of Synthpop.  Yes, but of course I am referring to the man-machines … the ones who we would gratefully submit to as our robotic overlords …  KRAFTWERK.   Oh, just saying their glorious name intimidates me to the point of humiliation.  They are so beautiful and angular. I am filled with anticipation … and it is most delicious.  

Whilst their genius dates to the early SEVENTIES and the classic album Autobahn, it was in the 80s where they really hit their stride, with the release of “Computer World” in 1981.  Not only were all the songs techology-oriented (computer, calculators, numbers) - the band is featured on the cover on the screen of a Hazeltine 1500 VDT in all of their green-screen glory.  Holy RS-232, (Adam West) Batman !  Pioneers of the finest kind, Kraftwerk set the tone for much of the electronica that come would later.  Would new wave, synthpop and techno even exist without Kraftwerk ?

While the entire Computer World album is great start to finish, my favorite song (currently) is “Home Computer” with its action-oriented melodies and fantastically vague lyrics - ''I program my home computer... beam myself into the future’’.   Timeless, ahead of its time, and so forward-looking.. its frightening.  

Und now is ze time on Marc’s Blog vhen ve dance!   TO KRAFTWERK…

-WAS 

BONUS: Video of the 1986 song “The Telephone Call” is all it’s Sprocket-ian Glory !

Just Missed My Top 200: Rational Youth - City Of Night

Rational Youth (Tracy Howe and Bill Vorn) came out of the sizzling Montreal new wave scene in 1981, along with fellow Canadian bands Men Without Hats, The Box, Trans-X, and many others. They had a string of hits from their first few albums, including "Saturdays In Silesia", which took the #198 spot on my Top 200. It was close between that song and "City Of Night", which ended up just missing the list. From Rational Youth's 1982 album Cold War Night Life, "City Of Night" did not crack the Canadian charts (which were full of rock and disco at the time), but the record itself went on to become the most successful Canadian synthpop album to that date. The band broke up after several more less-successful LPs, but reunited in 1997 and still tour in Canada and Europe, where they also have developed a following.

Here's a live performance from 2016 in Stockholm, Sweden:

See you next week with another song that just missed.

WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #6: Gleaming Spires - A Christian Girl's Problem

Much like our #4 Awesome Song artist Sigue Sigue Sputnik, this week’s band was another that popped up all over the pop culture landscape in the early 80s, but was largely even more unknown… 

Gleaming Spires had backing members of Sparks & Devo in their band and were produced by Steven Hague, who later went on to 80s fame producing New Order, OMD & Pet Shop Boys. The peak of the Spires' mainstream career likely was when they appeared on the “Last American Virgin” soundtrack in 1982 with “Are You Ready For the Sex Girls?” which was a minor hit that got major play on the standard-bearer of West Coast New Wave, L.A.’s KROQ-FM. “Sex Girls” was also featured in “Revenge of the Nerds”, along with the intentionally monotonous and ironic “All Night Party”. They also touched the art world, with a Kostabi-designed album cover, and the other, errr.. more interesting "art world" … providing much of  soundtrack to the legendary and ground-breaking porn flicks “Devil in Miss Jones, Parts 3 & 4”, which starred the ultimate new-wave-punk-porn-provocateur, Lois Ayers. 

1983’s “Walk on Well Lighted Streets” was the Spires best album and contained their catchiest song - one that likely would land them in big trouble today - “A Christian Girl’s Problem”.  Glorious synths underpin provocative lyrics as the band has way too much fun jogging in place in a ridiculous video where they are dressed as Roman Soldiers … yes the Gleaming Spires were not exactly subtle in anything they did.  But the song is an awesome one and seldom heard these days despite it being as infectious as herpes and catchy as Hell…. which is exactly where Miss Jones ended up... no doubt because she dared to groove to The Spires!

 

-WAS

Just Missed My Top 200: Peter Baumann - Metro Man

Peter Baumann landed the #185 ("Be Mine") and #22 ("Strangers In The Night") spots on my Top 200. "Metro Man", a third track from Baumann's blockbuster 1983 album Strangers In The Night, was another contender to make the list. A sparse, futurist tune that features cold synth lines and robotic vocals, the song is like a blend of Gary Numan and early OMD. I considered giving it a spot, but it in the end "Metro Man" just missed my Top 200.

Another great song by Peter Baumann is "Repeat Repeat", from the album just before Strangers In The Night, 1981's Repeat Repeat. I also considered this song for the Top 200. Here it is:

  ...and today, Baumann still rocks, although he has once again turned his back on pop music and has returned to his Tangerine Dream-era roots in synth-instrumental progressive rock. His 2017 album Machines Of Desire is a masterpiece, including the mesmerizing track "Valley Of The Gods", which is my favorite on the LP.

 See you next time with another song that just missed!

WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #5: Freur - Doot Doot

Freur was a Welsh band in the early 80s that started it’s career as a squiggle!  Yes, unlike the guy from Minnesota who went from “Prince" to a sign, Freur started as symbol and only named itself after they got a record deal and had to have a name.  An art school synthpop duo of Karl Hyde and Rick Smith - that expanded to five to make the record - Freur didn’t release much material.  Their first album got a global release and their second very limited. It was their very first single in 1982 that was their one & only hit.  

The soaring, ethereal Doot Doot is their masterpiece.  It’s a timeless song that incorporates all kinds of sounds into an atmospheric wonder.  Layered vocals, odd drum rhythms, synthesized sounds, birds chirping, laughter …and do I hear dogs barking?  Yet it comes together wonderfully, evoking a feeling of rising above everything else.  If there is anything to criticize about Doot Doot,it is that it is only 3:45 long - it ends just as you’re really getting into it.  Thankfully this is the 1980s we’re talking about here, so an extended mix is available, which clocks in at a more appropriate 6 minutes.  I would actually suggest listening to it on repeat for an hour (or more) to best appreciate it’s subtle sounds & complexities!

So join Freur, Marc D & I … as we go DOOT!   DOOT DOOT !

-WAS

Just Missed My Top 200: The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary

Ian Astbury and The Cult had several huge hits in the 80s, including "Love Removal Machine", "Fire Woman", and my favorite song of theirs, "She Sells Sanctuary". An eclectic mixture of new wave, rock, and gothic influences, The Cult released awesome albums and blew the roof off live venues all throughout the decade. "She Sells Sanctuary" (from their 1985 LP Love) hit #15 in England and #11 in Canada, though strangely it didn't chart at all in the USA. It also just missed making my Top 200.

Here's a live performance of the song in Finland during their '86 world tour:

See you next Saturday with another tune that almost made it onto my list.

WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #4: Sigue Sigue Sputnik - Love Missile F1-11

Sigue Sigue Sputnik … what the heck were they?  Wrong question!  It’s more appropriate to ask “What WEREN’T they??!”
 
Cyberpunk outlaws … Post punk drag queens ... Synthpop swingers … Hi-tech new wavers … Aural assaulters … Sci Fi samplers … Ultra-violence practitioners… Marketing hustlers  ... Video pioneers … Fashion renegades ... Sex bomb boogiers !
 
Produced by Giorgio Moroder.  On the Soundtrack of a John Hughes film. Sigue Sigue Sputnik were everywhere yet nowhere, in your face, yet hiding in plain sight.
Started in London in 1982 by ex-Gen-Xer Tony James, SSS were (at least) 25 years ahead of their time.  Their blend of musical saturation, pop culture references, sexual elasticity, style over substance, relentless self-promotion and multi-media shock & awe was never seen before and has rarely been pulled together so well in such a succinct package since.  

Like an out-of control heat-seeking moisture missile, SSS spewed forth a load of 12” singles during their brief hurtle through the pop culture universe.  Albums collected them in various forms … remixes, singles, dance versions, dubs, edits, extended mixes - almost every release had multiple variants.  Fake advertisements were slotted between songs, a la RoboCop 5 years later.  Dystopian sci-fi movies like A Clockwork Orange, Mad Max & Blade Runner were sampled relentlessly.  Videos featuring the band and their over-the-top look were slick and entertaining.  Neither BPM - nor hair - could ever be too high.
 
Their biggest hit “Love Missile F1-11” was produced by the golden hand of Giorgio Moroder in 1986, and an extended mix of it was used in the shower scene of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.  It charted in various countries and even made #1 in Spain.  The video of 'Love Missile' is a mini-movie unto itself, with SSS strutting about like a mega-rich, hyper-sexualized version of Buckaroo Banzai and the Hong Kong Cavaliers, well-armed with weapons … and hairspray.
 
SSS were a band that proved right the Blade Runner line that "the candle that burns twice as bright, burns half as long."  And for a brief period in the mid 80s … SSS burned oh so brightly.

-WAS

Just Missed My Top 200: Baltimora - Juke Box Boy

Jimmy McShane and Baltimora had a huge hit with "Tarzan Boy" (#96 on my Top 200) and a lesser hit with "Living In The Background" (#200). By the time "Juke Box Boy" was released, however, the group's star had begun to dim. A hit only in their native Italy and some surrounding European countries, "Juke Box Boy" was the beginning of the end for the new wave/eurodance band. While they would soldier on for another year or two, until the abject failure of "Key Key Karimba" and the second Baltimora album from which it came (1987's Survivor In Love), it was only a matter of time.

Here's "Key Key Karimba"...

...and here's "Woody Boogie" as well. After this I promise, no more Baltimora.

 See you next Saturday with another song that just missed my Top 200.

WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #3: Near Paris - Ceiling

This week’s Awesome Song is a wondrous synthpop nugget from Near Paris, a band from Columbus Ohio.  Near Paris was only a duo, Dana and Gerald, but what a sound they made.  Strong synth, infectious grooves and Dana’s absolutely mesmerizing vocal can be found in all of their work, which unfortunately was only one EP.  I remember hearing NP at new wave clubs in NYC in the mid-eighties but that was the days before Shazam and Soundhound .. so their band name was unknown to me . You can imagine my delight when I heard the same song thirty years later on SOMA-FM’s Underground 80s and finally discovered it was Near Paris. And even better - like their modern-day labelmates, the phenomenal Play - their entire catalog, of everything they made in 1985, has been re-released digitally in the new century by Medical Records!  Enjoy “Ceiling” in 2017.  And we’ll hear from Near Paris again on a future Awesome Song.

-WAS

Just Missed My Top 200: Midge Ure - Call Of The Wild

After Ultravox broke up, Midge Ure's solo career got off to a flying start with his 1985 LP The Gift and its #1 hit "If I Was". While I don't really care for that song, his between-albums single release, 1986's "Call Of The Wild" is a great tune. Reaching #27 on the UK chart, the track has been retroactively added to some later pressings of The Gift. It was accompanied by a very odd video, showing the events of Ure's typical day in great detail:

-Wake up.

-Wear atrociously ugly sweater outside to collect firewood.

-Begin drinking (you know there's a slug of whiskey in that glass!).

-Settle in to work on disturbingly-exact clay sculpture of own face, tickling it affectionately from time to time.

-Stand in windswept fields, singing.

Aside from the bizarre video, the song is Ure's best solo work in my opinion. I was lucky enough to see the man himself perform in Halifax back in 2015 (see link below), and I can attest that he was in top form during that sold-out show. And yes, he brought the standing-room-only crowd to its feet with "Call Of The Wild".

Ad for Midge Ure Halifax performance:

See you next Saturday with another song that just missed making my Top 200.

WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #2: INXS - Don't Change

Before the reality TV show … before a rotating cast of lead singers… before international fame … before a bunch of hit singles that all sounded the same … before the sad & weird demise of their front man  … there was a new wave band from Oz named INXS.  They took a while to hit their stride, releasing two unremarkable sorta-synthpopy albums as the 80s dawned.  They finally found some success in 1982 with the single “The One Thing” from their third album, Shabooh Shoobah. But buried on that album was the final track on side 2 which was also their one and only masterpiece: “Don’t Change”.  From the opening synth notes to the guitars ringing in … the urgent singing … the quiet part in the middle… the outro with the the soaring backing vocals, this song never fails to send a chill up my spine and make me think of great times gone by … in the greatest decade.  If you love 80s synthpop and you love New Wave … Don’t Change A Thing !

-WAS

Just Missed My Top 200: Blancmange - Blind Vision

Every Saturday I will post a new wave/synthpop song that just missed making my Top 200 list. Let's get going with the first song!

Blancmange is a band I'm not a huge fan of, as their biggest hits ("That's Love That It Is", "Living On The Ceiling", etc.) don't really appeal to me. The only tune from them that made my Top 200 was "Lose Your Love" which got the #14 spot because it's awesome. I revisited "Blind Vision" after reading a comment Was made on my writeup for "Lose Your Love", and realized it was a great song. A great song with a great video. A great song that just missed the Top 200.

 

WAS's Awesome New Wave Song Of The Week #1: Red Rockers - China

Long-time reader and comment contributor WAS has volunteered to keep this thing going by showcasing an Awesome New Wave Song of the Week in this space. Check back each week for a regular dose of auditory goodness from the greatest era in music history. I'm pumped and looking forward to reading and listening to his picks. let's get this party started!
                                                         -Marc D.
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And now, a note from WAS and his first entry:

Like Marc D, I am also a firm believer that some the greatest music of all time can be found at the nexus of new wave and synthpop in the early to mid 1980s.  It was a time of amazing developments on the music scene - punk rock was over, but all of the elements that caused it were searching for a new post-punk outlet.  They coalesced into a new movement that evolved into something altogether more exploratory … more listenable… and more interesting.  It wasn’t just a new kind of music … and it was more than just the “DIY" trend that punk introduced (which was rebellious in a conformist sort of way as Bart Simpson says) with the poor playing, mohawks and safety pins.  No this kind of new music was an onslaught of everything - new sounds … instruments .. fashion … clubs … music … video … movies … and yes … even haircuts.

Being fortunate enough to have grown up in NYC, I spun records for my college radio station in the early 80s and visited all the legendary local clubs of the era.  It was a time where pioneering new wave radio station WLIR became WDRE and Dared to be Different.  A time when independent record sellers were everywhere and would spin the latest innovative sounds from around the world the moment they came out.  In short - it was a great time to be alive.

So if you are like me and having withdrawal pains now that Marc D’s amazing Top 200 is done, fear not.  Marc has graciously allowed the blog to live on so we can present …. Awesome New Wave Songs Of The Week !

- Your DJ, WAS

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Red Rockers started out as a punk band from New Orleans Louisiana.  Their punk leanings were broad and deep; once billed as “America’s Clash” they were hardcore to the core and even teamed up with Dead Kennedy’s lead singer Jello Biafra on a Johnny Cash cover.  As they matured, however, their sound changed ... to the point that by 1982, their second album “Good as Gold” had a much more melodious new wave guitar-driven synthy sound and it delivered the one hit wonder song of their career “China”.   It’s a great song that has aged well and still sounds fresh today.  Sadly their success did not continue ... their next album was the Spinal-Tap-esque “Schizophrenic Circus”, complete with a cover featuring the band in cheesy circus costumes.  It garnered similar reviews to Tap’s “Shark Sandwich” (shit sandwich) and that was it for the Red Rockers.  But we’ll always have “China” ... it lives on as their shining contribution to early 80s new wave.

Video:

Special Announcement!

***Watch for a special surprise Wednesday Nov. 1st as this blog is NOT finished!***

Number 1: Blue Peter - Water Off The Moon

Canadian band Blue Peter formed in 1978 and released three full-length albums and one EP over the next six years. Those records contained great songs such as "Radio Silence" (#116 on this list), "Falling" (#56) and "Don't Walk Past" (#21). By early 1984, however, things had changed. New wave had faded in popularity; the clean, sparse synthesizer sound being replaced by a new pop sensibility. Blue Peter recognized this and set out to make a different kind of album. Vertigo, as the record was to be titled, would attempt to wed new wave, pop, and rock. A brave, original idea - something never tried before (and maybe since). Alas, it wasn't to be. The band disagreed on many aspects of the new LP. Compromises failed, and Blue Peter split up before Vertigo could be finished. The band was done, but one song survived in its complete form. "Water Off The Moon" was to have been the lead-off single from Vertigo.

Would "Water Off The Moon" have been a hit? Would Vertigo have saved new wave? We'll never know. Some demo versions, half-finished, have been released from the Vertigo sessions in the years since, on various greatest hits compilations and such. They're intriguing glimpses of what could have been, although no one can say for certain how those songs would have turned out had they been completed by the band.

We only have one finished song from Vertigo: "Water Off The Moon".

For its fantastic bassline, its driving drums, its subtle, almost-hidden-at-times synthesizers, its amazing, cryptic lyrics, its haunting vocals by Paul Humphrey, and for all the lost potential it carries with it to this day, "Water Off The Moon" gets the ultimate spot on my Top 200. In some alternate universe, Blue Peter stayed together and released Vertigo at the absolute height of their creative powers. In the real world, we can only listen to this song and imagine what that record might have sounded like.


Live performance from 2008 (Blue Peter reunited in 2006):

I hope everyone enjoyed listening to the 200 songs I picked, and reading my little write-ups. It was fun for me, and I hope it was fun for you. I would encourage anyone who might want to give it a go to do so! I'd love to read *your* top 200 (or 100, or 300, or whatever).

This blog is now finished, but great new wave and synthpop from that era will always be with us, a reminder of what I consider a better and more interesting time in the history of pop music. I'm out, cheers!  -Marc