New Wave Day 2: #201 Through 250

I’d like to thank you all for the show of support with my comeback. I guess that I am far from the only person who is attracted to the exuberance of New Wave music. There for a while in 1983 I thought the music genre would live forever. And, maybe it did. To this very day, I can find artists whose music would have fit right in with New Wave of the late-Seventies and early-Eighties. Go ahead and listen to recent artists’ music by the likes of La Roux, The Killers, The xx, Phoenix, The Ting Tings, Interpol, Lady Gaga, among hundreds of others and tell me their music isn’t an updated version of New Wave? Maybe, that will be a topic in the future?

Now, back in the day, artists every where were copping full on New Wave songs or at least some of the electronic trappings that made New Wave unique. In addition to my list of major artists who dropped New Wave songs on us from yesterday, go back and listen to Kim Carnes’ “Bette Davis Eyes”, one of the top selling songs of 1981, for the electronic drum sound hook that made her pop song more modern-sounding. By 1983, everyone was jumping on-board. ZZ Top added synthesizers to their swampy Southern Rock sound to great success. Even the Rolling Stones, no strangers to jumping on and off musical trends to timeless success, made their New Wave song “Undercover of the Night”, in which the sound was totally New Wave, although the lyrics were overtly political. To top things off, Bruce Springsteen recorded his “Duran Duran” song called “Dancing in the Dark”, which was an acknowledgement of arguably our generation’s greatest rock voice of the commercial appeal of New Wave. But, like all great musical trends, New Wave petered out by 1985, although there were occasional songs released throughout the Eighties and into the Nineties.

Today, I present to you my next 50 songs in My Top 300 New Wave Songs of the Late-Seventies and Eighties. Let’s do it!

201. New Order – “Blue Monday” (1985)

202. Gary Numan – “Down in the Park” (1979)

203. Nick Gilder – “Hot Child in the City” (1978)

204. Pretenders – “Back on the Chain Gang” (1982)

205. Simple Minds – “Don’t You (Forget About Me)” (1985)

206. Tears for Fears – “Shout” (1985)

207. The Art of Noise with Tom Jones – “Kiss” (1987)

208. The Cars – “Good Times Roll” (1978)

209. Nena – “99 Luftballoons” (1984)

210. Information Society – “What’s on Your Mind (Pure Energy)” (1988)

211. Talk Talk – “Talk Talk” (1982)

212. Eddy Grant – “Electric Avenue” (1983)

213. Taco – “Puttin’ on the Ritz” (1983)

214. Donnie Iris – “Ah! Leah!” (1981)

215. The Go-Go’s – “We Got the Beat” (1981)

216. Katrina & the Waves – “Walking on Sunshine” (1985)

217. Duran Duran – “Girls on Film” (1981)

218. Rick Springfield – “I’ve Done Everything for You” (1981)

219. Stray Cats – “Stray Cat Strut” (1982)

220. The Plimsouls – “A Million Miles Away” (1983)

221. Billy Idol – “Eyes Without a Face” (1984)

222. Duran Duran – “Rio” (1982)

223. Roxy Music – “Avalon” (1982)

224. Joan Armatrading – “(I Love It When You) Call Me Names” (1981)

225. Depeche Mode – “Just Can’t Get Enough” (1981)

226. Cyndi Lauper – “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” (1983)

227. Paul Carrack – “I Need You” (1982)

228. Bananarama – “Cruel Summer” (1984)

229. Pretenders – “Talk of the Town” (1981)

230. Sly Fox – “Let’s Go All the Way” (1986)

231. The Tubes – “Talk to Ya Later” (1981)

232. Doctor & the Medics – “Spirit in the Sky” (1986)

233. Howard Jones – “No One Is to Blame” (1986)

234. Animotion – “Obsession” (1985)

235. Tears for Fears – “Sowing the Seeds of Love” (1988)

236. Shoes – “Too Late” (1980)

237. Nick Lowe – “Cruel to Be Kind” (1979)

238. Greg Kihn Band – “The Breakup Song (They Don’t Write ‘Em)” (1981)

239. The Church – “Under the Milky Way” (1988)

240. The Dream Academy – “Life in a Northern Town” (1985)

241. Sparks & Jane Wiedlin – “Cool Places” (1983)

242. The Go-Go’s – “Our Lips Are Sealed” (1981)

243. Blondie – “Dreaming” (1979)

244. Communards – “Don’t Leave Me This Way” (1986)

245. The Cure – “Boys Don’t Cry” (1981)

246. The Tubes – “White Punks on Dope” (1975)

247. Tom Robinson Band – “2-4-6-8 Motorway” (1978)

248. The Blow Monkeys – “Digging Your Scene” (1985)

249. Wang Chung – “Everybody Have Fun Tonight” (1986)

250. Pretenders – “Brass in Pocket” (1980)

Another 50 down, and two hundred to go! Many great, great pop/rock songs to come, some of which you might even like! So, my suggestion is to pop in your copy of the movie “Valley Girl” and start reliving your glory days of the 80s!