Riding the New Wave into the Top 200: #151-200

Outside of the warped period fashion statements, I have been immersed in Eighties music of all genres. Metalheads, remember the bands that were lumped into the awkwardly named genre, The New Wave of British Heavy Metal? I’m talking about such stalwarts as Iron Maiden, Saxon, Judas Priest, Motorhead, and the rest. And, those artists influenced the next batch of American metal maniacs like Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer and the rest of thrash nation.

By the time punk had fully reached the California scene as the Seventies turned into the Eighties, the sound was called Hardcore, and the scene’s big names were Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, X, Husker Du (though they really developed outside of the scene in Minnesota, they get lumped in the pile due to their sound and the label they were signed to – SST). And, while I was in college, this thing called college rock, to be later known as alternative rock, began to spring up to include many of the aforementioned artists as well as R.E.M., Camper Van Beethoven, The Replacements, et. al.

Still, if you were looking for flat-out fun music that had a good beat and was easy to dance to (thanks, ‘American Bandstand’!), New Wave was the way to go. Like I said on both days of this countdown, everyone was listening to this stuff AND integrating it into their sound. In 1981, Rush released its masterpiece album Moving Pictures. If you listen to the album, you know it is a great Rush album. But, the music and technology of that moment pushed the trio into directions that they made not have traveled. Same thing can be said for another progressive rock band, Yes. Their most successful album, 90125, was steeped in New Wave music. At the beginning of all this cross-pollination of genres, music was fresh and exciting. But, like any musical trend, it became flat and tired as the record companies began removing the souls from the artists strictly for the sound and quirks of New Wave, which is what forced the sound underground until the 21st century.

So, enough of the drivel, you say? Certainly! Let’s take a look at the next 50 songs in the list of My 300 Favorite New Wave Songs.

151. Joe Jackson – “You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want)” (1984)

152. Roxy Music – “Dance Away” (1979)

153. The Human League – “(Keep Feeling) Fascination” (1983)

154. Stray Cats – “(She’s) Sexy + 17” (1983)

155. A Flock of Seagulls – “I Ran” (1982)

156. Marshall Crenshaw – “Someday, Someway” (1982)

157. Berlin – “No More Words” (1984)

158. The Art of Noise – “Close (to the Edit)” (1983)

159. Adam Ant – “Goody Two Shoes” (1982)

160. The Cars – “Touch and Go” (1980)

161. New Order – “Bizarre Love Triangle” (1985)

162 Paul Young – “Everytime You Go Away” (1985)

163. Bangles – “Hazy Shade of Winter” (1986)

164. Stray Cats – “Rock This Town” (1982)

165. Midnight Oil – “Beds Are Burning” (1988)

166. Nik Kershaw – “Wouldn’t It Be Good” (1984)

167. Kim Wilde – “Kids in America” (1982)

168. The Cars – “Just What I Needed” (1978)

169. Aztec Camera – “Oblivious” (1983)

170. Men at Work – “Who Can It Be Now” (1982)

171. Buzzcocks – “Ever Fallen in Love (with Someone You Should’nt’ve)” (1979)

172. Eddie & the Hot Rods – “Do Anything You Wanna Do” (1977)

173. Devo – “Working in a Coalmine” (1981)

174. Bangles – “Manic Monday” (1986)

175. Culture Club – “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” (1982)

176. Nick Lowe – “So It Goes” (1978)

177. The B-52’s – “Love Shack” (1989)

178. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – “If You Leave” (1986)

179. Depeche Mode – “People Are People” (1984)

180. Roman Holiday – “Stand By” (1983)

181. The Police – “Roxanne” (1978)

182. Big Country – “In a Big Country” (1983)

183. Phil Seymour – “Precious to Me” (1980)

184. The Flying Lizards – “Money (That’s What I Want)” (1979)

185. Billy Idol – “White Wedding” (1982)

186. The Clash – “Rock the Casbah” (1982)

187. Fine Young Cannibals – “Suspicious Minds” (1986)

188. Split Enz – “I Got You” (1980)

189. Murray Head – “One Night in Bangkok” (1985)

190. Blondie – “Atomic” (1979)

191. Siouxsie & the Banshees – “Peek-A-Boo” (1988)

192. Devo – “Freedom of Choice” (1980)

193. Eurythmics – “Who’s That Girl” (1983)

194. Frankie Goes to Hollywood – “Relax” (1983)

195. Graham Parker – “Local Girls” (1978)

196. Iggy Pop – “Lust for Life” (1977)

197. INXS – “The Original Sin” (1984)

198. Let’s Active – “Every Word Means No” (1983)

199. Madness – “Our House” (1983)

200. Men at Work – “Down Under” (1982)

Fifty more songs today, with 50 more to follow tomorrow. Then, as we enter the Top 100, the song descriptions will return. I will make sure that I have a thesaurus nearby so I will have more adjectives than “amazing”, “huge” or “tremendous”, since those seem to have become overused lately. Here’s to a deepening vocabulary for describing arguably the greatest genre of music during the rock era. It was definitely the most fun.