Genre of the Week 5: New Wave (Part 4)

Continued from Part 3

Day Four of New Wave week, and today we are looking at some of the more quirkier/poppy acts to come from this movement.

I am going to start in the US with Devo, one of the most prominent new wave bands to come out of the states with their discordant take on new wave moving all over the shop sound-wise.

They were also a music video pioneer, with their video of "Whip It" gaining a lot of airplay in the early days of MTV.

Much like Devo, the B-52's were also quite a quirky and visual-oriented group that mixed it up musically with rock and roll, pop and post-punk.

Interestingly, the group is also notable for the fact that four of the original five members were openly gay.

The B-52's also had a very famous fan in one John Lennon, who cited the song "Rock Lobster" as influencing his decision to come back into music.

Heading over to the UK, and like the US they also had some quirky new wave acts, acts that included a band from Swindon in Wiltshire called XTC.

And there was also the Psychedelic Furs, who had more of a synth-oriented new wave sound.

Echo & The Bunnymen were one of the more critically acclaimed new wave bands, while four of their 80's albums made it into the top ten in the UK charts.

Originally from Liverpool, the Echo's had quite a melodic sound post-punk/new wave sound that garnered quite a cult following at the time, and that has also ensured that they continue to be held in high regard to this day.

Continued in Part 5!

- Sam