What was the first New Wave record you ever bought?

[nrgbeat]

The first New Wave music I bought was only ten years ago or so when I purchased the following cd.

Classic Alternatives Volume 1
Amazon-U.S. | Amazon-U.K.

Better late than never.....

[thommy2458]

I think it was the 1st B-52's album, maybe 1980?

Thom

[disco-disc]

One of VISAGE discs - Fade to grey ? etc....

[markydefad]

For me, I think it was the first B-52's LP in 1979 [my brother told me to get it...it was weird...but I liked it, especially the first side]


The B-52's




later, The Flying Lizards cover of "Money" ...that's what I want...."

afterthought: now I'm wondering if this is accurate since I did have the first Elvis Costello LP "My Aim Is True" & BLONDIE!!! [how could I forget???]...so I guess it depends on the definition of "New Wave"...

Later on...in the early Eighties, I would think The Human League's first LP was the one that launched my record-buying in that genre...WE LOVED THAT SOUND..went to see them in SF at The Warfield on Market St....not really much of a show..BUT WE LOVED THAT SOUND!!!!

[nrgbeat]

Our fellow member Stephen Freeman did a Hot Tracks remix of the song "Turning Japanese" by The Vapors.

"I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese I really think so..."

[discokicks]

I remember that shifting of media focus from disco to the friendlier sound of punk called "new wave". I didn't warm to it very quickly...still craving for things to return back to this music that had captured my excited attention. I still hadn't stepped inside a genuine disco club at that time (shy, closeted smalltown boy just reaching the drinking age) so this change left me confused and saddened...why was this happening?

I did like Blondie's Heart of Glass....that was hot disco to these ears but it was their next hit One Way or Another that left me suspicious of things to come. I finally succumbed to this new music in '81 when I bought Pete Shelley's Homosapian but the first full-fledged album I bought was Haircut One Hundred's excelllent Pelican West...I couldn't get enough of their hit Love Plus One.

[disco-disc]

Well, How do you define New Wave.....If you are referring to bands like the Police, Elvis costello, Lene lovich, Gary Numan, then Yes all of them .....so The Police LP's were probably the first...But the Visage records were a particular favourite of the New New Wave for me....

[Graham_Start]

The Vapors New Clear Days LP, back when "Turning Japanese" was a big hit... if you consider that New Wave.

It was actually the first LP I bought. And I should've just gone with the single. :/

[nrgbeat]

The disco era was officially over when this "new wave" album came out. The little face dots are totally rad. LOL!!

[efunk_adelic]

Flying Lizards - LP

[Cdnbob]

I think it was "Jet Boy, Jet Girl" by Elton Motello and the B-52's very first LP (the same yellow covered one Marky mentioned above).

[FranceJoliFan]

Straight Lines by New Musik

[MARK D.]

Me too,it was the B-52'S first album in the summer of 1979,but my first new wave single was either POP MUSIK by M,or REASONS TO BE CHEERFUL PT.3 by IAN DURY & THE BLOCKHEADS.

[Paulo]

When new wave arrived in Brazil it was like an invasion. Everything was "new wave". Even Kate Bush with her gloomy uncommercial masterpiece THE DREAMING in 1983 was labelled new wave. This placed her alongside post-punk groups like SIOUXSIE AND THE BANSHEES and COCTEAU TWINS.

But I make a distinction, leaving the NEW WAVE label to POP-ROCK or ROCK bands like POLICE, IAN DURY, ELVIS COSTELLO, MADNESS, TALKING HEADS, PRETENDERS, SIMPLE MINDS, STRAY CATS, GO-GO's, B-52's, BLONDIE, THE SPECIALS, THE BEAT, etc..

As I don't like rock, the only albums I had then were GHOST IN THE MACHINE and SYNCRONICITY by THE POLICE.

On the other hand, there was TECHNO-POP or SYNTH-POP which was an offshot from new wave, with groups like SOFT CELL, THOMAS DOLBY, OMD, HUMAN LEAGUE, A FLOCK OF SEAGULS, DEPECHE MODE, YAZOO, VISAGE, EURYTHMICS, THOMPSON TWINS, TALK TALK, ULTRAVOX...

To my taste, this groups were much more interesting because they were musically more daring with their blend of new wave rock + electronics + disco.

I think techno-pop helped the rise of euro-disco. Almost every techno-pop group had 3 or 4 electronic-disco songs per album. When disco drew back to the underground in 1981/1982, it was the electronic-disco songs from the synth-pop groups which were on the airwaves.

SOFT CELL, THOMAS DOLBY, DEPECHE MODE, THE BUGGLES, YAZOO, HUMAN LEAGUE paved the way to PET SHOP BOYS, NEW ORDER, DEAD OR ALIVE, SANDRA, RICK ASTLEY, STOCK-AITKEN-WATERMAN.

Some examples of electronic synth-pop disco songs:

1981 DONT YOU WANT ME - HUMAN LEAGUE
1981 MEMORABILIA - SOFT CELL
1981 SEX DWARF - SOFT CELL
1981 THE WHOLE "SPEAK AND SPELL" ALBUM - BY DEPECHE MODE
1982 ONE OF OUR SUBMARINES - THOMAS DOLBY
1982 TORCH - SOFT CELL
1982 SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE - THOMAS DOLBY
1982 NIGHT TRAIN - VISAGE
1983 SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF THIS - EURYTHMICS
1983 DON'T GO - YAZOO
1983 BLUE MONDAY - NEW ORDER (euro-disco?)
1983 BUILD ME A BRIDGE - ADELE BERTEI & THOMAS DOLBY
1983 GET OUT OF MY MIX - THOMAS DOLBY
1984 SEX CRIME - EURYTHMICS
1984 RELAX - FRANKIE GOES TO HOLLYWOOD
1985 FIELD WORK - RYUISHI SAKAMOTO & THOMAS DOLBY

It was said that SOFT CELL's second album (NON-STOP ECSTATIC DANCING) is the first REMIX album ever released, predating HUMAN LEAGUE's REMIX album LOVE AND DANCING... both from 1982.

[Graham_Start]

Originally Posted by Paulo

Some examples of electronic synth-pop disco songs:

1982 ONE OF OUR SUBMARINES - THOMAS DOLBY
1982 SHE BLINDED ME WITH SCIENCE - THOMAS DOLBY

Actually, these two songs are from 1983, and weren't on the original versions of The Golden Age Of Wireless, which was revised when the single became a huge hit.

Between the different North American vs European releases, and the subsequent revisions of them, there are at least 5 different versions of this LP! I like the original UK best, even though I love "Leipzig", "Urges" and the rock version of "Radio Silence", which were only on the first North American version.

Duran Duran's Rio is another album from the same period that has 4 different revisions. However, the tracklisting remained constant throughout, it was just the mixes of the songs on side one (plus a minor edit to "Save A Prayer") that changed.