New wave music
New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of punk culture".[4] It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock.[30][31] Later, critical consensus favored "new wave" as an umbrella term involving many contemporary popular music styles, including synth-pop, alternative dance and post-punk.[15][32][31] The main new wave movement coincided with late 1970s punk and continued into the early 1980s.[32]
This article is about the 1970s–1980s music genre. For other New Wave artistic movements, see List of New Wave movements.New wave
Mid-to-late 1970s
The common characteristics of new wave music include a humorous or quirky pop approach, angular guitar riffs, jerky rhythms, the use of electronics, and a distinctive visual style in fashion.[31][5] In the early 1980s, virtually every new pop and rock act – and particularly those that employed synthesizers – were tagged as "new wave" in the United States.[31] Although new wave shares punk's do-it-yourself philosophy, the musicians were more influenced by the styles of the 1950s along with the lighter strains of 1960s pop and were opposed to the generally abrasive, political bents of punk rock, as well as what was considered to be creatively stagnant "corporate rock".[5]
New wave commercially peaked from the late 1970s into the early 1980s with numerous major musicians and an abundance of one-hit wonders. MTV, which was launched in 1981, heavily promoted new-wave acts, boosting the genre's popularity in the United States.[31] In the UK, new wave faded at the beginning of the 1980s with the emergence of the New Romantic movement.[32] In the US, new wave continued into the mid-1980s but declined with the popularity of the New Romantic, new pop, and new music genres.[33][34] Since the 1990s, new wave resurged several times with the growing nostalgia for several new-wave-influenced musicians.[35][36][37]
History
Forerunners
The Velvet Underground have also been heralded for their influence on new wave, post-punk and alternative rock.[52][53] Roxy Music were also influential to the genre as well as the works of David Bowie, Iggy Pop[54] and Brian Eno.[55]
Early 1970s
The term "new wave" is regarded as so loose and wide-ranging as to be "virtually meaningless", according to the New Rolling Stone Encyclopedia of Rock.[56] It originated as a catch-all for the music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself,[31] in Britain. Scholar Theo Cateforis said that the term was used to commercialize punk groups in the media: