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New Vibrations
Recently in another thread the topic of New Wave came up and it was suggested making it its own topic. A very nice idea and a wish that I’ve had for a long time, but haven’t dared to implement here in the forum. Since it’s stuck with this idea so far, I allow myself of putting it into practice. I would be happy to receive lots of contributions. What kind of music do you spontaneously think of when it comes to New Wave and are there any favorite pieces that you still enjoy listening to today?
„New Wave“ sounds well known, but is difficult to define. Originally it was a music movement that developed from the punk scene. It was intended to be a countermovement to the established rock music of the 70s, whose life expectancy seemed to be short. Hence the name “Wave”. This term was supposedly coined by Malcom McLaren the former manager of the Sex Pistols. Bands like The Jam, The Stranglers, The Ramones, Talking Heads, Joy Divison, The Cure and many, many more were attributed to this scene. In the 80s, New Wave quickly became synonymous with electronic music, although gothic and punk rock were also included. A wide field. Since the distinction is difficult, I simply named the topic New Vibrations.
I would say quite provocatively that Paul McCartney was also a part of the Electro Wave Scene for a short time. Perhaps he even influenced it significantly with his album McCartney II or allowed himself to be influenced. Depending on which side of the coin you are looking at.
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82 Replies
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Probably the best known song by the band The Clash:
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Jurgen,
I do remember when Paul’s “Comin’ Up” video came out. It was different from anything else he’s done. I recall him saying years later that he wasn’t sure that he liked all the synthesizer parts he used, but I liked the music here. It was humorous & interesting seeing all the musician characters
that he & Linda created! So thumbs up for that!I didn’t really get into the punk scene. It wasn’t that I disliked it, I just had other Musical priorities & I was busy playing, traveling, & getting my music degrees. But as far as I’m concerned, with Music — it’s all good! — Bud
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Hi Bud,
thanks for writing. Yes, Paul McCartney’s music video “Coming Up” is very entertaining. Apparently he tried to include as many well-known musicians as possible in his self-created band. But I have to honestly admit that so far I have only recognized Buddy Holly and the Beatle Paul. Shame on me 😀. In general, Paul McCartney has made very entertaining music videos. McCartney II was the first solo album I bought from Paul. Yes, it’s some crazy stuff that he put together in his recording studio in Scotland. But it somehow fit well with the times. “Temporary Secretary” is probably one of the freakiest numbers on the album. “Waterfalls” one of the most beautiful songs.
I’m not a big punk music fan either. The Sex Pistols, for example, are somehow too crazy for me, but the music quickly spread to us and a music scene of its own quickly developed here. We called it the New German Wave. Somewhere between post-punk, rock music and synth pop. Somewhere between Falco and Nena.
But as a former New Yorker (or do you still live there?) you might have a connection to the band Blondie. They are also assigned to the New Wave scene. The band became known to us with “Heart of Glass”. More avant-garde than new wave. However.
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Hi Jurgen,
I unfortunately haven’t been to New York City since 1985. I lived there for 2 years in the mid-70’s, and it made a big impression on me, & I still think of it a lot! If I had the money to travel anywhere, I would have been back by now! But I have been to Kenya once & Europe 4 times. I definitely want to go back, & my favorite countries, in no particular order are — France, England, Wales, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, & really, just about anywhere in Europe!
I do like Blondie, the Bangles, ABBA of course, the Runaways, & my favorite Rock groups are THE BEATLES, (big surprise!) — & all the solo albums, esp. McCartney’s. I’m also a big fan of Billy Joel, who I met once, Julian Lennon & a bunch of others.
When I was touring with a 6-piece group called “The Nico Wind Band” in the mid 80’s, we would be playing various places, say in California, Nevada & elsewhere, & in between our sets, MTV videos would be playing. I heard all the main Rock/Pop groups of the day, & my interest picked up more for expanding my interest in Rock. Later in Seattle I played in different Rock/Horn groups & we did Funk, Blues, Motown, Pop etc. I didn’t even know some of the songs that we played at first, so that was an education!
But I’ve been more focused on Jazz & instrumental pop such as Herb Alpert, & the Baja Marimba Band but mostly Jazz. I also enjoyed playing in Broadway Musical style shows, such as “The Sound of Music,” “Sweeney Todd,” “Evita,” & many others. I met my future wife while playing 1st trumpet in “Hello Dolly.”
I got interested in singing long ago, & still sing when my voice cooperates! Then of course teaching Music for over 30 years, I taught Concert Band, Orchestra, Jazz Band, beginning Guitar, Piano, Marimba, Drums & Percussion, Vocal Groups, etc.
I’m retired, and working a long-term Music Substitute job, which I enjoy, but it’s rough with all the behavior issues I have to deal with. So I’m kind of burned out! I still play in a Big Jazz Band with 20 pieces, so I keep my hand in, but I’m not able to practice a lot as I used to. But I like to go to concerts & also play in concerts!
Here’s a group I’ve loved since the 60’s, & I’ve met the leader several times, & some of the guys/gals in his band. They’ll be here again in October. Check this out! — Bud
Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 – The Fool On The Hill (1968) (youtube.com)
And LIVE on German TV, around 1977 or so;
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Hi Bud,
thank you for allowing me to get to know you and your musical life a little better. It sounds like you have a very eventful life behind you (and of course still ahead of you) and thanks for posting the video link by Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66. I stumbled across this title by chance a while ago and I really like the interpretation of „The Fool on the Hill“ with the Latin American influence.
“Mas Que Nada” is also a great track. Latin American music such as Samba has something very light-hearted and carefree about it. I like it very much.
PS: Sergio Mendes & Brasil 66 covered a few other Beatles songs (but you probably know that). This version is also quite good, but I like the cover version of Fool on the Hill best.
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Jurgen,
Glad you liked that! I was going to see Sergio again last month, but he cancelled. I’ll see him in Oct. in Seattle, probably for about the 6th time or so. He’s very nice, & easy to talk to in a jazz club.
I probably have every album of his.
Gotta run now! I taught 6 classes today, I’m finishing dinner now, then going to my Jazz Big Band rehearsal. Life’s pretty busy!
Take care! — Bud
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Jürgen,
I’ll trust you that London Calling is the Clash’s biggest song, but I’m not sure I ever heard it before.
The one below really blew up in the States. The world can look different depending on which side of the pond you’re on, right?
You asked what comes to mind when you think New Wave. This is on the short list.
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Hi Chris,
thanks for the video link. Unfortunately the video is not available in our region. “Rock the Casbah” flashes briefly and that’s it. I assume you are referring to this song.
Yes, it’s funny how the popularity of different songs varies in different parts of the world. “London calling” was placed quite high in the UK charts (just like the double album of the same name), was also very well known here and was re-released in 1991. It was probably the Clash song with the longest lifespan. “Rock the Casbah” was little known here but probably ranked quite high in the US (as you rightly mentioned). But I forgot “Should I stay or should I go”. This song reached number 1 in the UK charts and number 4 in the US charts and also received several awards.
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When I heard this song for the first time, it „blew my socks off“. And it still does today:
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That song Visage Fade to Grey? I don’t know it.
And I see a message that it’s not available in my country. Although when I googled it, I find it on a different site than YouTube and was able to watch it.
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Sorry Chris. I have set another link. I hope this one works. Some of our music videos are posted by the online service Vevo. It probably belongs to the Sony group. Some of these videos run smoothly across all national borders, some don’t. Unfortunately I can’t see that and when I select Vevo videos it’s always a gamble.
Visage was a new wave band from London. The band was founded in 1979 and they had two chart-worthy singles which were taken from the album “Visage”: “Fade to Grey” and “Mind of a Toy.” They are considered pioneers of electronic pop music. The remaining songs on the album sound significantly different, well, like New Wave.
…and I hope this video (Mind of a Toy) also works…
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After the tragic death of singer Ian Curtis, the members of Joy Division later formed the band New Order.
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Hey Jürgen, good stuff, but not sure exactly what you want to discuss. I love lots of 80’s music, although as I’ve said previously, trying to label most music according to a decade is inaccurate and futile generally speaking. I wasn’t that much into new wave. I loved the Talking Heads and the Clash (still do), as well as Big Audio Dynamite II, which was sort of a mash-up of the two. I never really got into The Cure, but I appreciate them much more now. Many others, like the Ramones, just aren’t my cup of tea but I have the utmost respect for their talent, artistry, and contributions to the musical landscape. While I think they were more firmly Punk than New Wave, they started in the mid 70’s and played into the late 90’s, so neither an 80’s band, nor a “wave.” lol. I also enjoyed acts that were very diverse but still fell under the New Wave umbrella like Devo and Elvis Costello.
But one of my favorite bands of all time, to this day, is the Cars. The loss of Benjamin Orr really put the nail in their coffin or they’d probably still be dominating the alternative scene.
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Hi Roger,
thank you for your detailled answer. You’re probably right in saying that it often makes little sense to assign a specific style of music to a particular decade. But at least my experience was that at the end of the 70s there was a desire for simple music. Music that comes from the stomach and not from the head (like the music of the early 60s). Music that reflects my attitude to life and that of my generation. I still remember clearly: for a while you could hear for example “The Wall” everywhere. On the radio and even in some stores. A well-deserved success for Pink Floyd, but it no longer had anything to do with my attitude to life at the time. I was in my teens/twens and I was dealing with completely different topics. The punk wave swept over to us from the UK and our music scene seemed to have just been waiting for the new impulse. Suddenly songs were being sung in German again, which had been frowned upon in the rock and pop scene up to that point. Lots of new bands popped up like mushrooms. Bands you hadn’t heard of before. Young musicians with cheeky ideas and provocative lyrics. We also developed our own New Wave scene quite quickly, but it soon broke away from the punk roots and was a mixture of guitar and synthesizer music. The way the music was played and presented was something completely new and I can clearly attribute it, at least here, to the 80s and New Wave. The wave then lost momentum again after maybe 6 or 7 great years and dissolved somewhere in the rock and pop culture of the time. As I wrote at the beginning, NewWave is difficult to categorize and everyone experienced this time a little differently. New Wave wasn’t a category, it was a way of life.
What goal am I pursuing with this topic? Just to hear how you experienced that time and what memories you associate with it. Did the punk wave also spread to the US or was there a completely different attitude to life there at the time? How was NewWave experienced there? I would also be happy if we could simply exchange ideas about music that we liked in the 80s and that we associate with New Wave (New Vibrations 😀). I think everyone has a slightly different idea of that kind of music, but nevertheless his own favorite piece. For me it was more like well-crafted synth-pop in the style of Depeche Mode. So let’s collect some good memories and rhythms from that time.
Unfortunately, Big Audio Dynamite doesn’t mean anything to me. I quickly googled: were “Rush” and “Medicine Show” typical songs by this band? I remember The Cars well. They had two or three chart-worthy single releases and thus became known to a wider audience. Personally, I really liked „Drive“, although I think the song „Drive“ didn’t necessarily do justice to their style. I think they typically sounded more like “You might“. But I don’t know that much about the band.
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Big Audio Dynamite and Big Audio Dynamite II were 2 very different beasts as Mick Jones was the only common element. Yes, “Rush” and “The Globe” were 2 of the standouts on The Globe album, although I very much like “Innocent Child,” but while not really a “concept” album, as with many true albums back in the day, it needs to be listened to as a whole from start to finish. Thankfully these days it’s easy enough with Spotify if you don’t own the album. I would highly recommend it.
“Drive” was one of my least favorite Cars tracks, as was the whole “Heartbeat City” album for that matter. I much preferred songs like “Moving in Stereo” and “It’s All I Can Do.” Perhaps on of their best New-Wavish songs is “The Little Black Egg” demo which can only be heard on the “Just What I Needed” compilation.
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Roger, I already thought that there was a difference between Big Audio Dynamite I and II, but I didn’t know that the whole band had been replaced. And I didn’t know that the band was formed by Mick Jones after he left The Clash. And speaking of unsuspectingness: I also didn’t know that “Video killed the radio star” was the first clip broadcast on MTV. But that’s also because MTV has only been on air here since 1997. As far as music videos are concerned, we’ve had a long Sleeping Beauty slumber here. I only discovered many videos from the 70s and 80s much later, and I still come across well-known songs whose video clips I haven’t seen before.
PS: I now have all three “Warning” CDs together. You were right, the EP “Mayday” is probably out of stock and perhaps it only has a special meaning for collectors. Thanks again for the tip.
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Jürgen,
You asked “did the punk wave also spread to the US?”.
Punk was around near where I lived in the ’60s. The MC5 started in 1963 in a Detroit suburb.
Iggy and the Stooges started in 1967 in the city where I live now, Ann Arbor. I’m not sure if punk was spreading to the US or from the US back then.
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“The Buggles” was a British pop/new wave duo that existed from 1979 to 1981 and had a worldwide hit single with “Video Killed the Radio Star”. After that it became quiet again around the band.
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I’ve loved the Buggles from the word go, and as a lifelong Yes fan loved Trevor Horn and Geoff Downes contributions. You can still hear “Video killed the radio star” on the PA in a supermarket from time to time. Did you know that was the first music video to air on MTV?
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My ticket into the world of Depeche Mode was the song “Everything Counts”. But actually, it wasn’t until a few years later that I got more involved with the band and liked some of their lyrics. Today my Depeche Mode collection is complete (at least I think so). By the way, the video clip for “Everything Counts” was filmed in Berlin.
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“The Stranglers” are a British punk rock band whose music is influenced by new wave, punk and psychedelic rock” (says wikipedia). “I like their music” (I say).
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Vince Clark preferred Depeche Mode’s “happy” pop style. When the band produced more dark and thoughtful music, he split up and initially founded the duo Yazzo with Alison Moyet and later Erasure.
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The Liverpool band “A Floc of Seagulls” achieved some notable chart successes here. The biggest hits were I Ran (1982), Wishing (If I Had a Photograph of You) (1983) and The More You Live, The More You Love (1984).
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Hi Jurgen,
I didn’t follow any New Wave groups, but enjoyed some of the songs that were popular in the mainstream that played on the radio and the clubs 80s. One of the big ones that come to mind is Billy Idol as I understand spans Punk and New Wave. Some songs that come to mind are White Wedding, Rebel Yell, Mony Mony…
My younger sister Eileen was a huge Depeche Mode fan I mentioned previously and remember hearing track after track of Depeche Mode songs coming from her room, so I I could point out a few of their songs if I heard it. I found their style appealing actually. I remember she used to tell me in grade 8, there were some big Durani’s (Duran, Duran followers), and her and her friends into Depeche Mode, and there was rivalry. That was funny.
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Hi Jung,
I didn’t actually follow any New Wave group either. But this type of music was very present in my youth. It simply existed at the same time as me. Was kind of everywhere. At parties, in the disco and on the radio. New Wave and me we were both young, curious and full of new ideas. It was a beautiful romance that lasted for many years and that I still remember fondly today.
Yeah, Billy Idol the rock lout with bad manners but really good music. Half punker, half rocker, but not really accepted by the punks. Good choice. My two favorite titles are “Flesh for Fantasy” and “Eyes without a face”. Timeless songs that I still enjoy listening to today.
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I liked some of the quirky sounds of New Wave songs like Rapture by Blondie and Rock Lobster by the B52s. Here is another big one by the B52s.
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Like many genres, go back about 40 years and I wouldn’t have given the time of day for New Wave. But the same would go for Punk, or even mainstream Country. And that’s before the onset of Rap or HipHop (which I still vehemently eschew).
But picking up guitar some 20 years ago has broadened my horizons a great deal and I have much more appreciation for just about any form of musical expression (minus said two above) that I can find a place for on the strings. I was sort of left out in the cold by my friends that would pull out Al Green, The Cars or other at the time contemporaries. I was a solid rock & roller and nothing outside of The Eagles brand of country or some soft rock like Bread would cut it. I needed the “whiz bang” driving power of rock and metal mostly; it almost killed me when Alice Cooper went “softer”!
Which only goes to show that there are “none so blind as those who will not see”…
I still have my strong dislikes though. I wouldn’t cross the street to see Taylor Swift, and I’d throw gas on the fire if Justin Bieber was in it. And of course Rap and HipHop will never find it’s way into my listening pile. If I want to hear profanity I can listen to the likes of George Carlin (or Lenny Bruce, Richard Prior, Lewis Black etc), who actually make a lot more sense to me these days.🤣-
Hi Daryl,
I feel the same way as you: over the years, my musical horizons have constantly expanded. Things that I would have strictly rejected maybe twenty years ago now find their way to me. But some things will certainly never find a place in my musical world. These definitely include Justin Biber and Justin Timberlake (it must have something to do with the first name). Two Taylor Swift CDs found their way into my collection. No idea how they got there 😄.
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So then Daryl, Jürgen, you like this, right? Or not?
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Yeah, the number is hot, Chris. Even though I’m not a fan of Run DMC. What I noticed about the video when I first watched it many years ago is, that the guys from Rund DMC can’t tie their shoes. Every time I watch the video, I wait for them to lose their shoes or just fall over. The guys from Aerosmith have a clear advantage.
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Hi Jurgen
I never got very heavy into the punk/new wave music. I was always a pure rock n roll fan and the 80’s for me was dominated by AC/DC and a few others. Even bands like Heart, REO Speedwagon, Styx were all putting out the big power ballads which I liked some of but preferred the harder hitting stuff like Van Halen, Joan Jett among others. I do think the 80’s music was good in the sense there was something for everybody. The only sort of new wave artists I cared for were Blondie, Billy Idol, the Cars and the B-52s. By accident I ended up with the B-52’s Wild Planet cassette and got to like it. I do love their songs Roam and Love Shack but a few songs from that Wild Planet album bring back some good memories. And what was ever cooler than a strobe light?
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Yeah Tim,
I agree with you. In the 80s there was something musically for everyone. A bag with a colorful mixture. As always when it comes to music, it’s also about a certain attitude to life that you associate with the music. The 80s were my teenage and twenties. The first great love, the second great love, parties, disco, etc., well… . In any case, it was a great time for me personally. The nice thing about the 80s, however, was the fact that alongside the usual synth pop, rock music and independent music also lived on and continued to develop. I have the feeling that it has somehow become more difficult these days. There is a mainstream and musical gems like Mona and Lisa you really have to look for and if you’re lucky you’ll find them. But that is a purely subjective feeling. I also really love classic rock music. It wasn’t quite as present in the 80s, but it was definitely alive. The B 52’s did some really cool stuff. Thanks for the music video.
Were bands like New Model Army and The Sisters of Mercy also popular in the US?
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Not quite the 80s anymore, but they stayed true to their style. Probably one of the most popular Gothic bands here.
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Hi Jurgen
Yeah, I was a teenager in the 70’s. It’s funny that with a few exceptions the music we love for most of our lives is the music we listened to in our teen years. I turned 21 in 1980, got married and tried to focus more on making that work and making a living than holding on to the party times, even though It did take a few years to completely say goodbye to that lifestyle. I think it is sometimes a slow evolution from child to adult. I’m not sure I ever really got there.
I never heard of either of those bands so I’m not sure they were ever popular in the States. They could have been but like I said I never paid much attention to that genre of music. I can see why they were popular though, there is some good things in both of those songs that sounds good even now. I like the lead guitar and drums in the first one and the drums are also very good in the other.
One of my favorite rock bands tried to merge into the new wave stuff. The Canadian band Rush started incorporating keyboards into their music to give them a more modern sound. It kind of turned me off at the time and I didn’t listen to them a lot after that. Looking back at that period of their music I think it was some good music, just different is all, not my taste at the time but I guess great artists have to evolve to be relevant for a long period of time which they definitely were. I enjoy listening to their 80’s stuff now, almost like discovering new Rush music.
Here’s one from 80’s period Rush.
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Tim, I turned 14 in May 1980. So we’re about 7 years apart. Not so much from today’s perspective, but back then it was perhaps worlds apart. It’s all the more surprising that our musical tastes overlap to a large extent and that our paths meet here in the forum. So the difference can’t be that big. A phenomenon that I always love here at the MLT Forum: I meet people here that I would never have met otherwise.
Yes, the development from a child or teenager to an adult is a gradual process that you don’t even really notice. The freedoms you acquire as an adult are simultaneously eaten up by the duties you also have to fulfill now. To this day I’m not sure if I liked it that much. I hope the little boy in me will accompany me for a long time. Otherwise the world would be so much more boring.
I came across the band Rush at some point here in the forum. The band didn’t say much to me before, but now I have two albums („Moving Pictures“ and „Permanent Waves“). I like the song Subdivisions. The synth has a more supporting role. The drums and the solo guitar bring excitement and variety.
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Jurgen, Chris
I don’t remember when I first heard of Rush. Probably the first song I heard was Working Man from their first album but the first album of theirs that I owned was their first live album called All The Worlds A Stage. I loved everything on it and quickly bought their studio albums which I think numbered 4 at that point. They are still my favorite Rush albums along with Moving Pictures and Permanent Waves. My favorite album is 2112, the title track is over 20 minutes long and a pure joy ride. I still like their first album which is just called Rush and features original drummer John Rutsey who left the band due to health issues. They were a good band with John but when Neil Peart joined as the drummer they became a great band. Neil was not just a drummer but a pure percussionist and the chief lyricist on all their music following which I think amounts to over 40 albums. I haven’t listened to the whole 2112 track in a long time so I am going to post it and kick back and listen to it. No video, just the music just as I heard it many years ago.
Fun fact, back in the 80’s me and my oldest brother Gary (Bud) started entering demolition derbies. We started with an old Chevrolet of mine and of course my number was 2112. Every car we entered after that was #2112. We even won a few derbies, loads of fun and great memories. R.I.P. Bud and Neil Peart
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I remember that song. Rush was the rare band that I discovered right when they started out. That’s probably because they came out when I was in college, and something about being around 50,000 people my age helped turn me on to a lot of music. Or maybe it’s because they’re from Toronto, which is not that far away.
In 1975 I worked on campus during Christmas break, and saw Rush play in a bar. They’d already released 3 albums by then. I remember having to talk the guy I was staying with into going. He wasn’t sure he should be spending the $4 to get in. I was sure we should, but $4 was almost 3 hours pay back then, and I’m sure we spent another buck on a pitcher of beer too. We had great seats, since almost all the students had left town.
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Wow. I can’t even imagine that! I’m not sure how all the bar glasses and liquor bottles survived! Do you remember what they played?
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Roger,
I’m not sure what you mean about the glasses and liquor. My recollection is that they played what was on their first 3 albums. Two of those were released in 1975.
I don’t remember Geddy playing synthesizer.
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Rush is a sonic tsunami that could break windows, much less stemware and bottles.
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I see what you mean. But this was a big college town bar. They’d go through a lot of glassware even if there was no band there at all. Glassware may go airborne in a bar at any time, but it’s not good at sticking the landing.
It was a good sized place and a lot of bands you’ve heard of played there. It was called The Brewery at first and then around that time changed its name to The Silver Dollar Saloon.
The site setlist.fm says they were there on 18th Dec, 1975 for the Caress of Steel tour. They played there a number of times. Here’s a pic of Geddy at that bar sometime in 1975; not sure if it was that night or not. Below that is some info about that concert.
http://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10159008094589889&set=a.10156101094629889
http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/rush/1975/silver-dollar-saloon-lansing-mi-53db2bc9.html
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I was doing different things during the New Wave years, but one act that I was definitely paying attention to, bought albums and concert tix from, was Elvis Costello.
This is one of my favorite albums of all time – This Year’s Model. The whole album is great, but maybe the biggest cut is this one.
https://youtu.be/KabskY4osBw?list=PLNPGM2D7aODeIwtlLA51o7d-DAkqffyrb
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I’m not that familiar with Elvis Costello. I know his name, but less so his music. Thanks for the reference to the “This Year’s Model” album. I played the titles briefly. I like it very much. A nice varied mix of different styles. I will definitely listen to the album again in detail.
I remeber the song “She” by Elvis Costello. It became famous from the soundtrack of the movie Notting Hill:
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Jürgen,
Thanks for posting this. I don’t recall ever hearing it before. But Elvis Costello has been very prolific. Elvis Costello and the Attractions was the first band, the one I saw live, and my favourite. Wikipedia has a pretty good entry about Costello. Are you familiar with Joe Jackson?
I’ve seen him live a couple times. Some of my favourite albums of his are Look Sharp!, I’m the Man, and Night and Day. It’s been interesting how you and I don’t seem to have been exposed to the same tunes, have we?
This one will wake you up in the morning. Some people don’t like 80s music very much, but New Wave was a highlight for me.
https://youtu.be/Rqz64V3fedE?list=OLAK5uy_mJtzZp2flkeHcG9nv5Db_VtWo8uJsYr6k
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Did someone say Joe Jackson. I really became a fan after Big World. The last time we saw him was close seats at a 1200 seater in Kingston, NY. I think was around 2008. I remember he seemed surprised at the audience’s reaction when he stepped out on stage. (pun intended) The audience was filled with a lot of true fans. After the applause he said something like,”Who knew we were this popular in Kingston, NY?” I love when he plays his popular songs solo at the piano.
Here’s one where the band goes a little old school.
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Here is a clip of that Joe Jackson show in Kingston, NY. Looks like it is from the balcony. We were about six rows from the stage. This was his original three piece. It was a great night. I just realized he is playing near here in May. It’s already sold out. Not sure how I missed it. When I say sold out there are only 800 seats in this theater. They were probably all pre purchased by patrons. For a “small donation” you can become a member and get tickets through pre sales.
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JP,
I see he’s in Tarrytown the next night then a couple in the city. That’s a long drive though. He’s skipping flyover country this time it seems, not coming near me. I last saw him in Ann Arbor not too long ago. I think it was the 2022 tour, but part of me thinks it was before the pandemic(?).
In that show he did Is She Really Going Out With Him, and seemed surprised when all 4000 in the room sang the whole song with him. At first he looked around, like, where’s that coming from? When we left we agreed there was a lot of love from the crowd. He’s special.
Watching how he was doing Stepping Out is interesting. I have a sequencer, but I don’t trust it, and you still have to turn it off and on at the right times.
What they used to say about drum machines is that they don’t forget about the gig, or show up drunk, or hit on your girlfriend. But if they’re as old as that one, they might just not work too.
Thanks for posting these.
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Hi Chris,
I just nabbed tickets for Joe Jackson at the egg. Turns out ticketbast#rd had some left. We now have three concerts in May!
Stay groovy,
JP
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Jurgen
I’m really enjoying all these 80’s new wave music posts. I’m not familiar a lot of them, just what I happened to catch on MTV. That was a ground breaking TV channel. I wished they still played only music videos. It really broke ground for new music and artists.
I have heard of Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello but never listened to their music at all. It sounds great to me now but I totally missed it in the 80’s, my loss for sure but great to find it now. Always fun to find great new “old” music.
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Hi Tim,
Here are two versions of Hometown by Joe Jackson. It was released in 1986 from the album Big World. As the years go by, I have come to appreciate it more and more. The whole album is great. It was recorded live in front of an invited audience whom were “forbidden to applaud” The songs are loosely linked by lyrics covering a general theme of post-World War II international relations and global travel. Wikipedia has a nice write up.
It is a three sided album, so if you ever see a vinyl copy grab it. Yes, three. Side B of the second disc is smooth. Twenty one year old me was amazed by CD’s and couldn’t comprehend buying a CD and vinyl for the same album.
Also check out Elvis Costello’s Veronica. You might be surprised to find out who helped write it and played on it.
https://youtu.be/o4ru-yrlM7s?si=1MnZCOmErA0NpasD
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The same collaboration that produced Veronica also resulted in the song My Brave Face, which is worth checking out as well.
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Veronica has always been one of my favorites but I’d never seen this video before:
https://youtu.be/zK-WWZHvSW0?si=2BaKv_NYFOnof7n6-
This reply was modified 2 months, 1 week ago by Roger Penn.
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This reply was modified 2 months, 1 week ago by
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Thanks JP, David and Roger,
I had read somewhere that Paul McCartney and Elvis Costello worked together musically. Not more than that. Now I know more.Veronica is a pretty nice song. Thanks for posting. By the way My Brave Face: I bought the album „Flowers in the Dirt“ as soon as it came out in 1989. Again, I didn’t know there was a connection to Costello. That is interesting.
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Thanks JP,
I don’t remember the song Hometown but I like it. Sometimes I would love to go back to my hometown. Truth is I still live in the same town but it is not the same, it never will be. No drive in movies, no rec room at the bowling alley, no cops that knew your parents and would give you a ride home, Lol. The 70’s and 80’s were great times to grow up.
I remember hearing about Elvis Costello recording with McCartney but I couldn’t have told you the names of any songs. The trouble with this forum is every time I get into it I go down a YouTube rabbit hole and listen to stuff I had long forgotten, or ones I don’t remember hearing that are really good songs.
Another band I liked from this era was the Pretenders, A little punk/new wave but just enough of the old rock n roll spirit to keep my attention.
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Tim thanks for sending the video by the Pretenders. I’ve heard the song several times before, but I couldn’t have assigned it to a band. A lovely song. By the way, that’s what happened to me with Joe Jackson’s song “Steppin’ Out”. I always thought the title was great, but at some point I forgot who even wrote the song. In the 80s and 90s, our radio presenters had the peculiarity of playing songs but not saying what the title is called or who wrote it. Not particularly helpful. So there are still a number of songs that I’ve heard at some point and that I like, but I haven’t found out who wrote these songs.
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