The 1980s are a highly underrated decade for music

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Yes, but at the time my radio station played them all day.

They played that type of music until about five years ago.

It wasn't called "classic rock" in the 80s because it was only ten years old (max).

Personally, I like very little 80s music. It's not so much the music as the instruments that were being experimented with and the production styles that were in favour at the time. For me those things ruin what was probably perfectly good music. Even albums from that era which I do like - Talking Heads stuff, Paul Simon's Graceland, Dexy's Midnight Runners, Michael Jackson's Thriller, even some of Dylan's 80s stuff - I generally prefer to listen to live performances of because they don't have that fake plasticky studio sound that was applied to everything in the 80s.

You got it.

That said it is one of those things that if you ask 100 people you will get a hundred different definitions of "New wave".

What contributors of this thread need to be mindful of is that there is generally a big difference between how New wave is defined in America and how it is defined in the U.K.

In the U.K. it is considered an arty and commercialized version of punk rock. Even then it was varied from Elvis Costello, Talking Heads, B-52's, Blondie, Squeeze, XTC, Devo, ska revival acts like Madness fell under the New wave umbrella. Nothing much after 1981 or 1982 is considered New wave there. Synthpop, New Romantic etc are considered completely separate genres with good reason those genres have roots in glam rock and disco not punk.

Those late 70s acts are considered New wave in the UK are also considered the New wave in America. The difference is Punk was a major cultural phenomenon in the UK, in America, it was a few sensational newspaper stories so the American audiences did not know or care that all those Second British Invasion synth-playing androgenous bands on their MTV had little to do musically with punk. From the sound to its video delivery, it was literally a "New Wave" to most Americans. That I think is why the change was so jarring to Isabella. Having been a miserable teen during the 70s I embraced the change.

REM and the Smiths were first labeled New wave when they started out in the 80s. When Alternative exploded in the 90s people realized they were not New wave but Alternative pioneers.

In the 70s and most of the 80s, it was called rock, the radio format it was played on was called Album Oriented Rock(AOR).

Classic Rock started as a radio format during the 80s and was adapted by the public as a genre. Now Classic Rock stations play acts from the ‘90s.

Exactly. "Classic" Rock became a radio format in the 80s for "guitar rock" as opposed to synth rock of the post 1979 era, and meant Seventies, and late Sixties music (Woodstock era). Older "rocknroll" from the mid Fifties to the mid sixties was "oldies rock".

But as time wore on "classic rock" drifted in meaning to include Jon Bon Jovi, and Guns and Roses, Scorpions (later guitar rock and even synth rock).

Later still they had a format called "jack"- a random mix of uptempo rock and uptempo R+B and dance music from earlier decades. Which I like.

Now “oldies” mean the hits from 1964 to 1979 with a few earlier tracks and a few hits from the 80s thrown in. “Classic Hits” are the hits from the 70s to the 90s with less 70s and more 90s all the time.

On the internet radio stations “”New Wave” format means mostly the synthpop based music. “80s Alternative” means mostly what is played on “New Wave” stations plus 70’s punk rock and late 80s guitar acts such as The Pixies and They Might Be Giants

What did it sound like listening to the music on the radio at the time? Airchecks from two of the most iconic new wave stations in America. WLIR from Long Island and KROQ Pasadena.

1984 WLIR-FM 'New Music First' Aircheck [40min] - Off-air unscoped recording of WLIR programming of new wave and 1980s rock.

Jed The Fish on KROQ’s “Rock of the 80s” format, also from 1984

I dislike 80s music. There are two national radio stations here dedicated to playing almost nothing but 80s music and considering there are only about 6 stations it gets really annoying.

Not familiar with the second one, but definitely remember Joe Jackson.

The ultimate 80s one hit wonder.

It was a decade in which two rocks stars with names that ...arent really all of that similar...were popular at the same time. Inspiring one of the two to record this humorous, but now largely forgotten, gem.


Bruce

On the internet you can get radio stations for almost any type of genre. They are more jukeboxes then radio stations, no DJ’s. There are actual radio stations from other countries available.

Limited amount of radio stations have always been a problem in the UK. In the 60s they had “Pirate” radio stations. They would broadcast from ships offshore in international waters.

This was a somewhat lesser hit for them

I think most of the one hit wonders had one or two far lesser known hits.

A few others that come to mind.

It's strange how certain music can sound better four decades later.