I'd say it jumped in early 1986. After Falco's, Pet Shop Boys, and a-ha's great hits (Rock Me Amadaeus, West End Girls, The Sun Always Shines on TV), a sudden drop off occured on certain bands around then. But the shark was starting to circle toward the end of 1984 when Wham! was more of just an MTV pop band with little true New Wave/synthpop styles going.

New Wave was an ill-defined genre to start with.  It could encompass anything from X-Ray Specs to When In Rome.  

Did New Wave jump the shark?  If it did it was here.  Released in the spring of 1984:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIb9QUGjdIc

Sorry -- I know there are Berlin fans around!

I'd say it jumped in early 1986. After Falco's, Pet Shop Boys, and a-ha's great hits (Rock Me Amadaeus, West End Girls, The Sun Always Shines on TV), a sudden drop off occured on certain bands around then. But the shark was starting to circle toward the end of 1984 when Wham! was more of just an MTV pop band with little true New Wave/synthpop styles going.


I agree on Falco.  My gay friend Scott was in love with Falco and A-Ha.  I couldn't stand either one.  "West End Girls" is a great song.  I don't consider PSB "New Wave" so much as just synth-pop. 

If you like synth-pop, the premium years were 1979-1989.  It just happens to line up with being an eighties phenomenon.  It took a decade for the keyboard synthesizer to get cheap enough for low-budget pop bands to afford it.  Wendy Carlos releases "Switched-on Bach" in 1968.  Moog synthesizer.  The instrument required a high degree of technical proficiency and it was too unwieldy for gigs.  Prog rock bands such as Yes, Genesis, and Pink Floyd used synthesizers in the era before New Wave.  The Mini-Moog and other portable synths came out in the 1970s, but they were still very expensive.  Then they got cheaper so kids like Gary Numan could afford them!

Five words...

A Flock Of Seagulls haircuts!

;D

Five words...

A Flock Of Seagulls haircuts!

;D




I tried to do that to my hair when I was 15 but my hair was never long enough!
:\'(

New Wave was an ill-defined genre to start with.  It could encompass anything from X-Ray Specs to When In Rome.  

Did New Wave jump the shark?  If it did it was here.  Released in the spring of 1984:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIb9QUGjdIc

Sorry -- I know there are Berlin fans around!


I agree, New Wave is pretty general and seems to be defined as any music using synthesizers. I believe 1984 was the year New Wave jumped the shark (maybe the end of 1984 for me rather than the start but that is looking back in hindsight) as Thompson Twins, Nik Kershaw and Howard Jones were hitting their peak around this time. None of them were as popular after 1984 and most had faded commercially or adapted by 1985. I find it surprising that pop music compilations consider anything after 1986 new wave (notably Erasure, Living in a Box and Pet Shop Boys), especially as I feel that anything after 1982 seemed diluted and more commercial when compared with the harsh late 70s stuff.

From Youtube, here is the video that has "new wave" hits through the decades, and I agree with when new wave jumped; the late '80s stuff is really just dance-pop with some synthpop.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxpB5gjj2Q0

I have to say, that with dance pop becoming more of a focus, and teen pop eventually looming on the horizon, 1987 was pretty kind of the last time, new wave was really big.

Man do I love new wave music, it had all these wildly varying influences like punk, ska, disco, jazz, soul, calypso, funk, glam rock, afropop, psychedelicia, rockabilly, and folk rock. I think when most people think of new wave, synthpop is the first thing to come to mind, but it was only one style of new wave among many. I'd say the synthpop style outlasted the original more guitar based new wave, the original new wave sound(probably most notably post-punk) lasted from about 1978 to 1982 while the synthpop style lasted from about 1979 to 1987, 88. I'd say 1986 is when new wave jumped the shark.

I agree, New Wave is pretty general and seems to be defined as any music using synthesizers. I believe 1984 was the year New Wave jumped the shark (maybe the end of 1984 for me rather than the start but that is looking back in hindsight) as Thompson Twins, Nik Kershaw and Howard Jones were hitting their peak around this time. None of them were as popular after 1984 and most had faded commercially or adapted by 1985. I find it surprising that pop music compilations consider anything after 1986 new wave (notably Erasure, Living in a Box and Pet Shop Boys), especially as I feel that anything after 1982 seemed diluted and more commercial when compared with the harsh late 70s stuff.


Erasure and PSB aggressively jockeyed for the biggest thing in gay disco.  I had several albums by both.  Apart from the hits (such as "West End Girls" and "It's A Sin") and one-off experiments (such as "The Sound of the Atom Smashing"), PSB had a problem with being boring (No Pun Intended). 

The first Erasure album "Wonderland" is awesome because it's essentially the third Yazoo album sans Moyet.  "The Circus" and subsequent albums through the eponymous "Erasure" (1995) are great if you're in that niche market.  The band's image become so entwined with Andy Bell's identity as a gay man, it overwhelmed their themes.  I found that a little tedious.  They eventually trapsed into cutesy stereotypes "I Love Saturday," and then self-parody, the "Cowboy" album from...um...1998, I think it was.

The problem with New Wave/New Romantic was it went cornball.  For example this canned fanfare--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5jVLiTlnnE

Erasure and PSB aggressively jockeyed for the biggest thing in gay disco.  I had several albums by both.  Apart from the hits (such as "West End Girls" and "It's A Sin") and one-off experiments (such as "The Sound of the Atom Smashing"), PSB had a problem with being boring (No Pun Intended). 


I understand. Erasure are quite similar to Pet Shop Boys in one way and that's probably to do with Vince Clark than anything else. Pet Shop Boys did have some boring stuff amongst the classics. For me, Heart and Rent are yawnfests.

The first Erasure album "Wonderland" is awesome because it's essentially the third Yazoo album sans Moyet.  "The Circus" and subsequent albums through the eponymous "Erasure" (1995) are great if you're in that niche market.  The band's image become so entwined with Andy Bell's identity as a gay man, it overwhelmed their themes.  I found that a little tedious.  They eventually trapsed into cutesy stereotypes "I Love Saturday," and then self-parody, the "Cowboy" album from...um...1998, I think it was.

I know what you mean. 'Wonderland' featured the brilliant 'Oh L'amour'. Erasure's gay theme seemed to be held back until around 1992 when they did those ABBA covers. I saw Erasure in concert and they were brilliant but I wasn't quite prepared for Andy Bell to come on stage in a Victorian dress. I just about got used to that and, another clothes-change later saw him in a corset.  ;D

The problem with New Wave/New Romantic was it went cornball.  For example this canned fanfare--

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5jVLiTlnnE


As mentioned before, it is difficult to say what is New Wave and what is New Romantic. I have my own ideals on that one (Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, ABC, Ultravox, Adam and the Ants and Culture Club for me were New Romantic. Thompson Twins, Nik Kershaw, Devo, Flock of Seagulls and Human League etc were New Wave). I considered Ultravox to be New Romantic only and so saw 'Love's Great Adventure' to fit it's genre - but that is only because I separate the two as a lot of people don't.

I think the keyword here is 'mainstream' and New Wave, like a lot of musical genres, headed that way by 1981, becoming more palatable to the general public while losing that underground industrial harshness it created a few years before.

Post-Punk and New Wave were artsy punks.  I wouldn't classify any of them "Punk," except for overlaps with bands like The Ramones.  They also took artistic license from the Fluxus movement in NYC.  The Velvet Underground was Andy Warhol's house band!

I would say when the B-52s did "Love Shack" was when it jumped for me.  Like every other genre, New Wave had it's highs and lows.  When that song came out, it was officially dead.

I would say when the B-52s did "Love Shack" was when it jumped for me.  Like every other genre, New Wave had it's highs and lows.  When that song came out, it was officially dead.


8-P

Uhgghhh, I hate that song!  "Roam" was even worse.  The B-52's were golden before Ricky Wilson died.  I never wanted to be one of those guys who goes around saying "I only like their old stuff," but in the case of B-52's, I only like their old stuff!

Even worse -- much worse -- is Kate Pierson and R.E.M., "Shiny Happy People"!

http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/11/cussing.gif

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cVlTeIATBs

8-P

Uhgghhh, I hate that song!  "Roam" was even worse.  The B-52's were golden before Ricky Wilson died.  I never wanted to be one of those guys who goes around saying "I only like their old stuff," but in the case of B-52's, I only like their old stuff!

Even worse -- much worse -- is Kate Pierson and R.E.M., "Shiny Happy People"!

http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/11/cussing.gif

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cVlTeIATBs


I love those songs.

;D

I love those songs.

;D


Oh...sorry.
:-\\