Back in the 80s what we call new wave was often simply called "new music", due to its electronic and digital production and the fact it was so different from anything that came before it. Even most disco was created with real instruments and orchestras. New wave is ultimately responsible for the genres that have defined the past 25 years in particular alt rock and EDM music and I'd argue it killed off the singer-songwriter music of the 60s and 70s as well.

Yes, I think so as well. The more digital sound of 80s music is also responsible for the fact that 80s music does not sound too old even 30 years later, whereas music from 1980 and earlier sounds really really old.

I'd definitely say new wave changed the way mainstream pop music was created (followed by The Stock Aitken Waterman 'Hit Factory' era in the UK from 1985 - 1990) though it could be argued that disco started the ball rolling. In the late 1980s (around 1986/7 - 89) there was a sub-genre called 'sophisti-pop' and a lot of the traditional song-writing stuff emanated from there. Examples of Sophisti-pop bands include Simply Red, Hue and Cry, Swing out Sister, Johnny Hates Jazz, Danny Wilson, Blow Monkeys and Deacon Blue.

Yes, I think so as well. The more digital sound of 80s music is also responsible for the fact that 80s music does not sound too old even 30 years later, whereas music from 1980 and earlier sounds really really old.


Lol! I think '80s music sounds REALLY old, and dated by now. Even to me, and I grew up in the '80s. :o


Also, there were still singers and songwriters in the '90s, so I don't think the traditional pop music was killed off completely.

Lol! I think '80s music sounds REALLY old, and dated by now. Even to me, and I grew up in the '80s

I can't believe it was 30 years ago.  :o

Lol! I think '80s music sounds REALLY old, and dated by now. Even to me, and I grew up in the '80s. :o
Also, there were still singers and songwriters in the '90s, so I don't think the traditional pop music was killed off completely.


I think it sounds dated but not in the way oldies from the 50s, 60s and 70s do. It's hard to explain, but the fact it's so electronic makes it sound "modern" in a sense even if the styles themselves are obsolete.

And yes there was a singer-songwriter revival in the 90s but it was mostly just in America and Canada, synths were still king when it came to pop music in most countries during that decade and really it only lasted a few years. Traditional instruments never really made a comeback after 1980 except for a short period in the mid-90s.

Lol! I think '80s music sounds REALLY old, and dated by now. Even to me, and I grew up in the '80s. :o


Our radio stations play 80s - 10s music on regular pop stations, however you wouldn't really hear the 70s there.

I agree with winter that there has been a shift in the early 80s.

Tony Bennett's recent duet with Lady Gaga is proof in the pudding how traditional pop singers have been forced to either adapt with current artists to crossover, and generally speaking it is up to people to discover the classics in order to find the roots of traditional pop music. Of course the industry always wants to have the latest sound, though such crossovers is the key to discovering the past. Even after new wave was popular, there were still a few oldies' sounding songs in the '80s such as The Honeydrippers' Sea of Love, Roy Orbison's final album, and even a few classic hits recharted. But despite the pause in the '90s, there was still House, Techno, Eurodance, and Electronica that eventually caused such digital music to return to the forefront in the 2000s.  I even heard on a recent news report that Tony Bennett's style of traditional pop is "the new classical music", and I agree that such music still can be useful in Pops-style orchestras. Traditional pop nowdays can be seen as a bit snobby though, and early rock oldies just campy and kitsch, though there is still good appreciation for late '60s/'70s rock due to its vivid production.

Traditional instruments never really made a comeback after 1980 except for a short period in the mid-90s.

I don't think we'll ever see traditional instruments ever again.

Tony Bennett's recent duet with Lady Gaga is proof in the pudding how traditional pop singers have been forced to either adapt with current artists to crossover, and generally speaking it is up to people to discover the classics in order to find the roots of traditional pop music. Of course the industry always wants to have the latest sound, though such crossovers is the key to discovering the past. Even after new wave was popular, there were still a few oldies' sounding songs in the '80s such as The Honeydrippers' Sea of Love, Roy Orbison's final album, and even a few classic hits recharted. But despite the pause in the '90s, there was still House, Techno, Eurodance, and Electronica that eventually caused such digital music to return to the forefront in the 2000s.  I even heard on a recent news report that Tony Bennett's style of traditional pop is "the new classical music", and I agree that such music still can be useful in Pops-style orchestras. Traditional pop nowdays can be seen as a bit snobby though, and early rock oldies just campy and kitsch, though there is still good appreciation for late '60s/'70s rock due to its vivid production.


I agree with this. I was thinking how actually, one reason I get annoyed when some younger people who like today's music sometimes ignorantly rip on 80s music or refer to it as being old and stuff (other than the obvious reasons of not liking feeling old, and its hard to take people dissing something I have childhood sentimental value for) is because it's really inaccurate too! Seriously.

Despite the prevalence and modernization of older genres and there of course being TONS of rock styles around, the digital synthy sound of 1982+ music in many ways ties in more in with the 2010s than with the 50s 60s or even the 70s.

I think today's rap killed oldies and traditional music.