Rock and roll started to lose its way in the late 1970s. The bands that once sounded dangerous were now playing 10-minute guitar solos in hockey arenas. Progressive rock groups were building entire albums around fantasy epics. Disco had taken over the charts and dance floors. Punk exploded then quickly burned out.

If you were a kid looking for something fresh, rock and roll felt a little…tired.

Then something strange started happening in clubs in New York and London. Bands were showing up wearing skinny ties instead of denim, playing short, sharp songs that mixed punk energy with pop hooks, art school weirdness, and a lot of synthesizers. The music was quirky, nervous, and a little futuristic. It didn’t sound like classic rock, and it definitely didn’t sound like disco.

They started calling it New Wave. And before long, bands like Talking Heads, Blondie, and The Cars were turning that strange new sound into one of the defining movements of the 1980s.

In this episode of Prisoners of Rock and Roll, we’re looking at New Wave, the music genre that turned new sounds into a defining trend of the early 80s. We’re going to talk about bands like The Cars, Blondie, The Talking Heads and more. We’ve got the bands, the tunes, music news, a song for the electric chair, and all of the entertaining and educating stuff we have to say about them. Let’s hit it.

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Prisoners of Rock and Roll -- Whip It Good! New Wave