Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site pyuxd.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!pyuxww!pyuxd!rlr
From: rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen)
Newsgroups: net.music
Subject: Re: What does \"New Wave\" mean?
Message-ID: <317@pyuxd.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 8-Dec-84 00:58:20 EST
Article-I.D.: pyuxd.317
Posted: Sat Dec  8 00:58:20 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 8-Dec-84 06:39:12 EST
References: <6352@brl-tgr.ARPA>
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Piscataway N.J.
Lines: 30

> Hey, we're having a rather heated debate over here at Xerox about the
> definition of "New Wave."
> 
> Anybody care to join the fray?

Simple.  It's a stupid name invented by the "music industry"  (mass production
for mass consumption) to pigeonhole and categorize new music artists (including
but not restricted to "punk" music, whatever that was/is) so that they could
place them in special record bins in the stores and (they hoped) make money.
Basically, the category consisted of anyone who didn't fit in to existing
categories like Adult Contemporary (music to buy cuisinarts by), Rock (i.e.,
metal geeks and glitter stars), AOR (manufactured pre-fab so-called music
specially tailored and designed---like the performers who played it---for
maximum monetary potential and mininum creativity and intensity level), etc.

Why, just listen to the obvious similarities between Talking Heads, Devo,
Blondie, the Ramones, the B-52's, Gary Numan, the Clash, the Banshees,
the Buzzcocks, Generation X, Lene Lovich, Elvis Costello, etc.  Isn't it
obvious that they all sounded alike and needed to be put in the same
category so that unwitting zombified consumerized teenagers wouldn't
accidentally buy something that wasn't well controlled in the marketplace?
(Is a sarcasm indicator really necessary?)

What they DID all have in common is that they were NOT a part of any of
the stupid categories designed by marketing consultants on B-arks (and on
coke).  Bless 'em all.  They blazed the new music trail so that the
marketing gurus could make new wave what it is today:  just another
category.
-- 
"Be seeing you..."				Rich Rosen    pyuxd!rlr