You only get to choose one.
by Anonymous | reply 4 | December 2, 2023 11:39 AM |
by Anonymous | reply 5 | December 2, 2023 11:40 AM |
"Friday I'm in Love" is another good one by The Cure.
by Anonymous | reply 6 | December 2, 2023 11:45 AM |
R9 God no
by Anonymous | reply 10 | December 2, 2023 1:53 PM |
I melt with you
by Anonymous | reply 11 | December 2, 2023 1:57 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 13 | December 2, 2023 2:02 PM |
True Colors or Time After Time should be in the top 10, but probably not #1.
by Anonymous | reply 14 | December 2, 2023 2:07 PM |
"Save A Prayer" Duran Duran. This wasn't a chart hit in the U.S. but it caught on as an album track and still gets airplay.
by Anonymous | reply 16 | December 2, 2023 2:15 PM |
R12 Ballad, Rose, not new wave techno disco.
by Anonymous | reply 18 | December 2, 2023 2:21 PM |
You beat me by seconds, r19! Thread closed!
by Anonymous | reply 20 | December 2, 2023 2:26 PM |
OMD “Love My Way” to me is more New Wave than “If You Leave.”
by Anonymous | reply 21 | December 2, 2023 2:27 PM |
I love all these songs! Many of them are written in the same keys (D, E, and F major).
Does anyone have synesthesia? I’ve always associated these songs with a beautiful shade of blue. Maybe subliminally from the Hold Me Now video.
Also seriously r12 wtf.
by Anonymous | reply 22 | December 2, 2023 2:30 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 24 | December 2, 2023 2:34 PM |
A country ballad turned effortlessly into a new wave anthem
by Anonymous | reply 25 | December 2, 2023 2:34 PM |
by Anonymous | reply 28 | December 2, 2023 2:37 PM |
Per Bing
Here are some popular 80s new wave ballads that were written in E major:
“The Promise” by When in Rome
“True” by Spandau Ballet
“Eyes Without a Face” by Billy Idol
“Don’t You (Forget About Me)” by Simple Minds
by Anonymous | reply 30 | December 2, 2023 2:38 PM |
R25, R27, and R28 need to consult a dictionary for the term "ballad."
by Anonymous | reply 31 | December 2, 2023 2:39 PM |
Funny enough - I saw a lot of these bands just 2 weeks ago at a music festival in SoCal. OMD, Soft Cell, Tears for Fears (Human League, DEVO, New Order, B-52's, English Beat, and Violent Femmes also played).
I'm just saying this to stir up some jealousy. I'll find the exit.
by Anonymous | reply 32 | December 2, 2023 2:40 PM |
I see this as a NW ballad but can understand others might not see it in that light -
by Anonymous | reply 33 | December 2, 2023 2:41 PM |
R27 Tainted love was written in 1967
It’s not a ballad
If you wanted a Soft Cell ballad, you should have chosen this one
by Anonymous | reply 34 | December 2, 2023 2:41 PM |
Everybody Wants to Rule the world is a brilliant song and probably the most meta 80s song ever written.
However, it is a meditation on power and powerlessness and would not be considered a ballad, although it shares the same key as many ballads.
by Anonymous | reply 36 | December 2, 2023 2:46 PM |
R26 has it. It’s “Eyes Without a Face.”
Thread closed.
by Anonymous | reply 38 | December 2, 2023 3:03 PM |
Among the big hits, I'd say yes it's Spandau Ballet's True.
by Anonymous | reply 40 | December 2, 2023 3:37 PM |
The Yazoo and Culture Club hits are also very good and timeless.
The inspirations built into True include Al Green, Marvin Gaye, and Nabokov's Lolita, quoted: "with a thrill in my head and a pill on my tongue".
by Anonymous | reply 41 | December 2, 2023 3:44 PM |
Paging Howard Jones….
by Anonymous | reply 42 | December 2, 2023 3:46 PM |
So many good voices, above! Tony Hadley had a great voice. Where are the great voices today?
by Anonymous | reply 43 | December 2, 2023 3:47 PM |
Oh damn. I missed the ballad part in OP’s post. I was just posting songs that I felt represented that quintessential New Wave sound.
by Anonymous | reply 44 | December 2, 2023 4:03 PM |
Not really New Wave, but of the same time period. I love Siouxsie's vocals in this. At the time, many of the diehards hated this album at first because it was a departure from the Banshees' sound. Also Siouxsie chopped her hair off.
by Anonymous | reply 45 | December 2, 2023 4:04 PM |
R45 - great addition to the thread - one of their best songs among so many.
Personally, I would never put Spandau Ballet into the "new wave" category - but I guess it's not a really well-defined term.
To me, new wave had to have a sound that was relatively unique (synth, drums, guitar) and/or have lyrics that were unique, dark, or about unexpected topics.
Spandau Ballet's True is just a fucking love song with an awful sax. Nothing new wave about that at all.
by Anonymous | reply 46 | December 2, 2023 4:27 PM |
Oh for crissakes Spandau Ballet has been classified a New Wave band by almost every music historian and music critic, ever. As well as by the industry. You have a point that True isn't edgy at all. And that was on purpose.
by Anonymous | reply 47 | December 2, 2023 4:33 PM |
R47 - right, so if Dolly Parton makes a rock song, then the song is country by default?
"True" is easy-listening adult contemporary and is not new wave, despite the band's previous efforts.
Overruled.
by Anonymous | reply 48 | December 2, 2023 4:43 PM |
R46's statement reads to be about the BAND, not the song. Be more precise, and you wouldn't have to backpedal.
by Anonymous | reply 49 | December 2, 2023 4:46 PM |
Everyone here knows the answer is Spandau Ballet's TRUE. You may not like it, but it's the one.
by Anonymous | reply 50 | December 2, 2023 4:47 PM |
Everyone here now knows R50 is an idiot. He doesn't like it, but it's TRUUUUUE!
I know, I know, I KNOW this much is true.
by Anonymous | reply 51 | December 2, 2023 4:52 PM |
Captain of My Heart 💜
by Anonymous | reply 53 | December 2, 2023 5:06 PM |
Her*
by Anonymous | reply 55 | December 2, 2023 5:09 PM |
R7
That iconic moment at the end of Sixteen Candles…
by Anonymous | reply 57 | December 2, 2023 5:13 PM |
Robert De Niro's Waiting!
It's about rape!
by Anonymous | reply 58 | December 2, 2023 5:15 PM |
Psycho Killer
Life During Wartime
by Anonymous | reply 59 | December 2, 2023 5:16 PM |
A few people here have no idea what a ballad is.
by Anonymous | reply 60 | December 2, 2023 5:19 PM |
r48 incorrect
by Anonymous | reply 61 | December 2, 2023 5:20 PM |
R61 - tell us exactly what in "True" makes it a new wave song?
by Anonymous | reply 62 | December 2, 2023 5:24 PM |
does everyone in this thread know what a 'ballad' is? geez
by Anonymous | reply 64 | December 2, 2023 5:26 PM |
R62 would you just shut the fuck up?! You can ask the same hissy fit obstinate stickler question about half the popular "New Wave Ballads".
by Anonymous | reply 66 | December 2, 2023 5:28 PM |
[quote]Almost no one here has any idea what a ballad is.
Fixed.
by Anonymous | reply 67 | December 2, 2023 5:30 PM |
R65 Quick Cliff Notes: dreary, maudlin, suicidal
by Anonymous | reply 68 | December 2, 2023 5:30 PM |
I Feel For You by Chaka Khan
by Anonymous | reply 69 | December 2, 2023 5:42 PM |
R66 - you're the one having a hissy fit. I ask for clarification on this topic because people are all over the fucking place.
You're just pissed off because you voted for "True" upthread and now can't justify your response.
And I would agree - Time by Culture Club is not a New Wave song either. But Do You Really Want to Hurt Me is.
Some of the above posts were both new wave and ballads, "True" just isn't. Neither is Eurythmics Here Comes the Rain Again - although it's a wonderful song.
by Anonymous | reply 70 | December 2, 2023 5:43 PM |
🥰👍🏻🤡👏 noted New Wave artist Chaka Khan in her greatest ballad!
by Anonymous | reply 71 | December 2, 2023 5:44 PM |
Hold On For One More Day by Willson Philips
by Anonymous | reply 72 | December 2, 2023 5:47 PM |
R70 no you're being a stickler and a prig. New Romantic is a subgenera of New Wave so New Wave does accommodate the white soul New Romantic stylings. How much edge can you really put in a ballad? You can, but it won't be the "ultimate" if that includes the most popular.
by Anonymous | reply 73 | December 2, 2023 5:49 PM |
This is TOTALLY New Wave. Again, would you kindly shut your trap, Miss Thing?
by Anonymous | reply 74 | December 2, 2023 5:51 PM |
I'm posting Madonna, not so much because she's a great example of New Wave, but because the New Wave crowd loved her, too. Including me.
by Anonymous | reply 75 | December 2, 2023 6:48 PM |
Well if that's the way we're playing it, I'm posting Dusty Springfield Look of Love because she later cut a track with Pet Shop Boys and they were never New Wave but the New Wave crowd moved on to like them, too.
by Anonymous | reply 76 | December 2, 2023 6:55 PM |
Don't forget moi! I was New Wave Something or Nutter
by Anonymous | reply 77 | December 2, 2023 7:00 PM |
Billy Idol is not new wave, r26.
Interesting that you’d cite PSB — possibly the ultimate new wave band — as “too disco” but then post “eyes without a face,” which is arguably not new wave and definitely not a ballad.
by Anonymous | reply 78 | December 2, 2023 7:04 PM |
Mickey by Toni Basil!
by Anonymous | reply 79 | December 2, 2023 7:08 PM |
Aren't PSB mostly categorized as synth-pop, first and foremost. And dance?
by Anonymous | reply 82 | December 2, 2023 7:16 PM |
Agree with Suddenly Last Summer (Motels), "Hold Me Now," and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World." Those songs make me feel sad and wistful (Mary!) and take me back to my very young adulthood.
I would agree that True is not New Wave and, somehow, Billy Idol is New Wave-adjacent, but his music was definitely welcome at the time. Billy Idol was a lot more rock or punkish. Forgot to Be a Lover was a really good song and yes, not a ballad.
by Anonymous | reply 84 | December 2, 2023 7:34 PM |
This thread has gone off the rails. In that spirit, here's a video of cats dancing.
by Anonymous | reply 85 | December 2, 2023 7:35 PM |
R83 is a good one.
by Anonymous | reply 86 | December 2, 2023 7:41 PM |
Apparently it takes an authentic boomer to know what both New Age and Ballads are.
by Anonymous | reply 87 | December 2, 2023 7:44 PM |
I try by Macy Gray
by Anonymous | reply 88 | December 2, 2023 7:52 PM |
R19 Yes, Only You by Yazoo is the definitive new wave ballad, even after 40 years. The best song listed on this thread so far is Elvis Costello's Allison. But I just consider it a great song that is a ballad, I don't consider it new wave or punk.
by Anonymous | reply 90 | December 2, 2023 7:57 PM |
Yeah, Alison is not a new wave or punk song. Elvis Costello actually predates New Wave by a couple of years.
by Anonymous | reply 91 | December 2, 2023 8:07 PM |
Piss On Your Face All Night Long (The Chug a Lug Song)
by Anonymous | reply 92 | December 2, 2023 8:19 PM |
If you only knew what you're putting me through. Feels like a HEART ATTACK.
by Anonymous | reply 93 | December 2, 2023 9:00 PM |
Most of these songs are 80s synth pop, not new wave
by Anonymous | reply 94 | December 2, 2023 9:04 PM |
R91 NO, he doesn't. His first album came out in 1977. There were already new wave records out by other bands by that time. Talking Heads, Blondie, Devo etc. Unless you consider the 80s pop crap like Madonna and Duran Duran to be new wave
by Anonymous | reply 95 | December 2, 2023 9:06 PM |
The Power Of Love by Jennifer Brush
by Anonymous | reply 96 | December 2, 2023 9:09 PM |
The gift of life extension by divine intervention.
by Anonymous | reply 97 | December 2, 2023 9:09 PM |
r94 Provide a clear distinction, then
by Anonymous | reply 98 | December 2, 2023 9:09 PM |
R98 Alternative style of music that has it's roots in punk rock/garage rock. Velvet Underground were called new wave music back in 1967
by Anonymous | reply 99 | December 2, 2023 9:12 PM |
r99 That doesn't help explain why you think a specific song doesn't qualify as one
by Anonymous | reply 100 | December 2, 2023 9:14 PM |
I love slapping meat
by Anonymous | reply 102 | December 2, 2023 9:19 PM |
R99 Cause most of these songs are just mainstream pop songs. Is any pop song from 1980s a new wave song to you then? In that case, the name of the thread could be What was the ultimate 80s pop ballad?
by Anonymous | reply 103 | December 2, 2023 9:24 PM |
Exactly R103. Understandable that people would post ballads by New Wave bands recorded during the New Wave era. What else could “New Wave ballad” mean?
by Anonymous | reply 104 | December 2, 2023 9:32 PM |
R104 But what is New Wave era to you? I think that New Wave was already dead by the early 80s with the birth of Mtv and commercialization of that type of music
by Anonymous | reply 105 | December 2, 2023 9:35 PM |
I'd go with I Melt With You.
by Anonymous | reply 106 | December 2, 2023 9:36 PM |
r106 You consider that a ballad?
by Anonymous | reply 107 | December 2, 2023 9:39 PM |
Paula Abdul's Rush Rush
by Anonymous | reply 108 | December 2, 2023 9:48 PM |
R108 Because when I think "new wave," Paula Abdul is the first person who comes to mind.
by Anonymous | reply 109 | December 2, 2023 9:52 PM |
As I hate ballads, yes, R107. Thats it for me.
by Anonymous | reply 110 | December 2, 2023 9:52 PM |
lol r108
Janet Jackson NASTY SNATCH
by Anonymous | reply 111 | December 2, 2023 9:53 PM |
I do love the Motels Suddenly Last Summer though.
by Anonymous | reply 112 | December 2, 2023 9:53 PM |
Age of Consent by Joy Division
by Anonymous | reply 113 | December 2, 2023 10:06 PM |
You Are The Wind Beneath Your Wings by Betty Midler
by Anonymous | reply 114 | December 2, 2023 10:09 PM |
You are the shit underneath my shoe
by Anonymous | reply 115 | December 2, 2023 10:13 PM |
Do the pedants have a problem with this one?
by Anonymous | reply 116 | December 2, 2023 10:21 PM |
Drive was in Post # 5 and no one has complained about it.
by Anonymous | reply 117 | December 2, 2023 10:36 PM |
r114 That's not New Wave
by Anonymous | reply 118 | December 2, 2023 11:27 PM |
R118 just that one? Are you a snark and satire free zone?
by Anonymous | reply 119 | December 2, 2023 11:30 PM |
[quote] Alternative style of music that has it's roots in punk rock/garage rock
Oh, dear.
by Anonymous | reply 120 | December 3, 2023 2:34 AM |
Army of Lovers "Crucified"
by Anonymous | reply 123 | December 3, 2023 5:11 AM |
3/4 of the songs in this thread are not New Wave and even more are not ballads.
Fuck it, I'll throw in my vote for Tammy Wynette singing "Justified and Ancient".
by Anonymous | reply 124 | December 3, 2023 5:14 AM |
Avalon by Roxy music. That song still makes my toes curl.
by Anonymous | reply 127 | December 3, 2023 6:30 AM |
The definition at R122 (Wikipedia) sounds like it would embrace most, if not all, of the pop and dance music that the purists on this thread are rejecting.
[quote]New wave is a music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s through the 1980s. It is considered a lighter and more melodic "broadening of punk culture" ... including power pop, synth-pop, alternative dance, and specific forms of punk that were less abrasive. It may also be viewed as a more accessible counterpart of post-punk
by Anonymous | reply 128 | December 3, 2023 6:41 AM |
R128 yes I made this point at R47 but the obstinate stickler had to have his stampy feet fun.
by Anonymous | reply 129 | December 3, 2023 6:43 AM |
🎶 I just died in your arms tonight 🎶
by Anonymous | reply 130 | December 3, 2023 6:56 AM |
130 comments in and no Sunglasses at Night.
by Anonymous | reply 131 | December 3, 2023 6:57 AM |
Samantha Fox - Touch Me (I Wanna Feel Your Buddy)
by Anonymous | reply 132 | December 3, 2023 7:00 AM |
R128 I agree most of the tunes on here are New Wave except for a couple music snobs that think about 100 songs total fit the category.
by Anonymous | reply 133 | December 3, 2023 7:44 AM |
R135 So basically any 80s pop music is new wave? If Cyndi Lauper and Samantha Fox count, why not Whitney Houston or Kylie Minogue?
by Anonymous | reply 137 | December 3, 2023 12:54 PM |
Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi is not new wave, it’s nouvelle vague
by Anonymous | reply 138 | December 3, 2023 12:59 PM |
R131 Okay, you're getting there. Sunglasses at Night could be considered "new wave," but there's no way it's considered a "ballad."
by Anonymous | reply 139 | December 3, 2023 1:43 PM |
New Order's "Your Silent Face"
I don't think this has been mentioned yet.
And if it has, it deserves to be mentioned twice.
by Anonymous | reply 140 | December 3, 2023 2:03 PM |
^ Ballad, r140? Hahahahahaha.
by Anonymous | reply 141 | December 3, 2023 2:25 PM |
[wuote] Apparently it takes an authentic boomer to know what both New Age
You’re really batting a thousand, girlfriend. I’m not a boomer, I’m Gen X and new wave was our music. Oh, and we’re talking about New WAVE music, not new age.
Should we sign you up for an EEG, dearheart?
by Anonymous | reply 142 | December 3, 2023 2:28 PM |
[quote]130 comments in and no Sunglasses at Night.
Because it sucked. Corey Hart was easy on the eyes, but hard on the ears.
by Anonymous | reply 143 | December 3, 2023 3:03 PM |
Some great choices already, I submit OMD - Souvenir
by Anonymous | reply 144 | December 3, 2023 3:46 PM |
The problem with this thread is that folks have different definitions of "New Wave" and "ballad" which makes some of the entries questionable.
However, it's still a fun romp through some very good songs from the past.
by Anonymous | reply 146 | December 3, 2023 4:53 PM |
Crazy For You by Madonna.
Karen Carpenter could have recorded it.
by Anonymous | reply 149 | December 3, 2023 8:40 PM |
every talk talk ballad > every other new wave/new romantic band.
tomorrow started, john cope, runeii, after the flood, i believe in you, etc. RIP mark hollis
by Anonymous | reply 151 | December 5, 2023 1:58 AM |
R139 It’s a dance ballad you smart hoe.
by Anonymous | reply 152 | December 5, 2023 2:51 AM |
God - I weep for some of your lack of musical knowledge and history.
For those of us who received abuse for following this musical movement - which relied on stretching your antennaes to hear college stations that MAY play songs you want to hear or a frequency you could sometimes get - meanwhile dressing and acting in a way decisively different in the 80's, we are PROTECTIVE of what the New Wave sound is and describes - even though it wasn't defined formally, as no music category is.
But believe you me (those New Wavers will get this reference), there was New Wave and you knew it when you heard it.
by Anonymous | reply 153 | December 5, 2023 5:40 AM |
Yes, the Krays R4
by Anonymous | reply 154 | December 5, 2023 5:45 AM |
Actually my entire play list is the 80s
by Anonymous | reply 155 | December 5, 2023 5:47 AM |
No love for Under the Milky Way by The Church?
by Anonymous | reply 156 | December 5, 2023 6:30 AM |
^^^this most definitely!
by Anonymous | reply 158 | December 5, 2023 7:23 AM |
And a more obscure one: Alison Moyet (with David Freeman from The Lover Speaks) - Sleep Like Breathing
by Anonymous | reply 160 | December 5, 2023 7:35 AM |
Your Silent Face has the midtempo of a ballad and some of the most vivid and evocative synth of the Eighties, but the song is about existential dread. So, not a ballad.
by Anonymous | reply 161 | December 5, 2023 10:42 AM |
Jesus Christ R21 that’s the Psychedelic Furs. Do people not think before they post?
by Anonymous | reply 162 | December 5, 2023 10:44 AM |
R152 There's no such thing as a "dance ballad," for God's sake.
by Anonymous | reply 163 | December 5, 2023 11:06 AM |
R9 ABSOLUTELY
by Anonymous | reply 164 | December 5, 2023 11:20 AM |
Spandau Ballet IS a new wave band and "True" IS a new wave ballad. PLEASE kill yourselves if you disagree.
ANYWAY...
by Anonymous | reply 165 | December 5, 2023 11:25 AM |
Something tells me Larry Flick is up in here...
Hey, Larry <3
by Anonymous | reply 166 | December 5, 2023 11:27 AM |
R113 EXCUSE ME?
by Anonymous | reply 167 | December 5, 2023 11:29 AM |
Really digging all of these submissions
by Anonymous | reply 168 | December 5, 2023 11:31 AM |
New wave was already dead by the 1980
by Anonymous | reply 169 | December 5, 2023 3:44 PM |
A lot of these songs/bands (Spandau Ballet, ABC, Modern English etc.) would be classified as New Romantic, not New Wave. Madonna is neither. Straight up pop.
by Anonymous | reply 170 | December 5, 2023 4:03 PM |
R170 Material Girl has very strong new wave influences.
by Anonymous | reply 171 | December 5, 2023 5:01 PM |
Madonna's ballads (Crazy for You, Borderline, Angel etc.) are definitely PoP and not New Wave.
by Anonymous | reply 172 | December 5, 2023 9:00 PM |
r169 No
by Anonymous | reply 173 | December 5, 2023 9:03 PM |
R173 Yes
by Anonymous | reply 174 | December 5, 2023 10:31 PM |
Skimmed thread. Sweet Dreams are made of this/Eurythmics.
by Anonymous | reply 176 | December 5, 2023 10:52 PM |
This is basically any pop 80s slow/quiet song?
by Anonymous | reply 177 | December 5, 2023 11:37 PM |
r177 Yeh - at this point - just go for it
by Anonymous | reply 178 | December 5, 2023 11:57 PM |
R178 In that case second (?) vote for Drive by The Cars. At least they were a new wave act, unlike Madonna
by Anonymous | reply 179 | December 5, 2023 11:59 PM |