Making Waves

Mavericks of an era on Red Bull Music Academy Radio

The late '70s and '80s might be known as an age of decadance, but as anyone who was old enough to remember first-hand what was going on can testify, the musical and cultural abundance inspired hundreds of bands around the world. After The Stooges and the MC5 had effectively levelled the cultural landscape flat, punk and new wave developed hand in hand with a common rebellious sneer. Add some of the first polyphonic synthesizers, an open mind to other musical styles, and a healthy dose of experimentation, and you've got some of the most creative music of the last half century. Let's take a look through some of waves defining moments.

Two groups that are often described as wave originators are both from the US - Devo and Pere Ubu. As early as 1973, Devo were performing their musical concepts of the d-evolved society, but their first single Mongoloid and Jocko Homo in 1976 encapsulated the anti-herd mentality that characterised many wave bands to come. But it was just as much their energetic riffs, choppy synths, and theatrical flowerpot-head costumes that captured the imagination of bands across the pond too. Meanwhile over in Cleveland, Pere Ubu were taking garage rock and '60s surf music into strange new places, with synth effects, tape loops, and alienated, paranoid, nursery rhyme sing-alongs. The sense of brooding disaffection running through their debut LP The Modern Dance has influenced a whole generation of musicians.

Meanwhile in the UK, both north and south, there were bands starting to throw together punk attitude with experimental sounds and raw arrangements. The anarchic theatre of Throbbing Gristle, and the industrial noise-terrorism of Cabaret Voltaire, both gave rise to dance music with a strong social message - a baton that artists and groups like A Certain Ratio and Chaz Jankel ran with, informing their stripped-down rhythmic punk. The anonymous sound of volts and filters also provided a soundscape for a dystopian future, as synth heroes like Gary Numan, Wally Badarou, and Martyn Ware used their keyboards to paint alien landscapes, inter-continental journeys, and suburban decay respectively.

But while Lydon saw no future, other artists and producers saw the positivity and hope in a community, and producers like Adrian Sherwood and Dennis Bovell managed to leap-frog any notion of segregation, and forge creative paths through punk, dub, disco, reggae, soul, and new wave with effortless style. It seems with a good board you can make waves all of your own, whatever the era.

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