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Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s
Mad World is a highly entertaining oral history that celebrates the New Wave music phenomenon of the 1980s via new interviews with 35 of the most notable artists of the period. Each chapter begins with a discussion of their most popular song but leads to stories of their history and place in the scene, ultimately painting a vivid picture of this colorful, idiosyncratic time. Mixtape suggestions, fashion sidebars, and quotes from famous contemporary admirers help fill out the fun. Participants include members of Duran Duran, New Order, The Smiths, Tears for Fears, Adam Ant, Echo and the Bunnymen, Devo, ABC, Spandau Ballet, A Flock of Seagulls, Thompson Twins, and INXS.
320 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2014
190 people are currently reading
2052 people want to read
About the author
Lori Majewski
1 book45 followersI'm a diehard Duranie, so it's appropriate that my first book is Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s (Abrams, 2014). Co-authored by my BFF Jonathan Bernstein, it's a fun, full-color salute to the music of Duran Duran, The Smiths, New Order, Tears For Fears, Depeche Mode, Human League, OMD, Echo and the Bunnymen, Adam and the Ants, and many more! In all-new interviews, the artists discuss their breakthrough hits, as well as the culture of the times, their career highlights, the downfalls, the fights, the money, the madness and, of course, the hair! Duran's Nick Rhodes wrote the foreword, and fellow new-wave obsessive Moby, the afterword.
Jonathan and I met during the grunge years, when he was a senior writer and I an intern at Spin magazine. Later I became an editor at magazines like Teen People, Us Weekly, Entertainment Weekly and YM, and to write features for the likes of RollingStone.com, Yahoo! Music, The Guardian, Women's Health, and Yahoo! Shine.
An avowed vegan, I live in Weehawken, NJ — which is also my hometown, and where I once ran a Too Much Information: the Definitive Duranzine out of my parents' apartment. My husband, John, and cats, Baxter and Little Boy, love the eighties almost as much as I do. (Actually, my husband may even love them more!)
Jonathan and I met during the grunge years, when he was a senior writer and I an intern at Spin magazine. Later I became an editor at magazines like Teen People, Us Weekly, Entertainment Weekly and YM, and to write features for the likes of RollingStone.com, Yahoo! Music, The Guardian, Women's Health, and Yahoo! Shine.
An avowed vegan, I live in Weehawken, NJ — which is also my hometown, and where I once ran a Too Much Information: the Definitive Duranzine out of my parents' apartment. My husband, John, and cats, Baxter and Little Boy, love the eighties almost as much as I do. (Actually, my husband may even love them more!)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 190 reviews
April 26, 2014
This is a really good "bathroom book". I don't read in the bathroom (gross!) but this is one of these books you can read in brief installments and skip around the chapters that don't interest you. I read all of it and confirmed that I still so love INXS, Echo, Depeche Mode and the Smiths. I also confirmed that nothing can make me like Dexy's Midnight Runners. Howard Jones or OMD. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the chapters on Gary Numan and Thomas Dolby and I loved all the back stories about feuds and love affairs. I still find the loss of Ian Curtis so sad that I nearly wept at the New Order chapter and just had to just tearily skim the Joy Division chapter. Overall this is an enjoyable read and a great trip down memory lane.
February 16, 2014
Some kids have a favorite doll, a teddy bear, a toy or a lucky blanket. I had a book: “Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 Yearbook.” I can’t remember where I got it, but for most of the early ’80s, it was my one constant companion, a not-so-imaginary best friend. I carried it everywhere. The book, which came out in 1979, profiled every single artist who scored a Top 40 hit during Billboard magazine’s 1978 chart year. In the back, there were Billboard year-end charts for all of the various genres covered in the magazine (my other required reading in the ’80s) as well as essays on such varied topics as what makes a hit single.
I still have that book today, more than 30 years later. (Amazon currently has it on sale, from $124.82 USED, which should give you an idea what a collector’s item it now is.) The cover might be no longer attached to the spine, but it lives on, safely stored away in a friend’s house in Melbourne, where, sadly, I can’t get to it at the moment. (I’m living in Cape Town.) Recently, though, I’ve been missing it a little less than usual, thanks to the musical history documented on the pages of “Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s.”
If I were a child of the 2010s, “Mad World” might serve the same purpose that the 1978 book fulfilled for me 30 years ago. I’d be dragging it around, thumbing through the pages until they’re wrinkled and dog-eared. It might even pull me away from the Internet, becoming required reading during solo lunches and road trips as well as a source of constant trivia. Facebook status update: “Lost in ‘Mad World’ – again.”
“Mad World” isn’t just a book about songs of the ’80s, though. It’s a snapshot of an entire movement, a cultural phenomenon and the artists who bought it to life. There are many of the usual suspects (Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Human League...), a few unusual ones (The Normal, The Waitresses, Animotion), and one-hit wonders who actually weren’t (A-ha, Dexys Midnight Runners, Spandau Ballet).
Many of their stories often sprout from the same sources (Roxy Music performing “Virginia Plain” on “Top of the Pops” in 1972, David Bowie, Kraftwerk), flourish and intertwine, before diverging, and intertwining again (in the Band-Aid finale chapter). They love each other (Duran Duran’s John Taylor was a huge fan of ABC’s debut album, “The Lexicon of Love,” while his band and Spandau Ballet were early cohorts!) and sometimes loathe each other: Echo and the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch’s anti-Bono rant is one of the book’s most entertaining passages, and A Flock of Seagulls gets the derisive treatment from several of its peers – and formerly wild-haired frontman Mike Score fights back!
Reading it is like watching a series of VH1 “Behind the Music” episodes – 36 of them. But instead of having a bunch of talking heads interrupting the true stories, saying pretty much the same old same old (“That song took them to the next level” – Duh!), you get the full story about the men and women (alas, mostly men) behind the hits and the non-hits, straight from the sources’ mouths. (Co-authors Lori Majewski and Jonathan Bernstein have their say at the beginning of each chapter then get out of the way.)
In much the same obsessive way that I was attached to that 1978 yearbook for so many of my formative years, as an adult, I'm similarly obsessed with History Channel documentaries, downloading them and watching them over and over, sometimes falling asleep while re-listening to a story for the umpteenth time. “Mad World” is like the literary version of those documentaries, if the History Channel were dedicated to retro pop instead of dead Presidents and the political past.
“Mad World” gives me something new to take to bed with me, only instead of falling asleep with Greek myths and Civil War, Mexican War and Spanish-American War stories swirling in my head, I’ll be mentally replaying the greatest hits (and non-hits) from the biggest stars of the new-wave era, some of which I hadn’t listened to in years until “Mad World” sent me running to my music collection and to YouTube.
I’d forgotten how ground-breaking and wonderful The Human League’s “Being Boiled” was, how unlike anything else driving radio Gary Numan’s “Cars” was at the time (circa 1980), and damn, if Ultravox’s “Vienna” doesn’t still send a chill down my spine. Now I know the full stories behind all of those unforgettable fires and the ups and downs and sometimes ups again of the artists responsible for lighting them. And thanks to Roland Orzabel’s comments on the origin of the Tears for Fears moniker and the evolution of his personal philosophy, I’m now armed with new ammunition for those nature vs. nurture debates that I always seem to be having these days. “Mad World” isn’t just about music. It’s about life, and the breadth of life that its title (which is taken from the TFF classic featured within) describes and encompasses.
If I have one gripe about “Mad World,” it’s that even at 320 pages, it’s too small a world, after all. There’s no full chapter on U2, Culture Club, Eurythmics, and several other ‘80s staples, though they do pop up in the book’s pages. But to quote Thompson Twins (who ARE here), here’s to future days – and books. I generally hate sequels, but for possibly the first time ever, “Mad World” has me saving a prayer for one.
I still have that book today, more than 30 years later. (Amazon currently has it on sale, from $124.82 USED, which should give you an idea what a collector’s item it now is.) The cover might be no longer attached to the spine, but it lives on, safely stored away in a friend’s house in Melbourne, where, sadly, I can’t get to it at the moment. (I’m living in Cape Town.) Recently, though, I’ve been missing it a little less than usual, thanks to the musical history documented on the pages of “Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s.”
If I were a child of the 2010s, “Mad World” might serve the same purpose that the 1978 book fulfilled for me 30 years ago. I’d be dragging it around, thumbing through the pages until they’re wrinkled and dog-eared. It might even pull me away from the Internet, becoming required reading during solo lunches and road trips as well as a source of constant trivia. Facebook status update: “Lost in ‘Mad World’ – again.”
“Mad World” isn’t just a book about songs of the ’80s, though. It’s a snapshot of an entire movement, a cultural phenomenon and the artists who bought it to life. There are many of the usual suspects (Duran Duran, Depeche Mode, The Human League...), a few unusual ones (The Normal, The Waitresses, Animotion), and one-hit wonders who actually weren’t (A-ha, Dexys Midnight Runners, Spandau Ballet).
Many of their stories often sprout from the same sources (Roxy Music performing “Virginia Plain” on “Top of the Pops” in 1972, David Bowie, Kraftwerk), flourish and intertwine, before diverging, and intertwining again (in the Band-Aid finale chapter). They love each other (Duran Duran’s John Taylor was a huge fan of ABC’s debut album, “The Lexicon of Love,” while his band and Spandau Ballet were early cohorts!) and sometimes loathe each other: Echo and the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch’s anti-Bono rant is one of the book’s most entertaining passages, and A Flock of Seagulls gets the derisive treatment from several of its peers – and formerly wild-haired frontman Mike Score fights back!
Reading it is like watching a series of VH1 “Behind the Music” episodes – 36 of them. But instead of having a bunch of talking heads interrupting the true stories, saying pretty much the same old same old (“That song took them to the next level” – Duh!), you get the full story about the men and women (alas, mostly men) behind the hits and the non-hits, straight from the sources’ mouths. (Co-authors Lori Majewski and Jonathan Bernstein have their say at the beginning of each chapter then get out of the way.)
In much the same obsessive way that I was attached to that 1978 yearbook for so many of my formative years, as an adult, I'm similarly obsessed with History Channel documentaries, downloading them and watching them over and over, sometimes falling asleep while re-listening to a story for the umpteenth time. “Mad World” is like the literary version of those documentaries, if the History Channel were dedicated to retro pop instead of dead Presidents and the political past.
“Mad World” gives me something new to take to bed with me, only instead of falling asleep with Greek myths and Civil War, Mexican War and Spanish-American War stories swirling in my head, I’ll be mentally replaying the greatest hits (and non-hits) from the biggest stars of the new-wave era, some of which I hadn’t listened to in years until “Mad World” sent me running to my music collection and to YouTube.
I’d forgotten how ground-breaking and wonderful The Human League’s “Being Boiled” was, how unlike anything else driving radio Gary Numan’s “Cars” was at the time (circa 1980), and damn, if Ultravox’s “Vienna” doesn’t still send a chill down my spine. Now I know the full stories behind all of those unforgettable fires and the ups and downs and sometimes ups again of the artists responsible for lighting them. And thanks to Roland Orzabel’s comments on the origin of the Tears for Fears moniker and the evolution of his personal philosophy, I’m now armed with new ammunition for those nature vs. nurture debates that I always seem to be having these days. “Mad World” isn’t just about music. It’s about life, and the breadth of life that its title (which is taken from the TFF classic featured within) describes and encompasses.
If I have one gripe about “Mad World,” it’s that even at 320 pages, it’s too small a world, after all. There’s no full chapter on U2, Culture Club, Eurythmics, and several other ‘80s staples, though they do pop up in the book’s pages. But to quote Thompson Twins (who ARE here), here’s to future days – and books. I generally hate sequels, but for possibly the first time ever, “Mad World” has me saving a prayer for one.
June 10, 2014
Let's get this out of the way: the book is a bathroom book. And the reason it is a bathroom book is because the design is so embarrassing you wouldn't possibly want to be seen reading it in public. And the paperstock is so thick it's too heavy to carry around much anyway. I bought this book online site unseen, and otherwise I probably would not have given it a chance. But! I am glad I did.
My favorite chapters were: Echo & The Bunnymen, Adam Ant, Devo, Spandau Ballet (how anyone who wrote and performed "Gold" could have that kind of ego is truly astonishing), and Kim Wilde. There were only a few snooze chapters (Animotion, yikes).
4 stars overall, but -1 for design! Boo hoo.
My favorite chapters were: Echo & The Bunnymen, Adam Ant, Devo, Spandau Ballet (how anyone who wrote and performed "Gold" could have that kind of ego is truly astonishing), and Kim Wilde. There were only a few snooze chapters (Animotion, yikes).
4 stars overall, but -1 for design! Boo hoo.
September 27, 2014
This is going to be a longer one and it might turn into a rant. You are warned. I grew up in the 1980s and was a massive music fan...still am. Many of the bands covered in Mad World are bands that I still hold near and dear to my heart: Depeche Mode, The Smiths, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, Echo and the Bunnymen, Soft Cell, The Cure, The The, Gary Numan, Human League, New Order, Kate Bush, Yazoo and on and on it goes. When people make fun of the music in the 1980s they are, for the most part, clueless. The GOOD stuff from that decade had more artists trying to be original, innovative and unique in the span of a couple of years than the entirety of the decades that followed. Yes, the people in this book had crazy hair [A Flock of Seagulls, who made two amazing records by the way] and they wore crazy clothes [Adam Ant, ripped off by Michael Jackson] but so the hell what? As the authors of the book point out, they weren't marketed to the point of numbness by record labels looking for the most watered down product as they are now. In this era, you could write a pop song and it could be a hit and it could be weird, subversive and just flat out strange. Nowadays? Forget it. We are in the world of uber homogenized culture that is available 24/7 at our fingertips online. I kind of miss the absolute thrill of discovering a new band, a new song, a new anything that would blow my teenage mind. That happened all the time in this era...how often does it occur now? Rarely.
I'll take music from about 1975-1985 over any ten year period before or since as you got so many unbelievable off-shoots and styles ranging from Kraut, punk, post-punk, disco, country rock, electronic, heavy metal, pop, classic rock, country. It's kind of unreal the sheer amount of high quality stuff that was released then if you are open minded about it. All of those kinds of rock styles are still being mined by young bands 30-40 years later but what made it so special from 1975-85 was the fact that it was new then...these people with the crazy hair and the synthesizers and the moody black and white photos with the skinny ties--they were the ones creating this sound out of nothing. They were the ones facing ridicule head on by friends, other bands, the media, bands of the 1990s and the early 2000s before the 1980s became "cool" again and saw this same music being mimicked by all the youngsters.
I don't want to sound cranky. I love that it is being copied to be honest. I love that there is so many new synthesizer based bands putting out music now. But, people need to realize that the youngsters are just sort of replicating stuff that has already come. It's fine to do it, let's just give the originals the respect they deserve. I was one of the people that would argue with anyone who'd listen to people who were into grunge or indie rock or whatever dull movement came after the 1980s that 1975-1985 was the zenith, the apex, the magical moment in music history when all this energy and creativity swirled together to make some genius [and some embarrassing] music. But even the embarrassing is very memorable. You can't say that about modern music as much.
So, yes, I was into these bands...I still am. I listened to Depeche Mode's "Some Great Reward" [with my personal track list w/ the b-sides added] a few days ago on its 30 year anniversary and guess what? That's great album full of unbelievably ahead of its time use of sampling that turned the sounds of the factory into booming percussive backbone. I am extremely depressed I can't see Kate Bush live in London as she performs her first live shows in 35 [!] years. I could go on...this stuff meant a lot in the early to mid 1980s, to me, to many others. Read this book and you'll find out why.
PS--The book was nearly docked at least one star for me by the overly snarky Jonathan Bernstein's introductions. If you are trying to make a case for a lot of these bands to get the respect that they deserve, why in the world would you ask some doofus to ridicule and mock them before they are even interviewed? By the end, I wasn't even reading his absurd opinions. This is how he sums up The Smiths "How Soon Is Now?": Not a fan. Gee, that's insightful. Another band gets this: Zzzzzzz. What a twit this guy is.
I'll take music from about 1975-1985 over any ten year period before or since as you got so many unbelievable off-shoots and styles ranging from Kraut, punk, post-punk, disco, country rock, electronic, heavy metal, pop, classic rock, country. It's kind of unreal the sheer amount of high quality stuff that was released then if you are open minded about it. All of those kinds of rock styles are still being mined by young bands 30-40 years later but what made it so special from 1975-85 was the fact that it was new then...these people with the crazy hair and the synthesizers and the moody black and white photos with the skinny ties--they were the ones creating this sound out of nothing. They were the ones facing ridicule head on by friends, other bands, the media, bands of the 1990s and the early 2000s before the 1980s became "cool" again and saw this same music being mimicked by all the youngsters.
I don't want to sound cranky. I love that it is being copied to be honest. I love that there is so many new synthesizer based bands putting out music now. But, people need to realize that the youngsters are just sort of replicating stuff that has already come. It's fine to do it, let's just give the originals the respect they deserve. I was one of the people that would argue with anyone who'd listen to people who were into grunge or indie rock or whatever dull movement came after the 1980s that 1975-1985 was the zenith, the apex, the magical moment in music history when all this energy and creativity swirled together to make some genius [and some embarrassing] music. But even the embarrassing is very memorable. You can't say that about modern music as much.
So, yes, I was into these bands...I still am. I listened to Depeche Mode's "Some Great Reward" [with my personal track list w/ the b-sides added] a few days ago on its 30 year anniversary and guess what? That's great album full of unbelievably ahead of its time use of sampling that turned the sounds of the factory into booming percussive backbone. I am extremely depressed I can't see Kate Bush live in London as she performs her first live shows in 35 [!] years. I could go on...this stuff meant a lot in the early to mid 1980s, to me, to many others. Read this book and you'll find out why.
PS--The book was nearly docked at least one star for me by the overly snarky Jonathan Bernstein's introductions. If you are trying to make a case for a lot of these bands to get the respect that they deserve, why in the world would you ask some doofus to ridicule and mock them before they are even interviewed? By the end, I wasn't even reading his absurd opinions. This is how he sums up The Smiths "How Soon Is Now?": Not a fan. Gee, that's insightful. Another band gets this: Zzzzzzz. What a twit this guy is.
February 19, 2014
I was honored to be given an advanced copy of MAD WORLD, and I wasn't disappointed.
MAD WORLD is more than a mixtape for a generation—it’s the story of a period of musical innovation, told by the musicians themselves and put into perspective by two of many whose lives were set to its soundtrack. Lori Majewski and Jonathan Bernstein perfectly blend credibility, humor, style, and nostalgia as they present over thirty songs that changed the pop musical landscape in the early-mid 1980s. Each song is accompanied by first-person reflections from the artists who made them, including their origins, triumphs and tragedies, and present-day contexts. Better yet, Majewski and Bernstein provide the reader with recommended playlists to accompany each song (like pairing the best wines with each course of a meal), which will have readers scrambling to their iTunes or dusting off their vinyl records.
By the end of each chapter of MAD WORLD, the songs stuck in my head, and in a good way. One mention of WLIR (from Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes, no less!) sent me back to my bedroom on Long Island, where I had kept my stereo programmed to the radio station mostly responsible for introducing me to many of these bands (MTV and my friends did the rest). As the sister of professional musicians, I appreciate the elite production, the breakthrough synthesizer technology, and the musical influences that proceeded them, ranging from the Beatles to Bowie to Chic to the Sex Pistols. They still serve as the soundtrack to my life, and especially to my writing.
The visual presentation of MAD WORLD is just as appealing as its textual content. Complete with classic photos and bold colors representative of the times, readers will feel like they are flipping through a scrapbook, and they will happily reminisce as they read.
MAD WORLD is also a terrific conversation piece. Readers may not agree with Majewski’s and Bernstein’s song selections. They may argue over which artists were more (or less) influential. But that’s all part of the book’s appeal—there’s something for everyone: music lovers, musicians, pop culture historians, and, undoubtedly, Generation X. And what better way to pass down our favorite songs for the new generation, who, undoubtedly, will incorporate these songs into their lives—and their world—as their predecessors did.
I love this book. It’s the kind of book I’ll pore over again and again, and get something new out of it each time. It's also the next best thing to being fourteen and listening to WLIR again. (Plus, no teenage angst or acne!) Seriously, though. You'll love it.
~Elisa Lorello
Author of Friends of Mine: Thirty Years in the Life of a Duran Duran Fan (a memoir) and the best-selling novels Faking It and Ordinary World
MAD WORLD is more than a mixtape for a generation—it’s the story of a period of musical innovation, told by the musicians themselves and put into perspective by two of many whose lives were set to its soundtrack. Lori Majewski and Jonathan Bernstein perfectly blend credibility, humor, style, and nostalgia as they present over thirty songs that changed the pop musical landscape in the early-mid 1980s. Each song is accompanied by first-person reflections from the artists who made them, including their origins, triumphs and tragedies, and present-day contexts. Better yet, Majewski and Bernstein provide the reader with recommended playlists to accompany each song (like pairing the best wines with each course of a meal), which will have readers scrambling to their iTunes or dusting off their vinyl records.
By the end of each chapter of MAD WORLD, the songs stuck in my head, and in a good way. One mention of WLIR (from Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes, no less!) sent me back to my bedroom on Long Island, where I had kept my stereo programmed to the radio station mostly responsible for introducing me to many of these bands (MTV and my friends did the rest). As the sister of professional musicians, I appreciate the elite production, the breakthrough synthesizer technology, and the musical influences that proceeded them, ranging from the Beatles to Bowie to Chic to the Sex Pistols. They still serve as the soundtrack to my life, and especially to my writing.
The visual presentation of MAD WORLD is just as appealing as its textual content. Complete with classic photos and bold colors representative of the times, readers will feel like they are flipping through a scrapbook, and they will happily reminisce as they read.
MAD WORLD is also a terrific conversation piece. Readers may not agree with Majewski’s and Bernstein’s song selections. They may argue over which artists were more (or less) influential. But that’s all part of the book’s appeal—there’s something for everyone: music lovers, musicians, pop culture historians, and, undoubtedly, Generation X. And what better way to pass down our favorite songs for the new generation, who, undoubtedly, will incorporate these songs into their lives—and their world—as their predecessors did.
I love this book. It’s the kind of book I’ll pore over again and again, and get something new out of it each time. It's also the next best thing to being fourteen and listening to WLIR again. (Plus, no teenage angst or acne!) Seriously, though. You'll love it.
~Elisa Lorello
Author of Friends of Mine: Thirty Years in the Life of a Duran Duran Fan (a memoir) and the best-selling novels Faking It and Ordinary World
November 4, 2014
Most people that know me personally know that I'm obsessed with 80s music. New wave and synthpop of the 80s is what I tend to flock to, though I've recently been interested in 80s alternative. When I heard about this book, I knew I had to read it.
I liked reading all of the interviews from the artists in the book. Some of the interviewees were a bit delusional about their careers (see A Flock of Seagulls), and some of the interviews were pretty awesome. I particularly liked the chapters on Duran Duran, New Order/Joy Division, and Depeche Mode (of course). However, I was a bit bothered when groups had only one person that discussed the song (you couldn't at least get Andy Fletcher to interview for the Depeche Mode chapter in addition to Vince Clarke?). Some of the interviews kind of ignored the song being looked at and merely discussed their band. I guess the authors were just like "Well, we can only interview one person in each group, but we'll put it in the book anyway!" This was very apparent in the chapter on the Human League (which was a JOKE).
There were quite a few notable absences in this book: Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, Culture Club, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and The Cure (probably THE most notable absence). These bands should've made it, but instead it was clogged by a lot of one-hit wonder bands (Kajagoogoo, Animotion, etc.).
I also didn't like how the authors mentioned how new wave started only as a result of Bowie and the post punk movement. Uh, have they even heard of Kraftwerk? You know, that German electronic band that influenced almost EVERY SINGLE BAND IN THIS BOOK?! Moby briefly touched upon this in his afterword, but it should've been made known in the introduction.
It may seem like I'm ranting, but I did really enjoy the book. I have to admit, I read most of this book in my head using a British accent. Makes me wish I had grown up in the 80s.
I would also highly recommend that if you enjoy new wave music, especially British new wave music, make sure to watch Synth Britannia, a documentary on YouTube all about this kind of music.
I liked reading all of the interviews from the artists in the book. Some of the interviewees were a bit delusional about their careers (see A Flock of Seagulls), and some of the interviews were pretty awesome. I particularly liked the chapters on Duran Duran, New Order/Joy Division, and Depeche Mode (of course). However, I was a bit bothered when groups had only one person that discussed the song (you couldn't at least get Andy Fletcher to interview for the Depeche Mode chapter in addition to Vince Clarke?). Some of the interviews kind of ignored the song being looked at and merely discussed their band. I guess the authors were just like "Well, we can only interview one person in each group, but we'll put it in the book anyway!" This was very apparent in the chapter on the Human League (which was a JOKE).
There were quite a few notable absences in this book: Eurythmics, Pet Shop Boys, Culture Club, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and The Cure (probably THE most notable absence). These bands should've made it, but instead it was clogged by a lot of one-hit wonder bands (Kajagoogoo, Animotion, etc.).
I also didn't like how the authors mentioned how new wave started only as a result of Bowie and the post punk movement. Uh, have they even heard of Kraftwerk? You know, that German electronic band that influenced almost EVERY SINGLE BAND IN THIS BOOK?! Moby briefly touched upon this in his afterword, but it should've been made known in the introduction.
It may seem like I'm ranting, but I did really enjoy the book. I have to admit, I read most of this book in my head using a British accent. Makes me wish I had grown up in the 80s.
I would also highly recommend that if you enjoy new wave music, especially British new wave music, make sure to watch Synth Britannia, a documentary on YouTube all about this kind of music.
March 28, 2018
Delightful romp through the New Wave era as experienced by the musicians whose songs defined it. Although I grew up listening to Duran Duran, Howard Jones, Simple Minds, etc, I learned a lot about the genre through the authors' introduction, such as—
* the role MTV played in pulling talent from the UK
* how David Bowie's influence on New Wave cannot be overestimated
* why synthesizers suddenly displaced guitars as the instrument of choice
* how so many of these bands had thriving back catalogs that went completely unnoticed in the US
* the historical role of punk (and post-punk) in shaping New Wave
Apart from all that, it's just a fun, fun read.
* the role MTV played in pulling talent from the UK
* how David Bowie's influence on New Wave cannot be overestimated
* why synthesizers suddenly displaced guitars as the instrument of choice
* how so many of these bands had thriving back catalogs that went completely unnoticed in the US
* the historical role of punk (and post-punk) in shaping New Wave
Apart from all that, it's just a fun, fun read.
June 9, 2014
It's pretty simple. If you came of age in the 80s and loved modern rock you will enjoy this book. Each chapter tells the story of a different seminal new wave song through discussion and interviews with the artists. From Howard Jones to The Smiths to Echo and the Bunnymen, it's all there and with no hold's barred.
It's really amazing to think that most of these songs are more than 30 years old, and even more amazing to hear from the artists who performed them. It's not often you get this sort of inside scoop from the bands you love, and the honesty is remarkable. Sure, there's some dissing of former band mates and some razzing of musical rivals, but mostly it's honest talk about how the song in question came about and what it meant to the band. In many cases you also learn about the origins of the bands and sometimes you learn about their demise. In some cases you learn about the tension between the band members (like when Adam Ant was kicked out of his own band).
Some of my favorite moments were when the artists simply recalled about how much fun they had at the time and how lucky they felt to have had their moment in the sun, even if it didn't last long.
The biggest takeaway for me was how so many of the new wave bands of the 80s were influenced by the same few artists -- mostly David Bowie and Roxy Music. It makes sense that the new romantic movement would come out of Bowie and Ferry. By the same token, most of the electronic bands of the 80s (New Order, OMD, Ultravox, etc.) were influenced by the German experimental stuff of the late 70s, most notably Kraftwerk.
I highly recommend this book if you are an 80s modern rock geek like me. Oh, and just for fun if you are on Spotify I created a playlist with all of the songs from the book!
https://play.spotify.com/user/lengutm...
It's really amazing to think that most of these songs are more than 30 years old, and even more amazing to hear from the artists who performed them. It's not often you get this sort of inside scoop from the bands you love, and the honesty is remarkable. Sure, there's some dissing of former band mates and some razzing of musical rivals, but mostly it's honest talk about how the song in question came about and what it meant to the band. In many cases you also learn about the origins of the bands and sometimes you learn about their demise. In some cases you learn about the tension between the band members (like when Adam Ant was kicked out of his own band).
Some of my favorite moments were when the artists simply recalled about how much fun they had at the time and how lucky they felt to have had their moment in the sun, even if it didn't last long.
The biggest takeaway for me was how so many of the new wave bands of the 80s were influenced by the same few artists -- mostly David Bowie and Roxy Music. It makes sense that the new romantic movement would come out of Bowie and Ferry. By the same token, most of the electronic bands of the 80s (New Order, OMD, Ultravox, etc.) were influenced by the German experimental stuff of the late 70s, most notably Kraftwerk.
I highly recommend this book if you are an 80s modern rock geek like me. Oh, and just for fun if you are on Spotify I created a playlist with all of the songs from the book!
https://play.spotify.com/user/lengutm...
January 22, 2020
The stories are great - the history of the songs and the quirky trivia facts about the bands from the mouths of the artists is always fun to read, with the inconsistencies and clearly biased memory (I’m talking to you Limahl!) as well as a sense of the squabbles in some bands that spill right over into the oral storytelling, making it almost a dialogue in some cases.
The problem with the book is twofold: the framework and the editing, and they're tied together. A lack of understanding of what new wave is (apparently it's synth-pop - and why is joy division there again? Or INXS?), and some absolutely horrible mistakes make the commentary laughable at times. Even Nick Rhodes' prologue positions Sparks and Cockney Rebels as glam bands?!?
While I appreciate Jonathan Bernstein's intro bits - a sardonic and often snobbish critic, he had something to actually say, both personally and critically - Lori Majewski's vapid sycophant commentary is hard to swallow, as she has little to say beyond her crushes on the male artists and how sexy the female ones looked. Oh and she saw all these bands live, isn't she awesome?
There are a ton of great bands missing here - it ignores most of the U.S. scene, bands like The B-52s and Wall of Voodoo barely touched upon, if mentioned at all.
The choices of songs are questionable - half the time choosing the mega hit and other times choosing an obscure non hit with no rhyme or reason (and they should have stuck with bands instead of songs anyhow - half the time the artists are talking about other songs...)
And the intro pages to each band are laughable - not mentioning anything noteworthy about the bands or their history, no discography.
So while the actual meat and potatoes - the artists' stories, are well worth the read, the rest of the book is all but useless and I would pretty much ignore it.
The problem with the book is twofold: the framework and the editing, and they're tied together. A lack of understanding of what new wave is (apparently it's synth-pop - and why is joy division there again? Or INXS?), and some absolutely horrible mistakes make the commentary laughable at times. Even Nick Rhodes' prologue positions Sparks and Cockney Rebels as glam bands?!?
While I appreciate Jonathan Bernstein's intro bits - a sardonic and often snobbish critic, he had something to actually say, both personally and critically - Lori Majewski's vapid sycophant commentary is hard to swallow, as she has little to say beyond her crushes on the male artists and how sexy the female ones looked. Oh and she saw all these bands live, isn't she awesome?
There are a ton of great bands missing here - it ignores most of the U.S. scene, bands like The B-52s and Wall of Voodoo barely touched upon, if mentioned at all.
The choices of songs are questionable - half the time choosing the mega hit and other times choosing an obscure non hit with no rhyme or reason (and they should have stuck with bands instead of songs anyhow - half the time the artists are talking about other songs...)
And the intro pages to each band are laughable - not mentioning anything noteworthy about the bands or their history, no discography.
So while the actual meat and potatoes - the artists' stories, are well worth the read, the rest of the book is all but useless and I would pretty much ignore it.
September 22, 2014
I would have given this a higher rating but the introductions to each chapter were often irritating. I really didn't care to know Ms. Majewski's inner dialogue for most of these songs mostly because she is tragically shallow but also because she doesn't have the presence of mind to establish her recollections within her own cultural zeitgeist as Johnathan Bernstein did with his experiences of the songs in England. I did really detest when either of them would harp on how they hated one particular song for whatever reason; I don't see how their criticism constitutes an oral history of a subject. Oral history requires a much more objective viewpoint; the reader was introduced to a song, given two opinions about the song from two people who weren't involved with the music industry and were not critics, then throws them into the oral history part of the oral history.
It would have been much improved if there were more details from tangentially related artists (which did happen a few times when asterisks showed up in the text) or producers and critics. It went for "fun and entertaining fluff" instead of "oral history" which is alright---but have the decency to title it correctly.
It would have been much improved if there were more details from tangentially related artists (which did happen a few times when asterisks showed up in the text) or producers and critics. It went for "fun and entertaining fluff" instead of "oral history" which is alright---but have the decency to title it correctly.
March 3, 2016
I have to agree with the other reviews who loved the book but loathed the authors. This is a four star book - if you take out all the introductions and personal musings from the authors. Their contributions are so unprofessional, grating, and disruptive that I'm docking the book a star. The book is fascinating, but it's supposed to be an oral history of new wave artists, not an opinion piece. Lori, Jonathan - either you're professionals or you're not. Either you're writing an oral history of blah blah blah, or you're writing a book of your opinions interspersed with interviews. Comments like "zzzzz" or "not a fan" or "science was never my favorite" or "how fat Belinda Carlisle was" (seriously, Lori, you call yourself a feminist?) have no place in a book like this, and they drag the book way down. This book isn't your blog. It's not Twitter. How you feel or what you think about a song doesn't matter in a project like this; shoehorning it in is disrespectful, egotistical, and detrimental.
The scope of the book is lacking a bit, too. Are we supposed to assume there were no all-female bands making new wave noise? Are Alison Moyet, Teri Nunn, Alannah Currie, Annabella Lwin, Patty Donahue, Astrid Plane, and Kim Wilde the only women of new wave? Of course not. Were the only women in new wave fronting male bands or singing their dad's songs as solo artists? Of course not. The Motels, The Go-Go's, Bananarama, and Missing Persons are mentioned throughout the book. Why did none of their songs make it into this oral history? Perhaps Jonathan Bernstein's brusque dismissal of all of them as "posers" (among other epithets) holds a clue. (Dismissing the Go-Gos as posers shows an impressive lack of understanding of their roots, for sure.) The new wave this book hands is is almost entirely white, and almost entirely men. And while new wave was predominantly white and predominantly male, it wasn't exclusively so.
Still, I liked the book. I learned loads of interesting things. It was a quick, fun, captivating read for me. I suspect I'll avoid anything by these two authors in the future, though.
P.S. ANIMOTION? Give me a freaking break.
The scope of the book is lacking a bit, too. Are we supposed to assume there were no all-female bands making new wave noise? Are Alison Moyet, Teri Nunn, Alannah Currie, Annabella Lwin, Patty Donahue, Astrid Plane, and Kim Wilde the only women of new wave? Of course not. Were the only women in new wave fronting male bands or singing their dad's songs as solo artists? Of course not. The Motels, The Go-Go's, Bananarama, and Missing Persons are mentioned throughout the book. Why did none of their songs make it into this oral history? Perhaps Jonathan Bernstein's brusque dismissal of all of them as "posers" (among other epithets) holds a clue. (Dismissing the Go-Gos as posers shows an impressive lack of understanding of their roots, for sure.) The new wave this book hands is is almost entirely white, and almost entirely men. And while new wave was predominantly white and predominantly male, it wasn't exclusively so.
Still, I liked the book. I learned loads of interesting things. It was a quick, fun, captivating read for me. I suspect I'll avoid anything by these two authors in the future, though.
P.S. ANIMOTION? Give me a freaking break.
December 19, 2014
Three best bits from this, which is better than you'd expect. Not quite as better-than-you-expect as the MTV oral history, which is GREAT, but definitely better than you'd....
#3: John Taylor, of Duran Duran: The serious press had such a hard time with Duran in the beginning, and one of the reasons is because there was nothing for them to do. A lot of other bands--and I hesitate to say Radiohead, U2, or even the Rolling Stones--it took them three albums to find their thing, and along the way, their journalist friends had become their champions. The press fueled a part of their story, so they could own them. With Duran, they were like, What are we going to do?
#2: Kim Wilde, of "Kids in America": I marched into the studio looking like a pop star. I remember making a special effort that day--my hair looked particularly spiky. I was already dying it and cutting it myself at art college. My tutor said it was the most creative thing I'd done while I was there. I went down the King's Road and bought myself some punky new wave trousers and a shirt. Things happened very quickly after that.
#1: Midge Ure, on "Do They Know It's Christmas?": [Bob Geldof] had written something the Boomtown Rats had turned down--which shows you how good it was. He turned up with this half-baked song and played it at me, and every time he played it, it was different. He had the basic lyrics, except his original version was, "There won't be snow in Ethiopia this Christmas," which, even for him and his rubbish timing, doesn't fit.
Special bonus track: Mags Furuholmen, of A-ha: If you grow up in Norway, melancholy is nothing to do with being sad; melancholy is a sense of yearning, a longing, and probably historically, a transport away from hardship....Think about Edvard Munch and his very expressionist, intense dark landscapes. Think about the musical works of Edvard Grieg: very declarational, very big emotions, very melancholy in essence. The same goes for literature. Knut Hamsun's Victoria and Hunger were as influential to us as pop music was.
#3: John Taylor, of Duran Duran: The serious press had such a hard time with Duran in the beginning, and one of the reasons is because there was nothing for them to do. A lot of other bands--and I hesitate to say Radiohead, U2, or even the Rolling Stones--it took them three albums to find their thing, and along the way, their journalist friends had become their champions. The press fueled a part of their story, so they could own them. With Duran, they were like, What are we going to do?
#2: Kim Wilde, of "Kids in America": I marched into the studio looking like a pop star. I remember making a special effort that day--my hair looked particularly spiky. I was already dying it and cutting it myself at art college. My tutor said it was the most creative thing I'd done while I was there. I went down the King's Road and bought myself some punky new wave trousers and a shirt. Things happened very quickly after that.
#1: Midge Ure, on "Do They Know It's Christmas?": [Bob Geldof] had written something the Boomtown Rats had turned down--which shows you how good it was. He turned up with this half-baked song and played it at me, and every time he played it, it was different. He had the basic lyrics, except his original version was, "There won't be snow in Ethiopia this Christmas," which, even for him and his rubbish timing, doesn't fit.
Special bonus track: Mags Furuholmen, of A-ha: If you grow up in Norway, melancholy is nothing to do with being sad; melancholy is a sense of yearning, a longing, and probably historically, a transport away from hardship....Think about Edvard Munch and his very expressionist, intense dark landscapes. Think about the musical works of Edvard Grieg: very declarational, very big emotions, very melancholy in essence. The same goes for literature. Knut Hamsun's Victoria and Hunger were as influential to us as pop music was.
February 20, 2017
Used as a coffee table book to dip into occasionally it's fine, but nothing more. The authors seem utterly confused as to what "New Wave" is, evident in their assertion that Bowie influenced everyone when in fact that was mostly the "New Romantic" movement, and ludicrously ignoring Kraftwerk, without whom New Wave (and countless other synth driven genres of music) wouldn't have existed. Why are INXS included? INXS a New Wave act? Seriously? Or Joy Division? They were "Post-Punk" along with the likes of Killing Joke, PiL and The Cure. Just because they used a synthesizer on a few of their songs does not make them "New Wave" any more than it makes Bucks Fizz or ABBA New Wave. The same can be said for Echo & The Bunnymen, to describe them as New Wave is absurd. These wacky Americans, huh?
The interviews with the artists are enjoyable, and the reason I rated the book 3 stars. I dropped 2 stars for the annoying inclusion of "mixtape" suggestions, and the authors' insistence on giving their opinions of each artist which bring little or in most cases nothing to the table. Why on earth they imagine anyone is interested in how they swooned over John Taylor or Adam Ant is beyond my understanding. It's purely ego driven and adds nothing. If they'd omitted these it would have freed up countless more pages to the artists and their stories.
If you dig synth pop and the whole early 80s scene it's worth picking up for the interviews though. Just skip the opinionated and often misinformed dreck that precedes each interview.
The interviews with the artists are enjoyable, and the reason I rated the book 3 stars. I dropped 2 stars for the annoying inclusion of "mixtape" suggestions, and the authors' insistence on giving their opinions of each artist which bring little or in most cases nothing to the table. Why on earth they imagine anyone is interested in how they swooned over John Taylor or Adam Ant is beyond my understanding. It's purely ego driven and adds nothing. If they'd omitted these it would have freed up countless more pages to the artists and their stories.
If you dig synth pop and the whole early 80s scene it's worth picking up for the interviews though. Just skip the opinionated and often misinformed dreck that precedes each interview.
September 13, 2014
This breezy read was surprisingly hard to put down, even though I am not even a big fan of new wave music. I am fascinated by this period in pop culture history more than I am enthralled by the music.
To be sure, I connect with the music as the soundtrack of my childhood, and I think most of the songs are great catchy pop tunes. However, the glossy production and synths really turn me off for the most part. There are certainly exceptions. The book sent me on an INXS binge for a few days, and reminded me of some great songs from the retro night dance floor in my college days.
All the same, the early 80s was a unique time in pop culture history. I remember growing up with these strange songs and wacky videos on a fledgling MTV, but the videos and the clothes and makeup made them all seem larger than life. This book allows these creative characters to explain their songs and reflect on a time when they could really stretch themselves in terms of music and fashion, but still get record deals and airplay.
I think the authors' definition of new wave is pretty loose. They seemingly wanted to talk to the artists behind their favorite songs from the early 80s (and a few from the late 70s). I can't blame them, and their selections are pretty solid.
To be sure, I connect with the music as the soundtrack of my childhood, and I think most of the songs are great catchy pop tunes. However, the glossy production and synths really turn me off for the most part. There are certainly exceptions. The book sent me on an INXS binge for a few days, and reminded me of some great songs from the retro night dance floor in my college days.
All the same, the early 80s was a unique time in pop culture history. I remember growing up with these strange songs and wacky videos on a fledgling MTV, but the videos and the clothes and makeup made them all seem larger than life. This book allows these creative characters to explain their songs and reflect on a time when they could really stretch themselves in terms of music and fashion, but still get record deals and airplay.
I think the authors' definition of new wave is pretty loose. They seemingly wanted to talk to the artists behind their favorite songs from the early 80s (and a few from the late 70s). I can't blame them, and their selections are pretty solid.
May 25, 2014
The oral history format has become increasingly popular lately, due in large part because it is easier to just run transcribed interviews than shape the material into something tight and compelling. Mad World focuses somewhat on the key songs from various artists. But each artist pretty much tells their origin story, talks a bit about the hit, maybe some other stuff and then they go to where are they now. In a number of instances, they get only one viewpoint, or maybe two. Oral histories work much better with a large variety of viewpoints.
So the book, for the most part, told me a lot things that I already knew. Still, there were some interesting stories, enough to keep me reading on (and, really, this book takes very little time to read). Lori Majewski and Jonathan Bernstein put in their two cents on each artist, and their input serves to fill a bit more space in, I suppose.
This isn't so much a book as a bunch of where were they then, where are they now magazine articles. I liked it more than this review may indicate, but my disdain is a byproduct of my disappointment in how little the writers did to make this book more than functional.
So the book, for the most part, told me a lot things that I already knew. Still, there were some interesting stories, enough to keep me reading on (and, really, this book takes very little time to read). Lori Majewski and Jonathan Bernstein put in their two cents on each artist, and their input serves to fill a bit more space in, I suppose.
This isn't so much a book as a bunch of where were they then, where are they now magazine articles. I liked it more than this review may indicate, but my disdain is a byproduct of my disappointment in how little the writers did to make this book more than functional.
September 25, 2017
Very different from the last book entitled Mad World I read!
This is, as other reviewers have mentioned, very much a "bathroom" book - one that you can dip into and out of easily. The caveat is, of course, that you have to have either been a fan of the 1980s New Wave or curious about it, and that may be a limited audience. A music loving friend of mine claims that no one does care, these days, and several groups (Thompson Twins) are so irrelevant to today's scene, blah blah blah... Maybe. I confess to having skimmed many entries and quarreled with others because my favorite song by a group was overlooked or only glancingly mentioned. If you're a fan of the music or any of the groups, this is a interesting backwards glance into the era with just enough gossip to be spicy (the playlists I could have lived without).
This is, as other reviewers have mentioned, very much a "bathroom" book - one that you can dip into and out of easily. The caveat is, of course, that you have to have either been a fan of the 1980s New Wave or curious about it, and that may be a limited audience. A music loving friend of mine claims that no one does care, these days, and several groups (Thompson Twins) are so irrelevant to today's scene, blah blah blah... Maybe. I confess to having skimmed many entries and quarreled with others because my favorite song by a group was overlooked or only glancingly mentioned. If you're a fan of the music or any of the groups, this is a interesting backwards glance into the era with just enough gossip to be spicy (the playlists I could have lived without).
February 15, 2019
The way this book is structured is 36 New Wave artists talk about one of their songs- the lead up, the creation, and then where they are now. Each band also had an intro page- usually giving just enough info that I ended up on the internet researching some facts on each act. This book took me longer to read, as most music books do (thanks youtube!).
Thing I disliked: the order of the book, which I couldn't seem to figure out- for example, New Order is in the front, but Joy Division is in the back. The book would sometimes have a band's biggest hit, but others it would be a more obscure song. I couldn't figure out the reason for these. I also skimmed over the author's comments on each band.
Thing I disliked: the order of the book, which I couldn't seem to figure out- for example, New Order is in the front, but Joy Division is in the back. The book would sometimes have a band's biggest hit, but others it would be a more obscure song. I couldn't figure out the reason for these. I also skimmed over the author's comments on each band.
November 30, 2018
The stories themselves were entertaining but the author commentary at the beginning of each section annoyed me. I don't want your opinion. If it's billed as an oral history, let's just hear from the artists themselves, please! Some of the song choices were strange, and honestly, it would have been a better idea to just select artists instead of particular songs (and then the playlist idea might have been more effective).
February 24, 2018
This book was pure New Wave fun. I recommend pairing this with YouTube while you read!
March 14, 2021
Mad World is a great overview of various songs from the '80s. Have YouTube open or get your vinyl or tapes out because you will want to re-listen to stuff. My friend who gave me this copy sent me a mix CD of the various songs which I will listen to soon. I need things to percolate first. :). Duran Duran, OMD, Kajagoogoo, Modern English, Joy Division, Tears for Fears and so many others. The authors breakdown the various songs of the people and how they were created. They also update us on where are they now. They also occasionally have footnotes that counteract some of the claims made in the book or provide a different POV. They also have a top 5 list of other songs on a theme, like British soul, songs from Manchester and songs from weirdos. Some of which frankly I’d never heard of. Lori M and Jonathan B are magazine editors/writers. She worked for People and He worked for Spin. They create a sort of he said/she said sort of thing about the songs. Like he loved Howard Jones and she didn’t. She loved second wave OMD and he liked first wave OMD.
I really enjoyed this book, though it took me a while to get into the format. I learned a lot. What I learned was OMD was a lot more experimental than the stuff I liked, Animotion was created to ride the New Wave and there is bad blood between Limahl and other members of Kajagoogoo. And a lot else. Also, a lot of these bands succeeded due to chance and MTV needing videos. And were very political. Animotion got seriously shafted by their producers. And Michael Des Barres wrote Obsession. There are a few bands I didn't know a lot about, like Ultravox is one of those bands I didn’t track. Also a lot of bands formed off of old bands. Martha Quinn, in the ‘80s did a flow-chart of all the bands Modern English split into. It was brilliant. If you're a fan of the '80s music scene, a must read. It also has an intro by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran.
Also this quote.
In America, new wave was an umbrella the size of a circus tent. It covered synth-pop, ska, goth, alternative rock, bubblegum, Eurodance, industrial, new romantic, blue-eyed U.K. soul, and electronic dance music. It was a Tower of Babel populated by American bands who wanted to be British, British bands who wanted to be German, and German bands who wanted to be robots. It was an insane asylum whose patients were predominantly ambiguous untouchable males with sucked-in cheeks, 3-D makeup, and wedding-cake hair.
5 stars, 4 if you are not a ‘80s music fan.
I really enjoyed this book, though it took me a while to get into the format. I learned a lot. What I learned was OMD was a lot more experimental than the stuff I liked, Animotion was created to ride the New Wave and there is bad blood between Limahl and other members of Kajagoogoo. And a lot else. Also, a lot of these bands succeeded due to chance and MTV needing videos. And were very political. Animotion got seriously shafted by their producers. And Michael Des Barres wrote Obsession. There are a few bands I didn't know a lot about, like Ultravox is one of those bands I didn’t track. Also a lot of bands formed off of old bands. Martha Quinn, in the ‘80s did a flow-chart of all the bands Modern English split into. It was brilliant. If you're a fan of the '80s music scene, a must read. It also has an intro by Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran.
Also this quote.
In America, new wave was an umbrella the size of a circus tent. It covered synth-pop, ska, goth, alternative rock, bubblegum, Eurodance, industrial, new romantic, blue-eyed U.K. soul, and electronic dance music. It was a Tower of Babel populated by American bands who wanted to be British, British bands who wanted to be German, and German bands who wanted to be robots. It was an insane asylum whose patients were predominantly ambiguous untouchable males with sucked-in cheeks, 3-D makeup, and wedding-cake hair.
5 stars, 4 if you are not a ‘80s music fan.
August 14, 2019
"We were lucky enough to grow up during an era when invention, experimentation, style, and innovation were applauded. It was a culture where the predilection was for standing out from the crowd rather than fitting in".
June 21, 2024
Took me back to my teenage years
February 8, 2019
I've always loved music, but coming of age in the early 1980s I especially loved new wave. I still remember hearing "Cars" by Gary Numan, and loving the sound of it. One evening, with it stuck in my head, I mentioned to my cousin (my best friend, really) that I really liked it, and was surprised by his 'are-you-kidding-me?-you-actually-like-that-stupid-song?' reaction. Later, when I heard "I Ran" by A Flock of Seagulls and "Pop Music" by M, I knew I'd found what resonated with me. But even though new wave was very popular in Salt Lake City (where I grew up), I always felt on the musical outskirts, and most of my friends preferred the rock and pop music. I still feel that way.
Seldom have I laughed so much while reading a book as this one. We didn't have MTV in my home, so I missed out on a lot of information about the bands I loved - and I was suprised at the HUGE EGOs many of the new wave "artists" had - Limahl of Kajagoogoo and especially Ian McCulloch of Echo & the Bunnymen - particularly considering their relatively modest popular success. Others really saw themselves as "artists" and eschewed the popularity that came (OMD), while others actively pursued it (Duran Duran and ABC). And there was no shortage of competition and jealousy among them:
This book features edited interviews with about 3 dozen new wave bands where they discuss an important song of theirs and their history (as well as a 'where-are-they-now' follow up). The only band I didn't know was The Normal, and the only other band I don't have any music from in my collection was Joy Division (I'm more of a New Order fan). Still, the book sent me scurrying to YouTube to listen to songs I wasn't familiar with - "Kings of the Wild Frontier" by Adam Ant and "Being Boiled" by Human League, among others - and digging out CDs I haven't listened to in years (New Order). Some chapters I found boring - ABC, Spandau Ballet, DEVO, Dexy's Midnight Runners, and even Howard Jones (whose music I LOVE) - and others were fascinating. Just a few of the highlights for me (sometimes paraphrased rather than quoted in full):
"In the U.K.... new wave was initially code adopted by journalists and disc jockeys eager to be perceived as cool but too nervous to actually use the word 'punk' with all its threatenting implications. In America, new wave was an umbrella the size of a circus tent. It covered synth pop, ska, goth, alternative rock, bubblegum, Eurodance, industrial, new romantic, blue-eyed U.K. soul, and electronic dance music. It was a Tower of Babel populated by American bands who wanted to be British, British bands who wanted to be German, and German bands who wanted to be robots. It was an insane asylum whose patients were predominantly ambiguous, untouchable males with sucked-in cheeks, 3-D makeup, and wedding-cake hair."
Seldom have I laughed so much while reading a book as this one. We didn't have MTV in my home, so I missed out on a lot of information about the bands I loved - and I was suprised at the HUGE EGOs many of the new wave "artists" had - Limahl of Kajagoogoo and especially Ian McCulloch of Echo & the Bunnymen - particularly considering their relatively modest popular success. Others really saw themselves as "artists" and eschewed the popularity that came (OMD), while others actively pursued it (Duran Duran and ABC). And there was no shortage of competition and jealousy among them:
Curt Smith, Tears for Fears: 'People say, ‘music’s not what it used to be,’ and I’m like, ‘Yeah, it is.’ Most of the stuff we listened to sucked. What you remember is the really good stuff. But there was a ton of crap in the 80s. For every one of us, there was a Flock of Seagulls.'
Mike Score, A Flock of Seagulls: 'The word that springs to mind is jealousy. Curt Smith may be living in a little fantasyland that Tears for Fears was something spectacular.'
This book features edited interviews with about 3 dozen new wave bands where they discuss an important song of theirs and their history (as well as a 'where-are-they-now' follow up). The only band I didn't know was The Normal, and the only other band I don't have any music from in my collection was Joy Division (I'm more of a New Order fan). Still, the book sent me scurrying to YouTube to listen to songs I wasn't familiar with - "Kings of the Wild Frontier" by Adam Ant and "Being Boiled" by Human League, among others - and digging out CDs I haven't listened to in years (New Order). Some chapters I found boring - ABC, Spandau Ballet, DEVO, Dexy's Midnight Runners, and even Howard Jones (whose music I LOVE) - and others were fascinating. Just a few of the highlights for me (sometimes paraphrased rather than quoted in full):
- Peter Hook of New Order: 'Musically, I love Adam and the Ants. They’re one of my favorite groups. But it was very difficult for me as a Northern male to relate to the dandy look. We would’ve been laughed out of Manchester had we even considered it. Bernard [Sumner] and I used to go out in London with all them lot… We looked like working-class yobs, and everyone else was dressed up as a pirate.'
- Kim Wilde: 'When it was a hit in America, they were like, 'Why East California'? Why not all the way over to the west? I was trying to come up with any excuse why my dad might have written 'to East California,' and if you ask, he'll say 'Cause it sounded better'... When I feel self-conscious about saying 'New York to East California,' I think of the Police singing 'De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da,' and I don't feel so bad.'
- Andy Rourke, The Smiths: 'Morrissey used to buy his-I was going to say 'shirts,' but they were actually blouses-from a clothing place for fat women in Manchester. These women's blouses that nobody wanted became Morrissey's trademark. He used to like tearing them up and throwing them into the crowd.'
- Midge Ure: 'People consume music in a very different way. It doesn't seem to be as all-important as it used to be for us. Kids have got computer games and a million other things to keep themselves entertained. We had music and our imaginations, and that was it.'
June 1, 2018
As an idea, as a read... I really, really liked this book. I am a post-punk, new wave, new romantic devotee; as such, this book speaks to my musical soul - and memories. That said, let's remember I was but a mere 4-8 years old when most of the bands covered here were forming and releasing these impactful singles. I admit, I was not familiar with a few of them. While there are some with whom I've been obsessed (Duran Duran, Adam Ant) others I maybe knew the song or perhaps the singer (Heaven 17, Ultravox).
That leads me to where this book goes wrong. There is a failure in editing, and that is a monumental problem considering the "authors" were really little more than editors. It cries for some basic background: names of band members, pics with names labelled, etc. There is really no explanation for why these bands and these songs were chosen. There is no explanation for their order of presentation. The author intros were completely pointless (Why tell us you don't like a band? Should I concern myself with what either of you think? ...and as every listener of 1st Wave on Sirius thinks: "Yes, LM, we know you have been to every concert ever in the history of the genre.") Additionally, the book's construction itself is an issue - it's like it can't make up it's mind if it wants to be a coffee table feature or a serious read, which results in lugging around a thick, heavy, gangly item that is less than practical to read while reclined in bed or relaxing poolside.
Again, though, the actual interviews themselves - even those with artists that didn't particularly float my boat- were extremely interesting and worth the time. Thus, despite all its flaws, I will still give this hidden gem a solid Goodreads 4, despite all my complaints.
NOTE: Probably the biggest heartbreak here is hearing the badmouthing being done. After all these years, is it necessary to knock Flock of Seagulls just because they had a different approach? The worst was Terri Nunn - and I have been a huge huge lover of Berlin for decades - calling Belinda Carlisle fat ("She was a house.") - are we really still doing that kind of superficial judgement on female artists? Also, Moby states in his Afterword, "One thing new wave wasn't was libidinous." Oh, Moby, how wrong you are. New Wave gave this young girl all the feels!
That leads me to where this book goes wrong. There is a failure in editing, and that is a monumental problem considering the "authors" were really little more than editors. It cries for some basic background: names of band members, pics with names labelled, etc. There is really no explanation for why these bands and these songs were chosen. There is no explanation for their order of presentation. The author intros were completely pointless (Why tell us you don't like a band? Should I concern myself with what either of you think? ...and as every listener of 1st Wave on Sirius thinks: "Yes, LM, we know you have been to every concert ever in the history of the genre.") Additionally, the book's construction itself is an issue - it's like it can't make up it's mind if it wants to be a coffee table feature or a serious read, which results in lugging around a thick, heavy, gangly item that is less than practical to read while reclined in bed or relaxing poolside.
Again, though, the actual interviews themselves - even those with artists that didn't particularly float my boat- were extremely interesting and worth the time. Thus, despite all its flaws, I will still give this hidden gem a solid Goodreads 4, despite all my complaints.
NOTE: Probably the biggest heartbreak here is hearing the badmouthing being done. After all these years, is it necessary to knock Flock of Seagulls just because they had a different approach? The worst was Terri Nunn - and I have been a huge huge lover of Berlin for decades - calling Belinda Carlisle fat ("She was a house.") - are we really still doing that kind of superficial judgement on female artists? Also, Moby states in his Afterword, "One thing new wave wasn't was libidinous." Oh, Moby, how wrong you are. New Wave gave this young girl all the feels!
May 1, 2014
So, so entertaining. In-depth interviews about the music that I cut my teeth on. I'm pretty sure author Lori Majewski and I were separated at birth, at least as far as our experience of music in the 1980s goes. It's kind of scary how similar our opinions and experiences were/are. (We were in touch for a bit, too: I subscribed to her Duran fanzine for a while in the early 1990s.) All the bands I was interested in are in this book, except for the Cure; were they unavailable to interview, or did the authors perhaps decide to keep them as a late-seventies influence band, like Roxy Music? Not sure about that, as Joy Division are in here.
Despite the fact that I already knew a ton (especially about my own personal heavyweights -- Duran, Depeche Mode, New Order/Joy Division), I learned a lot, too:
1. Malcolm McLaren stole the Ants out from under Adam Ant and made them into Bow Wow Wow. Adam got his revenge by being far more successful.
2. The guys who became Heaven 17 got kicked out of Human League by Phil Oakey (who was the BFF of one of them).
3. Human League was regarded as a very important first synth band in the very late 1970s – by no less a personage than David Bowie.
4. Terri Nunn dated the DJ Richard Blade.
5. Johnny Marr tends to write songs in batches of three.
6. Peter Hook thinks the Chameleons do the dark Manchester thing almost as well as Joy Division did. I listened to them, and he’s right. Why have I never heard the Chameleons before now?
7. Ian McCulloch is an egotistical jerk, based on the interviews he did for this book.
8. Thomas Dolby played the synth intro on Foreigner’s “Waiting for a Girl Like You.” He also worked on “Urgent.”
9. Daryl Hall sings backup vocals on INXS’ “Original Sin.”
10. Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher listened obsessively to the Cure’s first album, Three Imaginary Boys. That was the band they wanted to emulate.
FUN, and a must-read if you were as into this music as I was. You know who you are.
Despite the fact that I already knew a ton (especially about my own personal heavyweights -- Duran, Depeche Mode, New Order/Joy Division), I learned a lot, too:
1. Malcolm McLaren stole the Ants out from under Adam Ant and made them into Bow Wow Wow. Adam got his revenge by being far more successful.
2. The guys who became Heaven 17 got kicked out of Human League by Phil Oakey (who was the BFF of one of them).
3. Human League was regarded as a very important first synth band in the very late 1970s – by no less a personage than David Bowie.
4. Terri Nunn dated the DJ Richard Blade.
5. Johnny Marr tends to write songs in batches of three.
6. Peter Hook thinks the Chameleons do the dark Manchester thing almost as well as Joy Division did. I listened to them, and he’s right. Why have I never heard the Chameleons before now?
7. Ian McCulloch is an egotistical jerk, based on the interviews he did for this book.
8. Thomas Dolby played the synth intro on Foreigner’s “Waiting for a Girl Like You.” He also worked on “Urgent.”
9. Daryl Hall sings backup vocals on INXS’ “Original Sin.”
10. Vince Clarke and Andy Fletcher listened obsessively to the Cure’s first album, Three Imaginary Boys. That was the band they wanted to emulate.
FUN, and a must-read if you were as into this music as I was. You know who you are.
February 5, 2017
Liking new wave music did not come naturally to me. It has taken years to start appreciating the work that went into creating the synth driven music that dominated in the first half of the eighties. Today, however, bands like Joy Division, the Smiths, OMD and New Order are among my favourites which is partly down to the deep contrast that there is with current music.
So it was hardly surprising that as soon as I heard of this book I wanted to get it. And it did not disappoint. Some of the decades greatest artists talk about how they came to create their biggest hits and it is a true joy. Given the bleakness of the times, when culture was under attack and all that mattered was money, it is amazing that music got so liberated that everyone felt that they could come up with a song. This is a common theme throughout the book where the lack of resources fueled rather than hindered creativity.
Sadly, just as common is the theme of bands falling out with each other. Only a handful have remained friends and there is something particularly bleak about that. The bad way that the music industry treated musicians also seeps through with a good number seeing very little of the millions that their songs raked in.
Despite all of that, this is a happy book. The co-authors introduce each chapter with their thoughts on the particular song and do so in an entertaining yet not overwhelming manner. Centre stage is taken by the musicians who revel in talking about that for which they will be remembered.
Oh, and if like me you had forgotten, you will be reminded about just how hot Kim Wilde and Annabella Lwin were
So it was hardly surprising that as soon as I heard of this book I wanted to get it. And it did not disappoint. Some of the decades greatest artists talk about how they came to create their biggest hits and it is a true joy. Given the bleakness of the times, when culture was under attack and all that mattered was money, it is amazing that music got so liberated that everyone felt that they could come up with a song. This is a common theme throughout the book where the lack of resources fueled rather than hindered creativity.
Sadly, just as common is the theme of bands falling out with each other. Only a handful have remained friends and there is something particularly bleak about that. The bad way that the music industry treated musicians also seeps through with a good number seeing very little of the millions that their songs raked in.
Despite all of that, this is a happy book. The co-authors introduce each chapter with their thoughts on the particular song and do so in an entertaining yet not overwhelming manner. Centre stage is taken by the musicians who revel in talking about that for which they will be remembered.
Oh, and if like me you had forgotten, you will be reminded about just how hot Kim Wilde and Annabella Lwin were
October 29, 2016
A fun breakdown of some of the bigger hits of the 80's new wave era, including newer interviews with the musicians behind them. I did skip a couple of the songs because I never liked them or the bands, but I was a fan of *most* of them. Some fun tidbits:
- Thomas Dolby (SCIENCE!) was a hired musician to work on Foreigner's "4" album. That haunting intro to "Waiting For a Girl Like You"? That was all Thomas Dolby. This gig helped fund him being able to make his own album, and I am very grateful for that.
- The Psychedelic Furs single "Love My Way" was produced by Todd Rundgren. He suggested they use backup singers Flo and Eddie on the track, who often sang harmony for T. Rex and Marc Bolan.
- Flock of Seagulls (who get way too much shit even though they were a solid band), were named for Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a book that lead singer Mike Score was reading at the time.
- "I Melt With You" is about nukes! Well, more specifically, a couple making love as the bomb is dropping. (For me, this will always be Julie and Randy's song.)
- Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark got their name from a list of song titles that were never actually written (the singer admits to writing a song by first coming up with the title). Just below this on the list was "Margaret Thatcher's Afterbirth".
- Tears for Fears thought themselves much more amazing and relevant than they actually were (and still do?).
A fun read about a very memorable era for music.
- Thomas Dolby (SCIENCE!) was a hired musician to work on Foreigner's "4" album. That haunting intro to "Waiting For a Girl Like You"? That was all Thomas Dolby. This gig helped fund him being able to make his own album, and I am very grateful for that.
- The Psychedelic Furs single "Love My Way" was produced by Todd Rundgren. He suggested they use backup singers Flo and Eddie on the track, who often sang harmony for T. Rex and Marc Bolan.
- Flock of Seagulls (who get way too much shit even though they were a solid band), were named for Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a book that lead singer Mike Score was reading at the time.
- "I Melt With You" is about nukes! Well, more specifically, a couple making love as the bomb is dropping. (For me, this will always be Julie and Randy's song.)
- Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark got their name from a list of song titles that were never actually written (the singer admits to writing a song by first coming up with the title). Just below this on the list was "Margaret Thatcher's Afterbirth".
- Tears for Fears thought themselves much more amazing and relevant than they actually were (and still do?).
A fun read about a very memorable era for music.
April 16, 2015
My first 10 years on this Earth were in the 80s, so you'd think that maybe my exposure to New Wave would be limited. But I had an older sister and brother, 10 and 9 years older respectively, so I heard all the good stuff through them. (Depeche Mode, Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, Psychedelic Furs, New Order, to name a few.)
This book is set up in interview form, with the two authors introducing each band's section, and then various members of the bands talking about their history and the history of the song they're best known for. I was not familiar with a few of the bands, but I knew all the songs. I YouTubed each song as I read, to hear it again, and especially if the video was referenced as something special.
Almost all of these bands have re-formed at some point for reunion tours, which I wasn't aware of. Most of them have, of course, departed from their big hair and pretty makeup (at least the boys) but they still have their 80s sound.
This book was fascinating and a must-read for any child of the 80s, or for a younger sibling of a child of the 80s. Also, if you're just into New Wave, check it out.
P.S. I was a little disappointed that for the section on Depeche Mode (to this day, one of my favorite bands), they did not interview Dave Gahan or Martin Gore, instead going to Vince Clarke, one of the founding members but no longer with them.
This book is set up in interview form, with the two authors introducing each band's section, and then various members of the bands talking about their history and the history of the song they're best known for. I was not familiar with a few of the bands, but I knew all the songs. I YouTubed each song as I read, to hear it again, and especially if the video was referenced as something special.
Almost all of these bands have re-formed at some point for reunion tours, which I wasn't aware of. Most of them have, of course, departed from their big hair and pretty makeup (at least the boys) but they still have their 80s sound.
This book was fascinating and a must-read for any child of the 80s, or for a younger sibling of a child of the 80s. Also, if you're just into New Wave, check it out.
P.S. I was a little disappointed that for the section on Depeche Mode (to this day, one of my favorite bands), they did not interview Dave Gahan or Martin Gore, instead going to Vince Clarke, one of the founding members but no longer with them.
December 30, 2014
Essential reading for new wave fanatics and music fans in general looking for more info on this particular era. I'm not sure which, if any, books cover this particular niche. Not that I've got a Google Alert set or anything.
I'd compare this book's chapters to episodes of VH1's late '90s-era Behind the Music, albeit less salacious. Each one covers a specific song, and I guess these are supposed to be the 30 or 40 best songs of the era, at least according to the authors. Of course people will want to nitpick.
In at least a few cases, it looks like the selection was based on the availability of the artist more so than the quality of the song. For example, there's a Human League chapter, but it's not for that one song with the chick; it's for some other, early incarnation of the group, with some guy no one ever heard of. And then there's a chapter on another group he was in that you've probably never heard of.
Having said that, they did touch on some of my absolute favorite songs of all time, a few of which weren't super popular or anything, and some songs and artists that didn't merit their own chapters are still discussed in other people's chapters. Overall, I'd say it's a pretty thorough overview.
I'd compare this book's chapters to episodes of VH1's late '90s-era Behind the Music, albeit less salacious. Each one covers a specific song, and I guess these are supposed to be the 30 or 40 best songs of the era, at least according to the authors. Of course people will want to nitpick.
In at least a few cases, it looks like the selection was based on the availability of the artist more so than the quality of the song. For example, there's a Human League chapter, but it's not for that one song with the chick; it's for some other, early incarnation of the group, with some guy no one ever heard of. And then there's a chapter on another group he was in that you've probably never heard of.
Having said that, they did touch on some of my absolute favorite songs of all time, a few of which weren't super popular or anything, and some songs and artists that didn't merit their own chapters are still discussed in other people's chapters. Overall, I'd say it's a pretty thorough overview.
July 20, 2014
I wish I could give this book more than five stars. I have loved 1980s New Wave music, especially from the UK, since it first came out. In fact, it is still pretty much all I listen to, thanks to Sirius. The artists back then were all stylish, talented, and kind of mysterious. It was not like now, where we know every little detail about every single public figure. In the 1980s, all we had was MTV and magazines like Star Hits and Bop! publishing stories of questionable truth! As an adult, it is fun to finally know a little about the artists I still love. None of them were initially interested in money or fame; all of them fancied themselves as artists. Some of them are such great people (Alison Moyet) while others are real curmudgeons (Ian MacCulloch from Echo and the Bunnymen, wow!). The book has a great forward by Nick Rhodes, a final chapter by Moby, and fun commentary from the authors all throughout. I highly recommend!
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