History of Music
Getting to Know Genres: New Wave
Pop friendly punk music in a new decade
Running Parallel to Post-Punk
As Punk was dying, the seeds of New Wave were planted. Punk’s DIY style and the anti-establishment theme was running its course. Rock fans were not gravitating to the genre’s chaotic nature anymore. Sometimes the music was too politically bent or raw for listeners' appetites. During the late 1970s Punk splintered into two genres, Post-Punk and New Wave. While Post-Punk carried punk’s roughness into the new decade New Wave adopted some of mainstream Rock’s accessibility and lighter sound.
New Wave is an umbrella term for the various experimentations in Rock during the early 1980s. It included Reggae Rock groups like The Police, more Punk oriented bands like Talking Heads and traditional arena rock collectives like U2. Ultimately, the genre was seen as quirky and carried a sense of humor. This was a delectable alternative to the seriousness of Punk.
