New wave came to life in the late 1970s and took over the airwaves for quite a few years in the 1980s. It was certainly a fresh, new thing back then. And when it comes to the following three new wave tracks from the 1980s, each one still sounds incredibly fresh and contemporary despite being more than 40 years old at this point.
“Whip It” by Devo from ‘Freedom Of Choice’ (1980)
Devo proved that new wave wasn’t just a European thing. Honestly, we could say that this weird little band from Akron, Ohio was one of America’s biggest new wave acts in the 1980s. And their most memorable song, without a doubt, is the catchy and danceable synth-pop jam “Whip It”.
This funky classic peaked at No. 14 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and No. 11 in Canada.
“Temptation” by New Order (1982)
After Joy Division came to an end, the remaining members of the band formed New Order and carried on the torch. The group enjoyed a handful of hits over the years, one of which was the post-punk new wave classic “Temptation”. This song was originally supposed to be an instrumental before lead singer Bernard Sumner put together lyrics for it. The final version wasn’t quite a hit in the US, but it was a smash in the band’s native UK, where it topped the Independent Singles chart. “Temptation” also peaked at No. 29 on the UK Singles chart.
“Burning Down The House” by Talking Heads from ‘Speaking In Tongues’ (1983)
Are we surprised that Talking Heads made it to our list of new wave songs from the 1980s that still sound fresh today? So much of the new wave outfit’s music from that era could have made it to this list. I went with “Burning Down The House”, mainly because it still gets listeners up and moving after all these years. Released in 1983, “Burning Down The House” was a funk-leaning hit, peaking at No. 9 on the Hot 100 and No. 8 on the Canadian charts. And no matter your age, you probably find yourself shimmying to this groovy jam decades later.
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