Are we not new wave? : modern pop at the turn of the 1980s / Theo Cateforis.

Author/creator Cateforis, Theo
Format Book
Publication InfoAnn Arbor : University of Michigan Press, ©2011.
Descriptionviii, 294 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm.
Subjects

SeriesTracking pop
Tracking pop. ^A717349
Contents Tracking the tide: the new wave washes in and out -- The second British Invasion and its aftermath: from new pop to modern rock -- From neurasthenia to nervousness: the whiteness of the new wave -- Camp! kitsch! trash! new wave and the politics of irony -- "(I wish it could be) 1965 again": power pop and the mining of rock's modern past -- "Roll over guitar heroes, synthesizers are here ..." -- Kings of the wild frontier -- Epilogue: The new wave revival.
Abstract New wave emerged at the turn of the 1980s as a pop music movement cast in the image of punk rock's sneering demeanor, yet rendered more accessible and sophisticated. Artists such as the Cars, Devo, the Talking Heads, and the Human League leapt into the Top 40 with a novel sound that broke with the staid rock clichés of the 1970s and pointed the way to a more modern pop style. This book provides the first musical and cultural history of the new wave movement, charting its rise out of mid-1970s punk to its ubiquitous early 1980s MTV presence and downfall in the mid-1980s. The book also explores the meanings behind the music's distinctive traits--its characteristic whiteness and nervousness; its playful irony, electronic melodies, and crossover experimentations. The author traces new wave's modern sensibilities back to the space-age consumer culture of the late 1950s/early 1960s. Three decades after its rise and fall, new wave's influence looms large over the contemporary pop scene, recycled and celebrated not only in reunion tours, VH1 nostalgia specials, and "80s night" dance clubs but in the music of artists as diverse as Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and the Killers.
Bibliography noteIncludes bibliographical references and index.
LCCN 2011000428
ISBN9780472115556 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN0472115553 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN9780472034703 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN0472034707 (pbk. : alk. paper)
ISBN9780472027590 (e-book)
ISBN047202759X (e-book)
Standard identifier# 40019562126

Availability

Library Location Call Number Status Item Actions
Music Music Stacks ML3534 .C37 2011 ✔ Available Place Hold