MUSC 1800: Popular Music
Punk and New Wave
Dr. Matthew C. Saunders
Lakeland Community College
C-1078
Punk and New Wave
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International movements
“Back to basics” rock
Nihilistic approach
What is New Wave?
What is punk?
Big Idea
• When a dominant style enters its “decadent”
phase, a possible reaction is to strip it to its
bones in search of meaning.
Protopunk
• Musical, philosophical
and fashion models for
later groups
• The Velvet
Underground
– “I’m Waiting for the
Man,” 1966
• Iggy Pop & The Stooges
– “Search and Destroy,”
1973
• The New York Dolls
– “Jet Boy,” 1973
Punk
• CBGB: Center of early
punk scene in New
York
• Television
– “Double Exposure,”
(live, 1974)
• The Ramones
– “I Wanna Be Sedated,”
(1978)
• The Sex Pistols
– “Anarchy in the UK,”
1976
New Wave
• More polished version of punk, developed ca.
1976 in both US and UK
New Wave Musicians
• Elvis Costello (b. 1954)
– “Radio, Radio,” BBC,
1978
• Other bands tended
toward a pop sound
– The Cars: “Just What I
Needed,” 1978 (live
1979)
– Blondie: “Call Me,”
1980
The Music Video
• Song-length film with
images tied to the
music
• “soundies,” 1940s
• “promotional clips,”
late-1960s and 1970s
• New Wave bands were
early adopters in the
mid-1970s
• MTV (Music Television)
Watching a Music Video: The Talking
Heads
• Things to consider:
– Diegetic vs. non-diegetic
– Representational vs. non-representational
– Visual techniques and composition
– Symbolism
– Performance, narrative, or conceptual?
– Postmodernism
• “Once in a Lifetime” (1981)
– Music and Lyrics by David Byrne and Brian Eno
– Played on MTV during its first day of programming