When I was at The Cure concert back in August, I met a guy there who was telling me how he is having a blast revisiting all of the bands he loved when he was a kid. He said, “There’s this one band, heh-heh, kinda embarrassing, that I just keep going to see whenever they’re around.”
I responded, “Try me!” He said, “Duran Duran”! And then I laughed and responded that my wife Ginny and I went to go see them about 2 years ago in Atlantic City, and they were awesome. They played all their old stuff, and they sounded great.
I was telling Ginny about this, and it prompted her to have a deep — very deep — discussion with me about how Duran Duran was really a New Wave band before they went all synth-pop. Damn, she’s right. Duran Duran’s early stuff was some killer New Wave.
We then meandered into a full-on discussion of early New Wave, at least according to us. This discussion lasted exactly 3 minutes and 12 seconds, but it was profound. So profound, in fact, that I share the results with you.
Kraftwerk certainly wasn’t New Wave in the classical sense, but without them, I don’t know. Maybe Duran Duran would have only been Rhodes & Co. And Depeche Mode might have only been Ala Mode, bringing us songs like, Ice Cream is Ice Cream, Chocolate Rumours, and Sweetest Confection. And A Flock of Seagulls might have just been A Seagull Flying By Itself, and they’re hit song might have just been I Ran (A Little Bit). And Yaz and Erasure may have never happened because Vince Clarke would have been satisfied sticking it out with Ala Mode. And Joy Division might have never made their way out of punk and goth and into dance music with New Order, thereby becoming one of the most influential bands in punk/goth and electronic music. Right? I mean, RIGHT?!?!?
So, we start with Kraftwerk. Because we must. Everything else follows.
Track List
Kraftwerk – The Robots
Duran Duran – Careless Memories
A Flock Of Seagulls – I Ran (So Far Away)
Depeche Mode – Everything Counts
Yaz – Situation
New Order – Age of Consent
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