Album Genre: New Wave

Vince Clarke can claim involvement in two stunning debuts in only two years: Depeche Mode’s Speak and Spell and Yaz’s Upstairs at Eric’s. While Speak and Spell is, by far, the more consistent record, Upstairs at Eric’s is wholly more satisfying, beating the Depeche record on substance and ambition, and is light years ahead in … Read more

Car Crash Set were a pioneering New Zealand electronic band in the mid 80’s who took their cue from New Order, Suicide, and DAF. Formed by Nigel Russell (ex Spelling Mistakes/Danse Macabre), Dave Bulog, and Trevor Reekie, they combined cutting edge electronic sounds, guitar overdrive and feedback.

Autoamerican is the fifth studio album by the US New Wave band Blondie. It was released in November 1980 and reached number 3 in the UK charts, number 8 in Australia and number 7 in the US. The album proved to be a radical departure for the band, with opening track “Europa” setting the pace. … Read more

Kissing to Be Clever is the album that put Culture Club on the musical map. Incorporating pop, rock, dance, new wave, soul, and Caribbean rhythms (an amalgamation of “cultures”), the result was a soulful, progressive pop outing that scored several landmark international hits and made a star out of the band’s outrageous frontman, Boy George. … Read more

Seven and the Ragged Tiger is the third studio album by English pop rock band Duran Duran, released globally in November 1983 on the EMI label. It would prove to be the last studio album for the band’s original lineup until 2004’s Astronaut. Simon Le Bon said the album “is an adventure story about a … Read more

Crash is the fifth full-length studio album released by the British synthpop band The Human League in 1986. Unlike the band’s previous and subsequent albums it is R&B influenced. Crash would provide the band with their second US number-one single “Human” the same year.

Ghost in the Machine is the fourth album by The Police, released in 1981. Much of the material in this album was inspired by Arthur Koestler’s The Ghost in the Machine, which also provided the title. It was their first album to bear an English language title. The group released three successful singles from the … Read more

Kim Wilde is the first eponymous studio album by British singer Kim Wilde, released in June 1981. The songs on the album were all written by Kim’s father and successful 50s rock and roll singer Marty Wilde and by her younger brother Ricky Wilde and most of the music was played by the then current … Read more