Inspired by the May 26 birthdays of Stevie Nicks, Ms. Lauryn Hill, The Band’s Levon Helm, Peggy Lee, Lenny Kravitz, Swinging Blue Jeans’ Ray Ennis, Alphaville’s Marian Gold, Nashville Teens’ Art Sharp and Black; and the May 25 birthdays of The Jam’s Paul Weller, Disclosure’s Guy Lawrence, Tom T. Hall, The Tokens’ Mitch Margo, and Jessi Colter.
Inspired by Earth Day and the April 22 birthdays of Glen Campbell, Ace/Mike + the Mechanics’ Paul Carrack, Peter Frampton, Von Bondies’ Jason Stollsteimer, silverchair’s Daniel Johns, Larry Groce, Jack Nitzsche, Lipps Inc.’s Cynthia Johnson, UTFO’s Mix Master Ice, Moose Jackson and Eddie Albert.
Blondie’s hit single “Heart of Glass” was written by band members Debbie Harry and Chris Stein and had the working title of “The Disco Song.” Drummer Clem Burke said his part was inspired by the Bee Gees’ “Stayin’ Alive.”
Said Harry “When we did ‘Heart of Glass’ it wasn’t too cool in our social set to play disco. But we did it because we wanted to be uncool,” with the band’s keyboardist Jimmy Destri adding “We used to do ‘Heart of Glass’ to upset people.”
The song was included on Blondie’s Parallel Lines LP “as a novelty item to put more diversity into the album,” per Stein. The novelty song became the group’s first charted single and first #1, in 1979. Its success prompted John Lennon to send Ringo Starr a postcard advising to write songs like “Heart of Glass.”
Today’s Throwback Thursday playlist spotlights twenty of the best tracks from 1979, kicking off with Blondie’s upsetting disco novelty.
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My friend and fellow improviser Josh asked me to compile a playlist consisting of my thirty favorite new wave songs. This proved challenging, for what is new wave? As a genre there is no clear definition of the term. For some it’s any musical act from England that emerged between 1977 and 1985. For some it includes any band that wasn’t punk that played at CBGBs. For some new wave was defined by the way the synths or guitars were played. For others it was a look.
I decided to not get too caught up on a precise definition; otherwise, I’d make myself crazy. For example, initially I was hesitant to include songs by Cheap Trick, Cyndi Lauper, Kid Creole and the Coconuts and even Pet Shop Boys (the latter because the song I chose was a poppy number that hit in 1988), but then I decided a case could be made for each to be considered new wave.
I limited myself to one song per artist. The limitation imposed by using Spotify to create the playlist proved to not be so bad – only one song I would put in my top thirty is not on the service, that being Yoko Ono’s “Kiss Kiss Kiss.” I see some people writing Spotify thank you notes already.
Herewith are my thirty favorite new wave songs. Did I leave out any of your all-time favorites? Tell me in the Comments.
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The Motorola PieceOCrap 2000 is a high-end Android device sporting a gorgeous 4.3 touch display. It features 3G data when it’s having a good day and Bluetooth compatibility except when you need it. It offers access to thousands of apps. Just tap the app icon sixty to seventy times and you’ll get the message “Unable To Open. Would You Like To Close?” This feature, unique to the Motorola PieceOCrap 2000, saves you lots of money on data charges. The Motorola PieceOCrap 2000 also saves you money on your phone minutes, as many calls you try to make will not go through. Sometimes you may notice your device making a sound. That indicates a call is coming through. Don’t be alarmed – the PieceOCrap 2000 will disconnect the call once you answer it. Should you experience any problems with your Motorola PieceOCrap 2000, call Verizon Wireless Customer Service. After being on hold for fifty minutes, listening to Muzak played at an ear-splitting volume, a Customer Service rep will get on the phone, listen to your problem, and then tell you that you need to do a factory reset on our device, regardless of what the issue is. Be sure to humor them by doing so. It won’t fix your phone, but it keeps them employed.
Today Glenn Tilbrook, composer, guitarist and usual lead vocalist of the band Squeeze, celebrates his 57th birthday. The group had twelve top 40 hits in their native UK, none of which were named “Tempted.” In the US they had two top 40 hits, neither of which were named “Tempted.” “Hourglass” reached #15 in 1987 and “853-5937” peaked at #32 the following year. I would dial 853-5937 to see who answers, but I have a Motorola PieceOCrap 2000.
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