Below is my personal listing of 100 Essential New Wave Songs (1977-1984) from 100 different artists (listed by YEAR of release). It begins with the punk anthem 'God Save the Queen' that dared to challenge the monarchy and was an attack on the complacency of dull, 'progressive' music that preceded it. And the list ends with the haunting cry for love 'How Soon is Now,' a harbinger of the impersonal isolated social period to come, and 'Do They Know it's Christmas' which brought to light the plight of Africa and the social activism and power of music.
Please comment if you have different song choices from the period covered. I would love to hear from you!
| Song | Year | Title | Artist | ||
| # 1 | 1977 | God Save the Queen | Sex Pistols | ||
| # 2 | 1977 | Sex & Drugs & Rock n Roll | Ian Dury | ||
| # 3 | 1977 | Peaches | Stranglers | ||
| # 4 | 1978 | I Wanna Be Sedated | Ramones | ||
| # 5 | 1978 | Public Image | PIL | ||
| # 6 | 1978 | Pump It Up | Elvis Costello | ||
| # 7 | 1978 | One Way or Another | Blondie | ||
| # 8 | 1978 | Best Friend's Girl | Cars | ||
| # 9 | 1978 | Lucky Number | Lene Lovich | ||
| # 10 | 1978 | Roxanne | Police | ||
| # 11 | 1978 | Teenage Kicks | Undertones | ||
| # 12 | 1978 | Model | Kraftwerk | ||
| # 13 | 1979 | London Calling | Clash | ||
| # 14 | 1979 | My Way | Sid Vicious | ||
| # 15 | 1979 | New York City | Demics | ||
| # 16 | 1979 | Life During Wartime | Talking Heads | ||
| # 17 | 1979 | Look Sharp! | Joe Jackson | ||
| # 18 | 1979 | I Don't Like Mondays | Boomtown Rats | ||
| # 19 | 1979 | Making Plans for Nigel | XTC | ||
| # 20 | 1979 | Papa's Got a Brand New Pigbag | Pigbag | ||
| # 21 | 1979 | One Step Beyond | Madness | ||
| # 22 | 1979 | Cool for Cats | Squeeze | ||
| # 23 | 1979 | What I Like About You | Romantics | ||
| # 24 | 1979 | Video Killed the Radio Star | Buggles | ||
| # 25 | 1979 | Planet Claire | B52s | ||
| # 26 | 1979 | Money | Flying Lizards | ||
| # 27 | 1979 | Warm Leatherette | Normal | ||
| # 28 | 1979 | Johnny Be Rotten | Monks | ||
| # 29 | 1979 | My Sharona | Knack | ||
| # 30 | 1980 | Love Will Tear Us Apart | Joy Division | ||
| # 31 | 1980 | I Will Follow | U2 | ||
| # 32 | 1980 | Going Underground | Jam | ||
| # 33 | 1980 | Precious | Pretenders | ||
| # 34 | 1980 | People Who Died | Jim Carrol Band | ||
| # 35 | 1980 | High School Confidential | Rough Trade | ||
| # 36 | 1980 | Rudy, A Message to You | Specials | ||
| # 37 | 1980 | Mirror in the Bathroom | English Beat | ||
| # 38 | 1980 | Echo Beach | Martha + Muffins | ||
| # 39 | 1980 | Whip It | Devo | ||
| # 40 | 1980 | I Got You | Split Enz | ||
| # 41 | 1980 | Turning Japanese | Vapors | ||
| # 42 | 1980 | Somethin' Else | Teenage Head | ||
| # 43 | 1980 | Cars | Gary Numan | ||
| # 44 | 1980 | Fade to Grey | Visage | ||
| # 45 | 1980 | Quiet Life | Japan | ||
| # 46 | 1980 | Video Verite | Blue Peter | ||
| # 47 | 1980 | Enola Gay | OMD | ||
| # 48 | 1981 | To Cut a Long Story Short | Spandau Ballet | ||
| # 49 | 1981 | Planet Earth | Duran Duran | ||
| # 50 | 1981 | Just Can't Get Enough | Depeche Mode | ||
| # 51 | 1981 | Love Action | Human League | ||
| # 52 | 1981 | Tainted Love | Soft Cell | ||
| # 53 | 1981 | Dancing With Myself | Billy Idol | ||
| # 54 | 1981 | Pretty in Pink | Psychedelic Furs | ||
| # 55 | 1981 | Jet Boy Jet Girl | Elton Motello | ||
| # 56 | 1981 | Never Say Never | Romeo Void | ||
| # 57 | 1982 | Add It Up | Violent Femmes | ||
| # 58 | 1982 | Look of Love | ABC | ||
| # 59 | 1982 | SEX (I'm a...) | Berlin | ||
| # 60 | 1982 | Come On Eileen | Dexy's Midnight Runners | ||
| # 61 | 1982 | Der Commissar | Falco | ||
| # 62 | 1982 | One Thing Leads to Another | Fixx | ||
| # 63 | 1982 | I Ran | Flock of Seagulls | ||
| # 64 | 1982 | Safety Dance | Men Without Hats | ||
| # 65 | 1982 | Mexican Radio | Wall Of Voodoo | ||
| # 66 | 1982 | Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum | Fun Boy Three | ||
| # 67 | 1982 | New Gold Dream | Simple Minds | ||
| # 68 | 1982 | Favorite Shirts | Haircut One Hundred | ||
| # 69 | 1982 | Situation | Yaz | ||
| # 70 | 1982 | Stool Pidgeon | Kid Creole | ||
| # 71 | 1982 | Sleepwalk | Ultravox | ||
| # 72 | 1982 | I Want Candy | Bow Wow Wow | ||
| # 73 | 1983 | Sweet Dreams | Eurythmics | ||
| # 74 | 1983 | Red Red Wine | UB40 | ||
| # 75 | 1983 | Mad World | Tears for Fears | ||
| # 76 | 1983 | 99 Luftballons | Nena | ||
| # 77 | 1983 | Blue Monday | New Order | ||
| # 78 | 1983 | Da Da Da | Trio | ||
| # 79 | 1983 | We Live So Fast | Heaven 17 | ||
| # 80 | 1983 | Big Country | Big Country | ||
| # 81 | 1983 | Radio Free Europe | REM | ||
| # 82 | 1983 | The Lovecats | Cure | ||
| # 83 | 1983 | Living on Video | Trans-X | ||
| # 84 | 1983 | Lies | Thompson Twins | ||
| # 85 | 1983 | Girl's Just Want to Have Fun | Cyndi Lauper | ||
| # 86 | 1983 | This Is The Day | The The | ||
| # 87 | 1983 | Walk Out To Winter | Aztec Camera | ||
| # 88 | 1984 | Forever Young | Alphaville | ||
| # 89 | 1984 | Small Town Boy | Bronski Beat | ||
| # 90 | 1984 | Relax | FGTH | ||
| # 91 | 1984 | 88 Lines About 44 Women | The Nails | ||
| # 92 | 1984 | Church Not Made with Hands | Waterboys | ||
| # 93 | 1984 | Everyday Is Like Halloween | Ministry | ||
| # 94 | 1984 | Wouldn't It Be Good | Nik Kershaw | ||
| # 95 | 1984 | Send Me an Angel | Real Life | ||
| # 96 | 1984 | It's My Life | Talk Talk | ||
| # 97 | 1984 | Free Nelson Mandela | Specials AKA | ||
| # 98 | 1984 | Tenderness | General Public | ||
| # 99 | 1984 | How Soon Is Now? | Smiths | ||
| # 100 | 1984 | Do They Know It's Xmas | Band Aid | ||
Excellent list!
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