Battle of New Wave Bands - Finalists (Round 5)

The final championship match-up has been confirmed!  The voting was equally split until the very end!!

The two Final Bands standing are:

The Cure (58%)                                   vs.                           The Clash (58%)




The Cure Studio albums

 (courtesy Wikipedia)

• Three Imaginary Boys (1979)
• Seventeen Seconds (1980)
• Faith (1981)
• Pornography (1982)
• The Top (1984)
• The Head on the Door (1985)
• Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me (1987)
• Disintegration (1989)
• Wish (1992)
• Wild Mood Swings (1996)
• Bloodflowers (2000)
• The Cure (2004)
• 4:13 Dream (2008)

The Clash Studio albums

 (courtesy Wikipedia)

• The Clash (1977)
• Give 'Em Enough Rope (1978)
• London Calling (1979)
• Sandinista! (1980)
• Combat Rock (1982)
• Cut the Crap (1985)

Simply select the ONE band that is best representative of the New Wave genre and ethos.


Deadline:    Friday April 25th 5pm EST.

Thanks for your ongoing participation throughout the Battle of the Bands!

Make this Final Vote Count.  I suspect a Winner will not be evident until the final submission!

Battle of the New Wave Bands - Elite 8 (Round 3)

We are now down to the remaining Elite 8 bands, all influential in their own right.  Several were near-unanimous selections, namely the Cure, Police, Clash and New Order.  Depeche Mode came soooo close to upending the Ramones, but the last vote cast decided the winner!

Now for Round 3, the selections become that much more difficult but the actual voting process is simple: select one winner for each of the four brackets, ie

A)  Cure vs Police

B)  Ramones vs. Smiths

C)  Clash vs. New Order

D)  Sex Pistols vs. Talking Heads

Simply send a Comment  (enter Name only in Name/URL drop-down option) to this post with your selections.  As a reminder, when voting take into account the Band's legacy to the New Wave genre and their entire body of work.

The winners for Round 3 will be announced in this coming weekend, so DEADLINE is Friday April 11th, 10 pm EST. 

GOOD LUCK and MAKE YOUR VOTES COUNT!

A) El Mocambo			B) CBGB
1. English Beat	4. Cure (91%)		1. Ramones
4. Cure		1. Ramones (55%)	4. Depeche Mode
2. Blondie	3. Police (82%)		2. Smiths
3. Police		2. Smiths (64%)	3. Joe Jackson
D) 100 Club			C) Roxy
1. Sex Pistols	1. Sex Pistols (73%)		1. Clash
5. Duran Duran		1. Clash (91%)	5. Pretenders
2. Elvis Costello	3. Talking Heads (64%)		2. New Order
3. Talking Heads		2. New Order (91%)	6. Undertones

Battle of New Wave Bands - Round 1 Results

The Votes are cast, and the winners of Battle of New Wave Bands Round 1 are tabulated below.

In the end, a baker's dozen UK bands advanced as well as three seminal New York acts that received their first breaks at CBGBs.

With early returns it appeared that Devo, Gary Numan, Billy Idol and Talk Talk were poised to upset their much higher seeded opponents.  However the heavy final Sunday selections pushed them all out of contention.

Nonetheless, #6 Undertones advanced and #5 seeds Pretenders and Duran Duran won handily.  The only unanimous choice was the Sex Pistols (perhaps due to relatively unknown Toronto punk opponent, the Diodes) with Police and Clash nearly perfect.  However the match-ups in the 'Sweet Sixteen' Round 2 will been increasingly more difficult.  Good Luck to all remaining New Wave Bands!!!

A) El Mocambo			B) CBGB
1. English Beat	1.English Beat (64%)		1. Ramones
8. Devo		1. Ramones (86%)	8. Jam
4. Cure	4. Cure (64%)		4. Depeche Mode
5. Eurthymics		4. Depeche Mode (86%)	5. Madness
2. Blondie	2. Blondie (71%)		2. Smiths
7. B-52s		2. Smiths (64%)	7. Simple Minds
3. Police	3. Police (93%)		3. Joe Jackson
6. Human League		3. Joe Jackson (64%)	6. Gary Numan
D) 100 Club			C) Roxy
1. Sex Pistols	1. Sex Pistols (100%)		1. Clash
8. Diodes		1. Clash (93%)	8. Boomtown Rats
4. Cars	5. Duran Duran (71%)		4. Kraftwerk
5. Duran Duran		5. Pretenders (71%)	5. Pretenders
2. Elvis Costello	2. Elvis Costello (57%)		2. New Order
7. Talk Talk		2. New Order (64%)	7. Billy Idol
3. Talking Heads	3. Talking Heads (71%)		3. Specials
6. Joy Division		6. Undertones (64%)	6. Undertones

Battle of New Wave Bands (VOTING DEADLINE: Sunday March 30th 5pm EST)

Borrowing a page from the NCAA College Basketball 'March Madness' tournament, I have created a Battle of New Wave bands (punk, synth, power pop, ska) ranked bracket of 32 artists/bands grouped into four 'concert venue' categories.

Simply send a Comment  (enter Name only in Name/URL drop-down option) to this post with your selections, ie A) 1, 4, 3, 2  B) etc...

When voting take into account the Artist/Band's impact to the New Wave genre and entire body of work.

The winners for each round will be announced in a few weeks after enough votes are collected.  Then the voting continues..... until ONE Champion New Wave Artist/Band is Selected by Popular Vote.

Good Luck and keep the Votes coming in!

A) El Mocambo			B) CBGB
1. English Beat	A Winner 1 vs. 8		1. Ramones
8. Devo		B Winner 1 vs. 8	8. Jam
4. Cure	A Winner 4 vs. 5		4. Depeche Mode
5. Eurythmics		B Winner 4 vs. 5	5. Madness
2. Blondie	A Winner 2 vs. 7		2. Smiths
7. B-52s		B Winner 2 vs. 7	7. Simple Minds
3. Police	A Winner 3 vs. 6		3. Joe Jackson
6. Human League		B Winner 3 vs. 6	6. Gary Numan
D) 100 Club			C) Roxy
1. Sex Pistols	D Winner 1 vs. 8		1. Clash
8. Diodes		C Winner 1 vs. 8	8. Boomtown Rats
4. Cars	D Winner 4 vs. 5		4. Kraftwerk
5. Duran Duran		C Winner 4 vs. 5	5. Pretenders
2. Elvis Costello	D Winner 2 vs. 7		2. New Order
7. Talk Talk		C Winner 2 vs. 7	7. Billy Idol
3. Talking Heads	D Winner 3 vs. 6		3. Specials
6. Joy Division		C Winner 3 vs. 6	6. Undertones