The New Who Wave

> So the question is, were The Who ever new Wave or perhaps
> a little 'New Wavy '? My answer is yes to a point,they again may have
> perhaps unkowingly influenced the New Wave. And as you say, the new wavers
> worshipped Pete. Stands to reason. Whatever your thoughts,I liked
> it.

The WHO (& especially Pete) always seemed to adapt easily to current trends &

fashions. Remember his stories about how he copied the current Mod dances from

the stage yet some punters thought *he* was the one making them up. Fashion

> For evidence of this, just look at the cover of IH, or check out any 1981 or
> 82 footage. Pete is all about New Wave. His dancing is classic New Wave!
> Ok, the question begs to be asked......Who Came First?? Was it Pete
> following a new genre, or Pete creating a new genre???

I don't think we can credit Pete with starting New Wave. He seemed to embrace

it though, lending it credibility. BTW, "Face Dances Pt.2" is *very* New Wavey.

> Is NewWave a group of artists who typically disregard genre
> distinctions and mix them all together?

Sort of, but it's much more complex than that. Remember, the term New Wave is

is just a label like the term Classic Rock. Now we all know The WHO are labled

a Classic Rock band but there's a HUGE difference between them &, say, Bob

Segar in *my* book! And yet each is "labeled" as Classic Rock.

You don't get much more New Wave than Gary Numan but if you've ever heard

his first album TUBEWAY ARMY you'd be quite surprised. It's full of loud, crunch-

ing, screeching, feedback-drenched guitar. Apart from Gary's distinctive robotic

Many artists who are labelled New wave are wrongly looked upon as trivial, nerdy,

or, god forbid, un-manly. But a lot of New Wave is braver & more daring than any

DEVO is one such New Wave band that gets unfair criticism. People think of them

as a nerdy, quirky, synth band. Only an enlightened few know that they wrote very

original anti-establishment songs & were an incredibly powerful & tight live band.

And sure, being from Akron, I *am* biased. Besides, we're all DEVO.

> New Wave is a subgenre of Rock, you see. As far as I can tell, it owes more
> to David Bowie (and before him Mark Bolin/T. Rex) than to The Who or anyone
> else. But it's still Rock, just a form of Rock.

You're right, many New Wave bands seem to be on that Bowie/Roxy Music/Glam

Rock side of the fence. I'll make one generalization: New Wave bands unquestion-

ably are more concerned with fashion, image, &, for lack of a better word, charact-

erization than most Rock bands. Again the influence of Bowie & his various personas.