New Wave 2

Our first batch of New Wave Essentials brought you the basics, but it was only the tip of the iceberg. The era’s legacy looms so large that we had to offer up a second hit-packed helping to even begin to cover all the bases. The new wave scene had its share of party tunes, like Wang Chung’s roof-raising “Everybody Have Fun Tonight,” which introduced the band’s name into the English language as a verb, but some songs were fueled by a darker energy. Blondie’s “One Way or Another” is an irresistible, riff-crunching ode to obsession, while the earworm sax hook of Men At Work’s “Who Can It Be Now?” made paranoia sound like fun. And Oingo Boingo’s herky-jerky “Dead Man’s Party” proved that you can get your groove on even in the graveyard.

Plug into the electro-pop revolution, in Next Steps.

One of new wave’s biggest breakthroughs was ushering in the sounds of synth-pop, as a new breed of bands proved that you didn’t need guitars to get down. Despite the darker tones they took on later, Depeche Mode started out as breathlessly bubbly electro-pop pin-up boys, with the percolating ecstasy overload of “I Just Can’t Get Enough.” Berlin injected some sex appeal into the style, with femme fatale Terri Nunn’s sultry croon caressing the slinky synth lines of “The Metro.” And anyone who’s ever seen ’80s comedy classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off should instantly recognize the bottomless baritone and Porsche-sleek electro grooves of Yello’s sinfully seductive “Oh Yeah.”

In Deep Cuts, new wave pioneers get in touch with rock ’n’ roll history.

Don’t let all the synthesizers and drum machines make you think there was no room for good ol’ guitar-driven rock & roll in the new wave world. The Only Ones fused punky energy and power-pop hooks on the extraterrestrial rocker “Another Girl, Another Planet.” The sing-along “ya-ya-ya” chant of The Call’s “The Walls Came Down” brings an almost ’60s-like all-together-now vibe to the band’s edgy, angular attack. And the JoBoxers showed that classic R&B could be part of the new wave equation too, with the jacked-up Motown moves of their ’83 hit “Just Got Lucky.”

You need only lend an ear to the bands of today who worship at the ’80s altar to realize that new wave is an ongoing experience, not an artifact of the past. Whether you want to backtrack to discover the influences of everyone from Franz Ferdinand to Arcade Fire or you’re a new wave alumnus looking to bring that feeling back into your bloodstream again, we’ve got you covered. From the four-alarm funk-rocking fire of Talking Heads’ “Burning Down the House” to the Manchester magic of New Order’s electro-dance anthem “Bizarre Love Triangle,” the scrappy power-pop of the late ’70s to the sparkling synth-pop of the ’80s, we’ve wrangled you an invitation to the ultimate all-night new wave dance party.