Overview
Objectives
- Identify the similarities and differences between punk rock and New Wave
- Recall the significance of CBGB in the early careers of New Wave bands such as Talking Heads and Blondie
- Examine the role of earlier styles of rock and popular music in the recordings of groups such as the B52s, the Cars, and the Knack
New Wave Looks Backward continued
"Rock Lobster ♫" (1979) was the group’s first single and remains one of their most popular songs. Featuring a surf rock-styled guitar part played by Ricky Wilson (he even played it on a Mosrite electric guitar, which was one of the instruments of choice for 1960s surf rock groups), "Rock Lobster ♫" referred to the musical styles of the past. At the same time, the song’s bass line was played by Pierson on a synthesizer, and the song’s lyrics narrate a beach party and include a list of real and fictional sea creatures, complete with sound effects. The B-52s also included a cover of Petula Clark’s 1964 pop hit "Downtown ♫," which was another explicit reference to the popular music of the 1960s.
The group recorded several albums in the early 1980s, but they took a hiatus after the AIDS-related death of Ricky Wilson in 1985. They regrouped late in the 1980s, featuring Strickland on guitar instead of replacing Wilson with a new guitarist. During this resurgence, the B-52s released their most popular single, "Love Shack ♫" (1989).
The Knack also blended musical styles and imagery of the past into their music. The front cover of the band’s first album, Get the Knack (1979), featured the four members of the band wearing matching dress shirts and vests in a gesture reminiscent of the Beatles. On the back of the album, the four members of the band are sporting dress shirts and ties while playing their instruments, and the bass drum features the band’s logo. All of these images connected the band to the looks sported by British Invasion bands from the previous decade such as the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
In fact, the Knack asked Capitol to use an older version of its logo on the back of Get The Knack in order to complete the visual connection with the 1960s.
The Knack’s biggest hit single on Get The Knack (and during their entire career) was "My Sharona ♫" (1979).The song’s lyrics were inspired by singer and guitarist Doug Fieger’s girlfriend Sharona, who is pictured on the single’s cover. The members of the Knack claimed a number of stylistic influences in this song. According to Fieger, the drum pattern is borrowed from a song by Smokey Robinson and the stuttered lyrics in the chorus are a nod to Roger Daltrey’s vocal delivery in the Who’s 1965 "My Generation ♫." Of the New Wave bands who engaged with the musical styles of the past, the Knack perhaps did so most consistently and explicitly. By aligning themselves with the rock of the early 1960s, the Knack and other bands indirectly rejected the other rock and popular music styles that had emerged in the interim.
“At its best New Wave/punk represents a fundamental and age-old Utopian dream: that if you give people the license to be as outrageous as they want in absolutely any fashion they can dream up, they'll be creative about it, and do something good besides.”
“Undoubtedly the rock disco helped in breaking the year’s first new wave / disco crossover hit, Blondie’s chart-topping smash “Heart of Glass,” and there would be many more such success stories to follow as rock discos began to spread to nearly every metropolitan center throughout North America.”
"Weird Al Yankovic did a parody of ["My Sharona"] called "My Bologna." It was the song that kickstarted his career in song parody, and his first single."
