Best 80s New Wave

First off: I'm really impressed that both of my favorite Canadian bands (Martha & Muffins and The Spoons) were mentioned. Also, big props for the multiple mentions of Propaganda.

Secondly: It's hard to believe that no one has mentioned the following well known acts: Concrete Blonde, Elvis Costello, Joe Jackson, The Jam, Midnight Oil, Pretenders, REM, The Replacements, Smithereens and X.

But, here's some lesser known acts worth mentioning:

Bongos
Lloyd Cole & The Commotions
The Church
Dada
Divinyls
Everything But The Girl
Fetchin' Bones
Gene
Gene Loves Jezebel
Go Betweens
Grapes of Wrath
PJ Harvey
Robyn Hitchcock
Hoodoo Gurus
House of Love
Housemartins
Hunters & Collectors
Icehouse
Robin Lane & The Chartbusters
Ocean Blue
Pixies
Prefab Sprout
Pylon
Railway Children
Romeo Void
Sidewinders
Talk Talk
Throwing Muses
Translator
Vigil

Lastly, for you China Crisis fans, you should seek out their live "Acoustically Yours" CD that was released in 2014. 


 

Here's a few more 70's - 90's bands of note.

Rhythm Corps: A Detroit band who only released 2 albums and a local EP. They were originally called Rhythm Method; but, they lost a legal challenge for that name (which is a shame because if that is not a rock n' roll name, I don't know what is!).

The Reivers: An Austin based band that was originally called Zeitgeist; but, they also lost a legal challenge to keep that name.

The Shoes. I thought these guys were better than The Cars; who they were often compared to. I preferred the Shoes darker and heavier sound (more guitars, less keyboards).

@jplunkettj Your two compilation recommendations look good. I recommend the "POPTOPIA: Power Pop Classics of the 70's - 80's & 90's (3 single discs put out by Rhino Records). Excellent songs, booklet and packaging on all three. 

@yyzsantabarbara I had the first 3 Pursuit of Happiness records, and I thought their debut ("Love Junk") was by far their best effort. My favorite cuts from that were: "She's So Young," "Tree of Knowledge" and "Ten Fingers."