I just wanted to start a quick discussion on the musical merits of the closing years of the 1970s and beginning of the 1980s. These years saw the synthesis of two of my favourite musical forms, Punk and Electronic, into what we now know as the beginning of New Wave music. Whether you like Punk, Electronic, and New Wave or not, I believe proper appreciation of all music requires a simple understanding of prior forms. Our generation has been affected by this considerably small movement more than perhaps any other when it comes to our view of modern electronic music. Had it not been for a handful of independently operating bands in North England and New York, the electronic music we hear today would be totally different, perhaps following a more American tradition such as Disco or a more German tradition such as Trance.

The synthesis of Punk and Electronic came in part by the development of the Moog Synthesizer, which allowed poor, independent bands to experiment with electronic instruments, the increasing popularity of Punk ideology, which encouraged untrained, lower-class musicians to produce music, and the arrival of Disco from the United States and Krautrock from Germany. For more information about the development of New Wave music, watch “Synth Brittania” by the BBC.

Below are a few of my favourite songs from the period, comprising of Punk, New Wave, and Electronic music between the years 1977 and 1984 (with the exception of In The Night by the Pet Shop Boys, release in 1985). Above is Yashar by Cabaret Voltaire.

1. Are Friends Electric - Gary Numan

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2. Damaged Goods - Gang of Four

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3. Moments in Love - Art of Noise

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4. Smalltown Boy - Bronski Beat

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5. Auto Modown/Space Girl Blues - DEVO

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6. Wishing - A Flock of Seagulls

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7. Money (That's What I Want) - Flying Lizards

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8. Love Action - The Human League

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9. Underpass - John Foxx

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10. Mad World - Tears for Fears

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11. Vienna - Ultravox

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12. I'm Still Searching - Visage

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13. This Must Be the Place (Naive Melody) - Talking Heads

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14. In The Night (1985) - Pet Shop Boys

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