(premium) Best New Wave Songs of 1980
Explore the series ($):
1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 to 1987 (coming soon)
This isn’t your average year-end list.
1980 was new wave’s weird, wild coming-out party—and this deep-dive captures it all: robot glam (Cars), post-punk pep (Brass in Pocket), and earworms like Whip It and Turning Japanese that still baffle and delight. Here’s what makes this worth a read (and a sub):
Behind-the-music context with punchy, personal flair
A genre-savvy tour through hooks, moods, and music videos
Honest, energetic writing—part critic, part superfan
Songs that weren’t just catchy—they were culture-shifting