4 New Wave Albums That Helped Define the Music of 1979

New Wave hit its peak right around 1979. Granted, the term was so popular that just about every album released around that time got stuck with that label. Looking back, however, there’s no doubting that some classics of the genre arrived in that calendar year.

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This list easily could have been much longer. But we’ll stick for now to these four New Wave-leaning LPs from 1979 that we’re still spinning.

‘Armed Forces’ by Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Released at the very beginning of 1979, Armed Forces found Elvis Costello still on the heater that he’d enjoyed since the start of his recording career. His third album overall and second with the Attractions, it mixed up the personal and political to a more frenzied degree than he’d yet attempted in his career. Even as the Attractions keep things colorful and pumping, Costello stays deadly serious with the barely hidden confessions of “Accidents Will Happen” and the sneering sarcasm bombs of “Oliver’s Army”. If you bought the American version of this album, you got the anthem “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding”, written by album producer Nick Lowe, at the end.

‘Candy-O’ by The Cars

The Cars easily could have knocked out a rehash of their self-titled debut album in 1978 and done just fine. At least for the adrenaline-filled opener “Let’s Go”, they did just that. To their credit, the quintet insisted on changing things up a bit for their sophomore release. They went a little bit weirder, darker, and deeper. That’s not to say the band’s trademark soaring moments were completely absent. But there were more minor keys lurking throughout songs like the pulsating title track and the wondrous album-closer “Dangerous Type”. “It’s All I Can Do” proved that they could do heartbreak in their own inimitable fashion. And “Shoo Be Doo” found them thrillingly doing their thing in avant-garde territory.

‘Regatta De Blanc’ by The Police

The Police eventually developed into a band that was dominated by the songwriting of Sting. Back on Regatta De Blanc, their second LP, Stewart Copeland was still mostly sharing those duties with the singer. That perhaps explains the stylistic leaps that you’ll hear from song to song. Copeland seemed to be trying to push the pace at all costs on tracks like “It’s Alright For You” and the instrumental title track. Meanwhile, Sting willingly slows things down on airy constructs like “Walking On The Moon” and “The Bed’s Too Big Without You”. The album peaks at the start with the thrilling single “Message In A Bottle”. These guys never released a clunker, so expect to be impressed if you haven’t heard this one before.

‘Get The Knack’ by The Knack

OK, so this band didn’t have the staying power as the others on this list. But the first album from this LA quartet remains prime ear candy. In Doug Fleger, they had a songwriter who foregrounded the hooks and kept the lyrics simple and catchy (and occasionally sophomoric). Mike Chapman, a key collaborator with Blondie, produced the album and kept it nice and shiny. And the songs were there. “My Sharona” is the one that everybody remembers. But you might be surprised at how little fluff you can find over the length of the LP. The faster numbers whoosh past any objections. And The Knack also displayed their touch on solid slow songs like “Lucinda” and “Maybe Tonight”.

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