The Rise of New Wave - Part One: 1976

As the long and scorching summer of 1976 finally broke at the end of August, no-one other than a few hundred devotees noticed what was happening at a few select London venues such as the 101 Club in Covent Garden where an amorphous group of youngsters were ploughing their own furrow. What they were doing with their wildly varying musical skills would become known as Punk.

Nearly fifty years on, and as an eighteen-year-old who’s world was defined by music in 1976, the delineation between punk and new wave has always seemed obvious to me. Punk was fundamentally the Sex Pistols, along with a few imitators who came and went in the space of a couple of years, and the movements major achievement was in causing record companies to sign up any act that went against the prevailing music of the time. This opened the door for a pile of experienced and talented bands playing around the club and pub scene to be signed, and this became New Wave.

Of course, the reality is more subtle and the purpose of this blog is to show that new wave was already well under way before punk entered the world of the record buying youth of Britain,. The Sex Pistols were both the epicentre and high point of punk, cleverly managed by Malcolm McLaren, influenced by Vivienne Westwood at her Kings Road boutique ‘Sex,’ and loyally adored by their ‘Bromley Contingent.’ Then there were the bands that coalesced around the Pistols, notably those that played over two nights in September 1976 at the 100 Club (See the Problem with Punk.) By the time of the Pistol’s demise in 1978 though, most of these, notably Siouxsie and the Banshees, The Clash, the Damned and the Buzzcocks had developed as musicians and diverged into a variety of styles.

There is no commonly accepted definition of what would become known as New Wave. For me, it was best summed up by Blondie’s guitarist Chris Stein in 1978: 'I actually think it’s just a lot of new bands coming out at once, a lot of new blood from people who weren’t in the business before and just coming out now…It’s making an impact and snowballing because it’s more than one band; it’s like a great number of bands. That’s actually what new wave is.' The one proviso to this is that many of the musicians being signed had indeed been in the business for years, but below the radar of the charts.

T’he initial proponents of New Wave were more often than not bands and solo artists that came out of the vibrant London pub scene, playing a fundamental rhythm and blues style that was totally at odds with almost everything that was prevalent in the charts.

The British singles charts in 1976 were a hugely varied tapestry, featuring rock acts such as Status Quo, Thin Lizzy and Peter Frampton as well as a plethora of American and British soul bands. The established big hitters, Elton John, Queen, Rod Stewart, the Bee Gees and Brian Ferry were much in evidence, as well as many novelty acts, but all were vanquished in August by Abba’s classic ’Dancing Queen’ which spent eight weeks at number one in the singles charts. Abba finally relinquished their throne to, firstly Pussycat’s ‘Mississippi’ then Chicago’s  ‘’If You Leave Me Now’ which lost its position to Showadywaddy’s ‘Under the Moon of Love’ at the end of November.

Quietly hiding under these huge acts, Eddie and the Hotrods, a band from Canvey Island in Essex, to the east of London, slid into the charts on the 26th September with their EP ‘Live at the Marquee’ This was something completely new: raw and powerful covers of ‘96 Tears’, ‘Get Out of Denver’, ‘Gloria’ and ‘Satisfaction.’ The EP spent five weeks in the charts, reaching number forty-three but that achievement was completely overshadowed by their Canvey Island compatriots, Dr. Feelgood, whose third album ‘Stupidity’ debuted in the charts on the 3rd October at number eight and shot to number one a week later, eclipsing Abba, the Stylistics, the Bay City Rollers, the Beach Boys and Diana Ross.

The significance of the achievements of these two Essex bands cannot be overstated. Both had established reputations as ferocious live acts in the pubs and clubs of Essex and London, playing high energy rhythm and blues with a mix of standards and self-penned songs. Their achievement was in demonstrating that a significant proportion of the record buying public had noticed that something different was happening and wanted to buy into it.

Then, on the 10th October, Joan Armatrading’s single ’Love and Affection’ entered the charts and, over a period of five weeks, reached number ten. Joan had been around as a musician for ten years and had been championed by John Peel as far back as 1972. She was something entirely new, a black female singer/songwriter who was a world away from the ubiquitous role of the soul singer. Her eponymous album, entirely self-penned, spent sixteen weeks in the top forty, peaking at number twelve. Superbly produced by Glynn Johns, and blending blues, jazz, rock and soul, this album was no doubt a blueprint for many female artists that followed her. From a personal point of view, it was also a huge influence on Eat the Bear, my entry point into music in 1982 and the band that I managed for five years around the London pub scene.

On the 13th November, Eddie and the Hotrods entered the charts with their self-written ‘Teenage Depression’, a song with lyrics that could hardly have been more punk. This would peak at number thirty-five on the 27th November. A week later, on the 5th December, the Sex Pistols entered the charts at number forty-three with their debut single ‘Anarchy in the UK.’ This was as far as it got as it dropped out the next week despite the bands notorious appearance on the Bill Grundy Show a few days earlier.

A third Canvey Island act, the Kursaal Flyers, tasted success with their single ‘Little Does She Know’ which entered the charts on the 20th November and peaked at number fourteen on the 12th December.

So, by the end of 1976, the foundations of new wave had been established. We record-buying teenagers were very aware of something new happening and it was most certainly not punk which would not hit the charts for another couple of months. For me it was buying the Eddie and the Hotrods debut album and playing it constantly and to as many friends as possible. But then, in those far away days, that’s how bands became successful.