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Talking Heads
Talking Heads, formed in New York in 1975 and closely associated with the CBGB punk and new wave scene, blended art-rock, funk, and African-influenced polyrhythms into a genre-crossing sound that distinguished them intellectually and musically from more straightforward punk contemporaries at the same venue. Frontman David Byrne's distinctively jittery, anxious vocal delivery and his oversized "big suit," worn during the band's celebrated 1984 concert film Stop Making Sense, became one of the most visually iconic images associated with new wave's broader aesthetic. The band's 1980 album Remain in Light, incorporating dense, layered polyrhythmic production influenced by West African music and produced alongside Brian Eno, expanded new wave's musical ambition well beyond the genre's more straightforwardly catchy synth-pop mainstream. Stop Making Sense, directed by Jonathan Demme, is widely regarded as one of the greatest concert films ever made, and Talking Heads' combination of genuine art-rock ambition and mainstream commercial accessibility made them one of the most critically respected bands to emerge from new wave's broader early-1980s commercial peak.
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Depeche Mode
Depeche Mode, formed in Basildon, England in 1980, built their sound almost entirely around electronic synthesizers rather than traditional guitar-based rock instrumentation, becoming one of the most commercially significant and influential purely electronic bands to emerge from new wave's broader early-1980s movement. The band's evolution from relatively lighthearted synth-pop on their earliest albums toward darker, more industrial and BDSM-influenced imagery on mid-1980s releases like Black Celebration and Music for the Masses reflected a deliberate artistic maturation that distinguished their later catalog from more straightforwardly upbeat synth-pop contemporaries. Depeche Mode's 1990 album Violator, featuring the hit single "Personal Jesus," became a massive commercial breakthrough in the United States specifically, and the band's Los Angeles concert during that album's tour drew a riot when far more fans showed up for a promotional in-store appearance than the venue could safely accommodate. The band's sustained commercial and critical relevance across more than four decades, continuing to release new material and tour arenas well into the 2020s, has made Depeche Mode one of the most enduringly significant purely electronic bands in the history of popular music.
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