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Originally Posted by FRED HALE SR.
Most huge acts have been mentioned already. I'd throw in Joe Jackson, Missing Persons, Wall of Voodoo and Squeeze as other important acts. Joe Jackson always added cool jazz elements to his playing, and also bridged the gap between elvis costello and Billy Joel to me. A real cool sounding voice and he could really play the keys.
Dale Bozzio of MP really had the perfect voice for New Wave it was like bubblegum and cotton candy mixed together. A very tight band with great hooks, I always haf a great appreciation for how unique they sounded.
If you want unique Stan Ridgway is about as unique as you can get. WOV was always treading new territory and Ridgway continues to do it solo to this day. A really awesome song writer with a very eclectic sound and a very universal appeal.
Squeeze has always been one of those bands that doesn't really get talked about or heard by many. I think in the late 70's they were every bit as good as the Cars and Devo for churning out very diverse music with a great pop appeal. Their harmony on vocals and melody of their songs has always touched me in a deep way. Some consider them pop fodder, but dig a lil deeper, these guys can play.
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Squeeze seriously are under-rated!
Stan Rigeway was great with Wall of Voodoo, and pleasantly surprised me when he created "Don't Box Me In" (The song from the film Rumble Fish) with Stewart Copeland. The video was one of my favorites when I was a Teen, in an area that did not have cable and was in the vicinity of several late night video shows that showed some interesting stuff.
Missing Persons were another prefect example of seasoned musicians (Best known: Terry Bozzio, guitarist) going into New Wave and creating some music that's a good example of the time. The first album still stands up, actually!
Joe Jackson had quite an ambitious mind! I still have to hear a lot of his post-Night and Day work (still have time and You Tube...).