The band Brian Eno called a precursor to new wave: “Focused on the same ideas”
Once the dust had settled on the abrasive revolution of the punk age, and all the songs that could possibly be created using the same three barre chords had been run into the ground, the colourful world of new wave was the only way forward, and it would not have sounded the same were it not for the efforts of one Brian Eno.
With his penchant for musical experimentation and Roxy Music credentials, Eno was already among the godfathers of British punk, in many ways, even if his unique brand of minimalist ambient music hadn’t quite fit in with the buzzsaw guitars and gobbing anti-establishment ethos of punk. However, if you look at the scene that immediately followed punk, taking its DIY manifesto and incorporating a much wider range of musical experimentation, Eno’s impact is utterly undeniable.
Not only did his own solo albums impact the electronic sensibilities of new wave, but his production credits had a lot to answer for, as well. From the utter genius of David Bowie’s Berlin era, with Eno’s production stylings all over Low and Heroes, to his early adoption of New York’s blossoming no-wave movement, and his credits on records by Talking Heads and Devo, Eno had his fingers in a multitude of musical pies, all of which culminated in the distinctive sound of the new wave.
No revolution is undertaken alone, of course, and although Eno’s influence as a songwriter, producer, and experimenter certainly paved the way for the sound of new wave, he is not the only artist who can stake a claim to the incredible music which emerged from that period. After all, within the realm of punk and alternative music, all roads lead back to The Velvet Underground.
“I don’t claim any special role in generating new wave,” Eno shared in a 1981 interview with David Breskin. “It just happened to be a movement of people giving special emphasis to musical values I once had an interest in – although people well before me, like the Velvet Underground, had already focused on the same ideas.”
Although admittedly, the Velvet Underground weren’t knocking up synth-heavy chart toppers à la Blondie, they certainly played a role in influencing the later emergence of new wave, particularly its experimental sensibilities and outright rejection of the music industry. What’s more, it was for the Velvets that critics like Nick Kent and Dave Marsh first coined the term ‘new wave’ during the early 1970s.
Lou Reed and the gang had a clear impact on the punk scene, which predated new wave, with its sneering abrasion and rejection of the mainstream music industry, but it was within the realm of new wave that their experimental nature, owing largely to the great mind of John Cale, that the Velvets’ influence seemed to truly come into its own.
Even Eno himself owed a great deal to The Velvet Underground, having spurred on the glam scene that first established Roxy Music, and the producer himself by extension.
So, although Eno’s imprint is all over the new wave scene, if anybody is truly responsible for its emergence, it is those dastardly musical misfits from Warhol’s Factory.
