As we finish our series about American New Wave and 80’s alternative artists. We are going to discuss the bands that we consider the rest of the best. These were artists not in our top 10, but were not just a one hit wonder as well.
We are going to break them out into four categories to discuss their impact and discographies. Our first section of artists are those that were often cited as influential or received a lot of accolades from the music critics and press, which we are calling “Talk of the Town.” Our next classification will be those new wave artists that had huge mainstream success, which we have named “Big Time.” Next up, we have those artists that had limited commercial success but have persevered and been actively touring or recording for much of the last 40+ years and in fact are touring in 2025. We have labeled this group as “Alive & Kicking.” Finally, our last group of artists, we are calling “There is a Light That Never Goes Out.” These artists don’t have a large library, but have a few classic tracks that are still beloved today.
There is a Light That Never Goes Out – Missing Persons, Romeo Void, The Call, The Smithereens
Missing Persons
Fronted by singer Dale Bozzio, Missing Persons also included her husband Terry (drummer) and future Duran Duran member Warren Cuccurullo who all met while in Frank Zappa’s backing band. Their 1982 album Spring Session M, an anagram of the band’s name, is a new wave classic. Featuring the singles, “Destination Unknown“, “Words”, “Walking in L.A.“, and “Windows”, which all made the Billboard Hot 100, the album achieved gold status.
They also achieved success in Los Angeles on KROQ in 1981 with the song “Mental Hopscotch.” Unfortunately, their success was short-lived as their next two albums were not successful, leading to the band breaking up in 1986. However, many of their early songs remain new wave classics with regular plays on First Wave, the new wave channel on Sirius XM. Missing Persons had four songs on KROQ’s Flashback 500 list in 1989, which shows the appeal of their early songs.
Romeo Void
Hailing from San Francisco, Romeo Void had a brief career with two stand-out tracks. “Never Say Never” off of their 1982 album Benefactor reached #27 on the mainstream rock chart. They reached even higher with their 1984 hit “A Girl in Trouble (Is a Temporary Thing)“, which cracked the top 20, peaking at #17. Both of these songs still have a presence on SiriusXM’s First Wave channel.
The Call
Also hailing from Northern California (Santa Cruz), The Call produced three classic 80’s alternative songs. I don’t recall them getting much airtime on KROQ in the 80’s, although “Let the Day Begin” showed up at #39 on KROQ’s 1989 countdown.
As an avid listener of First Wave over the last 20+ years, I have grown a real appreciation for their catalog where several of their songs have frequent airplay. “Let the Day Begin” made it to the top of Billboard’s mainstream rock song in 1989. “The Walls Came Down” from 1983 also reached the top 20 of that chart, peaking at #17. In 1986, The Call, had another song reach #17 with “I Still Believe (Great Design)”, which is one of my favorites! That song was also covered by Tim Capello and included on The Lost Boys film soundtrack. “Everywhere I Go,” is another classic song of theirs, that charted on the mainstream rock charts in 1986. Sadly, lead singer Michael Been passed away in 2010 at a musical festival in Europe, where he was working as a sound engineer for his son’s band, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
The Smithereens
New Jersey’s own, The Smithereens, had enviable discography in the late 80’s into the early 90’s. Their 1986 debut album, Especially for You, yielded two songs to reach the Top 40 of the Mainstream Rock charts, with “Blood and Roses” reaching #14 and “Behind the Wall of Sleep” peaking at #23. The Smithereens 1988 follow up album, Green Thoughts produced two additional Top 20 Mainstream Rock hits, with “Only a Memory” reaching #1 and “House We Used to Live In” making it to #14. They continued their success with their next album 11, that included three more hits on the Mainstream Rock charts: “A Girl Like You” #2; “Blues Before and After” #7, and “Yesterday Girl” #20. The album also featured a duet with Belinda Carlisle of The Go-Gos. The Smithereens have a continued presence on First Wave. Sadly, lead singer Pat DiNizio, passed away in 2017.
We will continue our series on American new wave artists with our next group, which we are calling Alive and Kicking. These are bands who are still active today and includes: X; They Might Be Giants; Sparks; and Violent Femmes. Definitely a great group of bands.
Check out our list of Top 10 American New Wave Artists as well our countdown of the top 10 American New Wave One Hit Wonders.
