As we finish our series about American New Wave artists 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 just looked at, our last group of artists, we are calling “There is a Light That Never Goes Out,” which included The Call, Missing Persons, The Smithereens, and Romeo Void. 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.”
Alive & Kicking – Sparks, X, Violent Femmes, and They Might be Giants
Sparks
Sparks, the duo formed in Los Angeles by the Mael brothers have been active for over 50 years! Known for their quirky songs and style, Sparks has been at the forefront of many musical trends over the years often adapting their musical style. 2025 marks the release of their 26th album, Mad!
Best known for their two early 80’s Billboard Hot 100 songs, “Cool Places” (With Jane Wiedlin from The Go-Gos) and “I Predict,” Sparks has voluminous library of songs. Other songs by Sparks, like “Angst in My Pants” and “All You Ever Think About is Sex,” are also still played on First Wave on SiriusXM.
X
Los Angeles based punk-rock band, X, was championed by Ray Manzarek of the Doors who produced their first two albums. These albums (Los Angeles and Wild Gift) were both on Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Los Angeles also made Pitchfork’s top 100 albums of the 1980s. Influential Los Angeles Times music critic, Robert Hilburn, cited X as one of the most influential bands of the 80s.
Although they never had much mainstream success with “Burning House of Love” from 1985 to be their only single to chart at all during the 80’s, some of their songs like “Los Angeles” and “Wild Thing” are still played on First Wave on SiriusXM. X will be touring with fellow So Cal band Los Lobos later this year for their “99 Years of Rock and Roll” tour.
Violent Femmes
Primarily known for their eponymous 1983 debut album, Milwaukee, WI based Violent Femmes, have released ten studio albums and 19 singles during their career. Violent Femmes, has been certified platinum by RIAA and contains their most popular songs – “Blister in the Sun“, “Kiss Off”, “Add It Up” and “Gone Daddy Gone” which are all still beloved today. They are still touring and delighting audiences today and I (David) saw them during the late 1990s at the LA County Fair.
They Might be Giants
They Might Be Giants have the oddest career path of any of the artists that we have written about. They began to be noticed by posting songs on their answering machine in Brooklyn, under the moniker Dial-A-Song. Their self-titled debut album produced the single “Don’t Let’s Start” which became a minor hit and still has a presence on First Wave.
They hit it big with “Birdhouse in Your Soul” in 1990 off of their third album Flood, which reached #3 on the Modern Rock chart. They Might Be Giants eventually moved into recording children’s music including the theme song for Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. They Might Be Giants are currently touring in 2025.
Our next post in this series will cover the bands that had big mainstream success like The Bangles, The Motels and Stray Cats who all had multiple top 10 songs on the mainstream charts. If your surprised that these bands were not in our Top 10 American New Wave artists, see who beat them out.
