As we continue our look back at the best American New Wave Artists, our next group are those artists that had major mainstream success albeit briefly. These include the all-girl band The Bangles, rockabilly trio Stray Cats, and Martha Davis led The Motels. The Motels and Stray Cats hit the big-time at the beginning of the 80’s and The Bangles had even greater success at the end of the decade. We are calling this group of artists – “Big Time.”
Big Time – The Bangles, The Motels, and Stray Cats
The Bangles
First up, we have The Bangles, another all-girl group from Los Angeles. The Bangles were initially championed by Rodney Bingenheimer on KROQ, where their song “Going Down to Liverpool” had some airplay and their music video for that song was also played on Richard Blade’s video shows. Although that song, didn’t attain much chart success they made up for in on their next album. Their second full album, Different Light, released in 1986, had the two world-wide mega-hits, “Walk Like an Egyptian” which, fueled by its popular music video, reached #1 in the US, and the Prince penned “Manic Monday” which peaked at #2. The album also had “Walking Down Your Street” which couldn’t quite reach the top ten, peaking at #11.
Recorded for the Less Than Zero movie soundtrack, a remake of the Simon and Garfunkel song “Hazy Shade of Winter” reached #2 in 1988. Later in 1988, The Bangles next album, Everything, was released which contained their biggest selling single “Eternal Flame” along with top five hit “In Your Room.” The Bangles soon brook up after all this success and have had several reunions over the years.
The Motels
Also, from California (Berkley), The Motels had two top ten hits in the early 80’s. The first single from their 1982 album All Four One, “Only the Lonely” reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video for the single also earned lead singer Martha Davis a Best Performance in a Music Video award at the American Music Awards. Their 1983 follow up album Little Robbers, produced another top 10 single “Suddenly Last Summer.” The 1984 album, Shock included the hit single “Shame” which made it #21 on the charts. Their next album didn’t perform well. Martha Davis has toured recently as Martha Davis and the Motels.
Stray Cats
Rockabilly hit makers, Stray Cats were formed in Massapequa, NY and achieved their first success in the U.K., with their best songs from their first two U.K. albums being repackaged as the U.S. release Built for Speed. From that album, the single “Rock This Town” reached #9 on the Hot 100, after that success “Stray Cat Strut” was re-released as a single and peaked at #3 on the charts.
Their follow-up album produced the hit single “(She’s) Sexy + 17“ which made it to the #5 position. Sadly, their chart success was short lived as they broke up not in the early 80’s. The band reunited for a tour as recently as 2024 and Brian Setzer has mostly led his big-band The Brian Setzer Orchestra over the years.
Looking for other New Wave artists that hit it big back in the day. Check out our One-Hit Wonders on American New Wave post. Our next and final look at American alternative and New Wave artists will be about those bands that have had lasting influence that may have even surpassed their success in 80’s. We are calling this group – “Talk of the Town”
