This is the last article our series about American New Wave artists. This group of artists are those that had a lot of influence on their contemporaries and inspired younger artists with their style and influence. We are naming this group “Talk of the Town” after the great Pretenders song.
This group may not have had the success or longevity of other musicians that we discussed but definitely had outsized influence on music. Ramones were punk rock pioneers leading the way for an American punk rise. The Replacements were college rock darlings during the mid 80’s. Finally, Pixies had a unique way of crafting pop-songs that influenced many of the artists in the 90’s like Nirvana and Smashing Pumpkins.
Talk of the Town – Ramones, Pixies, and The Replacements
Ramones
Initially, we have Ramones, who are known for being pioneers in the American punk rock movement in the mid-to-late 1970s. Founded in the outer boroughs of New York City in 1974, all of the members adopted pseudonyms with the last name Ramone. Although neve reallyr commercially successful, Ramones are cited as influences from a wide range of artists including: Bono, The Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam, Metallica, and Foo Fighters among many others.
Their debut album, Ramones, released in 1976 was cited on many best album of the year lists. Music historian Jon Savage writes of their debut album that “it remains one of the few records that changed pop forever.”
In addition to being voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Ramones have appeared on numerous “greatest” lists including being #26 on Rolling Stone magazine’s “100 Greatest Artists of All Time”, #17 on VH1’s series “100 Greatest Artists of Hard Rock,” and #2 by Spin in their list of greatest bands of all time.
Sadly, all of the original members of Ramones have passed away, leaving only Marky Ramone as the lone survivor of the members inducted into the Rock Hall. Long-time drummer, Marky Ramone, also hosts a two hour show, Punk Rock Blitzkrieg, every other week on First Wave.
Pixies
Pixies, founded in Boston, were ever-present in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Their debut album, Surfer Rosa, was named album of the year by both Melody Maker and Sounds. They have been named as influences by many artists of the 1990’s like Nirvana, Radiohead, Smashing Pumpkins and Weezer. In fact, Thom Yorke of Radiohead said that the Pixies “changed [his] life.” Curt Cobain in a 1994 Rolling Stone interview, said of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” – “I was basically trying to rip off the Pixies.”
Pixies had two songs reach the top 10 of Billboard magazine’s Modern Rock chart in 1989: “Here Comes Your Man“, made it to #3 and “Monkey Gone to Heaven“, climbed to #5. I (David) saw Pixies open up for The Cure in 1989 and also saw their lead singer, Frank Black aka Black Francis, open for They Might be Giants at University of Redlands.
Pixies are touring in 2025 to support their new album The Night the Zombies Came with shows in the U.S. through September and then taking a break and touring Japan, Australia, and New Zealand in November.
The Replacements
Our last band in this group, The Replacements, also had accolades far beyond their commercial success. Formed in Minneapolis at the beginning of the 80’s, their album Let It Be, was ranked as #12 on Spin magazine’s list of the “25 Greatest Albums of All Time” as well as number 15 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the “100 Greatest Albums of the 1980s.
Their song, “I’ll be You” reached the top of the modern rock charts in 1989 and their song “Alex Chilton” is often played on SiriusXM. The Replacements also have had many of their songs appear in movies and video games.
The best of the rest of American New Wave artists have had a presence in American culture no matter how little, and a large presence on music, fashion, and music videos, even beyond the 80s. Over the last forty plus years, music has changed greatly, but New Wave still stands the test of time.
For other American artists that have had long careers and are still active check out our post about those bands that we labeled “Alive and Kicking.” We also explored those New Wave and alternative bands that had massive mainstream success like The Bangles.
