CHAPTER 1 Background Iunder t is probably no surprise that, given the wide diversity of artists that fall the heading “new wave,” the influences on new wave rock are many and varied. Certainly, however, to understand new wave rock, one needs to look back to the 1960s—particularly, but not exclusively, to approximately 1960–1965. This period included many of the musical elements that marked new wave, even among artists as diverse as the synthesizer-focused bands (such as the Human League) and the guitar- focused bands (such as the Jam). True, some of the influences on the new wave came from the late 1960s and early 1970s, but much of the influ- ence came from the prepsychedelic 1960s, the time before rock music was seen more as art and less as entertainment. As Elijah Wald argues throughout his provocatively titled book How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ’n’ Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music, the release of the psychedelic album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles in summer 1967 and the way in which the album was embraced by critics and fans marked the point at which rock went from being viewed as a music of the people to being viewed as an art form (Wald 2009). So let us begin our look at the development of new wave music with that pre–Sgt. Pepper period. One of the often-overlooked aspects of 1960s’ pop music that needs to be considered when delving into the new wave is the fascination with the novel, particularly with respect to the tone colors offered by elec- tronic musical instruments. In fact, one could argue that the famous instrumental hit “Telstar,” composed by British producer Joe Meek and performed by the Tornados, is one of the more important but sometimes overlooked influences on new wave rock. “Telstar” was one of less than a handful of British-produced and British-performed singles that made
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