3 New Wave Songs From 1979 That Helped Invent the 1980s Sound

New wave songs in 1979 were everywhere. The genre had come close to reaching its peak that year, but the 1980s would take it in a different direction. And plenty of new wave artists in 1979 dropped songs that helped inspire what the following decade would sound like. Let’s take a look at a few such songs, shall we?

“Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” by Tubeway Army from ‘Replicas’

This might be a bit of a deep cut, unless you’re a diehard new wave fan. “Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” boasts those chilly synths and very mechanical-sounding rhythms and beats that would become the standard in electronic music in the 1980s. There’s an edge of dystopia throughout this song, too, that would become common among Cold War-era songs. Tubeway Army (namely Gary Numan) really predicted the future with this one.

“Are ‘Friends’ Electric?” by Tubeway Army was a No. 1 smash on the UK Singles chart. It came close to making it to the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the US, too.

“Cars” by Gary Numan from ‘The Pleasure Principle’

There’s no way I’d leave this classic new wave track off our list. It’s one of Gary Numan’s most instantly recognizable songs, and it really did predict the direction that new wave, synth-pop, and even post-punk would take once the 80s rolled around.

“Cars” by Gary Numan took over the airwaves in 1979. The track peaked at No. 9 on the Hot 100 chart and topped the UK charts, too. Today, it’s considered Numan’s signature song.

“Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles from ‘The Age Of Plastic’

Like “Cars”, “Video Killed The Radio Star” was a shoo-in for our list of 1979 new wave songs that helped invent the sound of the 80s. In a way, it predicted the future. The 1980s would birth MTV (a channel that would also air “Video Killed The Radio Star” as its first-ever music video in 1981), and the age of music videos would dominate for years onward.

“Video Killed The Radio Star” by The Buggles just barely made it to the Top 40 of the Hot 100, but it was a smash Top 10 hit virtually everywhere else. The song peaked at No. 1 in the UK and throughout much of Europe.

(Photo by Peter Noble/Redferns)