Lists: the records and bands to start with
A good list is an argument, not a ranking machine. These lists name the records and bands we think matter most between 1974 and 1984, and each entry says why it is there.
There are no reader polls, invented scores or sales charts disguised as taste here. Every entry gives the year and the place it came from, then makes the case in a few sentences: what the record changed, who it influenced, and where to start if you have never heard it.
Any list like this leaves things out, and the choices are ours. We weigh influence over fame, so a self-released single can sit next to a platinum album. Regional scenes get their due as well, which means Akron, Leeds and Düsseldorf appear alongside New York and London.
If a list sends you looking for the original records, the vinyl section explains how to tell pressings apart. The genre guides give the background that a single list entry cannot.
In this section
5 pages
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Post-punk bands: 20 groups you should know
Post-punk bands that matter: 20 groups from Manchester, Leeds, London, Cleveland, Bristol and Berlin, with formation year, key record and what made each one different.
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Punk bands that shaped the genre, 1974 to 1984
The punk bands that shaped the genre: 20 groups from New York, London, Manchester, Belfast, Brisbane, California and Washington, with formation year and the record to start with.
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The best new wave bands: 18 groups that defined it
The best new wave bands from New York, Akron, Athens, Sheffield, Basildon and West Berlin: 18 groups, when they formed, the record to start with and why they matter.
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The best new wave songs, 1977 to 1983
The best new wave songs from Psycho Killer to Blue Monday: 20 singles with year, label, chart facts and what each one changed, from New York, London and beyond.
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The best punk albums, 1975 to 1984
The best punk albums from Horses to Zen Arcade: 18 records from New York, London, Belfast, Brisbane and California, each with year, label and the reason it matters.
Other sections
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Genres
Punk, new wave, post-punk, no wave and Neue Deutsche Welle explained: where each style began, which records define it and where the boundaries blur.
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Scenes
CBGB on the Bowery, New York punk and London in 1976: the clubs, shops and people that turned a few local bands into a movement.
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Songs
The stories behind punk and new wave songs: recording, line-up, chart history and meaning, told in our own words and without printing any lyrics.
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Bands
Independent band profiles from punk and new wave, starting with Blondie: line-ups, key records and where each band fits in the story.
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Press
How NME, Sounds, Creem, Punk magazine and Sniffin' Glue covered and shaped punk and new wave, from weekly music papers to photocopied fanzines.
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Vinyl
Practical guides to collecting punk records, identifying first pressings and choosing a turntable, with clear criteria and no made-up test results.