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New Wave News

October, 2008 — a cool blast from the past, as Chrysler uses The Fixx's "Saved by Zero" in car ads. It's not my favorite Fixx cut (that's "One Thing Leads to Another"), but it's great to hear new wave reaching fresh audiences in 2008!

2008-09 — New Wave hero Elvis Costello hosts a great TV series called "Spectacle," on the Sundance Channel. In each episode, he interviews one or more renowned musicians and plays some songs with them. The guests are quite varied, ranging from uber-coolster Lou Reed to Motown legend Smokey Robinson to famous, uh, saxophonist William Jefferson ("President Bill") Clinton. The series ran only into a second season, but it's now available on DVD.

2011 — A highlight of this year was a fascinating two-DVD, five-hour set called The Tomorrow Show — Punk & New Wave. This prominent talk show, hosted by Tom Snyder from 1973-82, featured an eclectic assortment of guests, from Ayn Rand to KISS. The DVD set shows him (in footage from multiple episodes) interviewing an array of musicians, many of whom also perform songs: Elvis Costello, Patti Smith, Public Image Ltd. (ex-Sex Pistol John Lydon behaves in a startlingly bizarre manner), Iggy Pop, Paul Weller & the Jam, the Ramones, the Plasmatics, and Joan Jett. Some come across as smart and witty, while others are off in their own world, but they're all very watchable. Cool stuff!