3 English New Wave Acts You Didn’t Know You’ve Heard Before

In the late 70s and early 80s, new wave acts from England boldly redefined the definition of mainstream music. Here are three bands you likely know for a specific song, even though their name doesn’t necessarily come to mind.

The Buggles

You might not think you know The Buggles, but you’ve definitely heard their song “Video Killed The Radio Star” a time or two. Fun fact: the music video for the song poetically ended up being the first video MTV ever showed. Martha Quinn, who was an original MTV video jockey back in the day, discussed the legacy that this video left.

“…They had no idea that their song was going to launch a generation,” she explained in an interview. “They had no idea, so it’s just really funny how you know that freight train of fate affects people and how you know, Jeff Downs and Trevor Horn [Buggles members] will never, you know, outlive The Buggles. Of all the things that they’ve done you know The Buggles is with them forever.”

A Flock of Seagulls

A Flock of Seagulls might not ring a bell, but there’s a chance you’re familiar with their song “I Ran (So Far Away)”. The video for this song was also on heavy rotation on MTV during this time.

Band member Mike Score told MTV Ruled the World: The Early Years of Music Video: “…Videos were not the ‘mini-movies’ yet. If it was up to the band, we probably would have just stood there in our wild gear and gone, ‘OK, we’ll just pretend to play.’ But they wanted a little bit more, a little bit more angular and quirky. It seems to me that all the early videos had to be quirky. I guess nobody was taking them seriously until somebody dropped a million dollars on one.”

Modern English

Modern English has produced several fun hits, including  “I Melt with You” and “Hands Across the Sea”, but the one you’re likely familiar with is “I Melt With You”. This is the song that really started to make an impact on Modern English’s career, as vocalist Robbie Grey explained in Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s.

“Someone picked up an import from England and started playing it on mainstream radio in America,” he shared. “And it just went like wildfire. We used to play to 200 people in art college; the next thing we knew, we were in Daytona Beach playing to 5,000 people who knew all the words [to the song].”

Photo by: Gilbert TOURTE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images

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