Page "Punk rock" Paragraph 75

Bringing elements of punk rock music and fashion into more pop-oriented, less " dangerous " styles, New Wave artists became very popular on both sides of the Atlantic.

New Wave became a catch-all term, encompassing disparate styles such as 2 Tone ska, the mod revival inspired by The Jam, the sophisticated pop-rock of Elvis Costello and XTC, the New Romantic phenomenon typified by Ultravox, synthpop groups like Tubeway Army ( which had started out as a straight-ahead punk band ) and Human League, and the sui generis subversions of Devo, who had gone " beyond punk before punk even properly existed ".

New Wave became a pop culture sensation with the debut of the cable television network MTV in 1981, which put many New Wave videos into regular rotation.

However, the music was often derided at the time as being silly and disposable.