Some might wonder why I have included U2 in this post when by many standards U2 was not a New Wave band. Well This is my blog isn't it? It is just that I associate U2 with the influx of new music (perhaps more appropriately labeled Second British Invasion) from the UK that began in the early 80s. Some might also wonder why U2 wouldn't deserve their own post in this series considering that they are one of the most significant and influential bands to emerge from this era and who have also continued to make interesting music to this day. I thought long and hard about this and I realized that is much as I appreciated U2 (I did hear them live once and owned a few of their records) I can't recall any specific moment when I felt like they were the most significant band I was listening to. Even their amazing records "Unforgettable Fire" and "Joshua Tree" and the fact that Brian Eno worked with them as a producer never pushed them over this arbitrary threshold separating what I liked from what I Loved. Every other band I feature in this series has a place in my memory that stands out and for some reason and U2 never carved out a spot in a way say the Psychedelic Furs or the Talking Heads did. I wanted to write about them a little here simply acknowledge that in fact they were a band to whom I specifically chose not give an individual post.

Whittling down the number of bands that influenced me to 52 it Is quite a challenge and in fact the list is changing as I work my way through. I have already cut some things and added some bands and I suspect that as I continue changes will be made again. In the end it's important for me to remember that this isn't a ranking of my 52 favorite bands as much as it is and autobiography meaning that it is a chronological catalog of music that had an impact on me during specific phases of my life. It is for this reason that I chose new wave as a genre. The posts featuring the Furs and Talking Heads don’t paint a complete enough picture of how much influence this movement and the significant number of artists who fell into the category had on my friends and I.