The New Wave SONGS That PROPELLED Us Through The Turbulence Of Youth | Professor of Rock

Poll: What was the greatest music discovery moment for you, where you heard a song and went down the rabbit hole of music goodness?

I have always loved “alternative” music. My friends always comment I like some strange music. I am proud to like songs by The Cure, Erasure, New Order etc that others don’t.

I loved this episode. I shudder to think what my youth would have been like without Sire, Mute, Factory and 4AD record labels.

Sire is a fantastic label. One of my other favorite labels throughout the 1980's is 4AD. Their artwork and albums were cutting edge and epic. Bauhaus, The Cocteau Twins, Modern English, The Wolfgang Press, Clan of Xymox, Throwing Muses, This Mortal Coil, The Pixies and so many other great bands. They had Camera Obscura, St. Vincent, and many other great bands later. As always, another epic video Professor, especially as I'm a huge Ocean Blue fan. Awesome acoustic ending!

The Ocean Blue. such underrated greatness.

Sire,Mute Records and 4AD were heaven for us Indie,Alternative,New Wave fans back in the day. Music is just not the same as it was back in the day. What most artist think about these days is being famous instead of putting their efforts into making good music.

Sire Records certainly had a plethora of great artists such as The Pretenders,Talking Heads,The Ramones,& Madonna.

THANK YOU FOR THE DAVID SCHELZEL INTERVIEW!! Found them on 120 Minutes back in the day and never let go. I know that I bang the drum for The Ocean Blue on here a lot, but I just can’t help myself. Among my absolute favorite bands ever.

My strongest memory of this label from when I was growing up is an interview given by their founder, Seymour Stein, in 1995 for the miniseries the History of Rock and Roll. He mentioned the backlash he received when he signed The Ramones and how eager he was to sign Talking Heads the minute he first heard them live at CBGB.

Your production quality always amazes me. Great episode as usual! Between you and Rick Beato, I get nothing done all day!

I am also a music junkie and have over 1700 CDs still in my office. I grew up in Layton Utah and graduated in '94, your story is VERY similar to mine. Moz, DM, Erasure, NIN, Janes addiction, all my favorites. I also knew there was something special about 4AD records, Cleopatra Records, then later, Saddlecreek, Fueled by Ramen... I never realized that Sire was so unique.. I have all of the "just say" comps and never put 2 and 2 together... I thought it was cool that The Smiths and Morrissey (for a time) was distributed by Sire.. but yeah, never put it all together...thanks again!

I discovered the Ocean Blue in 1992, my second year in the air force, and it changed my world. I had always loved new wave, punk, pop, a little metal; but their sound, for me was something new and ethereal. Almost like hearing Cocteau twins for the first time. Also, like most people, I thought for a split second, they were from the UK. But I did my research, combing through spin, rolling stone, NME, select, melody maker, kerrrang magazines!!!! No internet then. Just good ol' fashioned sharing and word of mouth. Like my new wavers, I was a bit shy, off the norm, and in my case, an army brat, moving every few years. But it was a GREAT time to be a teenager and the feelings we felt about the music will never change or die.

The West Coast equivalent is Slash Records— had X, the Blasters, Los Lobos, FEAR, the Germs, Violent Femmes, L7… you should do a feature on this label too!

In the 80s and 90s, I had Casey Kasem as my musical guide. Now I have you, Professor of Rock. Thanks for taking us all on a great journey of GOOD music. I used to listen to The Ocean Blue a lot in the early 90s and they are still on my playlist. So glad you are giving them the recognition they deserve.

Thanks for doing a feature on this innovative label that helped small-town kids like myself dream of a bigger, better world through music that you just didn't hear on the radio unless you maybe lived in a college town. Sire provided the bulk of the soundtrack to my formative years. Their A&R scouts were the best around. Factory, 4AD, ZTT and later Tommy Boy served a similar role, but they were always a step behind Sire in size and number of innovative artists. A feature on each of those 'Just say...' comps would be awesome.

Oh my god!!!!!!!!!! You brought up James and even highlighting a song from that early masterpiece Strip Mine. Well done Prof. I salute you. If ever there was a band that kept me sane through teenage years, James was it. Thank you. It would be great @Professor of Rock if you could do a few videos on James albums. Pretty please :-)

I turned 18 in 1980. It wasn't a very good decade for me,emotionally and mentally...but it was the music of the 80's that got me through the bad times. My favourite bands are still The Cure and Depeche Mode. I passed my love of that decade's music on to my daughter, who is now in her late 20's, and it means so much to me that I was able to see The Cure and DM with her, as well as many of our other favourite bands that began in the 80's (and late 70's). She actually owns the tee-shirt you're wearing in this video. I love that you mentioned Aztec Camera...one of the truly great forgotten bands from the 80's. I'd love to see you do an episode on them...their music definitely deserves to be discovered by a new generation of music lovers!!

When you mention Idaho in your vids I just get transported back to watching the Simpsons lol. Ralph wiggum saying "I'm Idaho." 😂

A band I 'discovered' and loved that was so quirky was Squeeze. Not sure what category they fit in, but no one else I knew was listening to them much. They could belong to me.

I love the Ocean Blue! I found out about them back in the early 90’s after seeing a video of theirs on a Alternative Rock Video Monthly VHS tape that I subscribed to. Years later I ran into David Schelzel at a Kings of Convenience show here in Minneapolis and managed to drunkenly yell “HEY! OCEAN BLUE, RIGHT? YOU GUYS WERE THE SOUNDTRACK OF MY TEEN YEARS!” in his face before he walked away. Good times! 😬