No wave was an avant-garde music genre and visual art scene which emerged in the late 1970s in Downtown New York City. The term was a pun based on the rejection of commercial new wave music. Reacting against punk rock's recycling of rock and roll clichés, no wave musicians instead experimented with noise, dissonance, and atonality, as well as non-rock genres like free jazz, funk, and disco. The scene often reflected an abrasive, confrontational, and nihilistic world view.
Mars were an American, New York City-based no wave experimental noise rock band, formed in 1975 when China Burg and artist Nancy Arlen (drums) brought Mark Cunningham (bass) and vocalist Sumner Crane together to talk about music. They were joined briefly by guitarist Rudolph Grey. The band played one live gig under the name China before changing it to Mars. They played a mixture of angular compositions and freeform noise music jams, featuring surrealist lyrics and non-standard drumming. All the members were said to be completely untrained in music before forming the band.
James Chance, also known as James White, is an American saxophonist, keyboard player, and singer.
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks were an influential American no wave band, based in New York City, who formed part of the city's no wave movement.
Lydia Lunch is an American singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. Her career began during the 1970s New York City no wave scene as the singer and guitarist of Teenage Jesus and the Jerks.
James Sclavunos is an American drummer, multi-instrumentalist musician, record producer, and writer. He is best known as a drummer, having been a member of two seminal no wave groups in the late 1970s. He is also noted for stints in Sonic Youth and the Cramps, and has been a member of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds since 1994. Sclavunos has led his own group the Vanity Set since 2000.
No New York is a No Wave compilation album released in 1978 by record label Antilles under the curation of producer Brian Eno. Although it only contains songs by four different artists, it has been considered important in defining and documenting the scene and movement, with the name "no wave" being influenced by that of the album according to some accounts.
"Jerk It Out" is a song by Swedish rock band Caesars. It was released in 2002 as the lead single from their album Love for the Streets; it is also featured on the follow-up Paper Tigers in remixed form. The song was an international success following a re-release in 2005, reaching number eight on the UK Singles Chart and peaking at number 70 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Gordon Stevenson was an artist, actor, musician and filmmaker who died of AIDS in 1982, one of the East Village art community’s first casualties of the AIDS epidemic.
Honeymoon in Red is a concept album by a band of the same name, released in 1988, primarily written by Lydia Lunch and Rowland S. Howard. Honeymoon in Red is sometimes referred to as a band or alternately as a collaboration between Lydia Lunch and members of The Birthday Party.
8 Eyed Spy was an American no wave band from New York City, consisting of Lydia Lunch and Jim Sclavunos, Michael Paumgardhen, Pat Irwin and George Scott III. Band was active from 1979 to 1980.
Harry Crews was an American, short-lived no wave-influenced hardcore punk and crossover thrash supergroup, made up of Lydia Lunch (guitar), Kim Gordon (bass), and Sadie Mae (drums). The band was only musically active in 1988, and only officially produced and released one album, Naked in Garden Hills. The album was released in 1989 and was a compilation of live recordings played at clubs in London, England, and Austria. Shortly after the release of the album the band split up, due to their involvement in other bands and projects. The band's name was taken after the author of the same name, hence the album's title being taken from a novel by Crews. The majority of the songs were also named after Crews' various novels. They also covered "(She's in A) Bad Mood", and "Orphans"
Pat Irwin is an American composer and musician who was a founding member of two bands that grew out of New York City's No Wave scene in the late 1970s, the Raybeats and 8-Eyed Spy. He joined The B-52s from 1989 through 2008. He currently performs and records with SUSS who have released several records on the indie label Northern Spy.
Off White is a 1979 album by American no wave band James White and the Blacks.
George Scott III was a bass player for several New York City bands during the No Wave era. He was a founding member of 8-Eyed Spy and the Raybeats, and he worked with James Chance and the Contortions, James White and the Blacks, Human Switchboard, and John Cale, among others.
13.13 is the second album by American artist Lydia Lunch, released in June 1982 by record label Ruby.
Nancy Arlen was a cast polyester resin sculptor and drummer for the no wave band Mars.
Everything is a compilation album by Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, released on July 18, 1995 by Atavistic Records. Despite its misleading title, it is actually just a reissue of side one of Lydia Lunch's 1986 Hysterie compilation plus two tracks from Pre Teenage Jesus and the Jerks.
Teenage Jesus and the Jerks is a compilation album by Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, released in 1979 by Migraine Records.
The Twinkeyz were a punk rock band formed in 1977 in Sacramento, California. They are credited as Sacramento's first punk band, and as one of the first bands to create a "small but thriving new wave scene" in Sacramento.
