Author’s Note: Currently, this website only works on desktop; I will hopefully have a mobile version up and running soon. Thanks! – Zach

Imagine yourself in a record store in 1978. Adorned on the walls of the store are a variety of ads for massive album releases. This was the time of Aja and Rumours, of bloated budgets and even larger egos.

Yet somewhere in the store, maybe nestled between Rod Stewart records and a poster of Ted Nugent’s mug, is the bin below. With it comes albums deemed “new wave rock.” Yet in today’s context, some of these bands really wouldn’t be considered what we might think of as new wave music, but rather punk. So, what gives?

Punk and new wave were two genres that were conflated by the music press and labels in the late 1970s. Although new wave is often seen as more commercial than punk, articles and labels endlessly blurred the two terms. That conflation speaks to more than just discerning types of music.

Thumb through the bin below and discover a greater story, one of the delicate and at times destructive balance of authenticity and commercial value.