What is this website?

This website is a digital companion to a senior capstone project, which is a 60 page paper that charts the definition of new wave as artists in the New York punk/new wave scene began to be advertised and sold nationally.

The study is exhaustive in its critical look at the way commercial value and authenticity were balanced as artists like Talking Heads broke out of the dingy clubs of Manhattan and into record contracts.

But the music assessed here is not easy to convey with just an academic paper. This website, with the help of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives, aims to tell these stories in ways that only words could not.

How does this website work?

On the home page, there is a record bin, with artist pages. Each page focuses on the story of a certain artist, their relationship with the record industry, and their place in a rapidly shifting scene.

Much of the media and documents you see on this website are from the Rock Hall’s archives. Aside from the album covers, just about all the audiovisual elements you see here are from the Rock Hall.

The quote boxes seen throughout the pages are meant to look like the documents seen in the Rock Hall, including correspondence and press releases.

Who made this website?

Myself! My name is Zachary Perrier, and I am a senior history major at the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. I had gotten the idea for this project while working an archives internship at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Summer of 2024. That being said, I have to thank those at the Rock Hall for the opportunity to work there and for providing the A/V materials for this website.

Outside of this project, I run the College’s radio station, WOO91 Radio, and edit The Wooster Voice, our campus newspaper.