The Top 250 New Wave/College Rock Songs

New Wave/College Rock: Top 250 Songs

This is really two lists in one. I attempted making one list devoted to new wave and another to college rock, but they overlapped enough that it made more sense to combine them. New wave was a synth-driven musical genre in the 1980s helmed by bands like New Order, Depeche Mode, and the Cure. College radio stations helped give an audience to that music as well as more guitar-focused bands like U2 and R.E.M. While often gathered under the banner of “alternative rock,” a significant number of bands which started on the fringe had, by decade’s end become the mainstream. More than 50 lists focused on one genre or the other (or both) were aggregated to create this list. I opted to stretch the list to 250 songs to encompass all the songs that would rank in the top 100 in one list or the other. Peaks on the two lists, if they were separated out, are indicated with CR (college rock) and NW (new wave). Click here to see other genre-specific song lists. Spotify Podcast: Check out the Dave’s Music Database podcast episode The Best of New Wave which references songs on this list. Premiered: September 28, 2022. You can also listen to the entire list on Spotify here. 1. New Order “Blue Monday” (1983) NW #4, CR #16 2. Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart” (1980) CR #1, NW #48 3. Soft Cell “Tainted Love” (1981) NW #1, CR #92 4. The Cure “Just Like Heaven” (1987) CR #13, NW #25 5. Modern English “I Melt with You” (1982) NW #7, CR #71 6. The Human League “Don’t You Want Me?” (1981) NW #2 7. Violent Femmes “Blister in the Sun” (1983) CR #2 8. Echo & the Bunnymen “The Killing Moon” (1984) CR #5 9. Devo “Whip It” (1980) NW #12, CR #84 10. Depeche Mode “Just Can’t Get Enough” (1981) NW #15, CR #68 11. Gary Numan “Cars” (1979) NW #3 12. Depeche Mode “People Are People” (1984) NW #10 13. The Church “Under the Milky Way” (1988) CR #3 14. The Smiths “How Soon Is Now?” (1984) CR #9, NW #96 15. Talking Heads “Once in a Lifetime” (1981) CR #26, NW #45 16. Dexy’s Midnight Runners “Come on Eileen” (1982) NW #13 17. Simple Minds “Don’t You Forget about Me” (1985) NW #11 18. Dead or Alive “You Spin Me Round Like a Record” (1985) NW #5 19. R.E.M. “Radio Free Europe” (1981) CR #4 20. The Cure “In Between Days (Without You)” (1985) CR #34, NW #50 21. Eurythmics “Sweet Dreams Are Made of This” (1982) NW #6 22. Buggles “Video Killed the Radio Star” (1979) NW #8 23. A Flock of Seagulls “I Ran” (1982) NW #9 24. New Order “Bizarre Love Triangle” (1986) NW #31, CR #74 25. Pet Shop Boys “West End Girls” (1985) NW #18 26. Talk Talk “It’s My Life” (1984) CR #33, NW #86 27. Psychedelic Furs “Pretty in Pink” (1981) CR #26, NW #97 28. A-ha “Take on Me” (1984) NW #14 29. The Pixies “Here Comes Your Man” (1989) CR #7 30. Kate Bush “Running Up That Hill (A Deal with God)” (1985) CR #14 31. The B-52’s “Rock Lobster” (1979) NW #33 32. Big Country “In a Big Country” (1983) NW #17 33. Madness “Our House” (1982) NW #20 34. Talking Heads “Burning Down the House” (1983) NW #34 35. Tears for Fears “Mad World” (1982) NW #28 36. Midnight Oil “Beds Are Burning” (1987) CR #57, NW #82 37. Duran Duran “Hungry Like the Wolf” (1982) NW #23 38. The Jesus & Mary Chain “Just Like Honey” (1985) CR #10 39. The English Beat “Save It for Later” (1983) NW #55, CR #91 40. Frankie Goes to Hollywood “Relax” (1983) NW #16 41. The Clash “Rock the Casbah” (1982) NW #62, CR #90 42. Echo & the Bunnymen “Lips Like Sugar” (1987) CR #17 43. Wall of Voodoo “Mexican Radio” (1983) NW #74, CR #83 44. The Jam “A Town Called Malice” (1982) CR #50 45. Men Without Hats “The Safety Dance” (1983) NW #24 46. Split Enz “I Got You” (1980) NW #19 47. The Vapors “Turning Japanese” (1980) NW #26 48. Billy Idol “White Wedding” (1982) NW #21 49. Duran Duran “Girls on Film” (1981) NW #29 50. The Go-Go’s “Our Lips Are Sealed” (1981) NW #37 51. The Cure “Close to Me” (1985) CR #275 52. Yazoo “Don’t Go” (1982) CR #70, NW #99 53. Jane’s Addiction “Jane Says” (1988) CR #8 54. Sonic Youth “Teenage Riot” (1988) CR #6, NW #90 55. XTC “Senses Working Overtime” (1982) CR #41 56. Thomas Dolby “She Blinded Me with Science” (1982) NW #27 57. They Might Be Giants “Ana Ng” (1988) CR #12 58. Psychedelic Furs “Love My Way” (1982) NW #32 59. Tears for Fears “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” (1985) NW #43 60. Icicle Works “Birds Fly (Whisper to a Scream)” (1984) NW #70 61. Nena “99 Red Balloons” (1983) NW #35 62. The Cult “She Sells Sanctuary” (1985) CR #30 63. Tears for Fears “Shout” (1984) NW #30 64. XTC “Dear God” (1986) #29 CR 65. Camper Van Beethoven “Take the Skinheads Bowling” (1985) CR #11 66. Love & Rockets “So Alive” (1989) CR #21 67. Blondie “Heart of Glass” (1978) NW #22 68. The Sugarcubes “Birthday” (1987) #15 CR 69. The English Beat “Mirror in the Bathroom” (1980) NW #49 70. Naked Eyes “Always Something There to Remind Me” (1983) NW #36 71. Romeo Void “Never Say Never” (1982) NW #59 72. INXS “Don’t Change” (1982) CR #48 73. Berlin “The Metro” (1983) NW #38 74. Oingo Boingo “Dead Man’s Party” (1985) CR #39 75. U2 “I Will Follow” (1980) CR #23 76. The Fixx “One Thing Leads to Another” (1983) NW #53 77. Tom Tom Club “Genius of Love” (1981) NW #88 78. The Go-Go’s “We Got the Beat” (1981) NW #52 79. Bauhaus “She’s in Parties” (1983) CR #18 80. After the Fire “Der Kommissar” (1983) NW #40 81. Animotion “Obsession” (1985) NW #41 82. Siouxsie & the Banshees “Cities in Dust” (1985) CR #59 83. Culture Club “Do You Really Want to Hurt Me” (1982) NW #51 84. Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark “Enola Gay” (1980) NW #66 85. Peter Schilling “Major Tom (Coming Home)” (1983) NW #76 86. XTC “Making Plans for Nigel” (1979) NW #54 87. Missing Persons “Destination Unknown” (1982) NW #79 88. Bow Wow Wow “I Want Candy” (1982) NW #39 89. R.E.M. “It’s the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)” (1987) CR #47 90. Yazoo “Situation” (1982) NW #84 91. General Public “Tenderness” (1984) NW #92 92. Pixies “Monkey Gone to Heaven” (1989) CR #20 93. The Stone Roses “I Wanna Be Adored” (1989) CR #27 94. The La’s “There She Goes” by (1988) CR #42 95. The Stone Roses “She Bangs the Drums” (1989) CR #40 96. The Plimsouls “A Million Miles Away” (1982) CR #76 97. The Replacements “Left of the Dial” (1985) CR #19 98. Hüsker Dü “Don’t Wanna Know if You Are Lonely” (1986) CR #22 99. Men at Work “Down Under” (1981) NW #44 100. Thompson Twins “Hold Me Now” (1983) NW #46 101. Ultravox “Vienna” (1980) NW #61 102. Talking Heads “Psycho Killer” (1977) NW #57 103. The Police “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” (1980) NW #63 104. ABC “The Look of Love” (1982) NW #47 105. When in Rome “The Promise” (1989) NW #64 106. Spandau Ballet “True” (1983) NW #73 107. The Knack “My Sharona” (1979) NW #87 108. The Clash “Should I Stay Or Should I Go” (1982) CR #66 109. Kajagoogoo “Too Shy” (1983) NW #80 110. Peter Gabriel “Games Without Frontiers” (1980) CR #96 111. Squeeze “Tempted” (1981) NW #56 112. Public Image Ltd. “Rise” (1986) CR #28 113. INXS “Need You Tonight” (1987) NW #60 114. The Primitives “Crash” (1988) CR #46 115. Roxy Music “More Than This” (1982) 116. The Boomtown Rats “I Don’t Like Mondays” (1979) NW #58 117. Pixies “Debaser” (1989) CR #32 118. R.E.M. “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)” (1984) CR #49 119. Erasure “A Little Respect” (1988) NW #89 120. The Specials “Ghost Town” (1981) CR #94 121. Billy Idol “Dancing with Myself” (1981) 122. Wang Chung “Dance Hall Days” (1984) NW #77 123. The Cars “Just What I Needed” (1978) NW #95 124. New Order “True Faith” (1987) 125. Kim Wilde “Kids in America” (1981) NW #65 126. David Bowie “Let’s Dance” (1983) CR #78 127. Pretenders “Brass in Pocket (I’m Special)” (1979) NW #90 128. Depeche Mode “Never Let Me Down Again” (1987) CR #80 129. Blondie “One Way Or Another” (1978) NW #68 130. David Bowie “Ashes to Ashes” (1980) CR #79 131. Haircut 100 “Love Plus One” (1982) NW #42 132. Blondie “Rapture” (1980) 133. Bananarama “Cruel Summer” (1983) NW #75 134. The Bangles “Walk Like an Egyptian” (1986) 135. Re-Flex “The Politics of Dancing” (1983) NW #78 136. Sinéad O’Connor “Mandinka” (1987) CR #61 137. The Cure “Boys Don’t Cry” (1979) 138. Siouxsie & the Banshees “Peek-a-Boo” (1988) CR #52 139. Peter Murphy “Cuts You Up” (1990) CR #53 140. Black Flag “Rise Above” (1981) CR #36 141. The Replacements “I Will Dare” (1984) CR #37 142. The B-52’s “Private Idaho” (1980) 143. Pixies “Where Is My Mind?” (1988) CR #44 144. Mission of Burma “That’s When I Reach for My Revolver” (1981) CR #31 145. Squeeze “Pulling Mussels from the Shell” (1980) NW #83 146. The B-52’s “Love Shack” (1989) CR #67 147. Adam Ant “Goody Two Shoes” (1982) NW #85 148. M “Pop Muzik” (1979) NW #72 149. Men at Work “Who Can It Be Now?” (1981) NW #69 150. The Cars “You Might Think” (1984) NW #71 151. The Replacements “Alex Chilton” (1987) CR #56 152. Gang of Four “I Love a Man in Uniform” (1982) CR #77 153. The Dead Milkmen “Punk Rock Girl” (1988) CR #51 154. Visage “Fade to Grey” (1980) NW #67 155. The Cure “A Forest’ (1980) CR #60 156. Depeche Mode “Everything Counts” (1983) CR #85 157. The The “This Is the Day” (1983) 158. The Smiths “This Charming Man” (1983) CR #65 159. U2 “Sunday Bloody Sunday” (1983) CR #93 160. The Cars “Shake It Up” (1981) NW #93 161. ‘Til Tuesday “Voices Carry” (1985) 162. Bronski Beat “Smalltown Boy” (1984) NW #81 163. A Flock of Seagulls “Wishing (If I Had a Photograph)” (1982) NW #100 164. The Human League “Keep Feeling Fascination” (1983) NW #94 165. The Cure “Why Can’t I Be You?” CR #95 (1987) 166. Suicidal Tendencies “Institutionalized” (1983) CR #35 167. The Smiths “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” (1986) CR #97 168. Echo & the Bunnymen “The Cutter” (1983) CR #75 169. Dinosaur Jr. “Freak Scene” (1988) CR #38 170. Magazine “A Song from Under the Floorboard” (1980) CR #43 171. B-Movie “Nowhere Girl” (1982) CR #96 172. Bob Mould “See a Little Light” (1989) CR #58 173. 10,000 Maniacs “Like the Weather” (1987) CR #73 174. The Cure “Love Song” (1989) 175. The Minutemen “Corona” (1984) CR #45 176. Julian Cope “World Shut Your Mouth” (1986) CR #86 177. Cocteau Twins “Lorelei” (1984) CR #64 178. They Might Be Giants “Don’t Let’s Start” (1986) CR #87 179. The Police “Every Breath You Take” (1983) 180. U2 “Pride (In the Name of Love)” (1984) 181. Simple Minds “Alive and Kicking” (1985) NW #98 182. Concrete Blonde “Still in Hollywood” (1986) CR #66 183. ABC “Poison Arrow” (1982) 184. The Go-Go’s “Vacation” (1982) NW #91 185. The Clash “Train in Vain “Stand by Me)” (1979) 186. Killing Joke “Eighties” (1984) CR #69 187. Nine Inch Nails “Head Like a Hole” (1989) CR #54 188. Faith No More “We Care a Lot” (1985) CR #55 189. Elvis Costello “Veronica” (1989) CR #72 190. Violent Femmes “Kiss Off” (1983) CR #81 191. Orange Juice “Rip It Up” (1982) CR #63 192. World Party “Ship of Fools (Save Me from Tomorrow)” (1986) 193. The Replacements “Bastards of Young” (1985) CR #84 194. Depeche Mode “Personal Jesus” (1989) 195. The Police “Spirits in the Material World” (1981) 196. Erasure “Oh L’Amour” (1986) 197. Duran Duran “Rio” (1982) 198. Orchestral Manouvres in the Dark “If You Leave” (1986) 199. The Smiths “Girlfriend in a Coma” (1987) CR #82 200. Nik Kershaw “Wouldn’t It Be Good” (1984) 201. Alphaville “Forever Young” (1984) 202. Berlin “Sex (I’m A…)” (1983) 203. Violent Femmes “Add It Up” (1983) 204. Eurythmics “Here Comes the Rain Again” (1983) 205. Frankie Goes to Hollywood “Two Tribes” (1984) 206. Elvis Costello “What’s So Funny ‘Bout Peace, Love, and Understanding” (1978) 207. R.E.M. “Fall on Me” (1986) 208. R.E.M. “The One I Love” (1987) CR #98 209. Lone Justice “Ways to Be Wicked” (1985) CR #99 210. Morrissey “Every Day Is Like Sunday” (1988) 211. Fugazi “Waiting Room” (1988) CR #88 212. The Jam “That’s Entertainment” (1980) 213. The Waterboys “The Whole of the Moon” (1985) 214. The Dead Milkmen “Bitchin’ Camaro” (1985) 215. Suzanne Vega “Luka” (1987) 216. U2 “New Year’s Day” (1983) 217. Heaven 17 “Let Me Go” (1982) 218. Eurythmics “Love Is a Stranger” (1982) 219. Elvis Costello “Everyday I Write the Book” (1983) 220. The Romantics “Talking in Your Sleep” (1983) 221. Tubeway Army “Are Friends Electric?” (1979) 222. Culture Club “Karma Chamelon” (1983) 223. Tears for Fears “Pale Shelter” (1982) 224. Depeche Mode “Master and Servant” (1984) 225. The Cure “Let’s Go to Bed” (1982) 226. Elvis Costello & the Attractions “Radio Radio” (1978) 227. Madness “One Step Beyond” (1979) 228. INXS “The One Thing” (1982) 229. Dead Kennedys “Holiday in Cambodia” (1980) CR #98 230. Martha & the Muffins “Echo Beach” (1980) 231. X “Johnny Hit and Run Paulene” (1980) CR #99 232. U2 “With or Without You” (1987) 233. The Feelies “Fa cé-La” (1979) CR #100 234. The Smithereens “Behind the Wall of Sleep” (1986) CR #93 235. Lloyd Cole & the Commotions “Perfect Skin” (1984) CR #97 236. Joe Jackson “Is She Really Going Out with Him?” (1979) 237. The Meat Puppets “Lake of Fire” (1984) 238. Nirvana “About a Girl” (1989) 239. The B-52’s “Channel Z” (1989) 240. Elvis Costello “Pump It Up” (1978) 241. Cowboy Junkies “Sweet Jane” (1988) 242. Aztec Camera “Oblivious” (1983) 243. Happy Mondays “24 Hour Party People” (1987) 244. Joe Jackson “Steppin’ Out” (1982) 245. Red Hot Chili Peppers “Higher Ground” (1989) 246. Psychedelic Furs “The Ghost in You” (1984) 247. Stephen Duffy “Kiss Me” (1985) 248. Billy Idol “Rebel Yell” (1983) 249. Pixies “Gigantic” (1988) 250. Depeche Mode “Enjoy the Silence” (1990) Resources/Related Links: Dave’s Music Database: “Other Genre/Category Song Lists” First posted 6/9/2017; last updated 3/29/2025.