Devo & Joan Jett

In the late 70s and early 80s, bands like The Talking Heads, Devo, the B52s and OMD help define an exciting and progressive modern pop music that was called “New Wave”. But is there an easy definition for this extremely varied music ? Tonight on Inquiry, we talk with THEO CATEFORIS, Assistant Professor of Music History and Culture in the Department of Art and Music Histories at Syracuse University. His new book ARE WE NOT NEW WAVE? MODERN POP AT THE TURN OF THE 1980S brings a surprising scholarly analysis to this progressive music that defined a generation of alternative music listeners. Tune in and find out why Devo epitomizes a neurotic disorder of the late nineteenth century, how Adam Ant found his groove in the Burundi Beat and whether The Knack were Postmodernists.

Joan Jett was and continues to be one of the hardest rocking and hardest working musicians in rock. The fact that she was a pioneer for women to be considered serious players in the rock world is only one of her many accomplishments. Today, in her 50s, she continues to play and write music that is quintessential rock and roll. Tonight on Inquiry we talk with prolific author DAVE THOMPSON about his new biography: BAD REPUTATION: THE UNAUTHORIZED BIOGRAPHY OF JOAN JETT. Tune in and learn about Jett’s early days in the Runaways and how the Black Hearts eventually came to be.