Dancing Under Fire: Blood in the Groove — Los Prisioneros, Soda Stereo, D.A.F., and Brenda Fassie

Get in touch! New Wave was born in a New York dive bar, then it got on a plane. In England it picked up eyeliner and a synthesizer where its guitar used to be. But somewhere over the Atlantic, in a few very specific places, it also picked up something heavier: a government watching. This is the final episode in our New Wave series, and it's the one where the genre stops being an aesthetic and starts being evidence. In Chile, three teenagers formed a band while Pinochet's regime was still making people disappear — and wrote songs about it anyway. In Argentina, a junta collapsed the same year its kids started plugging in synthesizers. In South Africa, artists built entire careers on saying things apartheid censors weren't fast enough to catch. None of these bands set out to be political. The regimes they lived under made that decision for them. Germany, South Africa, Latin America, and back around to post-Franco Spain — the biggest songs from the boldest bands in each, made under governments that would've preferred they stayed quiet, played anyway. This is Dancing Under Fire. Across different times, places, artists and eras, it's a now familiar story in hipper clothes and different accents. American music keeps leaving the country and coming back changed — recognizable, but not asking permission anymore. Music In This Episode Germany DAF - Der Mussolilni Spider Murphy Gang - Skandal Im Sperrbezirk Nina Hagen- Du Hast Den Farbfilm Vergessen Ideal - Blaue Augen Ideal - Wir Stehn Auf Berlin Ideal - Monotonie Nena - 99 Luftballons Nena - Irgendwie Irgendwo Irgendwann Peter Schilling - Major Tom (Völlig Losgelöst) Peter Schilling - Die Wüste Lebt Falco - Ganz Wien Falco - Der Kommissar Falco - Rock Me Amadeus South Africa éVoid - Shadows éVoid - Taximan éVoid - I Am a Fadget éVoid - Urban Warrior Brenda Fassie - Weekend Special Brenda Fassie - Black President Brenda Fassie - Memeza Paul Ndlovu - Khombo Ra Mina Solomon Linda - Mbube Latin America Los Prisioneros - La Voz de los '80 Los Prisioneros - El Baile do Los Que Sobran Los Prisioneros - Tren Al Sur Los Prisioneros - Eléctricas Soda Stereo - Por Qué No Puedo Ser del Jet Set Soda Stereo - Nada Personal Soda Stereo - Persiana Americana Soda Stereo - En la Ciudad de la Furia Soda Stereo - De Musica Ligera Caifanes - La Negra Tomasa Caifanes - La Célula Que Explota Caifanes - Nubes Caifanes - No Dejes Que Radio Futura - Enamorado De La Moda Juvenil Radio Futura - Escuela de Calor Radio Futura - Semilla Negra Radio Futura - 37 Grados Come visit with us on Substack!