New Wave: Dare to Be Different, the story of influential radio station WLIR, is coming to DVD and digital Dec. 7 from MVD Entertainment Group.
U2, the Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, Blondie, Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, The Clash and The Cure were boosted by a small suburban radio station on Long Island, NY, WLIR. In August 1982, a small group of radio visionaries knew they couldn’t compete with the mega-stations in New York City, so they changed the sound of radio forever. Program director Denis McNamara, the WLIR crew and the biggest artists of the era tell the story of how they battled the FCC, the record labels, corporate radio and all the conventional rules to create a musical movement that brought the New Wave to America.
The soundtrack includes more than 50 songs from the era and a new original theme song by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts.
The film features Joan Jett, Debbie Harry, Billy Idol, Nick Rhodes, Denis McNamara, Jim Kerr, Vince Clarke, Curt Smith, Fred Schneider, Thomas Dolby, Midge Ure, Gary “Baba Booey” Dell’ Abate, Seymour Stein, Paul McGuinness, Dave Wakeling, Annabella Lwin, Miles Copeland, Joel Peresman, Larry Dunn, Donna Donna, Max Leinwand, “Malibu Sue” McCann, Michael Pagnotta and Steve Thompson, among others.