A brief evolution of white people music as the 70s turned into the 80s:

• Punk—We only know four notes on our instruments, and we don’t know how to write a tune.
• New Wave—We only know four notes on our instruments, but we’ve learned how to write a tune.
• Techno Pop—Thanks to synthesizers, we never had to learn to play any instruments. But boy can we write a tune!

It’s been all downhill from there.

New Wave AllMusic page