E225: Adele Bertei on New York's No Wave scene

In this episode we welcome back the marvellous Adele Bertei — five years after she first guested on our show — to talk about her amazing new book No New York. Beginning with a definition of the postpunk sub-genre "No Wave", the former Contortion recalls her experience of living in Manhattan's perilous East Village in the late '70s and playing organ behind the unhinged James Chance. She also pays tribute to the many fearless women who "shaped the scene", first and foremost the formidable Lydia Lunch. Our guest recalls working as a go-fer for Brian Eno and then being a crucial part of the No New York album the former Roxy Musician oversaw in 1978. We hear not just about Chance's Contortions and Lunch's Teenage Jesus & the Jerks but about Mars, DNA, the Bush Tetras and finally Adele's own funky feminist troupe the Bloods. After collective reflections on No Wave's slow dissolution — and Adele's subsequent '80s adventures with the likes of Thomas Dolby — Barney and Jasper rave about the week's featured artist Robyn and the week's featured audio, in which the late Chip Taylor reminisces about such classic hit songs as 'Wild Thing' and 'Try (Just a Little Bit Harder)'. Finally, Mark quotes appropriately from a 1978 Talking Heads interview and Jasper enjoys a Caroline Sullivan diss of Eminem's Marshall Mathers LP from 2000. Many thanks to special Adele Bertei. No New York: A Memoir of No Wave and the Women Who Shaped the Scene is published by Faber and available now. Pieces discussed: Nobody Waved Goodbye: Bands At Artists Space, Brian Eno's No New York compilation, Sons and Daughters of No New York: DNA, Robyn: Blonde Ambition, Robyn, Röyksopp: "There's This Idea That You're An Oddball, Far Up At The Top Of The World", Robyn: Brixton Academy, London, Chip Taylor audio, The Talking Heads sing more songs about buildings and food⁠, Eminem: The Marshall Mathers LP and It's no wonder Dylan didn't take the fight to Beijing — he was never very political.

You can listen to E225: Adele Bertei on New York's No Wave scene online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

E225: Adele Bertei on New York's No Wave scene is an episode from Rock's Backpages by Rock's Backpages.

This episode is 66:32 long.

This episode was published on Mar 30, 2026.

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