Course

From the mid-1970s to the early 1980s, new wave rock reinvigorated popular music with a new form of rebellious energy. “Early New Wave Rock” celebrates this explosion, when performers like Patti Smith, Blondie, Talking Heads, the Ramones, the Clash, and the Sex Pistols brought the music from the underground to the overground. Combining rare video and sound clips with expert commentary, the course also covers new wave’s entrance into the mainstream in the early 1980s with acts like the Go-Go’s and the Pretenders.

Faculty Bio

Richie Unterberger is an author of rock history. His next book, Do What You Fear Most: The History of the Velvet Underground, is due out this year.

This is an In-Person, Livestreamed + Recorded Course

• Classes meet in person at the Golden Bear Center, Suite 365 (3rd floor), at 1995 University Ave., Berkeley
• Classes will also stream live simultaneously, and be recorded
• You must be a current OLLI @Berkeley member to register. Learn about membership, including our fee assistance program.

Schedule Highlights

• Course starts on Monday, Sept. 14, and ends on Monday, Oct. 19
• Classes meet for six weeks, two hours per session (1–3 PM)
• All course materials will remain in Member Dashboards through Dec. 31

Member Praise for Richie Unterberger

Everything worked! His class is academic in nature and he has a very deep understanding of the subject matter, and imparts his knowledge so professionally!

Yay, Richie! Mr. Unterberger has an impressive encyclopedic knowledge of rock music and blues. Add to that a skill at assembling historical notes and ferreting out film clips (sometimes obscure) to create a comprehensive, entertaining, and empathetic narrative of his subject. 

Faculty Q&A

• Read an interview with Richie Unterberger from our archive.