From a psychedelic art project at first, to their eventual place as pioneers of electronic pop in the late 70s and 80s. Dismissed by the Rock establishment as that weird new wave band, copied by lame wanna-bes but never equaled. They kind of got lost in the later 80s but those first few years / first 4 albums are really great, IMO.
Oh, man, I still remember seeing them on SNL in 1978, coming out in their yellow vinyl suits with their awesomely weird cover of Satisfaction. I was 16, and it was like nothing I had seen before; I watched the whole thing with a goofy grin on my face. Part of what was called “new wave” at the time, and that I had already been getting into, but man, I was hooked.
Yah. I was a couple years too young but caught on pretty quick. This is not quite that show but close / same time I think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTNGg0Tj5Aw
Yes, I spend too much time on YT.