Overview: U2, Talking Heads, Depeche Mode, Blondie, Duran Duran, Tears for Fears, The Clash, The Cure: Over half a billion records sold but you may never have heard of them if not for 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. With one brave decision, they changed the sound of radio forever.

DVD Verdict: Chock full of all my favorite bands of the era, let alone still here today, 'New Wave: Dare To Be Different' is a simply wondrous cinematic event to behold for all fans of music.

Program Director Denis McNamara, the 'LIR crew and the biggest artists of the era tell the story of how they battled the FCC, the record labels, mega-radio and all the conventional rules to create a musical movement that brought the New Wave to America.

Watching it, you get that feeling with nearly every artist that you might well have known all their hits, but the stories behind both the bands and the songs' origins was something that passed you by.

Ergo, here we get engaged, once again, with the music, listening as the artists themselves reveal elements of their early work; their inspirations, their troubles, their obstacles, and how the era actually influenced their music and message.

Indeed, the story of the small, rogue, radio station that played this music has it's very own entertaining subplot (which I won't totally spoil here for you now).

Hearing the DJ's remember moments when famous artists hung out at WLIR or when they literally had to go to the airport to pick up record imports gives this documentary a vital authenticity, for want of a better word.

Definitely recommended to anybody who loves '80s music, 'New wave: Dare To Be Different' features a soundtrack that includes more than 50 songs from the era and a new original theme song by Joan Jett and the Blackhearts!

The Bonus Features include Unseen Interviews with: WLIR Staff - Delphine Blue, Ben Manilla, Jeff 'Beck' Carlson, Unseen interviews with WLIR Staff: Donna Donna, Malibu Sue McCann, Larry 'The Duck' Dunn, along with amazingly still to this day, Unseen interviews with Ed Steinberg, founder of RockAmerica; Grammy-winning producer Steve Thompson; Eddie Lundon and Gary Daly of China Crisis; Curt Smith, founding member of Tears for Fears; Lol Tolhurst, founding member of The Cure; Nick Rhodes founding member of Duran Duran; Billy Idol; WLIR Program Director Denis McNamara; Director Ellen Goldfarb; Jim Murtha and DJ Bird; Cassie Reilly, daughter of Denis McNamara, and Dan McNamara, son of Denis McNamara. This is a Full Screen Presentation (1.33:1) enhanced for 16x9 TVs and comes with the Special Feature of:

Never-Before-Seen Interviews!