On many occasions, the best new wave songs drew distinctly if also off-centeredly from artists directly involved in the original thrust of punk rock that helped launch the new form. That wasn't always the case, of course, as new wave emerged as both a refinement and hybridized mainstreaming of the freewheeling punk approach, which meant its ingredients and impulses held much variety. Still, this 1981 track from Iggy Pop, one of punk rock's most influential pioneers as a member of the seminal band the Stooges, stands as a pleasant, sleeper example of a multi-faceted new wave triumph.

I'm also particularly enamored with "Pumpin' for Jill" at the moment because I discovered it through one of my favorite network TV shows of the moment, Chuck, which used the tune to great effect in its November 10 episode. I love those kind of discoveries, and this particular one also has the capacity to remind us how ironically consistent the career of the unpredictable Iggy Pop has been across the decades. When it comes to '80s music, I'm happy to report, there's "always more where that came from."

Album Cover Photo Courtesy of Virgin Records

Having been a satisfied XM Radio subscriber for more than six years now, I've watched the merger process involving XM and former satellite radio rival Sirius with plenty of interest. Just this week physical changes to both lineups became apparent, with new channels, discontinued channels and, appropriately, some channels that are essentially consolidations of similar programming from both networks.

Now, I'm the first to say that the difference between the musical variety featured on terrestrial radio and that of satellite radio remains striking, to say the least, but I have been among those concerned that this merger might promote some of the atrophy in creativity that has plagued your average FM pop/rock radio station for years. After all, it's difficult to deny that even with the vast catalogue of '80s songs available in the Sirius/XM libraries, there are hundreds more that deserve the light of day and whose only chance to be heard lies on the shoulders of satellite radio programmers. An unfortunate trend toward homogeneity seems to accompany almost all commercial enterprises these days, but I certainly hope this merger doesn't cause the only genuine music-programming DJs left on the airwaves to rest on their expert laurels.

So, if you'll allow a brief example, when the XM/Sirius consolidated '80s music channel opts in the future for a tune from post-punk/new wave artists from the U.K., please let it be, more often than not, a selection from a band like the Undertones rather than yet another spin of Dexy's Midnight Runners' deserving but overplayed favorite, "Come on Eileen." I only hope that's not too much to ask.

If you thought Guns N' Roses sounded ferociously out of control in 1987 (and the band certainly did, especially in comparison with most of its hard rock contemporaries), then you'll probably find yourself even more impressed by the original demos recorded by Hollywood Rose, the band led by Axl Rose and Izzy Stradlin that preceded GNR's late-'80s conquest. Of course, if you're a fan of the latter band, you're probably quite familiar with those tracks, but with all the hype surrounding the forever-awaited November 23 release of Chinese Democracy, it feels like a good time to spotlight the part of GNR's past previously hidden from public consciousness. After all, the breakneck, punk-meets-metal sound of Hollywood Rose has a hell of a lot more in common with the original GNR than will whatever decades-removed Axl Rose gumbo emerges later this month on record (or disc, or MP3, to be more precise). Anyway, "Reckless Life" is one of four original Hollywood Rose tunes available on The Roots of Guns N' Roses (a fifth, "Anything Goes," shows up as a sparkling track on Appetite for Destruction, of course). All four rock with abandon and feature a less polished but still effective Axl Rose snarling and screeching his way, eventually, into vital rock history.

• Listen to "Reckless Life" and other selections from The Roots of Guns N' Roses
• Top 10 Guns N' Roses Songs

For fans of this Scottish new wave band, this song would probably better be termed underappreciated than forgotten, but for the rest of us who either missed or only now look back fondly on early-'80s new wave, this qualifies as a criminally neglected dance-guitar-pop single. I'm completely astounded, as a matter of fact, that the only U.S. chart action for this tune was a slightly sub-Top 40 performance in 1982 as a fringe Club Play single. However, not atypically for a number of British acts, this band's reception was altogether different in its native country, as this track became a Top 10 U.K. hit in 1981. The reason why this particular British import failed to make an impact in America even as fellow Scot Sheena Easton ruled the charts remains a mystery to me. Lead singer Claire Grogan's simultaneously girlish and sultry voice is tremendously pop-ready without sugar-coating or dulling the band's unique, equal opportunity blend of pop, rock and dance music elements. Early alternative rock of the post-punk persuasion may have had better moments than this one, but few of them still sound this relevant or genuinely pleasant still today.