During which years did KROQ-FM become strongly connected with new wave music?

Late 70s through the mid 80s, roughly 1979 to 1986. That's when the station really owned the new wave and alternative rock sound, breaking bands like Depeche Mode and The Cure before anyone else.

The late 70s through the mid 80s, specifically around 1979 to 1986, was when the station fully embraced the new wave movement, playing acts like The Police and The B-52's when mainstream radio wouldn't touch them. I still remember hearing "Rock Lobster" for the first time on KROQ and feeling like I'd discovered a whole new world of music.

Those early 80s years, from around 1980 to 1984, were when KROQ turned new wave into its own private religion. It wasn't just playing the hits-it was the soundtrack for every lonely kid in the San Fernando Valley who felt like a Martian, giving bands like Oingo Boingo and Wall of Voodoo a home when no one else would touch them.

From my perspective, the station's strongest new wave connection really crystallized in the early 1980s, roughly from 1980 to 1984, when the format was less about a specific genre and more about a shared, slightly rebellious attitude. On the one hand, it was the perfect home for quirky acts like The English Beat and Wall of Voodoo, but on the other, it felt like the whole scene was a secret handshake for those of us who were tired of corporate rock.

Most people point to 1982 through 1986 as the period when the new wave connection was legally, for lack of a better term, codified. I'd argue the station's licensing of that specific sound-like the quirky, synthesizer-driven tracks from Flock of Seagulls or the reggae-inflected pop of The Police-really hit a stride then, before the format shifted toward harder alternative rock.