I'd give it to the Minutemen, and not just because I like them more.
The Minutemen were one of the greatest influences on Indie, Do It Yourself, whatever you want to call it, culture. They launched a thousand bands because people believed That Band Could Be Their Life.
The repercussions went far beyond the actual bands they spawned. An entire indie culture formed and the idea of recording lost a lot of it's mystery. "If Spot can do it, why can't I?"
You mentioned yourself that "vibe" was the key with them, warts and all. So, if you recorded your best friend's band on an X-15, drunk on the ad you saw in Guitar Player that reminded you that Sgt. Pepper was done the same way (you know...kind of...) it probably was the result of the Econo mindset. A record didn't have to sound like Tony Visconti did it to be deemd "good" anymore, at least by some of us. That didn't happen with the Sex Pistols, with their Svengali and his ideas of a proper anti-image. The Ramones recorded in "real" NYC studios, because that's what you did back then. What Makes a Man Start Fires? could have been recorded in any room, on any width tape, on any machine, with any mics and it would have been just as good as the one we know, as long as the people who made it (everyone) loved what they were doing.
Wang Chung was just a point long the curve, if you'll pardon the pun. I assume they used the best gear the day had to offer, studio time cost was irrelevant and they were geniuses in the eyes of the coke fueled engineers. Same with the flavors of the years before them (Pablo Cruise) and after (uh...Warrant?). The same could be said for Tears for Fears, Thompson Twins and a whole host of others from that time. There will always be some sort of Wang Chung in any given year. Even if the band's a turd, it can be polished.
The Minutemen were part of a true movement that has yet to be repeated.
The last grassroots "movement" that came along was Alt. Country/No Depression, and it didn't really live up to it's promise, did it?
The age old test:
Strum out "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" on your acoustic. How does it sound without the double tracks, reverb, horn section, etc.?
Now do the same with the simple "Bob Dylan Wrote Propaganda Songs."
Go ahead...I'll wait.
Which one makes you want to go out and form a band *right now*?
That's what I thought.
I would wager that the few who decided they wanted to do music for a living after hearing Wang Chung gave it up and moved on to a "normal" life eventually.
The majority of the Minutemen people probably still buy records, see shows or do something musical on a regular basis.
It's tough to talk about the Minutemen right now without sounding biased. The new movie is out an nostalgia is high. Last week I was asked to play at it's local premiere, along with 7 other bands, and I decided we'd do techno/electroclash versions of the songs just to show how strong they are in any style. it worked surprisingly well. I doubt you could do alt. versions of Wang Chung songs with the same success.
Wang Chung were good at what they did and I hope they are living comfortably in a country house somewhere. However, if you're asking me if I Want New Wave Or The Truth, I'm going with the latter because I've built my life around it.