Neomelodic music draws on Naples' long history of street entertainment including Commedia dell'arte and La sceneggiata napoletana.
The first wave of what is considered as neomelodic was a renaissance of the sceneggiata form, including its typical themes of betrayal, class society, and crime, in the early 1970s.
The main pioneers of the neomelodica were the singers Mario Merola and Nino D'Angelo with their numerous collaborations and duets, in films and in pop songs, as well as in musicals, in the 1970s and 1980s.
The first wave of neomelodica (ca 1970–1985) often mixed traditional Neapolitan forms of music, like the neoclassical Neapolitan music including world famous songs such as "'O sole mio", "Tu si na cosa grande" and "O surdato nnammurato", that itself is a combination of general European aesthetic, occasionally with Spanish and Arabic influences.
Other themes include forbidden love (e.g. "Maestra e pianoforte" by Nino D'Angelo and "L'amica e mammà" by Luciano Caldore), class betrayal (e.g. "Faje ammore cu Secondigliano" by Ida Rendano), celebrating love and the desire to marry (e.g. "Per sempre" by Raffaello and "Un ragazzo da sposare" by Emiliana Cantone), and numerous other themes that however always stick to a perceived reality of one or more young persons living in Naples.
The more the singers manage to make their listeners suffer with them as they get to hear their private phone conversations (e.g. "Dammi un'occasione" by Emiliana Cantone and Alessio or "Basta" by Emiliana Cantone and Leo Ferrucci) or get to read their text messages (e.g. "Sms" by Alessio), the more they have succeeded in creating the cultural loop of "napolitanità" between people that already are Neapolitans.