Formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976, and still going strong almost 40 years later, the B-52’s have rarely been taken all that seriously by music critics or indeed bloggers . I’m prepared however, to put my head above the parapet and say that I’m quite fond of a lot of their earlier material.
The B-52s were one of those bands that I first head about via the music papers but I never seemed to ever hear their songs getting played on the radio. That all changed in 1979 with them inking a deal with Island Records for the UK distribution of their material and the re-release of the previous year’s 45 Rock Lobster. At the time my musical tastes were firmly ensconced in the sounds being made by UK new wave/post-punk bands but there was just something so infectiously catchy about Rock Lobster that you couldn’t help but enjoy it.
So before too long I spent some of the money earned from the paper-round on a copy of the eponymous debut LP and learned that I could like music that wasn’t angst-ridden, bitter or angry. Music to dance to with a grin on your face as you sang along to totally nonsensical lyrics. Just 12 months or so later, the band released follow-up LP Wild Planet which musically followed the formula of the debut.
After aborting plans for a full-length LP with David Byrne in the producer’s chair, it took until 1983 before Whammy! hit the shops. By this time, the musical snob in me had seen me move on from the band and I wasn’t the slightest bit interested…..until one night I found myself dancing in the student disco to what I later learned had been one of the singles lifted from LP………and all these years later I still love Song For A Future Generation.
The next LP, Bouncing Off The Satellites, was overshadowed by AIDS-related death of Ricky Wilson. The band hardly promoted it and it more or less sunk without trace. Three years later however, they made an unexpected comeback and even more unexpectedly, they found world-wide chart success thanks to the single Loveshack.
The B-52’s of that era and since are a pop act quite unrecognisable from the songs you’ll find on the first two LPs. I don’t own anything they’ve released since 1989 but as I said at the start of this post, I am fond of some of the earlier material:-
mp3 : The B52’s – Rock Lobster (single edit)
mp3 : The B52’s – Planet Claire
mp3 : The B52’s – Give Me Back My Man
mp3 : The B52’s – Song For A Future Generation
Enjoy
THE NEW VINYL VILLAIN 
I agree JC. Their early stuff is mindblowing. Bringing us back that famous Rickenbacker sound in a modern and also retro style. Still fantastic after all the years.
As Walter said, great first two albums. The next two I just don’t like. Forget what they are called. The “comeback” album of ca. 1989 is not bad at all.
That debut album taunted me in the record store when it was released. I never, ever heard their music played anywhere at all. I thought that with a cover like that it was either the best or worst album of all time. They finally appeared on Saturday Night Live and I made a bee-line for the record store the next day! The debut album is a mind-blowing synthesis of disparate influences. “Wild Planet” moves forward, but they lost the momentum for me after that. I didn’t care for “Mesopotamia” at all. They weren’t the same when Ricky died. “Cosmic Thing” was pretty good, and it was good to see them have success with it. But I had no interest in them if Cindy Wilson wasn’t there singing. I gave “Good Stuff” a big pass.
I still like the comment on the label of “Rock Lobster” – PLAY LOUD
I saw the B52s when they came to London. I’ll be honest they seemed a bit underpowered, probably tired and jet lagged etc. Cindy Wilson is one of my favourite pop singers. This is more like what I was expecting with intermediate to advanced frugging from band and audience alike. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VN8hV4AyNss
The first B52’s album opened the door for the Athens, GA bands – abeit via Max’s Kansas City. That first album is full of Southern Fried Oddity, but it fits so well into the sound on NYC at the end of the Seventies. Planet Claire is one of my all time favorite songs and should have been the template for an outrageous John Waters film…