Rock Lobster
| "Rock Lobster" | ||||
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| Single by The B-52s | ||||
| from the album The B-52's | ||||
| B-side | "52 Girls" (DB) "6060-842" (Warner Bros.) "Runnin' Around" (Island) |
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| Released | April 1978 (DB) 1979 (Warner Bros. and Island) |
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| Format | 7" | |||
| Recorded | February 1978 | |||
| Genre | New Wave | |||
| Length | 4:37 (single) 6:53 (album) |
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| Label | DB, Warner Bros. | |||
| Writer(s) | Fred Schneider and Ricky Wilson | |||
| Producer | Kevin Dunn (single) Chris Blackwell (album) |
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| The B-52s singles chronology | ||||
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"Rock Lobster" is a song written by Fred Schneider and Ricky Wilson, two members of The B-52s. It was produced in two versions, one by DB Records released in 1978, and a longer version, which was part of the band's 1979 self-titled debut album, released by Warner Bros.[1] The song became one of their signature tunes,[2] and it helped launch the band's success.
"Rock Lobster" was the band's first single to appear on Billboard's Hot 100, where it reached #56. A major hit in Canada, the single went all the way to #1 in the RPM national singles chart. Its follow-up was "Private Idaho," in October, 1980, which reached #74 in the U.S.
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[edit] Composition and themes
The album version of "Rock Lobster" (released in 1979 by Warner Bros. Records) lasts about seven minutes and includes nonsensical lyrics about a beach party and excited rants about real or imagined marine animals ("There goes a dog-fish, chased by a cat-fish, in flew a sea robin, watch out for that piranha, there goes a narwhal, here comes a bikini whale!"), accompanied by absurd, fictional noises attributed to them (provided by Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson, with Pierson providing the higher-pitched noises and Wilson the lower-pitched ones); the chorus consists of the words "Rock Lobster!" repeated over and over on top of a keyboard line.
"Rock Lobster" is written in the key of C harmonic minor and is in common time. Instruments used in the music include a baritone-tuned surf-style Mosrite electric guitar, a Farfisa, Vox or Gibson organ, and drums.[citation needed] Kate Pierson played the song's bass line on keyboards.
[edit] Personnel
- Fred Schneider: Vocals, Cowbell
- Kate Pierson: Vocals, Organ, Keyboard Bass
- Cindy Wilson: Vocals, Tambourine
- Ricky Wilson: Electric Guitar
- Keith Strickland: Drums, Percussion
[edit] Chart performance and reviews
The song was well-received overall, and was the band's first single to appear on the Billboard Hot 100, where it reached #56. In Canada, released on the Warner Bros. label, the single became a huge hit, eventually going on to reach #1 in the RPM-compiled national chart on May 24, 1980.[3] It has appeared at #146 in Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic called the song "incredibly infectious" and "memorable".[2]
[edit] In popular culture
In spring 1980, John Lennon, whose post-Beatles music career had been on hiatus for nearly five years while he helped raise his son Sean, was prompted to record again after hearing "Rock Lobster";[4] according to Lennon, "it sounds just like Ono's music, so I said to meself [sic], 'It's time to get out the old axe and wake the wife up!'"[5][6] His return to the studio led to the release of Double Fantasy.[4]
The song appears in the Family Guy episodes "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire" [7] and "Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q " (as "Iraq Lobster"),and (as "Rock Monster") in The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie.[8][9] This song is also playable in the videogame Rock Band 3.
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.top40db.net/Lyrics/?SongID=80302&By=Artist&Match=The+B%2D52s
- ^ a b Review of The B-52's from Allmusic
- ^ http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?brws_s=1&file_num=nlc008388.0169a&type=1&interval=24&PHPSESSID=kjerdnvbvl3a8p4jfufutrc7u6
- ^ a b Pat Pemberton (March 5, 2010). "B-52s Honored to Have Inspired John Lennon's Return to Recording". Spinner. http://www.spinner.com/2010/03/05/b-52s-john-lennon-yoko-ono/. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
- ^ "John Lennon: Double Fantasy". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/reviews/album/7480/37147. Retrieved 2010-11-23.[dead link]
- ^ "The Beatles: A 'where have you been for the past 40 years?' guide to who's who in the fab four...". Top of the Pops 2. August 2002. http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp2/features/top5/beatles.shtml. Retrieved 2010-11-23.
- ^ Voynar, Kim (2005-06-13). "Family Guy: The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire". TV Squad. http://www.tvsquad.com/2005/06/13/family-guy-the-cleveland-loretta/. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
- ^ Pirates Who Don't Do Anything Movie Review, a January 13, 2008 article from hollywood.com
- ^ The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything soundtrack from thefish.com
| Preceded by "Call Me" by Blondie |
Canadian RPM 100 number-one single May 24, 1980 (one week) |
Succeeded by "Call Me" by Blondie (re-entry) |
[edit] External links
- "Rock Lobster" at Discogs (list of releases)
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