Mesopotamia (EP)

Untitled

Mesopotamia is the first and thus far only EP by New Wave band The B-52's. It was produced by David Byrne of Talking Heads and was intended to be the band's fourth studio album; however, due to conflicts with Byrne, recording sessions were aborted prematurely and the six songs to be completed were released as an EP. The album was distributed by as a vinyl record by Warner Bros. in the United States and by Island Records on both CD and vinyl in the United Kingdom and other non-US markets; confusingly, the Island Records vinyl contained extended versions and different takes of several songs, while the CD release was largely the same as the American version. In 1991, Mesopotamia was remixed and, combined with the Party Mix! album, was released on CD in the United States.

Mesopotamia is considered a departure in style for The B-52's; producer David Byrne inserted a large amount of additional instruments, vocal overdubs, horns, layered percussion, and an altogether richer sound. Live versions of the songs were performed by the then five members of the band alongside two additional musicians David Buck and Roberto Arron, who played the trumpet and saxophone, respectively. The EP was a moderate success, and spawned three single releases, namely double A-sides "Deep Sleep"/"Nip it in the Bud" and "Cake"/"Loveland" and titular track "Mesopotamia".

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Lead vocals	Length
1.	"Loveland"	Keith Strickland, Ricky Wilson, Fred Schneider, Cindy Wilson	Pierson, C. Wilson	5:05 / 8:35
2.	"Deep Sleep"	Strickland, Kate Pierson, Robert Waldrop	Pierson, C. Wilson	3:30
3.	"Mesopotamia"	Robert Waldrop, R. Wilson	Pierson, Schneider, C. Wilson	3:51
4.	"Cake"	Pierson, Strickland, C. Wilson, R. Wilson	Pierson, C. Wilson	5:36 / 7:46
5.	"Throw That Beat In the Garbage Can"	Schneider, Strickland, R. Wilson	Pierson, Schneider, C. Wilson	4:09
6.	"Nip It In the Bud"	Strickland, C. Wilson, R. Wilson	Pierson, C. Wilson	3:32
Total length:				28:03 / 30:03

Notes

• The album was distributed by as a vinyl record by Warner Bros. in the United States and by Island Records on both CD and vinyl in the United Kingdom and other non-US markets; confusingly, the Island Records vinyl contained extended versions and different; the length of each song for the Warner Bros. and Island Records version, respectively, are listed here.
• Some copies of the album made available from Island Records have an incorrect track list in the back cover. On these incorrect copies, the first four tracks are listed correctly (as above), then track 5 is listed as "Lava" (the name of a track on the band's debut album). This track is not on the actual CD enclosed. Actual tracks 5 and 6 are listed as 6 and 7 respectively.

Personnel

Band

• Ricky Wilson - guitars, bass, keyboards, organ
• Keith Strickland - drums, bass, keyboards, marimba, guitar, organ, piano
• Kate Pierson - vocal, bass, keyboards, organ, bird calls
• Fred Schneider - vocal
• Cindy Wilson - vocal

Additional musicians

• David Byrne - fretless bass, guitar, percussion, synthesizers
• Steve Scales - percussion
• Yogi Horton - drums
• Charles Rocket - accordion
• Ralph Carney - saxophones
• David Buck - trumpet
• Roberto Arron - saxophone

During the "Meso-America" tour to support Mesopotamia, live versions of the songs were performed by Cindy Wilson on guitar, bongos and vocals; Fred Schneider on percussion and vocals; Kate Pierson on keyboards, bass guitar and vocals; Ricky Wilson on Guitars; and Keith Strickland on drums. Saxophones on tour were played by Ralph Carney and trumpet and duck calls by David Buck.

Production

Originally, Mesopotamia was conceived as a full album. However for an unknown reason the sessions were aborted prematurely and the bulk of the album was released as an EP. This is speculated to be David Byrne falling out with the band, and the album could only be produced by him for the style the band wanted. Allegedly David Byrne recorded The Catherine Wheel soundtrack at night and produced Mesopotamia during the day, with little sleep in between.

There are four known outtakes:

• "Queen of Las Vegas" – This original was released on Nude on the Moon and features a strong vocal delivery from Pierson and Wilson with Yogi Horton on drums. The song was modified and re-recorded in 1983 for the Whammy! album.
• "Big Bird" – re-recorded for Whammy!, this original has not been released. However "Big Bird" was included in the band's live set on the Mesopotamia tour and was largely the same as the version made available on the Whammy! album.
• "Adios Desconocida" – A ballad with lead vocal by Schneider in an uncharacteristically soft and romantic tone, this song was never remade by the band.
• "Butterbean" - re-recorded for Whammy!, this original has not been released.

Chart performance

Chart (1982)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard 200	35
UK Albums Chart	18