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Party Mix!

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Party Mix!
Remix album by
ReleasedJuly 1981
Recorded1980
StudioCompass Point (Nassau)[1]
Genre
Length28:29
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerRhett Davies, the B-52's, Chris Blackwell
The B-52's chronology
Wild Planet
(1980)
Party Mix!
(1981)
Mesopotamia
(1982)
Singles from Party Mix!

Party Mix! is a remix album by American new wave band the B-52's, released in 1981 by Warner Bros. Records.

Background

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The album was released between the band's second album, Wild Planet (1980), and their Mesopotamia EP (1982).[2] It was devised as a stop-gap release by the band's manager, Gary Kurfirst, while the band was working on the Mesopotamia sessions.[3]

On the original vinyl, the six-song collection featured songs from their first two albums remixed and sequenced to form two long tracks, one on each side.[4] On the CD version, however, the six songs were their own individual tracks.

In 1991, Party Mix! and a 1990 remix version of Mesopotamia were combined and released as one CD in the US.[5] In Europe, both albums were made available on separate CDs, with Mesopotamia retaining the original U.S. mix.

Reception

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Commercial

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Party Mix! spent 11 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 55.[6]

Critical

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Christgau's Record GuideA−[8]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[9]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Select3/5[11]

Robert Christgau of The Village Voice observed that the album's "implicit equation of party and disco offends old new-wavers, but at EP list for half an hour's music the extravagance is recommended."[8] Trouser Press opined that the album was "functional for discos but antithetical to the B-52's' minimalist precepts."[2]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann stated, "Since the group's bouncy songs are already dance-ready, this makes for alternatives rather than real improvements, even from a dancefloor perspective."[7]

Track listing

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Side one

  1. "Party Out of Bounds" (Fred Schneider, Keith Strickland, Ricky Wilson, Cindy Wilson, Kate Pierson) – 5:12
  2. "Private Idaho" (Schneider, Strickland, R. Wilson, C. Wilson, Pierson) – 4:04
  3. "Give Me Back My Man" (Schneider, Strickland, R. Wilson, C. Wilson) – 7:02

Side two

  1. "Lava" (The B-52's) – 6:08
  2. "Dance This Mess Around" (The B-52's) – 2:59
  3. "52 Girls" (Jeremy Ayers, R. Wilson) – 2:58

Personnel

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Credits adapted from Party Mix / Mesopotamia CD liner notes.[1]

Chart performance

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Chart (1981) Peak
position
Australia Albums Chart[citation needed] 79
UK Albums (OCC)[12] 36
U.S. Billboard 200 55[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d The B-52's (1991). Party Mix / Mesopotamia (CD liner notes). Reprise Records. 9 26401-2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ a b Isler, Scott; Robbins, Ira; Neugebauer, Delvin. "B-52's". Trouser Press.
  3. ^ Wawzenek, Bryan (30 January 2017). "35 Years Ago: B-52's, David Byrne Team Up on 'Mesopotamia'". Diffuser. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  4. ^ Zaleski, Annie (14 July 2017). "No novelty, the B-52s may be the most subversive band America ever gave us". Salon.com.
  5. ^ "Party Mix!/Mesopotamia - The B-52s". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  6. ^ a b "The B-52s". Billboard.
  7. ^ a b Ruhlmann, William. "The B-52's - Party Mix! Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  8. ^ a b Christgau, Robert (1990). "B". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved 17 August 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
  9. ^ Larkin, Colin (27 May 2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (27 May 2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780743201698 – via Google Books.
  11. ^ Cavanagh, David (July 1990). "Flip Your Wig". Select. p. 121.
  12. ^ "B-52s | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 28 October 2020.