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This page is about the band. For other uses, see B-52 (disambiguation).
The B-52's
At the "Festival Internacional de Benicàssim", on July 21st, 2007.
At the "Festival Internacional de Benicàssim", on July 21st, 2007.
Background information
OriginAthens, Georgia, U.S.
GenresNew Wave, Pop rock, Rock
Years active1976–present
LabelsWarner Bros. Records
Reprise Records
Astralwerks
MembersFred Schneider
Kate Pierson
Cindy Wilson
Keith Strickland
Past membersRicky Wilson
Websitehttp://www.theb52s.com/

The B-52's are a New Wave rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976.

The band's name comes from a particular beehive hairdo resembling the nose cone of the airplane of the same name. During their early years, wigs of that style were often worn by the band's female singers Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson.[1] The correct name for the band has long been "The B-52's", but in 2008 they dropped the apostrophe, with their official website and Funplex album and single covers reading "The B-52s". However, the file tags on the digital releases of both of these retain the apostrophe. Both spellings could now be considered correct.

The B-52's sound is marked by the vocals and feminine harmonies of Wilson and Pierson, and the generally spoken-word or sprechgesang male vocal counterpoint of Schneider. The resulting unique "guy vs. gals" vocals, sometimes used in call and response style (as in their songs "Private Idaho" and "Good Stuff"), are a trademark of the band. Presenting as a positive, enthusiastic, slightly wacky party band, the B-52's have focused on songs telling tall tales ("Rock Lobster", "Girl From Ipanema Goes to Greenland"), glorifying wild youth ("Love Shack", "Deadbeat Club"), or celebrating wild romance ("Strobe Light", "Hot Pants Explosion"), all set to a danceable New Wave beat.

History

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Early days

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Wilson, Pierson, drummer Keith Strickland, guitarist Ricky Wilson (Cindy's older brother) and vocalist Fred Schneider formed the group in an impromptu jam session after sharing tropical drinks at a local Chinese restaurant, and played their first gig in 1977 at a Valentine's Day party for friends.[2]

The band's quirky take on the New Wave sound of their era was a combination of dance and surf music set apart by the unusual guitar tunings used by Ricky Wilson. Their costume thrift-store chic set them apart as well. During the Mesopotamia tour, the band's famous wigs were under the care of Jackie Slayton, one of Athens's leading artists and long-time friend of the band.[3]

Their first single, "Rock Lobster", recorded for DB Records in 1978 (see 1978 in music), was an underground success that led to the B-52's performing at CBGB's and Max's Kansas City in New York City. "52 Girls" was the B-side. Two versions of the single were released in the UK that featured the B-side "Running Around". The buzz created by the record in the UK, meant their first show in London at the Lyceum in the summer of 1979 was packed in anticipation, with many UK popstars such as Green Gartside from Scritti Politti, Joe Jackson and others in attendance.

Their debut album, The B-52's, contained re-recorded versions of "Rock Lobster" and "52 Girls", along with six more originals and a remake of Petula Clark's classic "Downtown". It was eventually certified platinum.

The album had greater success overseas, especially in Australia, where it hit #7 on the back of three hit singles: "Planet Claire" (#43), "Rock Lobster" (#3) and "Dance This Mess Around". "Rock Lobster" gave the band its first entry on Billboard's Hot 100 chart.[4]

The follow-up, Wild Planet, reached the Top 20 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart in 1980[5] and was certified gold. "Private Idaho" became their second Hot 100 entry.[6] On January 26, 1980 the B-52's performed a breakout set on Saturday Night Live. They also performed at the Heatwave festival (billed as the "New Wave Woodstock") in Toronto, Canada in August 1980.

Party Mix! was released next, a remix album that took tracks from the first two LPs and presented them in extended forms.

Mid-point

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Although recording sessions with David Byrne (of Talking Heads) were aborted before a full album had been produced, the recordings were released as the Mesopotamia EP in 1982 (Party Mix! and Mesopotamia would later be combined and released together on a single CD).[7] According to The B-52's fan club newsletter, c. 1982, "Song for a Future Generation" took a full 24 hours straight to record at A&M Records (Herb Alpert's then-company and site of the former Charlie Chaplin Studios in Los Angeles).

The Whammy! album in 1983 brought the band into electronic and drum machine experimentation, much to the chagrin of some of their early fans. "Legal Tender" became their third chart single,[8] while the album broke the Billboard 200.[9] After the initial pressings of Whammy! were released, copyright issues with Yoko Ono led to the song "Don't Worry" being pulled and replaced on future copies of the album with a new track called "Moon 83", a variation on "There's a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon)" from their debut album.

1984 brought a solo album from Fred Schneider (Fred Schneider & the Shake Society) with contributions from bandmates Kate Pierson and Ricky Wilson. Tina Weymouth from Talking Heads, Keith Haring and RuPaul appeared on the video clip for "Monster", a song about the "monster" in Fred's pants.

That year, the B-52's reformed to record Bouncing Off the Satellites. But on October 12, 1985, Ricky Wilson died at age 32 of what was originally reported as cancer but was later revealed to be AIDS-related illness. Devastated, the band went into seclusion and did not tour to promote the album.[10] Nevertheless, Bouncing Off the Satellites eventually reached 85 on the Billboard 200.[11] Cindy went into a deep depression after her brother's passing, while Keith retreated to Woodstock, and Kate and Fred stayed in New York City. There was no discussion about making music.

Mainstream success

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During the two-year hiatus that followed Wilson's death, Strickland switched from drums to guitar, and the B-52's emerged in 1988 with a backing rhythm section which included Sara Lee, a former member of post-punk band Gang of Four. Their song "(Shake That) Cosmic Thing" was a centerpiece of the soundtrack to the movie Earth Girls Are Easy. In 1989, the band released the album Cosmic Thing, which became their long-anticipated mainstream breakthrough. "Channel Z", a single from the new album, became an alternative and college radio hit, hitting number one on the U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart,[12] receiving significant airplay on MTV's modern rock show 120 Minutes.

"Love Shack" came next. With its party vibe and colorful music video (featuring a cameo by a then-unknown RuPaul), "Love Shack" not only became their first song to hit the U.S. top 40, but it went on to peak at number three.[13] That peak was matched in early 1990 when "Roam" also hit number three.[14] In Australia, the country that had most embraced the band a decade earlier, "Love Shack" stayed at number one for eight weeks.

A fourth single, "Deadbeat Club", which reminisced about the band's early days in Athens and whose video was shot on location and featured a cameo by R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, became a U.S. top 30 hit.[15] The Cosmic Thing album climbed into the U.S. top five and earned multi-platinum certification.[16] The group also had a hugely successful world tour to support the record.

Continuing to be busy through 1990, Pierson lent her vocals to Iggy Pop's song "Candy", which gave him his first (and only) Hot 100/top 40 hit. 1991 saw the repackaging and re-release of Schneider's solo record and gave him his first Hot 100 entry when "Monster" climbed to number 85,[17] and Pierson again guest-starred on a popular track, this time it being fellow Athens, Georgia, band R.E.M.'s "Shiny Happy People", which hit the U.S. top 10. Pierson appeared on another song from the band's chart-topping album Out of Time, "Me in Honey".

In 1990 Cindy Wilson took time off from the band, with Julee Cruise filling in for her parts on the eventual tour. As a trio, The B-52's released Good Stuff in 1992, which gave them another top 40 hit with the title track.[18] The album made it to number 18 in the U.S. It is also the group's most overtly political album, though they had been activists and fund-raisers for environmental, AIDS and animal rights causes for many years.[19] Subsequent singles were not as successful and the album did not sell as well as Cosmic Thing.

The band had its next chart entry in 1994 when, as The BC-52's they appeared in The Flintstones live-action movie and sang the title song. When released as a single, it reached number thirty-three in the U.S.[20] and number three in the UK. In the 1990s, ex-Duran Duran drummer Sterling Campbell joined the band, but left in 2000 to tour with David Bowie and was replaced that year by Zachary Alford.

A career retrospective, Time Capsule: Songs For a Future Generation, appeared in 1998 along with 2 remix maxi singles ("Summer of Love 98" and "Hallucinating Pluto"). Cindy Wilson rejoined the group on two of the new songs and a major tour (with co-headliners the Pretenders) to promote the collection. "Debbie", another single from the album (a tribute to Blondie's Debbie Harry), placed 35 on Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Tracks.[21] In 1999 they recorded a parody of "Love Shack" called "Glove Slap" for an episode of The Simpsons. They co-headlined another major tour in 2000 with the Go-Go's. Also in 2000 they recorded the song "The Chosen One" for the movie Pokémon 2000: The Power of One.[22]

A more extensive anthology, Nude on the Moon: The B-52's Anthology, appeared in 2002. The B-52's recorded the song "Orange You Glad It's Summer" for a Target commercial that aired in spring/summer 2002. Target also used the song "Junebug" in a TV spot in 2007.

In late 2004, they opened for Cher a couple of times on her Farewell Tour. In March 2006 they opened for the Rolling Stones at a benefit for the Robin Hood Foundation. They had three remix EPs released by Planet Clique: Whammy! in 2005, Mesopotamia in 2006 and Wild Planet in 2007. During this time span they appeared on many television shows including The L Word, V.I.P., The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman, The Arsenio Hall Show, Saturday Night Live, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Today Show, Good Morning America and numerous times on VH1.

Funplex

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As the band began to tour more actively in 1998, they felt it was time to start writing new material. The process took some time since the band members lived in different parts of the United States and coordinating was not easy. The end result is an entirely new album. Titled Funplex, it is their first original album in sixteen years (since 1992's Good Stuff). It was released on March 25 2008[23] by Astralwerks.[24][25] Talking about the record's sound, Keith Strickland noted, "It’s loud, sexy rock & roll with the beat pumped up to hot pink."[26] The new album makes more extensive use of electronica programming and production elements, and is produced by Steve Osborne, who was asked to work on the album based on his work with New Order on the album Get Ready. The first single from the album is "Funplex", which was released digitally on January 29 to the iTunes Store in the U.S.

The album debuted at #11 on the Billboard charts in the U.S., immediately making it the second-highest charting B-52's album ever. The band continues to tour in support of the album as well as making television appearances on talk shows, including The Tonight Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show. They will also be participating in the "True Colors" tour with Cyndi Lauper. They will embark on a European tour in July.

Side projects, solo albums and collaborations

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  • 1979 : guitarist Ricky Wilson features on the track "Breakin' In My Heart" from Tom Verlaine's self-titled debut solo album. Hi Mom!
  • 1985 : Kate Pierson contributed vocals in the song Apache Dancing on The Bongos album Beat Hotel.
  • 1990 : Fred Schneider contributed vocals to Richard Barone's album Primal Dream, appearing on Mr. Used To Be.
  • 1991 : Kate Pierson contributed vocals on three tracks from R.E.M.'s chart topping album Out of Time – "Shiny Happy People," "Me In Honey," and "Country Feedback," while another song called "Fretless" recorded during those sessions was used on the soundtrack for the film Until The End of the World.
  • 1992 & 1993 : Singer Julee Cruise filled in for Cindy Wilson on the 1992–1993 Interdimensional Tourgasm, as well as the band's summer 1999 tour, when Wilson went on sabbatical.
  • 1994 : Cindy Wilson contributed backing vocals to Kristen Hall's "Too Long Running" on the CD Fact or Fiction.
  • 1994-1996 : The B-52's performed the titular theme song that plays during the opening sequence of Rocko's Modern Life during seasons 2 through 4.
  • 1994 Fred Schneider contributed vocals to Elvira's Halloween album Elvira Presents, Monster Hits on the track "Bride of Frankenstein".
  • 1999 : Kate Pierson has been an occasional member of the successful Japanese pop group NiNa.
  • 2003 : Cindy Wilson performed solo and released several MP3s under the name The Cindy Wilson Band.

Discography

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Studio albums

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Year Album U.S. UK AUS
1979 The B-52's 59 22 7
1980 Wild Planet 18 18 12
1982 Mesopotamia EP 35 18 79
1983 Whammy! 29 33 97
1986 Bouncing off the Satellites 85 74 73
1989 Cosmic Thing 4 8 1
1992 Good Stuff 16 8 36
2008 Funplex 11 73 93

Compilations

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Year Album U.S. UK AUS
1982 Party Mix! 55 36 80
1990 The Best of the B-52's: Dance This Mess Around (UK only - Contains a different mix of 52 Girls) - 36 -
1991 Party Mix / Mesopotamia EP (re-issue) 184 66 -
1998 Time Capsule: Songs for a Future Generation (singles collection) 93 37 40
2002 Nude on the Moon: The B-52's Anthology 136 57
  • Reference for U.S. album chart positions: Allmusic[27]

Singles

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Year Song U.S. U.S. Dance U.S. Modern Rock UK AUS Album
1979 "Rock Lobster" 56 - - 37 3 The B-52's
"Planet Claire"/"Rock Lobster"/"Dance This Mess Around" - 24 - - 43
1980 "Private Idaho" 74 - - - 11 Wild Planet
"Private Idaho"/"Give Me Back My Man"/"Party out of Bounds" - 5 - - -
"Give Me Back My Man" - - - 61 -
1982 "Mesopotamia"/"Deep Sleep"/"Cake" - 13 - - - Mesopotamia
1983 "Legal Tender" 81 - - - - Whammy!
"Whammy Kiss"/"Legal Tender"/"Song for a Future Generation" - 9 - - -
"Song for a Future Generation" - - - 63 -
1986 "Rock Lobster"/"Planet Claire" (re-issue) - - - 12 - -
"Summer of Love" - 3 - - 90 Bouncing off the Satellites
"Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland" - 10 - - -
1987 "Wig" - - - 79 -
1989 "(Shake That) Cosmic Thing" - - 7 - - Earth Girls Are Easy soundtrack,
Cosmic Thing
"Channel Z" - - 1 61 - Cosmic Thing
"Love Shack" 3 7 1 2 1
1990 "Roam" 3 10 6 17 15
"Deadbeat Club" 30 - - - 76
1992 "Good Stuff" 28 - 1 21 51 Good Stuff
"Is That You Mo-Dean?" - - - - -
"Tell It Like It T-I-Is" - - 13 61 -
1993 "Revolution Earth" - - - - -
"Hot Pants Explosion" - - - - -
1994 "(Meet) The Flintstones" (as "The BC-52's") 33 3 - 3 - The Flintstones soundtrack
1998 "Debbie" - 32 35 - - Time Capsule: Songs for a Future Generation
1999 "Love Shack '99" - - - 66 - -
2008 "Funplex" 1 - 31 - - - Funplex
  • Reference for U.S. singles chart positions: Allmusic[28]
  • In the 1970s and 1980s, Billboard's Dance Chart policy allowed multiple songs (or in some cases all songs) from an album or an EP to occupy the same position if more than one track was receiving significant play in dance clubs.
  • 1 Currently active on charts.

Music videos

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Year Song Director
1979 "Rock Lobster" (Live) Charles Libin & Paul Cameron
1983 "Legal Tender" Mick Haggerty & C.D. Taylor
"Song for a Future Generation" Mick Haggerty & C.D. Taylor
1986 "Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland" Paul Tassie
1989 "Channel Z" Drew Carolan
"Love Shack" Adam Bernstein
1990 "Roam" Adam Bernstein
"Deadbeat Club" Jeff Preiss
"(Shake That) Cosmic Thing" (Live 1990)
1992 "Good Stuff" Marcus Nispel
"Is That You Mo-Dean?"
"Tell It Like It T-I-Is"
1993 "Revolution Earth" James Herbert
"Hot Pants Explosion"
1994 "(Meet) The Flintstones"
1998 "Debbie" Ramaa Mosley
2008 "Funplex" Robert Schober

VHS & Laserdisc

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Biographical books

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Media

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Television and film

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Other media

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  • "Private Idaho" has been used for a number of years as the entrance song for Boise's ECHL hockey team, the Idaho Steelheads.
  • 1988: the songs "Summer of Love" and "Cosmic Thing" were used in the soundtrack for the film Earth Girls Are Easy.[34]
  • 1991 Houston, Texas thrash metal band Dead Horse records "Rock Lobster" for their album Peaceful Death and Pretty Flowers
  • 1994-1996: the band performed the theme song for Nickelodeon's Rocko's Modern Life from the second through the fourth seasons.
  • 1996: the song "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" was recorded by Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson for the film The Associate that starred Whoopi Goldberg.[35]
  • 2000: the song "The Chosen One" was recorded by The B-52's and is featured in the movie Pokémon the Movie 2000: The Power of One and appears on the soundtrack by the same name.
  • 2001: The B-52's performed the theme for Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase.
  • 2001: the Maryland Ensemble Theatre of Frederick, Maryland, began to work on a musical based on the musical of the B-52s entitled Planet Claire. Through a Wizard of Oz sort of situation, a girl named Claire, who is a waitress at the Love Shack, is transported to Planet Topaz, where she meets aliens surprisingly similar to the people she knows back home. It premiered in 2002 at the Maryland Ensemble Theatre, where it was extremely popular. It played again at the Baltimore Theatre Project in 2004, with a slightly different cast. The book was written by Tad Janes, Gene Fouche and Timothy King and the original production was directed by Tad Janes, with costumes and choreography by Julie Herber.
  • 2001: The song "Rock Lobster" was played in the third CKY video when Raab Himself is running and excreting at the same time.[36]
  • 2004: Subaru of New Zealand used "Roam" for a television advertising campaign.
  • 2007: Target Department Stores used "Junebug" from the Cosmic Thing album in a television commercial.
  • 2008: The Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Rock Band has "Roam" as a downloadable master track. "Love Shack" is rumored to be another downloadable song.

Notes

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  1. ^ LastFM - Band Biography
  2. ^ Rolling Stone Bio for The B-52's
  3. ^ The B52s Band Biography
  4. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of May 17 1980
  5. ^ Allmusic Guide Chart Information for Wild Planet
  6. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of Oct 18 1980
  7. ^ Mesopotamia Press Release
  8. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Entry for the Week of Jul 16, 1983
  9. ^ Billboard 200 Chart Listing For The Week Of Nov 05, 1983
  10. ^ Allmusic Guide Bio for The B-52's
  11. ^ Allmusic Guide Chart Information for Bouncing Off the Satellites
  12. ^ Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks Chart Listing For The Week Of Aug 26, 1989
  13. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of Dec 09, 1989
  14. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of Feb 24, 1990
  15. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of Jun 02, 1990
  16. ^ RIAA Gold and Platinum Album Database
  17. ^ Billboard Hot 100: "Monster"
  18. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of Aug 01, 1992
  19. ^ Dela Font Agency
  20. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of June 25, 1994
  21. ^ Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks Chart Listing For The Week Of Jun 27, 1998
  22. ^ Allmusic Guide Entry for "The Chosen One"
  23. ^ Anticipated Funplex Release Date
  24. ^ B-52's Getting The Party Started Again Billboard, 30 October 2007
  25. ^ B-52's Ready First Album in 16 Years Digital Spy, 25 October 2007
  26. ^ Rolling Stone First B-52's Album in 16 Years October 24, 2007
  27. ^ Allmusic Album Chart Information for The B-52's
  28. ^ Allmusic Singles Chart Information for The B-52's
  29. ^ SNL Season 5, Episode 9
  30. ^ SNL Season 15, Episode 18
  31. ^ SNL Season 16, Episode 17
  32. ^ Family Guy episode "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire"
  33. ^ "The L Word" episode "Lonestar" cast & credits
  34. ^ Earth Girls Are Easy Soundtrack Listing
  35. ^ The Associate Soundtrack Listing
  36. ^ "CKY3" Soundtrack Listing

References

[edit]
  • Gordon, Andrew (1996). The Rules of the Game: Jutland and British Naval Command. London: John Murray.
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