The B-52's

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This article is about the band. For other uses, see B-52 (disambiguation).
The B-52's
The B-52's at Festival Internacional de Benicàssim, July 21, 2007
Background information
Origin Athens, Georgia, U.S.
Genre(s) New Wave, pop rock, rock
Years active 1976–present
Label(s) Warner Bros. Records
Reprise Records
Astralwerks
Associated acts NiNa
Website Official site link
Members
Fred Schneider
Kate Pierson
Cindy Wilson
Keith Strickland
Former members
Ricky Wilson

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 Fred 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.

Contents

[edit] History

[edit] Early days

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 a tropical Flaming Volcano drink at a local Chinese restaurant, and played their first gig in 1977 at a Valentine's Day party for friends.[2][3] 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.[4]

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 United Kingdom 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 U.K. 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.[5]

The follow-up, Wild Planet, reached the Top 20 on the Billboard Pop Albums chart in 1980[6] and was certified gold. "Private Idaho" became their second Hot 100 entry.[7] 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.

[edit] Mid-point

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).[8] 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,[9] while the album broke the Billboard 200.[10] 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.[11] Nevertheless, Bouncing Off the Satellites eventually reached 85 on the Billboard 200.[12] 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.

[edit] Mainstream success

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,[13] 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.[14] That peak was matched in early 1990 when "Roam" also hit number three.[15] 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.[16] The Cosmic Thing album climbed into the U.S. top five and earned multi-platinum certification.[17] The group had a hugely successful world tour to support the record, and they appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in March, 1990.[18]

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,[19] 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.[20] 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.[21] 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.[22] 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.[23] 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.[24]

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.

[edit] Funplex

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[25] by Astralwerks.[26][27] Talking about the record's sound, Keith Strickland noted, "It’s loud, sexy rock & roll with the beat pumped up to hot pink."[28] 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 , The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and performing on The Today Show on Memorial Day 2008. They will also be participating in the True Colors Tour with Cyndi Lauper. They will embark on a European tour in July.

The second single lifted from the album will be "Juliet of the Spirits".[29]

[edit] Discography

Main article: The B-52's discography

[edit] Side projects, solo albums and collaborations

  • 1979 : Guitarist Ricky Wilson features on the track "Breakin' in My Heart" from Tom Verlaine's self-titled debut solo album.
  • 1984 : Fred Schneider's first solo album, Fred Schneider & the Shake Society, was released. It was re-released 1990 in a repackaged form.
  • 1985 : Kate Pierson contributed vocals in the song Apache Dancing on The Bongos album Beat Hotel.
  • 1988 Pierson and Cindy Wilson both appeared on the album Holy Cow by the short-lived college rock band Martini Ranch, led by actor Bill Paxton. The album also featured an appearance by Devo's Mark Mothersbaugh.
  • 1990 : Schneider contributed vocals to the title track of Bongwater's album The Power of Pussy.
  • 1990 : Schneider contributed vocals to Richard Barone's album Primal Dream, appearing on the song "Mr. Used to Be."
  • 1990 : Pierson contributed vocals to Iggy Pop's hit single "Candy" from his album Brick by Brick.
  • 1991 : 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 : Wilson contributed vocals on "Appalachee Shoals", a track of fellow Athenian alternative band Dreams So Real, which ended up on the outtakes album Nocturnal Omissions.
  • 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 : 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 : Schneider contributed vocals to Elvira's Halloween album Elvira Presents, Monster Hits on the track "Bride of Frankenstein".
  • 1996 : Schneider released a second solo album, Just Fred, produced by Steve Albini, who is famous for having worked with bands such as Nirvana.
  • 1999 : Pierson has been an occasional member of the successful Japanese pop group NiNa.
  • 2003 : Wilson performed solo and released several MP3s under the name The Cindy Wilson Band.
  • 2005 : Schneider performed the track "Angry Inch" together with Sleater-Kinney for the compilation album Wig in a Box.
  • 2005 : Pierson and Wilson contributed vocals to Junior Senior's "Take My Time" on their album Hey Hey My My Yo Yo.
  • 2005-2006 : Fred Schneider has been involved in the making of British singer Sophie Ellis-Bextor's 3rd album. His vocals appear on the bonus track "Supersonic", on her third album Trip the Light Fantastic.

[edit] Media

Television and film:

Other media:

  • "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.[35]
  • 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.[36]
  • 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, MD, 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.[37]
  • 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. Another B-52's track has been confirmed on the Rock Band.com news page, though a song was not specified.[38] The song has been rumored to be either "Love Shack" or "Rock Lobster", though no official word has been given yet.

[edit] References

  1. ^ LastFM - Band Biography
  2. ^ Azerrad, Michael (March 22, 1990). "B-52's". Rolling Stone (574): 46. 
  3. ^ Rolling Stone Bio for The B-52's
  4. ^ The B52s Band Biography
  5. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of May 17 1980
  6. ^ Allmusic Guide Chart Information for Wild Planet
  7. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of Oct 18 1980
  8. ^ Mesopotamia Press Release
  9. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Entry for the Week of Jul 16, 1983
  10. ^ Billboard 200 Chart Listing For The Week Of Nov 05, 1983
  11. ^ Allmusic Guide Bio for The B-52's
  12. ^ Allmusic Guide Chart Information for Bouncing Off the Satellites
  13. ^ Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks Chart Listing For The Week Of Aug 26, 1989
  14. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of Dec 09, 1989
  15. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of Feb 24, 1990
  16. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of Jun 02, 1990
  17. ^ RIAA Gold and Platinum Album Database
  18. ^ Cover Photo for March 22, 1990. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2008-05-11.
  19. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of Jul 20, 1991
  20. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of Aug 01, 1992
  21. ^ Dela Font Agency
  22. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart Listing For The Week Of June 25, 1994
  23. ^ Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks Chart Listing For The Week Of Jun 27, 1998
  24. ^ Allmusic Guide Entry for "The Chosen One"
  25. ^ Anticipated Funplex Release Date
  26. ^ B-52's Getting The Party Started Again Billboard, 30 October 2007
  27. ^ B-52's Ready First Album in 16 Years Digital Spy, 25 October 2007
  28. ^ Rolling Stone First B-52's Album in 16 Years October 24, 2007
  29. ^ New Single Juliet of the Spirits
  30. ^ SNL Season 5, Episode 9
  31. ^ SNL Season 15, Episode 18
  32. ^ SNL Season 16, Episode 17
  33. ^ Family Guy episode "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire"
  34. ^ "The L Word" episode "Lonestar" cast & credits
  35. ^ Earth Girls Are Easy Soundtrack Listing
  36. ^ The Associate Soundtrack Listing
  37. ^ "CKY3" Soundtrack Listing
  38. ^ [1] Meet Fred Schneider: B-52’s Frontman, New Wave Legend, and Lousy Rock-Band Player!: Rock Band.com news article. The line, "Also, psst: It wouldn’t be too farfetched to expect another B52’s classic to show up as DLC in the not-too-distant future." confirms another B-52's song.

[edit] Further reading

  • Sexton, Mats (February 2002), The B-52's Universe: The Essential Guide to the World's Greatest Party Band, Minneapolis, MN: Plan-B Books, pp. 231, ISBN 0965274594 

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The B-52's
Kate Pierson · Fred Schneider · Keith Strickland · Cindy Wilson
Ricky Wilson
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Singles
DVDs
Related articles