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The musical revolution caused by the punk movement saw a smorgasbord of musical styles come to prominence in the musical vacuum of the late 1970's. There was the 'get pissed, destroy' school of the Sex Pistols and Dead Boys, the musical poetry of Patti Smith and Television, the socially aware rock of the Clash, the acceptable face of punk, or 'new wave' in the form of Blondie, the primitive terrace chants of Sham 69, the basic, stripped-down, no-fuss guitar buzz of the Ramones and the arty experimentalism of Suicide and Talking Heads.
Then there was this bunch of freaks from Athens, Georgia - the B-52's.
Taking their names from the frightfully large wigs sported by their two female singers, the B-52's were formed in the late 70's by Fred Schneider (vocals/percussion/toy piano/boom box/glockenspiel), Kate Pierson (vocals/keyboards/guitar), Cindy Wilson (vocals/guitar), Ricky Wilson (guitar) and Keith Strickland (drums) after a drunken night at a Chinese restaurant, the B-52's emerged on the alternative rock scene with their wonderful ode to life on the beach, 'Rock Lobster'.
Even in a musical scene filled with all sorts of musical styles brought about as a result of the punk movement, the B-52's were something very different, a very different prospect to anything else going on at the
time. The band managed to sound very new and very contemporary while also having a sound that evoked classic rock and other forms of pop culture. The B-52's could, and would, turn their hands to all sorts of different musical styles, regardless of whether the result was 'professional' or not - the results are recorded here on their debut album, a bizarre oddity of an album, a vulgar, raw, ever-so-slightly menacing, kitsch pastel explosion of musical brilliance. The band would take elements from punk, pop, rock, retro, new wave and the avant-garde, mixed with some tongue-in-cheek kitsch and the results were splendiferous…
The brilliance of the band is their ability to combine something that at first may seem esoteric and inaccessible with effortlessly funky dance grooves. A lot of the music here isn't necessarily radio friendly, but it is gosh darn danceable. The album opens with 'Planet Claire', a song which sounds like it was recorded on another planet in a galaxy far, far away, a song which has an angular vocal by Schneider singing some of the most bizarre lyrics ever written ("Some say she's from Mars/Or one of the seven stars/That shine after 3:30 in the morning/WELL SHE ISN'T") over a futuristic keyboard backing. '52 Girls' is another journey into the mad world of the B-52's, with tight, punchy new wave guitars and another strange lyric: "Wanda and Janet and Ronnie and Reba-o-o-o/These are the girls of the USA/The principal girls of the USA/Can you name, name, name, name them today"…
'Dance This Mess Around' contains a moment of true madcap genius, when Pierson proclaims "Why don't you dance with me?/I'm not no Limburger/Just a limburger". The lyrics make absolutely no sense whatsoever, but who cares when its so effortlessly cool. The song, as with much of the album, has a lot of punk undertones, and this is something that would gradually disappear over the course of the B-52's career (1990's 'Love Shack' put paid to that). The band's then-signature tune (before 'Love Shack') 'Rock Lobster' is next, its instantly recognisable guitar riff opening a song before Schneider starts to sing: "We were at a party/His ear lobe fell in the deep/Someone reached in and grabbed it/It was a rock lobster!". The guitars are brilliant and there are some absolutely deranged backing vocals from Pierson and Wilson. The song put the B-52's on the map and gave them attention in the US and in Britain. Live, they looked like nothing seen before, with Wilson and Pierson's beehive wigs and frantic shrieks, Schneider's outrageous stage performances and a tight, punky band, they must have looked like something from out of this world, coming to invade our radios. A furtive look at the cover of this album sees a band like nothing out of this world, a bunch of aliens in primary colours.
'Lava' has more than a slight echo of another under-valued American band, the Cramps and is quite a bit more rocky than a lot of the material here, with its heavier emphasis on the guitars, while the brilliantly-titled 'There's a Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon)' is eminently listenable. 'Hero Worship' would not sound out of place on a Talking Heads album (no bad thing), while '6060-842' is based around a phone number found in strange circumstances: "Tina went to the Lady's room/Saw written on the wall/"If you'd like a very nice time/Just give this number a call"/It was 6060-842").
The vocals throughout the album are brilliantly bizarre. Fred Schneider's camp drawl is quite remarkable, while the dual vocals of Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson make a brilliant combination. Their version of Petula Clark's 'Downtown' hints at something darker, managing to transform a pop classic into a menacing monster, all thanks to the vocals. It isn't the best moment on the album, and is quite a hard track to like because the weirdness seems too studied and less natural, and it a bit disappointing that the album closes on a lower note after being consistently great. Still, for novelty value alone, and for seeing just what a bunch of new wave weirdo's can do with a shimmery pop classic, it's worth a listen.
All in all, a fine album. Something this weird should belong in everybody's record collection. The B-52's would stay around on the alternative scene for a while, before returning in 1990 with the massive party anthem 'Love Shack', a song so soaked into the public consciousness that it is hard to acknowledge that it's singers were once a small punk band singing about red snappers snappin' and a girl from Planet Claire. Get this today, invite your coolest friends and throw a party.
'The B-52's is available from Amazon.co.uk at £6.97
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Love the B52's. I was lucky to grow up with a brother and sister who had good musical taste so got in to these quite young. I quite liked their version of downtown though. Rachel x
Entwife 10.06.2005 02:39
An excellent evaluation of this band as well as this album, and a very interesting peek into the punk rock collective! My only regret here was that you didn't keep going! Wishing You Laughter
ElizaF 13.05.2005 00:22
I have been meaning to see if I can get the CD of this as the tape is well crackley now - thanks for the reminder :) xx E.
This record shook up the snoozing world of rock in 1979, becoming a truly classic disc, ... more
one full of landmark moments and heavy with possibilities. Most "real" rockers in the late '70s tried hard to ignore the Sex Pistols and the Clash, claiming the pun...
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