A second B-52’s album, Wild Planet, was released in September 1980, and proved to be a major disappointment; only the occasional track like Quiche Lorraine recalled the verve of its predecessor and, at the end of 1981, the B-52’s balloon began to deflate.
The band still consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals), Kate Pierson (keyboards and vocals), Cindy Wilson (vocals), Ricky Wilson (guitar) and Keith Strickland (drums), but the spark that had been there previously seemed to have gone - they just weren’t cooking in the way that they had when they first emerged. It was sad, and they were not to recover their form for years to come. However, they will be remembered for their music which was a bizarre and intriguing blend of styles, a subtle but stirring mixture of the Ronettes, Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band and Cuban drum music, while their style was centred around bad science fiction and fearful beach party movies of the 50’s and 60’s.
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