“Following the viral success of their first single, ‘Rock Lobster’, off their 1979 self-titled debut album, The B-52s had to prove they were more than just a wacky novelty act. Hailing from Athens, Georgia, the eccentric quintet had already won over New York’s downtown club scene and even inspired John Lennon to write again, but they had yet to get everyone to join their party. The group’s motley mix of surf rock, new wave, girl group and post-punk sounds confused critics and audiences alike, but The B-52s’ sophomore album, Wild Planet, was about to live up to their title of ‘World’s Greatest Party Band’. The B-52s don’t engender the same kind of cultural criticism as, say, Devo, Talking Heads and their other new wave contemporaries, yet they were post-punk pioneers in their own right. With their dissonant jams, absurdist lyrics and kitschy 60s aesthetic, the group ambushed the pop mainstream, and their influence now looms larger than their towering bouffants. …”
‘Wild Planet’: How The B-52s Partied Out Of Post-Punk’s Bounds (Audio/Video)
W – Wild Planet
Spectrum Culture (Video)
YouTube: Private Idaho (Live), Give Me Back My Man (Live)
YouTube: Wild Planet 9 videos
Tag: The B-52’s
The B-52’s – Full Concert – 11/07/80 – Capitol Theatre
“… This is a terrific document of the group shortly after the 2nd album release. They play the 2nd album in it’s entirety as well as most of the first album. It’s b&w, but well lit, good audio and every second of it is here. The original lineup (they look so young!) bursting with creativity on their first tour as headliners. Fred Schneider – vocals, keyboards, glockenspiel, various toys. Cindy Wilson – vocals, percussion. Ricky Wilson – guitar. Kate Pierson – vocals, keyboards, bass. Keith Strickland – drums.”
YouTube: The B-52’s – Full Concert – 11/07/80 – Capitol Theatre
The B-52’s – Rock Lobster / 52 Girls (1978)
“They say that if you give a monkey infinite time with a typewriter, eventually it would produce the complete works of Shakespeare. The same could never happen with ‘Rock Lobster.’ The confluence of influences is too unique to ever occur again in nature. Who would think to blend a Carrollian poem about crustaceans with atonal caterwauling, piercing Farfisa organ stabs, vintage Jersey Shore suntan lotion slogans, and a seriously raunchy riff played on a four-stringed guitar? Such a singular pop concoction could have only emerged out of the beehived heads of the B-52s. First released in April 1978, the song heralded the group’s arrival on the national scene, taking over radios like an alternate universe Beach Blanket Bingo theme tune beamed to Earth from the Planet Kitsch. It also established the Georgia quintet’s reputation as a beloved groovy-a-go-go party band without parallel, kicking off a stream of hits, albums and concerts that continues to this day. …”
People (Video)
W – “Rock Lobster”
Genius (Audio)
YouTube: Rock Lobster (Live), Rock Lobster / 52 Girls – 1978
Punk Scrawled Artist 