The B-52's: their legacy/influence today

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Cosmic Thing is a completely brilliant album. "Topaz"!!!!

― Dan ("Junebug"!!!) Perry (Dan Perry), Sunday, 5 March 2006 00:08 (twenty years ago)

The best unsigned band in Manchester in my opinion, The VCs, have a big B-52s element to their sound. Lots of weird, surf-rock-inflected indie-pop and a lead theremin player. Fantastic live band.

And no, I'm not a member of The VCs.

― yer mam! (yer mam!), Sunday, 5 March 2006 00:13 (twenty years ago)

Cosmic Thing might be their second-best album.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 5 March 2006 00:24 (twenty years ago)

Christ, Da Na No, way to make me all salivatory.
The B-52s were huge part of what I listened to growing up (that and Was[Not Was]), and I'm just now kinda going back and listening again. I've got the first album on vinyl, now I just need to shore up some of the rest of my collection...

― js (honestengine), Sunday, 5 March 2006 02:08 (twenty years ago)

thanks for the story, I scored Mesopotamia at Housing Works, I know it's as common as dirt, but had been looking for it on and off for about two years, always reminded about it when i'd encounter their later work at record sales. Great stuff.

also, re: Love Shack, as a kid I'd hear it on the radio and thought she was saying "Ten months... pregnant!"

― midi sanskrit (sanskrit), Sunday, 5 March 2006 02:55 (twenty years ago)

The surf comment just reminded me... do the Pixies fit into this equation at all?

― Drew Lichtenberg, Sunday, 5 March 2006 03:50 (twenty years ago)

"Ten months... pregnant!"

That's the best misinterpretation I've ever heard!

― Johnny Fever (johnny fever), Sunday, 5 March 2006 04:04 (twenty years ago)

Isn't "tin roof rusted" actually a euphemism for being knocked up?

― naus (Robert T), Sunday, 5 March 2006 06:17 (twenty years ago)

if you can find an example of the phrase being used in that sense prior to the release of "love shack" i'd buy it. otherwise... no. cindy wilson just made it up.

TR: What is it that you say in "Love Shack?"

CW: Tin roof rusted!

TR: What is that?

CW: It's just a description of the Love Shack, just nonsense that I made up when we were jamming, and the rest of the band thought it was so funny, we stuck it in there. Actually, in the South, they have metal roofs that tend to rust.

-from a 1989 B-52's interview with Tom Rubnitz

― fortunate hazel (f. hazel), Sunday, 5 March 2006 06:26 (twenty years ago)

Sleater-Kinney didn't occur to me until this thread, but is totally otm.

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Sunday, 5 March 2006 06:39 (twenty years ago)

Not recent, but that first Mocket album, Bionic Parts..

..at this point, the line between a B-52s influence and a Yoko Ono influence becomes blurry.

― Da Na Not! (donut), Sunday, 5 March 2006 08:35 (twenty years ago)

Check the Pipettes

― snowballing (snowballing), Sunday, 5 March 2006 09:23 (twenty years ago)

Last year, there was some fan club EP of techno remixes of songs from Whammy!, released on green vinyl... the songs were "Legal Tender", "Whammy Kiss", "Song For A Future Generation", and "Trism". I can't say any of them are that memorable, unfortunately... but if you want something 'klashy with B-52 samples from that album, there you go.

― Da Na Not! (donut), Sunday, 5 March 2006 09:25 (twenty years ago)

what was between "rock lobster" and "love shack " ?

― retrogurl, Sunday, 5 March 2006 09:47 (twenty years ago)

Quiche Lorraine

― Da Na Not! (donut), Sunday, 5 March 2006 10:00 (twenty years ago)

private idaho

― grapple (grapple), Sunday, 5 March 2006 11:23 (twenty years ago)

haven't really heard the go team yet...but i'm expecting them to be kinda like b-52s meets a bad beastie boys take off...am i way off the mark ????

― grapple (grapple), Sunday, 5 March 2006 11:24 (twenty years ago)

Yes.

― twizzler, Sunday, 5 March 2006 11:50 (twenty years ago)

Sleater-Kinney are a decent reference point, but you also have to consider the possible influence on S-K of groups like Liliput/Kleenex or Essential Logic, who were both doing similarly funky/shouty/angular things to the B-52s around the same time period. I've done absolutely no research on the subject of S-K's avowed influences, though, so this is strictly conjecture.

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Sunday, 5 March 2006 16:16 (twenty years ago)

I'd also add Yoko Ono; All Hands on the Bad One's "Milkshake 'n' Honey" sounds like someone was listening to to mid '70s Ono.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 5 March 2006 16:24 (twenty years ago)

I've done absolutely no research on the subject of S-K's avowed influences, though, so this is strictly conjecture.

There's a good Lois Maffeo interview in the Angry Women In Rock book where she describes the heavy influence that the early Rough Trade bands had on Olympia. Also note the (Oly-based) Kill Rock Stars reissues of those bands. So while I could see a bit of the B-52's the Liliput/Ess. Logic axis seems like way more of a reference point.

The only thing I've heard lately that reminds me of that great B-52's sound is the Tammys' "Egyptian Shumba", which predates them by quite a bit.

I guess Chicks On Speed might qualify...

― sleeve, away, Sunday, 5 March 2006 18:49 (twenty years ago)

re mesopotamia, which i'm looking at my vinyl copy of right now: charles rocket on accordion???

― Autonomous University of Zacatecas (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 5 March 2006 18:58 (twenty years ago)

And on the subject of Mesopotamia, I love it. Title track and "Deep Sleep" are two of my favorite B-52's tracks.

― Myke. (Myke Weiskopf), Sunday, 5 March 2006 18:59 (twenty years ago)

Even thought they were overlooked even for Shrimper bands, Big Breakfast's Why Do You Touch Things That Aren't Yours? is pretty much a B-52s homage, partially.

― Da Na Not! (donut), Sunday, 5 March 2006 19:39 (twenty years ago)

Big Breakfast was the main band of Diskothi-Q's drummer, Kevin Trapp (Diskothi-Q having been Peter Hughes's band, who himself is now the Mountain Goats' bassist). Kevin's a big fan of early B-52s, so no surprise there, if ya know that.

― Da Na Not! (donut), Sunday, 5 March 2006 19:42 (twenty years ago)

Deee-Lite seem like they must have had some B-52s influence. A lot of house/dance music, actually. Wouldn't be surprised if Prince Paul liked em, either -- not a literal influence, but more a spirit thing.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Sunday, 5 March 2006 19:48 (twenty years ago)

hey donut, does that original (recalled) byrne mix have a different catalog number?

― Autonomous University of Zacatecas (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 5 March 2006 20:09 (twenty years ago)

Checking now... it's on Island records.

14C 062-64775

This is a Greek pressing. Surely this was pressed in other countries as well, maybe even in the U.S.

― Da Na Not! (donut), Sunday, 5 March 2006 20:41 (twenty years ago)

There's is zero difference in the cover art and liner notes, btw. Only the record label logo differs. The Greek one I have is slightly lighter, but this could happen to multiple printings of the same record master too.

― Da Na Not! (donut), Sunday, 5 March 2006 20:43 (twenty years ago)

ok, i guess i have the normal u.s. release -- warner brothers mini 3641.

― Autonomous University of Zacatecas (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 5 March 2006 21:15 (twenty years ago)

for the second time...The Rogers Sisters. For real. B-52s plus the Fall and a bit of party-time garage rock.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Sunday, 5 March 2006 21:21 (twenty years ago)

rogers sisters thirded!

― Autonomous University of Zacatecas (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 5 March 2006 21:58 (twenty years ago)

This thread has made me download the Rogers Sisters. I like.

― jaymc (jaymc), Sunday, 5 March 2006 22:04 (twenty years ago)

Sleater Kinney have covered "Private Idaho" and "Rock Lobster" and did a song with Fred Schneider for the Hedwig soundtrack. I remember them saying they were so nervous meeting him because they loved the B-52's so much.

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Sunday, 5 March 2006 22:25 (twenty years ago)

The Rogers Sisters thing is funny because I remember reading a interview saying they had never heard them before!

Also - dare I mention early Bis has a bunch of the B-52's silliness/energy, although obviously not as guitar-based.

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Sunday, 5 March 2006 22:33 (twenty years ago)

It's weird; I'm trying to download a few tracks people have mentioned here - i.e. "Topaz" - and getting very very few results, even just for a general catch-all search for "B-52s" ... I mean, in my mind they are a HUGE band, but that doesn't seem to be reflected in the network..

Aside from "Planet Claire," which is almost in its own category, "Dirty Back Road" is for me the perfect B-52s song.. driving, up-tempo, harmonies that go on and on, gliding over the bumpiness of the beat like they're cushioned with shock absorbers.. and those clean guitars like cool water.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Sunday, 5 March 2006 22:43 (twenty years ago)

The Rogers Sisters thing is funny because I remember reading a interview saying they had never heard them before!

do you believe everything you read?

― Autonomous University of Zacatecas (Jody Beth Rosen), Sunday, 5 March 2006 23:21 (twenty years ago)

“I believe virtually everything I read, and I think that is what makes me more of a selective human, than someone who doesn't believe anything.”

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 5 March 2006 23:22 (twenty years ago)

The Rogers Sisters totally know everything about music. They own the hippest bar in brooklyn with the hippest jukebox, one of them is married to the guy who used to own one of the east village's hippest record stores, I can't imagine them not having heard of the B-52s! I'm sure they were teasing.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Sunday, 5 March 2006 23:23 (twenty years ago)

I did say it was funny!

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Sunday, 5 March 2006 23:47 (twenty years ago)

My favorites are the lesser knowns:

Moon In the Sky, Party Gone Out of Bounds, Trism, Bushfire, Junebug, Topaz...

Has anyone heard that new song "Pump" they're doing for the L Word? I bet it's not going to be pretty...

― LoneNut, Monday, 6 March 2006 01:58 (twenty years ago)

Heh. There's an old Country and Western duo called The Rogers Sisters who are totally not like the B-52s. Good though.
What should I look for from the new Rogers Sisters?

― js (honestengine), Monday, 6 March 2006 02:51 (twenty years ago)

I don't really know their records too well, but have seen them live many times and they're always fun. Sorry that's the best I can do! First time I saw them was a show where the line-up was, in this order: Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Rogers Sisters, the Gossip headlining. Over the last year I've been saying it was funny because that order would be switched now. But with their latest I think the Gossip would probably be billed over the Rogers Sisters. Not that there's any reason to create some sort of competition. Just thought it funny. All great live bands anyway.

― Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Monday, 6 March 2006 02:56 (twenty years ago)

Other underrated B-52 songs: "Hero Worship", "6060-842", "Runnin' Around", "Quiche Lorraine", "Cake", "Loveland", "Throw That Beat In The Garbage Can", "Trism", "Butterbean", "Wig", and even "Summer Of Love" is semi-forgotten.

― Da Na Not! (donut), Monday, 6 March 2006 04:30 (twenty years ago)

Is 6060-842 underrated? I use it on mixtapes all the time...

― js (honestengine), Monday, 6 March 2006 04:32 (twenty years ago)

NE vs 242 taking sides:

tank top aggro boy band choreography
vs.
uniformed be-headset-ed lawnmowers in sunglasses

― Da Na Not! (donut), Monday, 6 March 2006 04:36 (twenty years ago)

GAH! Wrong thread! sorry.

― Da Na Not! (donut), Monday, 6 March 2006 04:37 (twenty years ago)

Download "Cake".. if the first minute or so is just disco-ey beats, and barely any music.. then that's the true original.

it has guitar almost immediately, then vocals, so I guess not

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 6 March 2006 06:37 (twenty years ago)

that would be funny if stereolab had a fred/einar type... especially if it was malcolm eden!

fortunatehazel, you have solved the riddle of why I don't like Stereolab anywhere near as much as I expect I should.

― scriblerus (mike lynch), Monday, 6 March 2006 07:13 (twenty years ago)

did anyone see the B-52's performance on the L-Word?

― archipelago (archipelago), Monday, 6 March 2006 16:34 (twenty years ago)

Skipping 60 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

you and Dave Grohl apparently

― jaymc, Sunday, 8 June 2025 02:02 (one year ago)

You can probably trace back a lot of the '90s Alternative explosion to the SNL S5 appearances of Bowie, Gary Numan, The B-52's and The Specials

― Lithium Just Madison (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 8 June 2025 04:19 (one year ago)

I'd add the Devo appearance on Fridays from 80' too.

― earlnash, Sunday, 8 June 2025 06:49 (one year ago)

I also remember seeing Gary Numan perform on NBC's The Today Show in 1980 and he told Jane Pauley or whoever it was that he was more comfortable around machines than people. Wonder how many other kids caught that before leaving for school.

― Josefa, Sunday, 8 June 2025 12:46 (one year ago)

Never saw that one, it was probably pretty weird scene.

― earlnash, Sunday, 8 June 2025 13:17 (one year ago)

I'd add the Devo appearance on Fridays from 80' too.

...and they were on SNL in S4! But yeah, those Fridays appearances certainly sealed the deal.

― Lithium Just Madison (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 8 June 2025 15:32 (one year ago)

Fridays was a pretty terrible show, except for the bands. But yeah, seeing Devo in 1978 at not even 12 years old was absolutely life changing stuff. Another "shot heard 'round the world", so to speak ime

― fight for the right to remain silent (outdoor_miner), Sunday, 8 June 2025 19:28 (one year ago)

"ah THIS is the thread where donut talked about the Mesopotamia mixes"

This bamboozled me as well - I used to have an MP3 copy of "Cake" that sounded unlike any other mix. After a bit of digging I found out that this is the original, David Byrne version, which has some really bad handclaps near the beginning and only appeared on the UK vinyl release:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVj2SljqTwY

This is the remix that appeared on most copies of the album:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ot-z-FJVF9k

And this is the version that was released on the Party Mix / Mesopotamia CD in 1990, which is basically the same idea but with more tinkering:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XlI7FzN8Pcw

e.g. the saxophones at 01:00 are buried in chorus and reverb, which is good because the B-52s should not have saxophones. Do not like.

Sadly from a UK point of view there was never a British TV equivalent of those TV performances - e.g. we never had the B-52s or Devo appearing on Morecambe and Wise circa 1979, electrifying the nation - and yet Devo at least were embraced by the UK indie scene for a while, so perhaps it's just a quirk of fate that The B-52s didn't have the same reception.

― Ashley Pomeroy, Sunday, 8 June 2025 19:48 (one year ago)

The Party Mix is the superior version obv.

― hungover beet poo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 8 June 2025 20:12 (one year ago)

that's the one I still need to track down, I have the two earlier versions

― sleeve, Sunday, 8 June 2025 20:14 (one year ago)

Has any official word come down about what version of Mesopotamia will be on the upcoming albums box? The Amazon page uses a parenthetical PARTY MIX ALBUM VERSION in their tracklisting for the CD edition.

― Lithium Just Madison (C. Grisso/McCain), Sunday, 8 June 2025 21:14 (one year ago)

And that Whiney article from 2019 could very well have been the inspiration for this video

Inspiration is a gentle way of putting it! Parts of the last third of the video are pretty much verbatim.

― Lady Sovereign (Citizen) (milo z), Monday, 9 June 2025 03:27 (one year ago)

The B52s clearly inspired the students at the Sam Houston High School, judging by their 1980 cover of 'Dance This Mess Around'. Great energy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sq3M244EGKs

― Wry & Slobby (Portsmouth Bubblejet), Monday, 16 June 2025 06:20 (eleven months ago)

fantastic!!

― encino morricone (majorairbro), Monday, 16 June 2025 10:42 (eleven months ago)

That just made my morning, thanks!

― once beloved, recently troubled (Dan Peterson), Monday, 16 June 2025 12:52 (eleven months ago)

Also thanks to Michael F Gill 19 years after the fact for mentioning Barbi and the Kens, which I just looked up this morning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg2dRpRxV0k

― once beloved, recently troubled (Dan Peterson), Monday, 16 June 2025 12:59 (eleven months ago)

Touring with Devo!

― Doctor Madame Frances Experimento, LLC", Monday, 16 June 2025 21:07 (eleven months ago)

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