B-52s: Classic or Dud.

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1st 2 records classic. Tons of great songs, but no classic albums after that. Also no duds.

― John Bullabaugh (John Bullabaugh), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 01:49 (twenty-two years ago)

cindy is the woman of my dreams.

― di smith (lucylurex), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 02:03 (twenty-two years ago)

How did I not know Ricky Wilson was DEAD? He'd better have died saving his two year old cousin from an alligator or something heroic like that

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 11:56 (twenty-two years ago)

AIDS heroic enough?

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 12:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Yeah, why not.

― Andrew Thames (Andrew Thames), Wednesday, 9 July 2003 12:16 (twenty-two years ago)

one year passes...

IT'S 2525 AND WE'VE GOT THE HOTTEST WIGS ALIVE!

― Shaeky Mo Collier, Monday, 18 April 2005 22:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know. "Whammy" has some wonderful songs ("Butterbean," "Legal Tender," "Song for a Future Generation"), and so does the one after that, after Ricky died. If you can find the original LP edition of "Whammy," they do a rather good Yoko Ono covers (and one of the first).

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 18 April 2005 22:44 (twenty-one years ago)

I have the LP but I guess it aint the original cuz its sans any Yoko Ono songs. What did they cover? Hopefully either "What a Bastard the World is" (her best tune ever) or "Mind Train"

― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 18 April 2005 22:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Shakey: they covered "Don't Worry, Mummy"

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 18 April 2005 22:52 (twenty-one years ago)

whenever I worry that none of the music of my youth still holds its appeal (some albums lose their original kick and gain a new one I never would have noticed before) I throw on Cosmic Thing, which - fuck it all - still sounds like a million bucks.

― miccio (miccio), Monday, 18 April 2005 22:53 (twenty-one years ago)

The newer editions of Whammy replaced the Yoko cover with "Moon 83"

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 18 April 2005 22:55 (twenty-one years ago)

they're classic. saw them on the "cosmic thing" tour and had great time. still love "whammy" and "legal tender" best of all their stuff.

― edd s hurt (ddduncan), Monday, 18 April 2005 22:56 (twenty-one years ago)

I want the original Mesopotamia EP -- as in the original David Byrne mix -- on CD. I like the 1990 mix (where they pretty much un-David Byrne-d it), but the original one is excellent too... it's as if Byrne used the B-52s as a vehicle to compete with the Tom Tom Club in '81/'82... that EP is an oft-forgotten gem in the canon of "post-punk-disco".

― donut debonair (donut), Monday, 18 April 2005 23:24 (twenty-one years ago)

That said, you can a near mint copy of the EP on vinyl for pocket change.

― donut debonair (donut), Monday, 18 April 2005 23:25 (twenty-one years ago)

I should underscore that the arrangements for most of the songs on the original vs. 1990 remix of Mesopatamia are like night and day. The original is far more sparse and dubby, and entire chunks are either amplified and echoed, or just muted out. The 1990 mix is just a nice succinct "rock" mix. Both work, but both are practically different releases.

― donut debonair (donut), Monday, 18 April 2005 23:26 (twenty-one years ago)

this thread is bizarre because people keep saying the cutoff poing for when they were good is before/after Cosmic Thing, but they only did one album after that, plus a handful of tracks for soundtracks and greatest hits comps. it's not like there's a whole big era of output past that point. and really, Good Stuff has its moments, and I love one of the then-new songs on the Time Capsule comp, "Hallucinating Pluto".

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 18 April 2005 23:34 (twenty-one years ago)

and I think there's probably a lot of bands whose last album was their weakest but people don't always feel the need to add the caveat of "they were pretty good -- up until [x]"

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 18 April 2005 23:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I like quite a lot of "Good Stuff," even the instrumental. It didn't do as well as "Cosmic Thing" and it was remaindered almost immediately, so it's always perceived as a flop.

― Alfred Soto (Alfred Soto), Monday, 18 April 2005 23:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Well then, I'll clearly say I think the band jumped the shark after Whammy!.

Ricky Wilson was essential.

Of course, the story is sad (literally speaking) immediately after, so I can't blame the band for Bouncing.. not being up to par (though I love "Summer Of Love").. but I only like 3 songs from Cosmic Thing and can't stand the rest and what followed.

the Fred Schneider solo record Fred from 1996 is awesome, however. (and I have Martin Mushrush to thank for turning my head to it.)

― donut debonair (donut), Monday, 18 April 2005 23:55 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm guessing I would have missed Ricky Wilson more if Cosmic Thing wasn't my introduction to the group. To be honest I think the first two albums pale in comparison aside from Cindy Wilson's big show off tunes ("Give Me Back My Man," "Dance This Mess Around").

Oh and if I can make anybody feel old here, then :)

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 00:05 (twenty-one years ago)

(x-post) yeah, donut, I don't really have a problem with people saying they were no good post-Ricky, they were more or less a different band without him. my gripe about the "after Cosmic Thing" comments was more about semantics than anything else.

Just Fred is indeed great. letting Fred rage over Albini production with backup from Six Finger Sattelite and Shadowy Men On A Shadowy Planet was an inspired move.

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 00:09 (twenty-one years ago)

the other Schneider solo album is a little more tame but only in the B-52's definition thereof where a guy talking about the monster in his pants can be considered "tame".

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 00:11 (twenty-one years ago)

as far as making people feel old, the 2 songs that I always can distinctly recall from my youth that I liked when they were current hits were "Love Shack" and Peter Gabriel's "Sledgehammer". for some reason I enjoy the fact that I showed an affinity for goofy white funk from a very early age.

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 00:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Effortlessly classic! (possibly the most redundant C-vote ever though, given the love here)

Good to see love for Whammy!, which often seems to be overlooked. But now I'm very worried about my version of Mesopatamia.

xpost: Haha, I just listened to that goofy white funk on Gabriel's So for the first time since I was a child. Woo-hoo!

― Nag! Nag! Nag! (Nag! Nag! Nag!), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 00:31 (twenty-one years ago)

the Fred Schneider solo record Fred from 1996 is awesome, however. (and I have Martin Mushrush to thank for turning my head to it.)

It's really grand. Both albums, actually!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 00:39 (twenty-one years ago)

wild planet is my fav by far.

― f-a-b-o-l-o-u-s (adamwest), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 02:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Brilliant band through and through.

I'd say Good Stuff is not their worst album. That would be Bouncing Off The Satelites.

― everything, Tuesday, 19 April 2005 02:42 (twenty-one years ago)

B-b-but 'Bouncing...' has got the godly "Wig"!!

― Baaderonixxxorzh (Fabfunk), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 07:33 (twenty-one years ago)

It's a v good album, and it's still their worst!

― A Viking of Some Note (Andrew Thames), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 07:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Classic - just on the strength of early tracks like "Rock Lobster", "52 Girls", "Dance this Mess Around", "Strobe Light", etc. The Cosmic Thing singles, "Love Shack" and "Roam", don't do as much for me.

― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 13:04 (twenty-one years ago)

But what about "Channel Z" and "The Deadbeat Club" (ie the other Cosmic Thing singles)?

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 13:10 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't think I ever need to hear "Roam" again. But "Love Shack" once or twice a year, yes absolutely.

"Planet Claire" and "Rock Lobster" are classic in the extreme. The vocal on "Planet Claire" begins like two or three minutes in, and Fred is such a delightful spaz. It is a deeply weird track.

Hearing the B52s reminds me YET AGAIN about how rampantly eclectic was the mainstream pop music in my youth.

I mean, one still hears people saying that the 80s were a time of cookie-cutter bubblegum; of Reagan-era bright conformity. But right there on the top 40 as beamed by Casey Kasem into the American heartland, there were some strange-ass records being made--records that I doubt you could get in front of the youth of today.

― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 13:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't remember those other singles, Dan. I may not have heard them.

― o. nate (onate), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 15:19 (twenty-one years ago)

"Deadbeat Club"'s the best song on that Lp (tho "Roam to me comes a SO CLOSE YOU CAN'T SEE IT second, so hmm)!

― Schwip Schwap (schwip schwap), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 15:23 (twenty-one years ago)

is the album version of "Deadbeat Club" similiar to the remix that appears on Time Capsule? because I always thought that was one of the most boring generic songs on there, maybe I'm missing something with all the love for it here.

― Al (sitcom), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

The Cosmic Thing song that is the total hotness is "Bushfire".

― The Ghost of Dan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 16:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Sinead O'Connor does a devastating version of "Ain't it a Shame"

― The Sensational Sulk (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Fuck that's a great great GREAT song

― Schwip Schwap (schwip schwap), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 16:25 (twenty-one years ago)

He loved that color TV
More than me

― The Sensational Sulk (sexyDancer), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 16:34 (twenty-one years ago)

That's funny how I was thinking all through this thread "when is someone going to mention the fact that 'Ain't It A Shame' is one of the most beautiful songs ever recorded?" and then the last three posts did. So that's OK.

― Ally C (Ally C), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 21:00 (twenty-one years ago)

The Cosmic Thing song that is the total hotness is "Bushfire".

DAN OTM!!!! I'm shocked to hear someone else feel that way. Never heard anybody mention it before and its totally a fave.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 19 April 2005 21:18 (twenty-one years ago)

DO THE ESCALATOR!

― ShakEy Mo Collier, Tuesday, 19 April 2005 22:10 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't suppose that there's any chance that someone has the original Mesopotamia mixes in MP3 format, is there?

― Deric W. Haircare (Deric W. Haircare), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 00:53 (twenty-one years ago)

haven't heard much after "cosmic thing" but until then they had gr8 single but not lps,cosmic thing - i can almost,nealry listen from start to finish.
roam is their best and rock lobster is a novelty song that never gets annoying.who wants to buy my "mesopatemia " lp now i've burnt it to cdr.
their gr8test hits was better than i thought - i bought it for 3 songs and liked 9."flinstones "was different.

― fred schneider's chrysler, Wednesday, 20 April 2005 02:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't suppose that there's any chance that someone has the original Mesopotamia mixes in MP3 format, is there?

I'm wondering if that 1989 UK compilation Dance This Mess Around has any tracks from the original Mesopotamia... hmmmm.

― donut debonair (donut), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 02:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Didn't Andy Gill once claim Ricky Wilson as one of his guitar influences? Or did I just hallucinate that?

Oh, and obv. CLASSIC!, at least until Ricky's death. And therever after, presumably. (I've only heard the singles.) My fave: Wild Planet. (Partly out of nostalgia, since "Strobe Light" was playing when I first...nevermind...)

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 05:56 (twenty-one years ago)

classic

― kacka thompson (kacka), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 06:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Didja kiss her pineapple?

― Colin Meeder (Mert), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 06:24 (twenty-one years ago)

THUR-PRIIIZE!

― donut debonair (donut), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 06:30 (twenty-one years ago)

I still want to know why Kate and Cindy mention Chocolate Devil's Food cake twice in "Cake" (both versions)

― donut debonair (donut), Wednesday, 20 April 2005 06:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Skipping 208 messages at this point... Click here if you want to load them all.

If you put e.g. a cardboard shim under the bridge saddle the string would make a “clunk” without a note to speak of. Same as if you muted it with the left hand.

― assert (matttkkkk), Wednesday, 17 September 2025 21:39 (eight months ago)

or rather a felt shim, more effectively

― assert (matttkkkk), Wednesday, 17 September 2025 21:40 (eight months ago)

The fact that we’re sitting around debating Ricky’s guitar secrets almost 50 years on fills me with so much joy.

― Dan Peterfuckice is a pseudonym (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 18 September 2025 00:59 (eight months ago)

Me too!

― assert (matttkkkk), Thursday, 18 September 2025 01:38 (eight months ago)

i would also put my money on mechanically muted somehow - so it adds some chunk and thickness to the sound but doesn’t contribute to the chord structure

― Tracer Hand, Thursday, 18 September 2025 07:47 (eight months ago)

Lotta discussion here:

https://www.thegearpage.net/board/index.php?threads/early-b-52s-guitar-tone.1701267/page-2

More importantly, it includes this video (Capitol Theatre, natch) that features a lot of views of his guitars and playing!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVXfkG7q_0s

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 18 September 2025 13:32 (eight months ago)

guys...

i did the unthinkable.

last night i listened to the song that is noted as featuring the "dead strings": "strobe light"

at 1m34s ricky's solo comes on: it's a reverby surfy chromatic solo played on the bottom two "dead strings"... but the strings sound totally normal! so who knows lol.

― imperial frfr (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 18 September 2025 17:20 (eight months ago)

also to note in the above concert footage (1980 Capitol), Ricky's guitar solo is replaced with Cindy's wild Farfisa noise solo which is ... unfortunate for this thread diversion.

― imperial frfr (Steve Shasta), Thursday, 18 September 2025 17:22 (eight months ago)

Dead Farfisa keys?

― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 18 September 2025 18:06 (eight months ago)

The audience member at 01:02:14 onwards is a lucky man. At 41:54 someone seems to wave their panties at Fred Schneider. Not a sentence I ever thought I would write, but here we are.

The black and white video quality of that concert makes it looks like an out-take from William Hartnell-era Doctor Who. In which he attempts to visit Athens but arrives in the wrong Athens, in 1980, in the midst of - urg! - a music war.

― Ashley Pomeroy, Thursday, 18 September 2025 20:24 (eight months ago)

I think I've figured it out. Ricky insisted the solo on "Strobe Light" was his. Cindy felt she had more to say on the Farfisa, but Ricky wouldn't have it. So his guitar tech Keith Bennett - CINDY'S BOYFRIEND - changed out Ricky's strings for that song with dead strings, and the solo was hers at last.

― assert (matttkkkk), Thursday, 18 September 2025 23:59 (eight months ago)

ai- colorize the concert film in wacky tacky retro new wave style

― beige accent rug (Hunt3r), Friday, 19 September 2025 00:59 (eight months ago)

and then to top it all off, keith fabricates a guitar setup document and makes it look like ricky asked for all this. he dropped it off at an antique store and knew it was only a matter of time

― z_tbd, Friday, 19 September 2025 04:11 (eight months ago)

“but you asked me to do that Ricky, it says right here!”

― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 19 September 2025 13:29 (eight months ago)

the perfect crime

― assert (matttkkkk), Friday, 19 September 2025 13:30 (eight months ago)

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