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

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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)

I don't suppose (m)any of you have heard (of) the Dik Van Dykes, an amusing late '80s Hamilton, Ontario band who sounded like a Ramones/B-52s combo. They relied on a sort of Canadian-specificity for their lyrics, but were also known to perform that ancient TV commercial for Hasbro's "Trouble" game. ("You've got trouble, wait! Don't run!/This kind of Trouble is lots of fun!" etc.)

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 6 March 2006 18:36 (twenty years ago)

"Strobe Light" - my choice for underrated

La Lupita do a song called "Ja Ja Ja" which is a wonderfully shameless B-52s rip, only imagine if the B-52s singing in Spanish.

― The Equator Lounge (Chris Barrus), Monday, 6 March 2006 19:55 (twenty years ago)

"Strobe Light" = my absolute favourite! (The song that was playing when I first...uh...never mind...)

― Myonga Von Bashful (Myonga Von Bontee), Monday, 6 March 2006 21:12 (twenty years ago)

... kissed the pineapple?

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Monday, 6 March 2006 21:28 (twenty years ago)

The first bit of music I ever bought was a Roam cassingle by the B-52's! I thought they were cool as fuck then, but Love Shack got totally played out, which I think that had tainted my opinion of them. Or at least until I went and bought their debut album a little while back. I was knocked out by how sharp it sounds! 52 Girls is a killer track.

And I love the line in rock Lobster that goes 'everybody had matching towels!'

― Mestema (davidcorp), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 12:39 (twenty years ago)

When I reviewed Bosco and Joey Kingpin I noted touches of B-52s in each (and Schneider actually appears on the Bosco alb). Neither album is particularly trying to sound like the B-52s. (Both'd be called "electronic dance," and I'm not the one who could classify them further.) Accounts I've read of early techno usually cite the B-52s as being inspirational to those Detroit guys. My favorite B-52s track is "Give Me Back My Man," which is more passionate and less herky-jerk than a lot of the rest. Also, if you can get the original indie single version of "Rock Lobster"/"52 Girls," it has more gravity (or something)... reaches me more than the subsequent version.

― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 21:57 (twenty years ago)

(Hmmm. What happened to my paragraph breaks?) (Is ILX under alien attack?)

― Frank Kogan (Frank Kogan), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 22:00 (twenty years ago)

the original "52 girls" I like more than the album version, but nothing can top the album version of "Rock Lobster" not even the charming but kinda sparse original 7" version from '78. I remember hearing some Rollins story about how he was on a train in NYC and listening to "Rock Lobster" by the B-52s and being transfixed thinking that could it have been possible that the most defining moment in rock history was a man screaming "BOYS IN BIKINIS!.... GIRLS ON SURFBOARDS!..... LEEET'S RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWK!"

― Da Na Not! (donut), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 22:01 (twenty years ago)

haha rollins

― Shelly Winters Death Clip (Jody Beth Rosen), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 22:06 (twenty years ago)

Kogan— One of the reasons that B-52s get cited by Detroit techno folks is that Electrifying Mojo LOVED the B-52s and would play whole albums from them straight, alongside Kraftwerk and Moroder and the rest.

― js (honestengine), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 22:56 (twenty years ago)

OTM re: 7" version of "52 Girls"!

AND, i think the hypnotic throb of "Dirty Back Road" is almost Köln-style minimal techno. just imagine a 10 minute instrumental version!

― nerve pylon (flat_of_angles), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 23:49 (twenty years ago)

In 1990 or so, there was some rapper named Biscuit who did a rap/rock cover of "Rock Lobster" called "Rock Biscuit".

― Da Na Not! (donut), Tuesday, 7 March 2006 23:50 (twenty years ago)

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

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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