B-52s: Classic or Dud.

Too lazy to go upthread to read the Mesopotamia stuff, but there are three versions, and here's how you can tell which one you have.

* If you have the Mesopotamia/Party Mix two-fer CD from 1990, you have the 1990 Remix version, i.e. "the rock mix"
* If you have the Warner Brothers vinyl EP (the most common one on vinyl) or the Island CD-EP, you have "the original official mix"
* If you have an Island EU vinyl EP, you likely have "the accidental mix" i.e. "the byrne mix". You have to listen and see if the songs are more sparse and dubbed out, but I haven't encountered an Island EU vinyl version that wasn't the accidental mix.

I'm so late on digitizing the accidental mix. Sorry guys. :( Once i get the vinyl I kept sorted, I'll let you know.

An online quote by Keith Strickland I stumbled upon today:

A friend of ours in the journalism department back then – which was also journalism-slash-TV-slash-media – had access to this studio and he invited us over and we did this performance. And we were using these tapes. It was actually the way we performed in Athens at the beginning, using reel-to-reel playback on some of the stuff. I played congas, Ricky played guitar, we had second guitar on tape, and Fred, Kate and Cindy would sing. So that’s how we performed for this video that a friend of ours, Spencer Thornton, made. And so a couple of clips from that have surfaced.

Discovering these two primordial B-52's videos on Youtube this morning made me happier than a (giant) clam! These predate the first album by a year.

Lava: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sG70rsLUjfQ

Devil In My Car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpYRnVcNPto&feature=related

One more, Hero Worship; brief snippet, but maybe my favorite of these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_KKZhA9sPw&NR=1

awesome

My friend Scott's band opened for the B's last night in Charlotte. OPENED FOR THE B-52's! I realize this isn't as big a deal in 2009 as it would've been in the past, but he's been a gigantic fan of theirs for the 17 years that I've known him. I can't even imagine what that would feel like.

/personal babble

"Is that you Moe-dean" is godheadlike. honorable mention, not seen mentioned, for godheadlikeness:"Give me back my man"

"Ain't It a Shame" = secret highlight.

they had so much cool around the first two albums im surprised they didnt precipitate a black hole

Based on "Love Shack", I pretty much ignored and avoided the B-52s for the past fifteen+ years. Listening to the first album, I guess that was a bad decision. BUT, aren't these songs too long for their own good?

No.

they're long-ish, yeah, but b-52s were always emphatically a dance band, i think they wanted to keep the grooves going.

If the first album went on forever it would still be too short.

The remixes on Party Mix are so awesome.

Looks like a concert from just after Wild Planet went up on the YouTubes recently. B-52's obsessives are going to be DELIGHTED.
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhnmhDNF1JJiUMOz9qZgeiAFySF6R3lwX

ooh!

fuck they sound amazing in this.

I'd kill for some unreleased B's from that era, I'd love to see those first 2 get the deluxe treatment.

To continue the "Do I have the David Byrne mix version of Mesopotamia?" discussion from 6 years back, the UK vinyl Byrne mix has longer versions of 3 tracks:

8:33 vs. 5:00 - Loveland
7:45 vs. 5:48 - Cake
5:46 vs. 4:30 - Throw That Beat In The Garbage Can

Holy cow, that show is AMAZING. If anything, watch "Strobe Light"

This is SO FUCKING GOOD.

WoW i watched those music vault video's this morning and now someones posted them here.. strange anyways lately i've been listening to the Party Mix/Mesopotamia pack alot

Thanks, campreverb, this is indeed amazing! I saw this tour back then, but I don't remember the synth freakout in "Strobe Light."

Sick stuff.

Ricky Wilson was such a great guitarist.

y'all our own Tyler Wilcox has posted an amazing B-52's bootleg, with near soundboard quality, and a much tighter performance than recently released iTunes show.
Get caught up-http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/118118850842/b-52s-edenhall-amsterdam-the

Nice! I'm usually not a big fan of live boots, but I'll make an exception for early B's.

This is super hot! Cindy seems ready to levitate on "Give Me Back My Man."

Been listening to Mesopotamia/Party Mix a whole lot lately

holy shit i just noticed i posted that last year lol

Lyrically this is one of the most subversive bands out there... hope any "duds" are from people who consider their lyrics plain silly. Wave that esoteric flag.

http://georgiamusic.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/B52s_Athens_04.78_kb.jpg

(at their first gig, Valentine's Day 1977)

I'm actually really impressed they got such a good shot for their first gig. I'd have a big ol goofy John Prine smile.

But come on my straight brothers and sisters, you realize even their most straight-ahead novelty song is an ode to bathhouses, right? Approach the B-52s from that direction and you'll latch onto the substance behind the tinsel.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SOryJvTAGs

Glitter on the mattress
Glitter on the highway
Glitter on the front porch
Glitter on the hallway

etc etc etc

I hear a wind
Whistling air
Whispering in my ear

Boy mercury shooting through every degree
Oh girl dancing down those dirty and dusty trails
Take it hip to hip rocking through the wilderness
Around the world the trip begins with a kiss

(sorry to those that knew first time around, but believe me it ain't obvious to all)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNwC0sp-uA4

im missing the subtext in Roam

Although they split credit equally, Roam is mostly written by Cindy, the only heterosexual in the band.

their most straight-ahead novelty song is an ode to

lol. Pineapples also come into play. And limburger.

That first gig photo is so sweet.

What can you do to save a party?
Parcheesi, charades?
A spur-of-the-moment scavenger hunt
Or Queen of the Nile?

from Party Out of Bounds. What is Queen of the Nile?

Good question!

Cleopatra?

Is that a party game?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjyJ7pSUnYU

Planets pulsating, constellations creating
Voices are guiding me to the cities by the sea
Yes, I see cities by the sea

Amazing song. This and Deadbeat Club and Dry County forever.

When I finally ventured into Cosmic Thing when I was around 25, I was absolutely floored by 'Topaz.' How did such an incredible song not get released as a single?

sometimes my favorite b52's song! did they do anything else quite like it?
New cities by the sea
Skyscrapers are winking

'Roam' is fucking all-time.

Topaz is one of my top 20 songs of all time. One of the prettiest melodies ever recorded.

It's a truly beautiful song. I hadn't heard it until the other day.

have i ever weighed in on this thread that Dirty Back Road is the best B-52s song? if not, here i am, and it is