Final rankings by album
B-52's (#1, 4251 points)1 52 Girls 932 32 52 Dance This Mess Around 892 32 35 Rock Lobster 790 28 57 Planet Claire 735 30 17 Lava 295 15 22 Hero Worship 260 13 25 6060-842 211 11 33 (tie) There’s A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon) 108 6 52 Downtown 28 2
Wild Planet (#2, 3431 points)3 Private Idaho 888 33 46 Give Me Back My Man 757 29 210 Party Out Of Bounds 463 19 312 Strobe Light 406 18 115 Dirty Back Road 342 16 24 Devil In My Car 220 10 128 (tie) 53 Miles West Of Venus 128 7 28 (tie) Quiche Lorraine 128 7 37 Runnin’ Around 99 5
Roam (#3, 2742 points)4 Roam 796 30 9 Deadbeat Club 501 21 213 Topaz 400 16 216 Love Shack 338 16 21 Channel Z 262 12 26 Bushfire 178 9 31 Dry County 121 6 42 Cosmic Thing 75 5 50 Follow Your Bliss 39 2 51 Junebug 32 2
Bouncing Off The Satellites (#4, 1370 points)18 Ain’t It A Shame 294 12 19 Girl From Ipanema Goes To Greenland 289 15 20 Summer Of Love 282 14 23 Wig 246 12 133 (tie) Theme For A Nude Beach 108 6 43 Detour Thru Your Mind 70 4 44 (tie) She Brakes For Rainbows 68 4 58 (tie) Housework 13 1
Whammy! (#5, 1296 points)11 Legal Tender 432 18 14 Song For A Future Generation 394 17 135 Whammy Kiss 107 6 38 Queen Of Las Vegas 96 6 40 Butterbean 85 5 41 Trism 79 4 44 (tie) Work That Skirt 68 3 55 (tie) Moon 83 22 1 58 (tie) Big Bird 13 1
Mesopotamia EP (#6, 1165 points)8 Mesopotamia 618 25 227 Cake 176 8 32 Nip It In The Bud 115 5 136 Deep Sleep 105 5 139 Throw That Beat In The Garbage Can 92 5 47 (tie) Loveland 59 3
Good Stuff (#7, 274 points)30 Is That You Mo-Dean? 122 7 46 Revolution Earth 60 3 47 (tie) Good Stuff 59 3 57 Hot Pants Explosion 21 1 61 (tie) Dreamland 12 1
Funplex (#8, 102 points)49 Juliet Of The Spirits 51 3 53 Funplex 26 2 58 (tie) Eyes Wide Open 13 1 61 (tie) Deviant Ingredient 12 1
Other Releases54 Debbie 25 155 (tie) Meet The Flintstones 22 1
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 14 November 2018 23:32 (five years ago) link
The only thing I had that didn't place was "Too Much To Think About", an attempt at having one off every album.
oh, speaking of, i meant to tell you, i didn't include your 21-25 on your ballot! i probably could have left it on but i wasn't sure what to do since everyone else submitted 20 max. similarly, alfred submitted a top 6 albums and i left his #6 off.
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, 14 November 2018 23:34 (five years ago) link
please do not sue me for a recount, or to prevent a recount
terrific results, terrific list of songs, and possibly the best images in any ilm poll ever? would type more but am headed out for drinks. god "private idaho" is great, probably the song that *really* hooked me on the band. that wild riff, that super-tight playing overall, the crazy hooting, the delicious chewing into 50s b-movie stuff (which i already knew from mst3k, and in the case of radioactive swimming pools, maniac mansion). but it's also a sexy party pool "full of strangers." they're on fire on this track.
― |Restore| |Restart| |Quit| (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 14 November 2018 23:43 (five years ago) link
also fun to think about that pool as the live-in-the-late-70s version of what stipe is brushing up against and remembering on "nightswimming."
― |Restore| |Restart| |Quit| (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 14 November 2018 23:45 (five years ago) link
Karl Malone excellent job, thank you so much for taking this over for me. You did this poll and band justice. Told you that you would have fun.
More later.
― Bee OK, Wednesday, 14 November 2018 23:48 (five years ago) link
lol, I'm just glad the poll got completed, and I go back and forth about whether 6060-842 is a great track or not.
― campreverb, Wednesday, 14 November 2018 23:50 (five years ago) link
I approve these poll results and commend Karl, Bee OK, and we participants on our excellent taste
― Brad C., Wednesday, 14 November 2018 23:58 (five years ago) link
Paypaled a fish to Karl.
― I like queer. You like queer, senator? (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 15 November 2018 00:03 (five years ago) link
"52 Girls" was my own number one from my very first longlist but I discuss B-52s matters too infrequently to know it was quite this popular. Not too sure I can say much about it beyond "it bangs" or similar.
My only selections to miss out were "Trism" and "Follow Your Bliss", which is not terribly surprising.
Thanks for putting it all together, Bee OK and Karl Malone!
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Thursday, 15 November 2018 00:18 (five years ago) link
I will never not put "Private Idaho" at number one.
― gardening@night, Thursday, 15 November 2018 00:31 (five years ago) link
Thanks Karl & Bee. I don't agree with all the placings ("Strobe Light" TOO LOW - my #1), but it's hard to argue with that top 3. Cheers!
― lingereffect (Kent Burt), Thursday, 15 November 2018 00:57 (five years ago) link
ILM did a great job like always, hard to argue with these results. these polls are a lot of work to put together, i think Johnny Fever is the brain child behind them, but so rewarding when you are actually running the polls. like always thanks for taking the time to put together a ballot, as poll runners we appreciate the time in doing them and sending them in.
Karl Malone, much respect. no-one would have done a better job!
― Bee OK, Thursday, 15 November 2018 01:11 (five years ago) link
I go back and forth about whether 6060-842 is a great track or not.
the coda makes it
my ballot, shamefully I didn't listen to BOTS and I apologize
also, "Strobe Light" was too low here
Private IdahoDeadbeat ClubParty Gone Out Of BoundsRock LobsterPlanet ClaireLavaGive Me Back My Man52 GirlsRoamDance This Mess AroundBushfireQuiche LorraineHero WorshipDevil In My Car53 Miles West Of VenusChannel ZLove ShackIs That You Mo-Dean?Girl From Ipanema Goes To GreenlandStrobe Light
― #BreakingTheWorld (sleeve), Thursday, 15 November 2018 01:28 (five years ago) link
I ranked the albums last month.
― I like queer. You like queer, senator? (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 15 November 2018 01:32 (five years ago) link
The B-52's are a funny band for me. like my story above, i heard "Rock Lobster" on the radio back in the day and it blew my kid mind. surprised i never really seek them out in the late 80's when i started to form my own tastes. they were probably too happy for me but loved all the singles that got played. i went more in the New Order, The Cure and Bauhaus direction. when i started doing the Acclaimed Music polls, i ended up doing 1979 first and to my surprise The B-52's album won. to me it was like woo, really? so then i started to seek out their albums. thou i never got around to hearing all of it, i figured i would get to know them running this poll. as you know family issues happen and i wasn't able to absorb everything by them and handed this poll off. i thought polls were in a bit of a rut and we needed a bigger band to close out the year, so i opened it up. glad i did because 34 ballots is a great turn out for today's ILM Artist Polls.
thanks ILM for exposing me to this band and thanks again to Z for running all this for us.
i will post my ballot here when i find it...
― Bee OK, Thursday, 15 November 2018 01:37 (five years ago) link
Still haven't gotten to these results, but fixing to rectify that now!
― Groove(box) Denied (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 15 November 2018 01:37 (five years ago) link
i love the whole idea behind 'Party Out of Bounds', as well as the execution. when you play it out of nowhere, it really does sound like the B-52's are crashing your party and making it a million times more fun (which makes it a great opener, too)
"ok, who ordered pizza?"
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, November 14, 2018 1:57 PM (five hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
and this is my "too low!" of the countdown, too. i expected it to be top 3 for sure
― Karl Malone, Wednesday, November 14, 2018 1:58 PM (five hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
If this isn't my favorite song by this band, it's damn close
― Groove(box) Denied (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 15 November 2018 01:52 (five years ago) link
thanks to everyone very much for voting and being here on the thread, and especially to Bee for getting it started! i haven't done a big music poll before so it was pretty fun to figure out how the spreadsheet worked and all of that. also, i had a self-inflicted bummer of a year or two, and found it hard to get much done creatively over the past few months. this poll was a great excuse to make a bunch of 5x8 postcard images for the rollout. the fact that it's the b-52's and silliness and/or horny as hell-ness is to be expected just made it all the easier to do.
also, i have to say, if i run across any of their records from mesopotamia through roam in the record store, i am definitely going to be picking them up. before this poll, i really only knew their first two albums and thought that by reputation the rest of their stuff was pretty meh except for a fluke hit with Love Shack and Roam. very wrong about that! i look forward to one day closing out a karaoke bar with an intense version of Ain't It A Shame.
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 15 November 2018 01:57 (five years ago) link
Karl and Bee OK, thank you so much for this poll. I have some emotional thoughts about this band, as they were the first band that meant anything to me, but I'll get into that at another time when I'm not so exhausted. It's wonderful to know so many other people who care so much about the B-52s, full stop.
Anyway, my ballot:
BALLOT ONE
1. Party Gone Out of Bounds2. Roam3. 52 Girls4. Mesopotamia5. Bushfire6. Topaz7. Cake8. Summer of Love9. Good Stuff10. Deadbeat Club11. Private Idaho12. Lava 13. Dance This Mess Around14. Rock Lobster15. Song for a Future Generation
BALLOT TWO
1. Party Mix!/Mesopotamia (1991)2. Cosmic Thing3. The B-52s4. Whammy!5. Good Stuff
― Groove(box) Denied (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 15 November 2018 02:00 (five years ago) link
Was always so jealous of "Deadbeat Club" - and longed for the oddball friendship group that song seemed to celebrate.
― Groove(box) Denied (Raymond Cummings), Thursday, 15 November 2018 02:02 (five years ago) link
the doogie howser with Channel Z is in the first season, episode 8, 9:35 in, here
vinnie, why i oughtta
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 15 November 2018 02:08 (five years ago) link
now if you'll excuse me, i have to go watch the entirety of guiding light 1982
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 15 November 2018 02:17 (five years ago) link
Spotify: ILM The B-52's Top 40
― Bee OK, Thursday, 15 November 2018 02:25 (five years ago) link
thanks Karl and Bee OK for a fantastic poll!
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Thursday, 15 November 2018 03:05 (five years ago) link
My ballot:
1 52 Girls2 Ain't It A Shame3 Private Idaho4 Dance This Mess Around5 Girl From Ipanema Goes to Greenland6 Deadbeat Club7 Mesopotamia8 Roam9 Legal Tender10 Cake11 Wig12 Dry County13 Give Me Back My Man14 Summer of Love15 Strobe Light16 Theme for a Nude Beach17 Planet Claire18 Queen of Las Vegas19 Housework20 Topaz
1 Bouncing Off the Satellites2 Cosmic Thing3 The B-52's4 Wild Planet5 Mesopotamia
― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Thursday, 15 November 2018 03:09 (five years ago) link
This was a blast. Thank you poll-runners!
52 GirlsRock LobsterDirty Back RoadHero WorshipPlanet Claire53 Miles West of VenusDance This Mess AroundRoam6060-842Love ShackGive Me Back My ManMesopotamiaParty Out of BoundsShe Brakes For RainbowsDetour Thru Your Mind
― jmm, Thursday, 15 November 2018 03:11 (five years ago) link
Thank you Bee OK and Karl Malone, this poll was so much fun. It brought me back to the old days of ILM.
1. Party Out of Bounds2. Planet Claire3. Legal Tender4. Roam5. Dance This Mess Around6. Give Me Back My Man7. Song for a Future Generation8. Rock Lobster9. Strobe Light10. Love Shack11. Private Idaho12. Summer of Love13. Whammy Kiss14. Channel Z15. 52 Girls16. Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland17. 6060-54218. Wig19. Lava20. Deadbeat Club
― the future is now, Thursday, 15 November 2018 05:10 (five years ago) link
These images were some of the best I have seen for one of these polls, great job by Karl.
― the future is now, Thursday, 15 November 2018 05:13 (five years ago) link
1 - Rock Lobster2 - 52 Girls3 - Roam4 - Private Idaho5 - Channel Z6 - Planet Claire7 - Summer of Love8 - Wig9 - Dance This Mess Around10 - Dirty Back Road11 - Strobe Light12 - Topaz13 - Love Land14 - Is That You Mo-Dean?15 - The Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland16 - Dry County17 - Legal Tender18 - Devil in My Car19 - Funplex20 - Theme for a Nude Beach
I'm still perplexed how Rock Lobster with 5 #1 votes could get beaten by Roam with no #1s.
Here's my own variation on the picture at the top of this thread:
https://i.imgur.com/2m2uRkN.jpg
― Hideous Lump, Thursday, 15 November 2018 05:59 (five years ago) link
ooh, very nice on the fluffy blouse
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 15 November 2018 06:14 (five years ago) link
so here were the rock lobster votes (rank in ballot, points)
1 401 401 401 401 402 362 362 362 362 363 334 304 305 286 267 257 258 2410 2211 2111 2111 2112 2013 1913 1914 1816 1620 12----------790 points28 votes, average of 28.14 points per vote
here's Roam:
2 362 362 362 362 363 333 333 333 333 334 305 285 286 266 267 257 258 248 249 239 239 239 2310 2212 2012 2013 1915 1719 1320 12--------796 points30 votes, average of 26.53 points each
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 15 November 2018 06:18 (five years ago) link
Damn you, math!
― Hideous Lump, Thursday, 15 November 2018 06:26 (five years ago) link
i don't believe it in myself, i just do what it says
here's my lame ballot btw (only 15 tracks!)
Party Out Of BoundsRock LobsterDance This Mess AroundLegal Tender52 GirlsMesopotamiaPrivate IdahoPlanet ClaireRoamGive Me Back My ManThere’s A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon)Love ShackLavaCake53 Miles West Of Venus
if i could do it again, just literally typing all this out as it comes to mind, after listening to all these tracks a million times the last few days, starting NOW:
tier 1( no order for any of the tiers)party out of boundsain't it a shamedance this mess aroundgive me back my manthrow that beat in the garbage can (honestly the guiding light performance slays me)
2:private idaho52 girlsroamplanet clairetopaz
3:dirty back roadmesopotamiacakelegal tendernip it in the bud
4:butterbeanlegal tendertheme for a nude beachtrismqueen of las vegas
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 15 November 2018 06:36 (five years ago) link
throw that beat in the garbage can RULES
the part 1:25 in where fred's like 'STOP STOP STOP STOP! it's driving me craaaaaaazy - hahahahahahaha' is one of the best moments of their entire catalog
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 15 November 2018 06:39 (five years ago) link
i think you should have updated your ballot, i have always believed you can redo any ballot up until the deadline.
are you saying "Rock Lobster" went from number 2 to not even making your Top 20?
― Bee OK, Thursday, 15 November 2018 06:43 (five years ago) link
oh shit, no, no saying that! rock lobster is a tier 1 for me, all time! drinking the lagunitas over here, mistakes were made.
i honestly struggled a bit with whether or not to update my ballot. i thought about at least adding 5 more songs at the bottom, 16-20. but then while i was thinking about that, i couldn't help but notice that Trism was right on the edge, and i thought i thought it deserved to make it. but adding it on there might bump something off, and i knew what that was something was (and liked that something!) and just felt weird about the whole thing. so in the spirit of free and fair elections, i decided to just let my first ballot stand, even though it no longer represented what i really thought.
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 15 November 2018 06:49 (five years ago) link
dang, deep sleep should go on there as well.
several takeaways from this poll, but one important one is that mesopamia, whammy!, and bouncing all have really worthwhile tracks. not everyone would agree on what those tracks are, maybe, but they each have at least a few songs that are excellent.
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 15 November 2018 07:07 (five years ago) link
My list!
― I like queer. You like queer, senator? (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 15 November 2018 11:16 (five years ago) link
niceroam would have been my #1 had i got a vote in
thanks for this poll guys, only really familiar with the first two records + cosmic thing tbh - lots to explore :)
― nxd, Thursday, 15 November 2018 11:19 (five years ago) link
Yep, I'm gonna have to dive into some listening too. Never listened to anything past the greatest hits, which has a lot of great tracks. "52 Girls" is probably my favorite track, had no idea it was that well-liked by y'all!
― Vinnie, Thursday, 15 November 2018 13:37 (five years ago) link
when i started doing the Acclaimed Music polls, i ended up doing 1979 first and to my surprise The B-52's album won. to me it was like woo, really? so then i started to seek out their albums.
This is eerie, because I got into them in this same way from that exact thread as well. Here is the precise minute I discovered how much I liked the B-52's:
Wow, "52 Girls"... I guess I need this record.― jim, Wednesday, June 6, 2012 2:38 PM (six years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― jim, Wednesday, June 6, 2012 2:38 PM (six years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― jmm, Thursday, 15 November 2018 14:13 (five years ago) link
Thank you Karl and Bee OK! I’m not much of a polls guy, but this was great fun.
My story: in 1976 I was 18 and playing in my first band. We hated all the hard rock hits of the day. My cousin played keyboards and wrote all the songs, derivative of Elton John, but we also loved Sparks. We weren’t very good, but we *did* record a poorly produced 45 and sent it to radio stations and record labels hoping for stardom. Nothing happened, and we disbanded.
1976-78 I worked at several small town radio stations. I was starting to hear some of the new punk music like Sex Pistols and Ramones, but was more enamored of quirky, arty stuff like Jonathan Richman, Talking Heads, and Devo. By late 1978 I had been fired for deviating from the playlist too often, airing Blondie and The Cars when it should have been Bee Gees.
I returned to Minneapolis, where I heard the DB Records “Rock Lobster” single in a record store. I was floored! Here was what I had been trying to do back in 1976, but now there was a scene for bands to tour clubs across the country. I eagerly bought a ticket at the store for their upcoming performance.
I wish I could recall it more clearly. I remember Fred announcing every song as “this is a dance song,” and I’ve been told they played their same short set twice, but memories are a blur. What I do remember is that being in a “new wave” club for the first time, I felt surrounded by like-minded, creative individuals looking for something outside the mainstream. I resolved not to move to any more small towns, to remain in the city. I began to disassociate myself from some of the metalheads and meatheads of my teen years, began to attend more clubs, more art shows, more dance and repertory film. I began to scour thrift stores for vintage clothing and records, and mainly kept playing music, kept writing, kept creating. The more I read of The B-52s and their history, the more inspired I am by them, and I’m happy they inspire others!
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1203143963040174&set=gm.10154386723414651&type=3&eid=ARCRabnESaMd1VFz24PghxpVwCFttUS4Li06ojY3VtiQeAFn9VI2s0uyNmUDZaMPlyu6KY5CYwqyDXbu&ifg=1
― Drunk Charles Nelson Reily violating Paul Lynn at a toga party (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 15 November 2018 16:23 (five years ago) link
<3
― #BreakingTheWorld (sleeve), Thursday, 15 November 2018 16:24 (five years ago) link
[Removed Illegal Image]
― Drunk Charles Nelson Reily violating Paul Lynn at a toga party (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 15 November 2018 16:27 (five years ago) link
Stupid Photobucket.
― Drunk Charles Nelson Reily violating Paul Lynn at a toga party (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 15 November 2018 16:31 (five years ago) link
Wonderful story. Is your first band's 45 available to hear somewhere?
― jmm, Thursday, 15 November 2018 16:34 (five years ago) link
^^^ Discogs link plz
― #BreakingTheWorld (sleeve), Thursday, 15 November 2018 16:35 (five years ago) link
lol my record actually did show up in cyberspace recently. Please be gentle. Piano is way out of tune on the A side, it's "Genius" I'm more proud of. I did the sax.
http://citizenfreak.com/titles/318745-yukon-nova-scotia-b-w-genius
― Drunk Charles Nelson Reily violating Paul Lynn at a toga party (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 15 November 2018 16:42 (five years ago) link
- Tracks1. MesopotamiaPrivate IdahoPlanet ClaireStrobe LightRock LobsterWhammy Kiss6060-842Bushfire52 GirlsButterbeanDirty Back RoadQuiche LorraineDance This Mess AroundWigHero WorshipParty Out Of BoundsCakeRunnin' AroundBig BirdGive Me Back My Man
- AlbumsWild PlanetThe B-52'sWhammyMesopotamia
This exercise made me realize I'm much fonder of the all-three-vocalist tracks with the wiggly groove-laser that is Wilson's guitar. "Hero Worship" being the biggest exception. It's impossible not to love every aspect of this band, but Ricky is my favorite child.
― saddest kamancheh (bendy), Thursday, 15 November 2018 16:45 (five years ago) link