I saw them at the Concord Pavillion one time in the early 90s, I think. I don't remember the show that well. All I remember is that the line to the women's toilets was too long, so after 20 minutes of waiting futilely I made a dash to the men's toilet. They pee into long troughs. A security guard made me leave, but the relatively speedy relief of my bladder was worth it.
The only example of bands/artists whose later work improved markedly with maturity that I can think of is Pulp. I hated the stuff that came before His'n'Hers. Well, maybe not hate, but I have no desire to listen to that. I'm glad they persevered to go on to make A Different Class, though.
― Melinda Mess-injure (Melinda Mess-injure), Thursday, 5 October 2006 21:09 (seventeen years ago) link
― gabbneb (gabbneb), Thursday, 5 October 2006 23:34 (seventeen years ago) link
You guys are leaving me alone tonight. Planet Claire and the whole first side of the first album vinyl "52 Girls" etc. are killing me to the core right now. So many clueless people have not even heard this delicious slice of funky post-punk groove.
Where are you Jeff W. when I need you? You know even Pretenders can't hold a prayer to the first B-52's album. And "Dance This Mess Around" is STILL my favourite, even though I love you if you say "Rock Lobster".
― Bimble, Saturday, 1 September 2007 02:43 (sixteen years ago) link
EVERYBODY GOES TO PARTIES THEY DANCE THIS MESS AROUND
― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:36 (fifteen years ago) link
hippie shake
ROCKZ LOBSTER IS STILL THE MOST CLASSICKEST
― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:38 (fifteen years ago) link
The music sounds like an Addams Family theme. Monster Mash. I mean what else do you want out of US post punk than the B-52's?
I have a black long sleeved shirt with the yellow sleeve for this on the front.
― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:40 (fifteen years ago) link
http://tbn0.google.com/images?q=tbn:IrF69RtMDg1MBM:http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B00002632M.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg
― Bimble Is Still More Goth Than You, Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:45 (fifteen years ago) link
b-52s being teabagged by sherman hemsley
― Bo Jackson Overdrive, Saturday, 19 July 2008 17:47 (fifteen years ago) link
Funplex wasn't that bad
― Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Saturday, 19 July 2008 18:33 (fifteen years ago) link
Until this thread I didn't know that they released two versions of Mesopotania. I love the original but my vinyl is fucked.
― Ned Trifle II, Saturday, 19 July 2008 19:08 (fifteen years ago) link
My kids totally love 'Wig'. They shout 'What's that on your head?' at random moments.
― Ned Trifle II, Saturday, 19 July 2008 19:13 (fifteen years ago) link
yeah I'm still listening to Funplex on shuffle. Pretty much the best thing they could have come up with at this stage
― baaderonixx, Saturday, 19 July 2008 20:34 (fifteen years ago) link
Didn't we have a thread specifically discussing the different versions of Mesopotamia? I recently go the 'Nude on the moon' comp and the "1990 remix" of the title song on there kills me.
― baaderonixx, Monday, 29 September 2008 12:44 (fifteen years ago) link
I have recently rediscovered, thanks to the Diplo/Santogold mix-CD, that I love "Mesopotamia" very very very much.
(I still think "52 Girls" is the best song they ever did, though.)
― i am the small cat (HI DERE), Monday, 29 September 2008 13:43 (fifteen years ago) link
I"ve really grown to love Mesopotamia, although I'm still not sure which version I own.
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Monday, 29 September 2008 13:47 (fifteen years ago) link
I think I have the original Byrne one, but judging from that 1990 remix, the new version seems more to my liking
― baaderonixx, Monday, 29 September 2008 13:56 (fifteen years ago) link
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.
― Mackro Mackro, Monday, 29 September 2008 16:44 (fifteen years ago) link
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
― Such A Hilbily (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 12 August 2009 19:03 (fourteen years ago) link
One more, Hero Worship; brief snippet, but maybe my favorite of these.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_KKZhA9sPw&NR=1
― Such A Hilbily (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 12 August 2009 19:15 (fourteen years ago) link
awesome
― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, 12 August 2009 19:19 (fourteen years ago) link
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
― Johnny Fever, Wednesday, 12 August 2009 19:30 (fourteen years ago) link
"Is that you Moe-dean" is godheadlike. honorable mention, not seen mentioned, for godheadlikeness:"Give me back my man"
― outdoor_miner, Wednesday, 12 August 2009 20:16 (fourteen years ago) link
"Ain't It a Shame" = secret highlight.
― Anatomy of a Morbius (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 August 2009 20:18 (fourteen years ago) link
they had so much cool around the first two albums im surprised they didnt precipitate a black hole
― iro with the brown bag (Hunt3r), Thursday, 13 August 2009 04:21 (fourteen years ago) link
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?
― john. a resident of chicago., Monday, 29 November 2010 16:14 (thirteen years ago) link
No.
― look at it, pwn3d, made u look at my peen/vadge (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 29 November 2010 16:30 (thirteen years ago) link
they're long-ish, yeah, but b-52s were always emphatically a dance band, i think they wanted to keep the grooves going.
― tylerw, Monday, 29 November 2010 16:30 (thirteen years ago) link
If the first album went on forever it would still be too short.
― EZ Snappin, Monday, 29 November 2010 16:43 (thirteen years ago) link
The remixes on Party Mix are so awesome.
― look at it, pwn3d, made u look at my peen/vadge (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 29 November 2010 16:45 (thirteen years ago) link
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
― campreverb, Thursday, 24 July 2014 23:12 (nine years ago) link
ooh!
― Οὖτις, Thursday, 24 July 2014 23:28 (nine years ago) link
fuck they sound amazing in this.
― piscesx, Friday, 25 July 2014 01:45 (nine years ago) link
I'd kill for some unreleased B's from that era, I'd love to see those first 2 get the deluxe treatment.
― campreverb, Friday, 25 July 2014 02:09 (nine years ago) link
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 - Loveland7:45 vs. 5:48 - Cake5:46 vs. 4:30 - Throw That Beat In The Garbage Can
― Hideous Lump, Friday, 25 July 2014 02:34 (nine years ago) link
Holy cow, that show is AMAZING. If anything, watch "Strobe Light"
― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 25 July 2014 06:08 (nine years ago) link
This is SO FUCKING GOOD.
― Johnny Fever, Friday, 25 July 2014 06:54 (nine years ago) link
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
― X-101, Friday, 25 July 2014 09:40 (nine years ago) link
Thanks, campreverb, this is indeed amazing! I saw this tour back then, but I don't remember the synth freakout in "Strobe Light."
― Both jaunty and authentic (Dan Peterson), Friday, 25 July 2014 16:57 (nine years ago) link
Sick stuff.
― Immediate Follower (NA), Friday, 25 July 2014 17:13 (nine years ago) link
Ricky Wilson was such a great guitarist.
― Immediate Follower (NA), Friday, 25 July 2014 17:24 (nine years ago) link
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
― campreverb, Monday, 4 May 2015 16:21 (nine years ago) link
Nice! I'm usually not a big fan of live boots, but I'll make an exception for early B's.
― Johnny Fever, Monday, 4 May 2015 16:36 (nine years ago) link
This is super hot! Cindy seems ready to levitate on "Give Me Back My Man."
― The job killing and likely illegal (Dan Peterson), Monday, 4 May 2015 17:59 (nine years ago) link
Been listening to Mesopotamia/Party Mix a whole lot lately
― X-101, Tuesday, 5 May 2015 13:02 (nine years ago) link
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.
― Adam J Duncan, Wednesday, 17 February 2016 05:37 (eight years ago) link
http://georgiamusic.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/B52s_Athens_04.78_kb.jpg
― the 'major tom guy' (sleeve), Wednesday, 17 February 2016 06:19 (eight years ago) link
(at their first gig, Valentine's Day 1977)
― the 'major tom guy' (sleeve), Wednesday, 17 February 2016 06:20 (eight years ago) link
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 mattressGlitter on the highwayGlitter on the front porchGlitter on the hallway
etc etc etc
― Adam J Duncan, Wednesday, 17 February 2016 08:48 (eight years ago) link