♫ Before I talk, I should read a POLL! ♪ ILM Artist Poll #93 ♪ B-52’s ♫

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!

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

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

<3

[Removed Illegal Image]

Stupid Photobucket.

Wonderful story. Is your first band's 45 available to hear somewhere?

^^^ Discogs link plz

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

My ballot:

- Tracks
1. Mesopotamia
Private Idaho
Planet Claire
Strobe Light
Rock Lobster
Whammy Kiss
6060-842
Bushfire
52 Girls
Butterbean
Dirty Back Road
Quiche Lorraine
Dance This Mess Around
Wig
Hero Worship
Party Out Of Bounds
Cake
Runnin' Around
Big Bird
Give Me Back My Man

- Albums
Wild Planet
The B-52's
Whammy
Mesopotamia

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.

that's a wonderful story, Dan!

if nothing else, this poll introduced me to the Mesopotamia version of Queen of Las Vegas (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4SAclO9JAE), which is amaaaaaaaaaaazing

well I didn't think that would happen

I had so much fun listening to the band almost non-stop for the last month. Thanks so much Karl and Bee, this poll was great. Really what the B-52's deserved.

My ballot:

TRACKS

Mesopotamia
52 Girls
Rock Lobster
Channel Z
Give Me Back My Man
Wig
Song For A Future Generation
Dance This Mess Around
Girl From Ipanema Goes to Greenland
Topaz
Ain't It a Shame
Deadbeat Club
Planet Claire
Party Out Of Bounds
Dirty Back Roads
Love Shack
Legal Tender
Private Idaho
Roam
Summer Of Love

ALBUMS

The B-52's
Bouncing Off The Satellites
Cosmic Thing
Wild Planet
Mesopotamia
Whammy

The poll also has me chin-stroking over the queerness of the B-52s relative to their other circa 1980 peers. I'm not sure that within the New Wave era I read them as more queer than Talking Heads, Devo, Lena Lovich or other twitchy rock bands. But did others? As Dan describes, they felt more like something arty and urban, vaguely in contrast the suburban arena rock of the time, but also so cool they didn't seem to care about being an "alternative". Certainly by the time of Cosmic Thing, "Love Shack" had a much more obvious queer subtext. I was older and had had my semiotics classes and such, and was in an environment were people could be out, however.

The intro to the Loverboy "Lovin'" video gets at the cultural tension -

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

Trying this again:

http://i1255.photobucket.com/albums/hh633/1Handloose/B-52s_zpshaltvhv7.jpg?1542303343202&1542303343401

YAY!!!

is that a censored listing for the Suicide Commandos?

Same band, I don't know why their name is altered, maybe just shorthand. "Suicide" ran in local rags all the time.

I figured, thanks!

The poll also has me chin-stroking over the queerness of the B-52s relative to their other circa 1980 peers.
On some level, I think we may be selling the B's short. They seem as pioneering as John Waters in retrospect, IMO.

The poll also has me chin-stroking over the queerness of the B-52s relative to their other circa 1980 peers. I'm not sure that within the New Wave era I read them as more queer than Talking Heads, Devo, Lena Lovich or other twitchy rock bands. But did others?

The recent pitchfork review of the S/T album sort of addressed this idea:

Until the early 1990s, the B-52’s talked more about their vegetarianism than their sexual orientation. With four queer members out of the founding five, they chose to present themselves as if it were a foregone conclusion, so normal or obvious that it wasn’t worth mentioning.

otm on the last point, a bit like Pet Shop Boys

here is my list, i did not know Mesopotamia other songs before this poll and why it's a black hole on this list:

1. Rock Lobster
2. Strobe Light
3. Party Out of Bounds
4. Planet Claire
5. Song for a Future Generation
6. Give Me Back My Man
7. Dance This Mess Around
8. Legal Tender
9. Roam
10. Love Shack
11. 6060-542
12. Mesopotamia
13. Private Idaho
14. Summer of Love
15. Whammy Kiss
16. Channel Z
17. 52 Girls
18. Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland
19. Cosmic Thing
20. Wig

Albums:

1. The B-52’s
2. Wild Planet
3. Bouncing off the Satellites
4. Whammy!
5. Cosmic Thing

Thanks, Karl! You did an amazing job. I might take your Topaz graphic and use it for my new FB cover photo if that wd be cool...

Topaz
Dance This Mess Around
Roam
52 Girls
Ain't It a Shame
Rock Lobster
Cake
Devil in My Car
Bushfire
Wig
Dirty Back Road
Detour Thru Your Mind
Girl From Ipanema Goes to Greenland
Lava
Deadbeat Club
Revolution Earth
Song for a Future Generation
Private Idaho
Planet Claire
Party Out of Bounds

Might as well throw these up here--covers I made for a couple of bootlegs...

https://i.imgur.com/nErqwUW.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/MSCESm8.jpg

xp to drugs

of course! it's nice of you to ask, but no need, feel free! if you'd rather have a version of it without either the number or title, just let me know, it would only take a minute or so to edit and upload

B-52's with Teenage Jesus and the Jerks would be an incredible show

This was such a fun poll. Thanks so much for all the effort Karl and Bee!

My lists

1. Topaz
2. Dance This Mess Around
3. Planet Claire
4. Ain’t It A Shame
5. Deadbeat Club
6. Give Me Back My Man
7. Roam
8. Is That You Mo-Dean?
9. Mesopotamia
10. Private Idaho
11. 52 Girls
12. Follow Your Bliss
13. Rock Lobster
14. Party Out Of Bounds
15. Bushfire
16. Junebug
17. Song For A Future Generation
18. There’s A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon)
19. She Breaks For Rainbows
20. 53 Miles West Of Venus

1. The B-52's
2. Cosmic Thing
3. Wild Planet
4. Mesopotamia
5. Bouncing Off Satellites

Thanks Karl and Bee OK! I've been busy with work the past few days so have had to play catch-up with the rollout, great results and I all the images, great work there.

My tracks ballot:

Private Idaho
52 Girls
Roam
Nip It in the Bud
Planet Claire
Topaz
Lava
Dance This Mess Around
Legal Tender
Mesopotamia
Give Me Back My Man
She Brakes for Rainbows
Rock Lobster
Trism
There's a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon)
Ain't It a Shame
Bushfire
Butterbean
Runnin' Around
6060-842

Albums:
The B-52's
Wild Planet
Whammy!
Mesopotamia
Cosmic Thing

*love all the images

"I give you fish, i give you candy"

finally finishing listening to the Spotify playlist today. i think ILM got it right, the songs just kept getting better and better and then finally ens with "52 Girls" perfect!

came across this today, and it made me laugh:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2pljSVp0Uk

$120....not bad

"we can bobble our heads, but we're not bobbleheads"

haha. I still have my original B52s fanclub comb.

"Trism" is my #1 but I didn't know enough songs by this band to vote.

Without checking Youtube, I think it sounds weirdly similar to the themesong of the Canadian Nickelodeon show "Fifteen."

God, I was just thinking about Fifteen a few weeks ago. First time in probably 20 years

Now you will remember forever.

is an ilxor djing in greenpoint tonight, cause I just heard "mesopotamia" transition into devo's "satisfaction" and it is sweeeeeet

This was so much fun

Listen to this Spotify all the time

Same! It’s a good road trip listen

i had a free three month trial to Apple Music that just came to an end and i missed Spotify. so today i was back on Spotify and this B-52's poll playlist was what i played first. such good stuff!

One of today's Dangerous Minds reruns: https://dangerousminds.net/comments/the_b_52s_bring_their_mess_around_to_the_popular_soap_opera_guiding_light_1

Apparently them doing "Throw That Beat In The Garbage Can" was the producer's idea, and during that period Guiding Light had regular musical guests.

how did I completely miss this

You can only atone by posting a late ballot imo

Hmmm...

It would look something like:

52 Girls
Rock Lobster
Junebug
Bushfire
Private Idaho
Channel Z
Follow Your Bliss
Girl From Ipanema Goes to Greenland
Love Shack
Strobe Light
Give Me Back My Man
6060-842
Planet Claire
Topaz
There's A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon)
Whammy Kiss
Dance This Mess Around
Butterbean
Dry County
Work That Skirt

argh actually I want to redo the whole thing but I will stand by my impulse ballot