THE B-52'S
The B-52’s are an American new wave band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. Rooted in new wave and 1960s rock and roll, the group later covered many genres ranging from post-punk to pop rock. The “guy vs. gals” vocals of Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, and Cindy Wilson, sometimes used in call and response style (“Strobe Light”, “Private Idaho”, and “Good Stuff”), are a trademark. (More from Wikipedia)
There is more fun to be had in the rock world also, as opposed to actual laughs. The B-52’s is one of the greatest fun bands ever, and they back it up with killer music as well. One of their early hits was “Rock Lobster” (1978); from Wikipedia: “Its lyrics include nonsensical lines about a beach party and excited rants about real or imagined marine animals – ‘There goes a dog-fish, chased by a cat-fish, in flew a sea robin, watch out for that piranha, there goes a narwhal, here comes a bikini whale!’ – accompanied by absurd, fictional noises attributed to them (provided by Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson — Pierson providing the higher-pitched noises and Wilson the lower-pitched ones); the chorus consists of the words ‘Rock Lobster!’ repeated over and over on top of a keyboard line.”
The follow-up single by the B-52’s was “Private Idaho”; both were dance club hits though neither made a major impact on the Billboard Hot 100. The latter song inspired the title of the River Phoenix/Keanu Reeves indie film, My Own Private Idaho that was directed by Gus Van Sant.
* * *
John Lennon was beginning to write some new songs and noticed that much of the new music sounded a lot like Yoko Ono’s earlier work, particularly “Rock Lobster” by the B-52’s. This realization fired his inspiration to get a new album out. The couple produced dozens of songs, enough to fill up their hit 1980 album, Double Fantasy, as well as a second planned album, Milk and Honey that was ultimately released in 1984 (following Lennon’s assassination).
* * *
One of the best music videos by the B-52’s was the one for “Love Shack”, featuring a road trip down the Atlanta Highway (that would be the old Atlanta Highway, a two-lane road from the looks of it) to a stylized dance club in the middle of nowhere. The video had just the right mix of kitsch and nostalgia.
Another great B-52’s video is for “Roam”; like many of their songs, there is a lot of sexual innuendo in this one, particularly the line: “Around the world / The trip begins with a kiss.” One image has stuck with me over the years; toward the end, there is a shot of a Toyota truck but with the lettering on the back spelled ATOYOT (meaning that the film is reversed).
(March 2016)
* * *
Items: The B-52’s
