ROCK LOBSTER
“Rock Lobster” is a song written by Fred Schneider and Ricky Wilson, two members of The B-52’s. It was produced in two versions, one by DB Records released in April 1978, and a longer version, which was part of the band’s 1979 self-titled debut album, released by Warner Bros. The song became one of their signature tunes, and it helped launch the band’s success. “Rock Lobster” was the band’s first single to appear on the Billboard Hot 100, where it reached No. 56. A major hit in Canada, the single went all the way to No. 1 in the RPM national singles chart. It was well received by critics and was placed at No. 147 on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. (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.”
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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).
(March 2016)
