The B52's - The B-52's

Original Release Date

1979

Release Information

UK LP 1979 (Island - ILPS 9580)
UK LP+7 1979 (Island - ILPS 9580). See notes below
US LP 1979 (Warner Bros - BSK 3355)
US CD 1987 (Warner Bros - 3355-2)
UK CD 1988 (Island - Masters IMCD 1)

1 Planet Claire 4:35
2 52 Girls 3:35
3 Dance This Mess Around 4:35
4 Rock Lobster 6:50
5 Lava 4:55
6 There's A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon) 4:55
7 Hero Worship 4:10
8 6060-842 2:50
9 Downtown 2:55

Chart Placings

UK Chart Hit: 22, 9 wks

Credits

LP:

Kate Pierson - vocals, organ, keyboard bass; 2nd guitar ('52 Girls', 'Hero Worship')
Fred Schneider - vocals, walkie talkie, toy piano; keyboard bass ('Hero Worship')
Keith Strickland - drums, percussion, Claire sounds
Cindy Wilson - vocals, bongoes, 2nd guitar ('Moon'), tambourine
Ricky Wilson - guitar, smoke alarm

Produced by Chris Blackwell for Island Records Inc.
Associate Producer: Robert Ash
Engineer: Robert Ash
Assistant engineer: Cass Rigby
Recorded at Compass Point Studios, Nassau, Bahamas

Reviews & Opinions

RED STARR, SMASH HITS, AUG 9-22, 1979: After all the fuss, this is a real disappointment. The American girls chant jokey lyrics over a pipe organ and sledgehammer drumming in songs that sound like accidents. Quirkily amusing at first but gets very tiresome very quickly. More style (hairstyle mostly) than content. File under: Wait And See. Best trax: 'Dance This Mess Around', 'Planet Claire'. (5 out of 10).

SCOTT ISLER/IRA ROBBINS, THE TROUSER PRESS RECORD GUIDE, 1991: Just when new wave seemed to be bottoming out, along came Athens, Georgia's B-52's to rev it back up again, with distinctive junk-store '60s visuals (Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson sport bouffant wigs - "B-52's" in Southern regional slang) and stark, highly danceable songs with appropriately surreal kitsch lyrics. The B-52's wacky sense of humor made their self-titled first album a sleeper that was finally certified gold in 1986. Now a cult classic, it contains such cornerstones of the repertoire as "52 Girls," "Dance This Mess Around," "6060-842" and the ever-popular "Rock Lobster."

RECORD COLLECTOR, 1993: Over a decade later, the first two B-52's albums (from 1979 and 1980) still exist in a world of their own. Like Devo, the band were lumped in with the American new wave, but singles like the over-played 'Rock Lobster', 'Planet Claire' (Henry Mancini meets Gary Numan) and the quirky '6060-842' from their debut owed little to punk aside from a blatant disregard for convention. The B-52's wacky party sound was more akin to the keyboard wackiness of Sparks or contemporaries like Talking Heads but with the addition of a strong sense of humour and kitsch 50s imagery (beehives, bright colours, and art deco furniture on their sleeves). But B-52's albums should be scratched and covered with beer stained and finger marks, not neatly tucked away on this Island Twinsets CD edition.

Additional Notes

The 7" with some UK LPs is simply a the UK 1978 DB Records version of 'Rock Lobster'' in its original sleeve.

Images

UK LP 1979 (Island - ILPS 9580). Click here for more

US LP 1979 (Warner Bros - BSK 3355). Click here for more

US CD 1987 (Warner Bros - 3355-2)

UK CD 1988 (Island - Masters IMCD 1)

 

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