The B-52's, The B-52's (1979)

Where bought? I am really not sure. Had it for a while. Feels like I could have grabbed this from anywhere between 2008 and 2014. Manchester? A record I forgot that I owned, as I went and picked up the 'Rock Lobster' 7" later on.

Well this brings back a particular time and place. In 2004 and 2005 I was, essentially, a tour manager for a local band with big ideas of making it in the world. They didn't, and that's a shame because they were good and better than a lot of their peers. The singer is now low-level indie famous and the rest are in normal jobs.

I used to travel to shows with the singer and the bassist (a couple) and play music: favs were Pixies, Man or Astroman?, and B-52s. Good driving music and not a million miles from their surf-sci-fi pop rock sound. They weren't rock'n'roll in the destructive and nihilistic sense, so many of the trips were only remarkable in that they turned very bland scenes into pants custard in the space of a few songs.

It would be nice to drive home (well, be driven) to the sounds of '52 Girls' and listen to their thoughts on how the gig went. I was beginning my own musical journey too, and I think the infectious energy coming from the music at the gig and on the journey to and from these shows really influenced me more than I'd care to recall. My early 20s were about angry/heavy and by the mid-20s they were more about spectacle/party.

 

 

The other thing this album reminds me of is asking my friend if they were the first hit band that were majority gay (4 out of 5, as far as I know). He said he didn't care about that. Which I thought was odd because he did a doctorate on house music. But fair enough.

 

Anyway this record absolutely slays. Who could think otherwise? B-52s started as a party band on the Athens, GA house show scene and they just channelled that energy onto this record (even though it was recorded in Nassau, where a lot of records go to get really cocainey). It lacks any kind of distancing sheen: turn it up and you can have your own go-go party to these songs and feel the atmosphere in the room it was played in.

 

'Rock Lobster' goes in my top 100 pop songs of all time, no question. Ricky Wilson is one of my favourite guitarists ever and the three singers each bring something pure and wonderful to the sound. Is it punk, pop, post-punk? Not sure really, but it's probably one of the best of whatever it is.

 

Keep forever.