The B-52s

Name	The B-52s
Background	group_or_band
Landscape	yes
Origin	Athens, Georgia, United States
Genre	New wave, post-punk, pop rock
Years active	1976–present
Label	Astralwerks, Island, Go!, Warner Bros.
Url	Official website
Current members	Fred SchneiderKate PiersonCindy WilsonKeith Strickland
Past members	Ricky Wilson † (deceased)

The B-52s (originally formatted with an apostrophe as The B-52's) are an American rock band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. From 1976, the group consisted of Fred Schneider (percussion, vocals), Cindy Wilson (vocals), Kate Pierson (keyboards, vocals), Ricky Wilson (guitar), and Keith Strickland (drums). Rooted in New Wave and 1960s rock and roll, the group later worked in many genres ranging from post-punk to pop rock. The "guy vs. gals" vocals of Schneider, Pierson, and Wilson, sometimes used in call and response style (as in their songs "Private Idaho" and "Good Stuff"), are a trademark of the band. Presenting themselves as a positive, enthusiastic, slightly oddball party band, the B-52s focus on songs telling tall tales, glorifying wild youth, or celebrating wild romance.

The correct name for the band had long been "The B-52's", but in 2008 they dropped the , with their official website and Funplex album and single covers reading "The B-52s".

History

Formation and early years (1977–1981)

The B-52s were formed when vocalist Cindy Wilson, aged nineteen, her older brother and guitarist Ricky, aged twenty-three, organist and vocalist Kate Pierson, aged twenty-eight, original drummer and percussionist Keith Strickland, aged twenty-three, and cowbell player and vocalist Fred Schneider, aged twenty-five, played an impromptu musical jam session after sharing a tropical Flaming Volcano drink at a local Chinese restaurant; they later played their first concert in 1977 at a Valentine's Day party for their friends. The band's name comes from a particular beehive hairdo resembling the nose cone of the aircraft of the same name. Keith Strickland suggested the name after a dream he had one night, of a band performing in a hotel lounge. In the dream he heard someone whisper in his ear that the name of the band was "The B-52s." The band's quirky take on the New Wave sound of their era was a combination of dance and surf music set apart by the unusual guitar tunings used by Ricky Wilson.

The B-52s, Wild Planet, and Party Mix!

In 1979, The B-52s signed a contract with Warner Bros. Records agreeing for Chris Blackwell to produce their debut studio album. and was certified gold. "Private Idaho" became their second Hot 100 entry. On January 26, 1980, The B-52s performed on Saturday Night Live. They also performed at the Heatwave festival (billed as the "New Wave Woodstock") in Toronto, Canada in August 1980; and appeared in the Paul Simon film One Trick Pony. Party Mix! was released next, a remix album that took tracks from the first two LPs and presented them in extended forms. In interviews before his death, John Lennon cited "Rock Lobster" as an inspiration for his comeback.

Later years and death of Ricky Wilson (1982–1986)

Mesopotamia, Whammy!, and Bouncing off the Satellites

, original guitarist for The B-52s who died of an AIDS-related illness in 1985.]] In 1981, the band collaborated with musician David Byrne to produce a fourth studio album. Due to alleged conflicts with Byrne over the album's musical direction, recording sessions for the album were aborted, prompting the band to release the album, Mesopotamia (1982), as an extended play (EP); in 1991, Party Mix! and Mesopotamia, the latter of which had been remixed, were combined and released together on a single compact disc.

In 1983, the band released Whammy!; this album brought the band into synthesizer and drum machine experimentation. The album entered the Billboard 200 chart in 1983, reaching number twenty-nine during the year. "Legal Tender" reached the Billboard Hot 100 chart, as well as the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play Singles chart alongside "Whammy Kiss" and "Song for a Future Generation". After initial pressings of Whammy! were released, copyright issues with Yoko Ono led to the song "Don't Worry" being removed and replaced on future pressings by "Moon 83", a remixed version of the track "There's a Moon in the Sky (Called the Moon)" from their debut album.

In 1985, after a three-year absence from their musical careers, The B-52s regrouped to record their third studio album Bouncing off the Satellites. During the recording, guitarist Wilson had been suffering from AIDS/HIV-related health complications. None of the other band members were aware of his illness. On October 12, 1985, Wilson died from the illness, at the age of 32.

Reformation and mainstream success (1986–2007)

Cosmic Thing and Good Stuff

During the hiatus following Wilson's death, Strickland switched from drums to guitar and began writing music. After Strickland played some of his new music for the other band members, they all agreed to try writing together again, with Pierson, Wilson and Schneider contributing the lyrics and melodies. In 1989, the band released Cosmic Thing, their mainstream breakthrough. The single "Channel Z", a single from the new album, became an alternative and college radio hit, hitting number one on the U.S. Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart, receiving significant airplay on MTV's modern rock show 120 Minutes.

The next single, "Love Shack", with its party vibe and colorful music video, became their first top-40 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, ultimately reaching #3 in November 1989. That peak was matched in March 1990 when their follow-up single, "Roam", also reached #3. In Australia, the country that had most embraced the band a decade earlier, "Love Shack" stayed at number one for eight weeks.

A fourth single, "Deadbeat Club", which reminisced about the band's early days in Athens and whose video was shot on location and featured a cameo by fellow Athens artist R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, reached #30. The Cosmic Thing album climbed into the U.S. top five and earned multi-platinum certification. it also had huge international success reaching #1 in both Australia and New Zealand and #8 in the UK. The group had a hugely successful world tour to support the record, and appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone in March, 1990. In 1990 the B-52's were nominated for 4 MTV Video Music Awards including Video of the Year. They won two awards, Best Group Video and Best Art Direction.

Pierson sang on Iggy Pop's song "Candy", which gave him a top-40 hit. In 1991, Schneider's solo record was repackaged and re-released, resulting in his first Hot 100 single when "Monster" climbed to #85, and Pierson again guest-starred on a popular track, this time it being fellow Athens, GA band R.E.M.'s "Shiny Happy People", which reached #10 in September 1991. Pierson appeared on another song from the band's chart-topping album Out of Time, "Me in Honey".

In late 1990, Cindy Wilson took time off from the band, with Julee Cruise filling in for her parts on the eventual tour. As a trio, the B-52s released Good Stuff in 1992, and the title track reached #28 in August of that year. The album made it to #18 in the U.S. It is also the group's most overtly political album, though they had been activists and fund-raisers for environmental, AIDS and animal rights causes for many years. Subsequent singles were not as successful and the album did not sell as well as Cosmic Thing.

Mainstream success

The band had its next chart entry in 1994 when, as The BC-52's, they appeared in The Flintstones live-action movie and sang the title song. When released as a single, it reached #33 in the U.S. and #3 in the UK. In 1994, Kate Pierson, and Fred Schneider also sang on the theme song for the Nickelodeon series Rocko's Modern Life from the second season on. In the 1990s, former Duran Duran drummer Sterling Campbell joined the band, but left in 2000 to tour with David Bowie and was replaced that year by Zachary Alford, who had recorded and toured with the band during the Cosmic Thing era.

A career retrospective, , appeared in 1998 along with two remixed maxi-singles "Summer of Love '98" and "Hallucinating Pluto". Cindy Wilson rejoined the group on two of the new songs and a major tour (with co-headliners the Pretenders) to promote the collection. "Debbie", another single from the album (a tribute to Blondie's Debbie Harry), placed 35 on Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Tracks. In 1999 they recorded a parody of "Love Shack" called "Glove Slap" for an episode of The Simpsons. They co-headlined another major tour in 2000 with the Go-Go's. In 2000, the band recorded the song "The Chosen One" for the movie .

A more extensive anthology, , appeared in 2002. The B-52s recorded the song "Orange You Glad It's Summer" for a Target commercial that aired in spring/summer 2002. Target also used the song "Junebug" in a TV spot in 2007.

In late 2004, the band opened for Cher on a few dates of her Farewell Tour. In March 2006 they opened for The Rolling Stones at a benefit for the Robin Hood Foundation. They had three remix EPs released by Planet Clique: Whammy! in 2005, Mesopotamia in 2006 and Wild Planet in 2007. During this time span they appeared on many television shows including The L Word, V.I.P., The Rosie O'Donnell Show, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with David Letterman, The Arsenio Hall Show, Saturday Night Live, Live with Regis and Kelly, The Today Show, Good Morning America and numerous times on VH1.

Recent exploits

Funplex

Funplex, the band's first original album in sixteen years (since 1992's Good Stuff), was released on March 25, 2008 by Astralwerks. Talking about the record's sound, Keith Strickland noted, "It’s loud, sexy rock & roll with the beat turned up to hot pink." The album is produced by Steve Osborne, who was asked to work on the album based on his work with New Order on the album Get Ready. With this album, the band dropped the apostrophe from their name and became The B-52s.

The album debuted at #11 on the Billboard charts in the U.S., immediately making it the second-highest charting B-52s album ever. The band toured in support of the album as well as making television appearances on talk shows, including The Tonight Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and performing on The Today Show on Memorial Day 2008. They also participated in the True Colors Tour 2008 with Cyndi Lauper and embarked on a European tour in July.

The first single from the album was "Funplex", which was released digitally on January 29 to the iTunes Store in the U.S. The second single lifted from the album was "Juliet of the Spirits". Fred Schneider said in an interview that the album just broke even and could be The B-52s' last new studio album, though he later retracted that statement. The B-52s recently performed their hit track "Love Shack" with Sugarland at the 2009 CMT Music Awards. As of 2010, the B-52s are on their summer tour, the setlist ranging from tracks on Funplex to their greatest hits and songs never played live before (such as Bouncing off the Satellites ' "Wig").

Discography

;Studio albums

The B-52's (1979)

Wild Planet (1980)

Whammy! (1983)

Bouncing off the Satellites (1986)

Cosmic Thing (1989)

Good Stuff (1992)

Funplex (2008)

Band members

Fred Schneider - vocals, cowbell, toy piano, glockenspiel

Kate Pierson - vocals, keyboards, maracas

Keith Strickland - guitar, drums, keyboards, programming, backing vocals

Cindy Wilson - vocals, tambourine, bongos

Ricky Wilson (deceased) - guitar

References

Further reading

External links

Official Home Page

Category:Musical groups established in 1976 Category:1970s music groups Category:1980s music groups Category:1990s music groups Category:2000s music groups Category:LGBT musical groups Category:Musical groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Category:The B-52's Category:Warner Bros. Records artists Category:American New Wave musical groups