B-52s

Rating 4.5 Stars On October 12, 1985, guitarist Wilson died at age 32, from health complications related to AIDS, following completion of their album Bouncing off the Satellites. Devastated, the band went into seclusion and did not tour to promote the album, feeling that it would be impossible to continue without Wilson. During the two-year hiatus that followed Wilson’s death, Strickland (drummer) switched to the position of guitarist, and the band regrouped. In 1989, they released Cosmic Thing, their long-anticipated mainstream breakthrough. The B-52s formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. In their heyday, their music was marked by the female harmonies of Cindy Wilson (vocals) and Kate Pierson (organ, vocals), Ricky Wilson’s (guitar) surf-style guitar, Keith Strickland’s (drummer) “go-go beat” drumming, and the generally spoken word or sprechgesang male vocal counterpoint of Fred Schneider (cowbell, vocals). The resulting unique “guy vs. gals” vocals, sometimes used in call and response style (as in their songs “Private Idaho” and “Good Stuff”), are a trademark of the band. Presenting as a positive, enthusiastic, slightly wacky party band, the B-52s have focused on songs telling tall tales (“Rock Lobster”, “Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland”), glorifying wild youth (“Love Shack”, “Deadbeat Club”), or celebrating wild romance (“Strobe Light”, “Hot Pants Explosion”), all set to a danceable New Wave beat. The band’s name comes from a particular beehive hairdo resembling the nose cone of the aircraft of the same name. During their early years, wigs of that style were often worn by the band’s female singers Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson. The correct name for the band had long been “The B-52′s”, but in 2008 they dropped the apostrophe, with their official website and Funplex album and single covers reading “The B-52s”. Sourse and more information: Wikipedia