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B-52's
Eschewing everything but the pursuit of fun, Athens, GAs B-52s burst onto the New Wave scene in 1979. Their mix of 50s/60s kitsch and pure pop instincts produced some classic campy tunes ("Rock Lobster," "Private Idaho"). The bands popularity hit new peaks a decade later with the release of COSMIC THING and the huge hits "Love Shack," "Roam," and "Deadbeat Club," showing how fully the group had penetrated the pop-culture landscape.
The B-52s campy take on New Wave made them one of the more recognizable pop acts of the 1980s and 90s. With their bee-hives, thrift store shtick and Fred Schneiders nasally distinct narratives, the group made an imprint not only on nascent alt-rockers, but on the Top 40 charts, as well. The groups debut still packs a punch with its sci-fi surf party vibe and ridiculously brilliant pop songs like "Rock Lobster" and "52 Girls." By the time the group released Cosmic Thing in 1989, they had become a slickly-produced, yet still very odd pop act who achieved enormous success with tracks such as "Roam" and the wedding party staple, "Love Shack." Inactive since the mid-90s, the group remain popular on commercial radio -- a remarkable feat considering the individual nature of their manic pop music.
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Artist Biography - B-52's
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 The first of many acts to cement the college town of Athens, GA, as a hotbed of alternative music, the B-52s took their name from the Southern slang for the mile-high bouffant wigs sported by singers Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson, a look emblematic of the bands campy, thrift-store aesthetic. The five-piece group, which also included founding members Fred Schneider, guitarist Ricky Wilson (Cindys older brother), and drummer Keith Strickland, formed in the mid-70s after a drunken evening at a Chinese restaurant; the bandmembers had little or no previous musical experience, and performed most of their earliest shows with taped guitar and percussion accompaniment.
After pressing up a few thousand copies of the single "Rock Lobster," the B-52s traveled to the famed Maxs Kansas City club for their first paying gig. Subsequent appearances at CBGBs brought the group to the attention of the New York press, and in 1979, they issued their self-titled debut album, a collection of manic, bizarre, and eminently danceable songs which scored an underground club hit with a reworked version of "Rock Lobster." The following year, they issued Wild Planet, which reached the Top 20 on the U.S. album charts; Party Mix!, an EPs worth of reworked material from the bands first two proper outings, appeared in 1981.
1982s Mesopotamia arose out of a series of aborted sessions with producer David Byrne which saw the B-52s largely abandon their trademark sense of humor, a situation rectified by the next years Whammy!, a move into electronic territory. After a Schneider solo LP, 1984s Fred Schneider & the Shake Society, the group returned to the studio to record 1986s Bouncing Off the Satellites. On October 12, 1985, however, Ricky Wilson died; though originally his death was attributed to natural causes, it was later revealed that he had succumbed to AIDS. In light of Wilsons death, the group found it impossible to promote the new album, and they spent the next several years in seclusion.
In 1989, the B-52s finally returned with Cosmic Thing, their most commercially successful effort to date. Marked by Stricklands move from drums to guitar and club-friendly production from Don Was and Nile Rodgers, the album launched several hit singles, including the party smash "Love Shack," "Roam," and "Deadbeat Club." In 1990, Cindy Wilson retired from active duty, leaving the remaining trio to soldier on for 1992s Good Stuff. A year later, dubbed the BC-52s, they performed the theme song for Steven Spielbergs live-action feature The Flintsones. Wilson returned to the group for a tour supporting the release of 1998s hits collection Time Capsule.
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For more information , enjoy the official homepage of B-52"s
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