# Does anyone remember the greatness of the B-52s? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 17, 2004, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785 "2004-09-17T02:59:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/21 "2004-09-18T18:45:47Z")
I came to the B-52’s late, like, with _Cosmic Thing_. I love that record[sup]1[/sup]. And I hear tell that most folks don’t like the next one, _Good Stuff_. I like that record even better. So 😛 to all those types. [sup]1[/sup] My brother and I once had a discussion on the proper generic term for referring to an musical artist’s “product”. I was arguing for “album”, but he made a strong argument for “record”, as in a record is made by recording the performance. I was convinced, but I think it’s more a matter of preference. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2004, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/22 "2004-09-18T18:51:14Z")
Kate Pierson… I want to touch her pineapple. ---
**Author:** ![Live\_Better\_Electrically](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/46a35a/32.png) [@Live\_Better\_Electrically](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Live_Better_Electrically)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/23 "2004-09-19T02:14:04Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Yes, and it’s called their third, fourth and fifth albums. 🙂 You are crazy… …but entitled to your opinion. 😃 I remember seeing the B-52’s on SNL in…uh…1977 or '78. ---
**Author:** ![Joools](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6de8d8/32.png) [@Joools](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joools)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/24 "2004-09-19T04:44:24Z")
Mmm. The B-52’s. Pass me a plate full, I’ll be grateful. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/25 "2004-09-19T05:52:00Z")
Hi, my name is **SolGrundy** and I’m a Cancer from San Francisco, CA and I love the B-52’s and Chinese noodles! I used to live on the Atlanta Highway! And I would frequently go to Normaltown! (But I never crashed a party down there). I think I’d still be a huge fan of the band if it weren’t for the time that I tried to drive somewhere in Atlanta and got stuck driving around the Perimeter **twice** because I kept missing my exit (I’m a really, _really_ bad driver – we’re talking the stuff of epic poems). I’m on the freeway for over 2 hours with only 1 tape in the car, and that’s _Whammy!_ The third time I heard “Butterbean” I was about ready to kill someone. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2004, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/26 "2004-09-19T05:52:28Z")
Greatness of the B-52s? Naaahhh, but Planet Claire was da b0//\ ---
**Author:** ![The\_Mermaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@The\_Mermaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mermaid)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/27 "2004-09-20T01:17:28Z")
You’re WHAT? Tin roof…rusted ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/28 "2004-09-20T01:44:57Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I’m making this simple! Ah, operation line backer . Music to my ears 😃 Declan ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/29 "2004-09-20T05:28:04Z")
> [@Live Better Electrically!](#): > > You are crazy… Hmm. Are you saying that they got worse instead of better as they got deeper into their career? Who’s the crazy one? :dubious: > [@](#): > > Toss that beat, beat, beat, beat > Toss that beat, beat, beat, beat > Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop, stop > It’s drivin’ me crazy Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/30 "2004-09-20T08:00:45Z")
They headlined a concert I went to about six years ago, with the Pretenders and the Royal Crown Review. I was mildly surprised that they had become an “oldies” act. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Clanger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@Small\_Clanger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Clanger)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/31 "2004-09-20T09:30:56Z")
> [@riserius1](#): > > It bugs me to no end that Love Shack and Roam are their two biggest hits, and (IMHO) sound nothing like the weirdness and fun that were their first two albums. I’m with you there. Later _albums_ had the odd good track but they lost the weirdness they had when they started out. The yellow and red albums are the only ones I’ve re-bought as CDs. In the sexy-singing-voice thread I posted _Kate and Cindy in harmony_ - but in unison works too. [52girl] He’s got his Cloven hoof on the clutch! [/52girl] brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![Monkey\_Chews](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@Monkey\_Chews](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monkey_Chews)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/32 "2004-09-20T17:51:48Z")
I saw them recently play a show in Sydney. They were ON FIRE!! I have never been to a more fun concert, it was like a huge party. The crowd were so into it, people were just going crazy. When they did the “Down! Down!” part in _Rock Lobster_, the whole audience (well, at least all the nutters around me in down towards the stage) slunk down to the ground and lay down. I laughed my arse off for the whole show! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/33 "2004-09-20T18:32:43Z")
I wondered why an airplane thread was in _Cafe Society_. Now I see that it’s not about the bombers, but the band. Never mind… ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2004, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/34 "2004-09-20T22:19:15Z")
They played here last summer, at the LA County Fair End of Summer Concert Series. The wife and I are huge B-52s fans… we loved 'em. I also saw them waaaay back in 1990, at UC Santa Barbara. We damn near danced the bleachers into the ground at that one. _Suzie and Anita and Phoebe and Jack… Jackie-Oh_ For some reason, though, it seems like only us white folks appreciate 'em… I seldom if ever see any people of color jammin out to the guitar riffs of _Rock Lobster_ or _Dirty Back Road_. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/35 "2004-09-21T17:27:45Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > For some reason, though, it seems like only us white folks appreciate 'em… I seldom if ever see any people of color jammin out to the guitar riffs of _Rock Lobster_ or _Dirty Back Road_. Hi, I’m TeaElle. I’m a person of color and a huge B-52’s fan, as are my husband and sister. We got to jam out to them live in Birmingham, Alabama in, uh, 1984 I think. Good old days. (And we weren’t the only brown folks in the audience that night.) ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/36 "2004-09-21T17:55:16Z")
> [@astro](#): > > She drove a Plymouth Satellite > Faster than - the speed of light I bet she had the devil in her car. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/37 "2004-09-21T17:56:58Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > For some reason, though, it seems like only us white folks appreciate 'em… I seldom if ever see any people of color jammin out to the guitar riffs of _Rock Lobster_ or _Dirty Back Road_. **MrDibble** is a “person of colour” and gets down to the sound… Hey now, don’t that make you feel you a whole lot better? ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2004, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/38 "2004-09-21T20:49:10Z")
I just love the B-52’s. Loopy tackiness at its greatest. And I have great memories of church dances, where we always played _Rock Lobster_ and _Planet Claire_. ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/39 "2004-09-22T01:35:49Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > Hey now, don’t that make you feel you a whole lot better? Yes, yes it does… Sorta validating, in a way. Cuz the only other music I can dance to besides the B-52’s is Reggae. ---
**Author:** ![unclviny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e274bd/32.png) [@unclviny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unclviny)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2004, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785/40 "2004-09-22T19:30:38Z")
When I was in middle (junior high) school I took my first “real date” by cab (no car) to see the B-52’s with the Judy’s opening ('81 or '82) and that still ranks as one of my all time favorite concerts, it was in a stuffy “serious music” hall downtown Houston, Texas and if (when) you started doing the Pogo at the back of the auditorium the slanted floor moved you to the stage. The Judy’s were awesome, to this day I have not experienced a better frying pan solo . The later albums had bright spots on them but the first 2 albums were ALL bright spots (IMHO). Has anybody seen A dog dyed dark green About 2 inches tall With a strawberry blond paw Sunglasses and a bonnet Designer jeans with appliques on it. Unclviny [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-remember-the-greatness-of-the-b-52s/264785.md?page=3)