Beech Tree News Network

They shot to stardom decades ago with one hit after another.  CBS Sunday Morning correspondent Kelefa Sanneh says, “I remember seeing “Love Shack” on MTV and I was like “what is this”? The song certainly didn’t fit the mold of what mainstream radio played.  Mainstream caught on. “Love Shack” by the B-52’s was released in the summer of 1989.  I was 10 years old.  Don’t bother doing the math.  The song became the group’s biggest hit.  “It had a great groove and it had a great story” said bandmember Kate Pierson.  “And it was different”, added fellow bandmate Cindy Wilson. 

They could be describing their own band.  Percussionist Cindy Wilson, singer Keith Strickland, Kate Pierson and Fred Schneider never tried to fit in.  “Mainstream radio said “if you like the Eagles, your friends drive Mercedes.  If you like the B 52’s, you borrow your friends’ cars”. 

The group came together after Fred and Kate moved from New Jersey to Athens, Georgia where Keith and Cindy grew up.  The group were just friends, never intending to start a band.  That changed in the mid ‘70’s when Keith Strickland snapped a guitar string.  “Sometimes I would be sitting around playing guitar and I would break a guitar string and I wouldn’t change it-just re-tune it”.  The next day, Keith’s best friend Ricky Wilson began playing it, missing string and all.  He said “I’ve just written the most stupid guitar riff”.  It would become “Rock Lobster”, the band’s first song and, in 1979, its first single.  Ricky on guitar, Keith on drums, Fred the lead singer and Kate and Cindy-Ricky’s little sister-harmonizing. 

Schneider said “it was a hobby that exploded into a career.  I was washing dishes at a local restaurant”.  Cindy says “and I was a waitress”.  How the band got their name was also revealed.  The B-52’s is a slang term for a big bouffant that looks like a nose cone.  Keith came up with the name”, reveals Kate Pierson. 

Their first album was the inspiration for John Lennon’s last.  In his final interview, he said “it sounds just like Yoko’s music, so I said to meself, “it’s time to get out the old ax  and wake the wife up”.  The band was shocked when they heard that. 

Appearing on Saturday Night Live, the band looked and sounded like something from another planet.  “That’s what made us.  We’d never done tv like that”, Strickland said.  “People keep telling me that they saw it when they were six”. Pierson said.  In fact, Kurt Cobain and Dave Grohl individually saw it. 

The five bandmembers released three more albums: 1986’s Bouncing off the Satellites would be their last.  Guitarist and Cindy’s big brother Ricky Wilson died of AIDS at 32.  The story of the B-52’s seemed to be over.  They couldn’t imagine doing it without Ricky.  After a grieving period, the remaining bandmates started meeting up and writing again.  “We would spend hours just talking, even though we were writing songs”, Strickland said.  The result was the album Cosmic Thing.  The album attracted a new generation of fans, thanks to tracks like “Love Shack”, “Roam” and “Deadbeat Club”.  Pierson said “Cosmic Thing was really written to heal ourselves but magically it healed a lot of other people who heard it, being outsiders or gay or whatever, they felt different.  I guess our message was it’s ok to be different”.  Since Cosmic Thing, the band has only released two more albums of original music.  They spend most of their time on tour, playing for fans who still line up to hear the hits.  For the past decade, Keith Strickland has stayed home.  This summer, Cindy Wilson, Kate Pierson and Fred Schneider are embarking on what’s being called the bands farewell tour. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go cue up some B52’s tunes on Spotify.