r/B52s

I really hope they get together, they’re perfect for each other. I think it’d be funny if they smooched, but they’re not dating (yet). 💖

I've always wondered why the exactly the B52's chose Downtown to close their debut album. Its not the only reason but its one of the main reasons I prefer Wild Planet to their debut album as Wild Planet doesn't have a misjudgement like this in my opinion.

I could never understand what on earth they were thinking with this when they already had so much better material already written that would subsequently be included on Wild Planet. Which if you haven't guessed it already I think the track is well to put it bluntly, not very good.

I thought they were making fun of the original song, exactly why I wasn't sure but I could imagine if I'd have written the song I'd have found it disrespectful. Well we finally have the answer here is what Fred had to say about it which answers my question why they recorded it but raises more questions at the same time.

>48 HILLS Why did you cover Petula Clark’s “Downtown” on the first album?

FRED SCHNEIDER We were doing that all along. It was Cindy’s favorite song and we just butchered it. I guess [the songwriter] Tony Hatch was apparently going to sue us, but [the album’s record producer] Chris Blackwell told him, “You’re going to make a lot of money,” and he did make a lot of money.

So it was Cindy's favourite song and that's why they covered it, OK that makes sense its a nice gesture to Cindy then to record it. Why then as Fred says did they "butchered it"? I assume it was deliberate and they weren't just intoxicated or high as a kite while recording it and made a mess of it that way. Why then would you deliberately make a mess of your favourite song I don't get it?

While I wouldn't have threatened to sue like the original songwriter did as that's just petty and small time, I can understand why he wouldn't be happy about it when it feels like your work is being laughed at. I don't think the B's are bad people so I don't think they would deliberately go about mocking another songwriters work. I think something just got lost in translation here what do you think? What exactly were they going for here?

Its an interesting interview with Fred some other interesting tid bits from the interview

>48 HILLS 2008’s Funplex was one of your most successful debuts as far as charting and you’ve said that you pretty much broke even with that album. Would you ever follow it up with another?

FRED SCHNEIDER Probably not. We might do some songs, but I don’t think we’ll do another album. I can’t imagine doing another album, because we all live in different places around the country and we’d have to pay for it ourselves like we did Funplex.

It's all but confirmation Funplex is the final studio album they'll release which I guess everyone figured already but if the interview was in 2019 and there's been nothing since then it probably will turn out to be the case

There's also this

>48 HILLS What’s next for The B-52s and what’s next for you?
FRED SCHNEIDER For The B-52s, we’re starting our seven-week tour and then we’re also going to be doing shows next year. We’re going to work with Keith tentatively at the end of the year on two new songs for a box set that Warner’s is putting out.

I wonder whatever happened to this?

What kind of B52s song do you prefer?

I think i can subdivide them into 5 main categories. Yes some songs might overlap slightly between categories and you could have more than 5 categories but I think these categories nicely capture most of the songs in their discography.

Here are some of the songs I feel fit into each category

1. Sci-Fi & Surreal- Planet Claire, Rock Lobster, Quiche Lorraine, 53 Miles West of Venus, Song for a Future Generation, Mesopotamia

2. Party Anthems- Love Shack, Wig, Party Out of Bounds, Private Idaho, Good Stuff, Whammy

3. Dreamy & Wistful- Topaz, She Brakes for Rainbows, Deadbeat Club, Roam, Dreamland

4. Desire & Longing- Give Me Back My Man, Dance this Mess Around, Dirty Back Road, Lava, Hero Worship, Strobe Light

5. Political & Environmental- Channel Z, Bushfire, Juicy Jungle, Tell It Like It T-I-Is, Revolution Earth

How do I think the poll will go? Well I'd be shocked if Political & Environmental won. I feel categories 3 and 4 will split votes between them so either category 1 or 2 will win.

Let me know your thoughts 😀

View Poll

Please humour on an idea that won't come to pass but if you were to make a biopic of the B52s what eras would you include? Do you include the main beats of their story or do you just focus on a narrow time period?

I think almost everyone would have the movie end with Cosmic Thing being a massive success and saving their careers while its tinged with sadness over Ricky not being there to experience it with them

Question 1- Would anyone end a biopic of them at a different time? I'd be surprised if anyone thinks afterwards but would like to hear your reasoning. If before what time period would it end at e.g. releasing their debut album?

Question 2- When would the movie start?

I have two schools of thought on this

Option 1- At the very beginning prior to them forming as a band which would be the standard biopic format you see them form, experience success, popularity begins to decline and Ricky sadly passes away, Cosmic Thing. The advantage of this is that you get a more rounded view of their story but the downside is there isn't enough time to go into detail during any one era.

Option 2- It focuses on a very specific time period such as the period immediately following Ricky's death through to the success of Cosmic Thing or you could do the very early years from pre band formation to their debut album coming out. The advantages and disadvantages from Option 1 are flipped.

Its honestly refreshing and good on them about how much of their lives they've managed to keep private. Outside a very tight knit group I don't think its public knowledge at all as to the identity of any boyfriends/partners that Ricky had for example.