"How I Fell In Love With:" The B-52's
I decided to do a blog series titled "How I Fell In Love With:" which will highlight my favorite bands and tell the stories of my introductions to them. Perhaps this will be interesting only to people who also like the same bands, but there is a market for that I believe. Besides, these bands have inspired me to be who I am, to follow my dreams, and to strive for the extraordinary. Without them I would probably be working at a hotel in Kansas. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it's just not my dream.
I decided to start with The B-52's because it's an easy story to remember. First I want to state that some of my dates and chronologies in this recounting may be slightly incorrect, but I made the decision to go with my memory rather than fact-checking the web for verification.
Anywho, it was the summer of 1989 and MTV (which still played music videos)was featuring a video called "Channel Z" by this wacky band, The B-52's. They had designated it a "Buzz Clip" or something like that, and I remember Adam Curry mentioning something about a "comeback." Well, I had never heard ot the B-52's, but they reminded me of one of my other favorite bands, The Sugarcubes. I remember thinking they were like "the new Sugarcubes" (how wrong was I?!) Next time my family went into "town" (Hays, KS) I went to the record store and asked for the single of "Channel Z". They told me they didn't have any in stock but they could order it; however, they said "Channel Z" was the b-side to the single "Love Shack." Well, whatever I thought and I ordered it anyway. I did think it was a little odd that the song on MTV would be the B-side.
A week or two later we went back to Hays and I got the cassingle with it's bright rainbow-colored sleeve and in the car on the way home, I put the tape on. "Love Shack" began to play with it's odd, funky party vibe and spontaneous sounding vocals. My family collectively raised an eyebrow. "Um, I don't know what this is, this isn't the song I wanted" I said, as if to explain, and hit "fast forward" to get to "Channel Z." Little did we all know, that in a few short months, "Love Shack" would be THE song of the year and would live on to be a standard party song for decades to come. The follow up single "Roam" was just as massive at the time and still gets plenty of airplay.
As the B-52's rode their wave of massive mainstream success, I felt proud to be a fan and was enjoying the discovery of their amazing back catalogue. It was so interesting to me when I would dig through the tapes at places like K-Mart and find old copies of "Wild Planet" and "Whammy" that had probably been there all along, hiding from me until the time was right.
To say the B-52's had an influence on me at this time of my life would be a vast understatement. I started shopping at thrift stores, despite my mom's horror (she was raised on thrift stores and vowed not to let her children suffer the same fate.) I attempted to become a vegetarian (not a very plausible or popular option growing up on a cattle farm in an agricultural town.) I even decided to set up a "jamming" space in the basement by putting my keyboard on my mom's old ironing board, which I remember thinking was SO Kate Pierson, and collecting whatever other instruments I could find, and wanting to invite my friends over for a jam session.
I looked forward to the mail every day knowing I might receive a B-52's book or tape that I had ordered from Goldmine magazine, or a B-52's fan club newsletter, or a fellow fan writing to be my pen-pal. It was good times.
My love for the band inevitably began to fade as I entered high school and other things (and other bands) began to shift the focus of my life. By the time "Good Stuff" came out, I was a sophomore in high school and it just didn't have the same effect on me that "Cosmic Thing" did. Plus there were no more old albums to find. I had them all by this point and had listened to them all to the point of exhaustion. I tried to be as excited as I could when MTV premiered the video for "Good Stuff" but I couldn't help missing Cindy, and feeling that the fun was just a little bit manufactured this time.
So, there they went to the back of my mind, occasionally resurfacing from time to time (like when the Time Capsule compilation, with two new songs, came out when I was in college). But they have forever secured a place in my own private "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" (I bet you thought I was going to say "Idaho"). With the advent of iTunes and iPod, I can now enjoy the B-52's whenever one of their songs pops up randomly, and a couple years ago I had the extreme pleasure of finally seeing them perform live. It was an unforgettable experience and even better than I had imagined it would be.
So, that my friends, is How I Fell In Love With The B-52's. Stay tuned for our next episode!
I decided to start with The B-52's because it's an easy story to remember. First I want to state that some of my dates and chronologies in this recounting may be slightly incorrect, but I made the decision to go with my memory rather than fact-checking the web for verification.
Anywho, it was the summer of 1989 and MTV (which still played music videos)was featuring a video called "Channel Z" by this wacky band, The B-52's. They had designated it a "Buzz Clip" or something like that, and I remember Adam Curry mentioning something about a "comeback." Well, I had never heard ot the B-52's, but they reminded me of one of my other favorite bands, The Sugarcubes. I remember thinking they were like "the new Sugarcubes" (how wrong was I?!) Next time my family went into "town" (Hays, KS) I went to the record store and asked for the single of "Channel Z". They told me they didn't have any in stock but they could order it; however, they said "Channel Z" was the b-side to the single "Love Shack." Well, whatever I thought and I ordered it anyway. I did think it was a little odd that the song on MTV would be the B-side.
A week or two later we went back to Hays and I got the cassingle with it's bright rainbow-colored sleeve and in the car on the way home, I put the tape on. "Love Shack" began to play with it's odd, funky party vibe and spontaneous sounding vocals. My family collectively raised an eyebrow. "Um, I don't know what this is, this isn't the song I wanted" I said, as if to explain, and hit "fast forward" to get to "Channel Z." Little did we all know, that in a few short months, "Love Shack" would be THE song of the year and would live on to be a standard party song for decades to come. The follow up single "Roam" was just as massive at the time and still gets plenty of airplay.
As the B-52's rode their wave of massive mainstream success, I felt proud to be a fan and was enjoying the discovery of their amazing back catalogue. It was so interesting to me when I would dig through the tapes at places like K-Mart and find old copies of "Wild Planet" and "Whammy" that had probably been there all along, hiding from me until the time was right.
To say the B-52's had an influence on me at this time of my life would be a vast understatement. I started shopping at thrift stores, despite my mom's horror (she was raised on thrift stores and vowed not to let her children suffer the same fate.) I attempted to become a vegetarian (not a very plausible or popular option growing up on a cattle farm in an agricultural town.) I even decided to set up a "jamming" space in the basement by putting my keyboard on my mom's old ironing board, which I remember thinking was SO Kate Pierson, and collecting whatever other instruments I could find, and wanting to invite my friends over for a jam session.
I looked forward to the mail every day knowing I might receive a B-52's book or tape that I had ordered from Goldmine magazine, or a B-52's fan club newsletter, or a fellow fan writing to be my pen-pal. It was good times.
My love for the band inevitably began to fade as I entered high school and other things (and other bands) began to shift the focus of my life. By the time "Good Stuff" came out, I was a sophomore in high school and it just didn't have the same effect on me that "Cosmic Thing" did. Plus there were no more old albums to find. I had them all by this point and had listened to them all to the point of exhaustion. I tried to be as excited as I could when MTV premiered the video for "Good Stuff" but I couldn't help missing Cindy, and feeling that the fun was just a little bit manufactured this time.
So, there they went to the back of my mind, occasionally resurfacing from time to time (like when the Time Capsule compilation, with two new songs, came out when I was in college). But they have forever secured a place in my own private "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" (I bet you thought I was going to say "Idaho"). With the advent of iTunes and iPod, I can now enjoy the B-52's whenever one of their songs pops up randomly, and a couple years ago I had the extreme pleasure of finally seeing them perform live. It was an unforgettable experience and even better than I had imagined it would be.
So, that my friends, is How I Fell In Love With The B-52's. Stay tuned for our next episode!
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