The B-52's:
A band that
just happened
By Denise M Reagan
■ The Independent Florida Alligator
U. of Florida
The B-52’s are a rock band in the threat
tradition of fun and “so what." They
didn't plan to be The R-52’s It just hap
pened that way. And it's turned out bet
ter than a real job.
That’s how Kate Pierson, Fred
Schneider, Keith Strickland and Cindy
Wilson put it.
“We just sort of came out like :i blue
streak of spontaneous combustion,’1 said
singer/kevboardist Kate Pierson m a
recent phone interview.
The beauty of The B-52’s is they just
sort of fell into their rather envious posi
tion. One day they started jamming
together, then writing songs, then a gig
at a Valentine's Day party, then New
York City clubs and the rest is history
History meant "Rock Lobster." a
favorite party request that quickly
moved from the grooves of an indepen
dently released single to a full-length,
self-titled, wildly-popular, major-label
record. History meant a second album.
Wild Planet, selling even more copies
History meant four more albums with
varying degrees of critical acclaim and
popular acceptance
Yet one event scars their history.
Guitarist Ricky Wilson died of an AIDS
related illness in 19H5, just, before the
release of Bourn-ini’ Off the Satellites,
which was dedicated to Ricky After that,
no one was sure The B-52’s would come
back.
“After Ricky died, it seemed like maybe
we’d stop," Kate says “We didn’t know
what was going to happen We wan e just
playing it by ear Then we started writ
ing together again and it really became
a healing process to write together and
be creative again."
F.very once in a while on MTV', the song
“Summer of Dive." from the last album
with Rickv Wilson, filters through a
Beatles-esque scene as celebrities smile
above a simple message: “Be Alive " It's
The B-52’s contribution to the American
Foundation for AIDS Research's aware
ness-raising campaign called Art
Against AIDS.
DESIGN BY DENISE M REAGAN Hi iN( EPf NDEN? - RiDA MlK.A' k f • . - a
The funky style of The B-52's has endured and endeared for more than 10 years
('asmu- Thing, the band's latest album,
may have been one of 1989's best The
songs are rural and reminiscent of lazy
Georgia afternoons, flowing with images
of utopian idealism and a lush environ
ment
“Some writers move to the South and
write about New York, and some writers
move to New York and write about the
South," Kate says “We didn’t really plan
it or pore over our old albums and sav,
'How can we make this like before7™
What it sounded like before was the
best house party you ever attended.
Thumping, gyrating, hopping, squirm
ing, rocking “When we recorded the first
album, that was the whole concept, ’
Kate says They stuck with that patent
ed sound on ('osrmc Thing even with pro
duction wizards Don Was and Nile
Rodgers, who Kate says were good about
not branding the music with superfluous
effects
They don't need them, just the best of
disco: the beat and the clothes. The B
52V are aptly named for the infamous
bouffant hairdo that put Athens, Ga
and the band on the map. Kate agrees
the music is what’s important, but they
still dress as wild as ever because they
want to, not because they have to
"I really love wearing party clothes and
dance clothes on stage,” she says.
Those clothes used to place The B-52’s
among the fringe element, but record
sales indicate a broadening audience "I
think we appealed to people who felt
kind of weird,” Kate says
“But now 1 think everyone feels like
an outsider.”
Teacher rocks
students with
history course
By Elizabeth Graddy
■ the Rod md Black
U. of Georgia
The instructor stands at the piano and
fingers the chords to “In the Still of the
Night."
Five young men in the second row
rumble the bass line. “Yeh-up . yuh
yep. yeh-hup yuh-vup
About 10 young women scattered
around the classroom sway and purse
their lips, doo wopping, “Shoo shoo,
shoo be doo shoo-shoo, shoo he doo
shoo shoo, shoo be doo wop, wop, wop,
wop
Bill Ramal, a part time lecturer at the
IF of Georgia Music School, points at a
voting man near the front “You look like
a falsetto," Ramal says
Of course he is And without further
ado, he breaks into the first line of the
song. “In till' stiiiiilll . of the nought
hold me darlin’ hold me taught
In the hallway, passers-by peep into
the room where Ramal teaches Music
418: History and Analysis of Rock
Music “And that," Ramal says, “is doo
wop See how easy it is7 Well, that's it
for today.”
An older woman at the hack of the
room interrupts. “Klvis!" she calls out.
'Talk about Elvis."
He clears his throat and smooths his
thinning, dark hair back with a ringed
index finger “Elvis was a truck driver
who made a record for his mama, sold a
lot of copies, became a big star, got fat,
took dope and died. Any questions?”
Not everyone agrees with Ramal's
views especially Klvis fans — but you
can’t escape the fact that he knows rock
'n' roll.
Ramal, who attended the Juilliard
School of Music and earned a doctorate
m music eduction from Columbia U.,
began his music career in the 1950s,
playing the saxophone m New Jersey
nightclubs while still in high school “I
was really gooood,” he tells his classes.
“I was making a lot of money it'd be
about $2,000 a week now.” He winks.
“And dope was really cheap then."
See CLASS, Page 11
Derogatory song lyrics creeping into music industry
j
BILL SMITH DAILY CO^cGiAN PfNNS* vWttA S’A’E
By Gregory Roth
■ The Daily Collegian
Pennsylvania State U
Derogatory song lyrics aimed at women, homosexu
als and various ethnic groups suggest a trend toward
tolerance of racism in popular music.
Guns N’ Roses created controversy with its song “()ne
m a Million" on GN’R Lies. The song includes the lyrics:
"Immigrants and faggots/They make no sense to
me/They come to our country And think they’ll do as
they please/Like starting some mini-Iran or spread
some fucking disease." The song goes on to put down
“niggers” and mock their “gold chains."
Guns N’ Roses lead singer Axl Rose, in a recent
Rolling Stone interview, said it is his constitutional
right to say what he wants. He also said the lyrics are
good for society because they create a more open atmo
sphere
But Rochelle I.ouderhack. president of Yachad, a
Jewish student organization at Pennsylvania State l' .
said “his message is very closed-minded and I don't see
Analysis
how that could create more openness ”
On the other side of the color line. Public Enemy’s
liaison to the black community. Professor GrifT, said in
an interview with The Washington Times that “Jews
are wicked. And we can prove this.” He said .Jews are
responsible for “the majority of wickedness that goes
on across the globe."
Another rap group. Heavy I) and the Boyz, takes
shots at homosexuals on its recent album Big Tyrne
The album climbed to No. 1 on the black music charts
while promising in its lyrics that if you listen to the
album, “you'll be as happy as a faggot in jail.”
There are still far more non-racist and non-homopho
bic songs in pop music, but these examples are at the
vanguard of what looks like a new trend.
Norman Eric Bigelow, public relations officer for
Pennsylvania State I ’s Black < ’aucus, said the evolu
tion toward open racism has been gradual “After April
4,19H8, it was no longer acceptable to be overtly racist,"
See LYRICS. Page 10