The B-52's followed their bliss had a comeback as big as a whale rocking through the wilderness with this wild cosmic party. The group had struggled with the recording of their 'Mesopotamia' EP in 1982 but bounced back with 'Whammy' in 1983. Just one month after they finished 'Bouncing off the Satellites' in 1985, guitarist Ricky Wilson died suddenly from AIDS related health complications. None of the other members of the band were aware of his illness and were hit hard by his passing. In the aftermath, they were unable to promote the album and went their separate ways, agreeing that without Ricky they would not be able to continue.
Keith Strickland had started out as the band's drummer; but gradually took on other instruments for later albums. During the hiatus, he began writing songs and brought them to the rest of the group. They decided to try and write and record together again. Strickland remembers: "I always had that sense of freedom with instruments. I was never that inhibited with picking up an instrument. I played in bands when I was in high school and we would always jam. They were very much jam bands, although that wasn’t a term in those days. We would have these very long jam sessions. We had this house together and people would come in, bring a guitar and play. I was jamming with lots of different people, and I would pick up the bass or the guitar or some percussion instrument, and just play. And I learned how to listen. We all realised at the same time that there was almost a psychic kind of thing happening, where you would almost know what the other person was going to do. And it was free-form yet there was this flow to it. You could just sense it. I felt like in those days, that’s when I really learned to listen to other players, which allowed me to be comfortable with just picking up an instrument and playing it. Everybody has something unique and individual to offer, and it’s really about being yourself and being comfortable with who that is, and not seeing your limitations as limitations. Just seeing it as ‘it’s just what I do.’ And if it comes natural, just do what’s natural! "
'Cosmic Thing' was recorded with producers Nile Rodgers and Don Was (each producing half of the album) and featured Fred Schneider on percussion, vocals, and background vocals; Cindy Wilson on vocals; Kate Pierson on keyboards, vocals, and backing vocals; and Keith Strickland on guitar, keyboards, vocals, and backing vocals; with horns by Carl Beatty, Chris Cioe, Bob Funk, Arno Hecht, and Paul Literal; Leroy Clouden, Charley Drayton, Sonny Emory, and Steve Ferrone on drums; Richard Hilton, Tommy Mandel. and Philippe Saisse on keyboards; Nile Rodgers on guitar; and Sara Lee on bass, keyboards, and background vocals. The centerpiece of the album was the infectious hit single 'Love Shack' which became a number one smash in Australia, New Zealand, and on the US modern rock tracks chart.
Strickland admits: "We didn’t know we had really written “Love Shack” after we had written it! Actually we had kinda shelved it. When we started looking for producers, we had lined up Nile Rodgers and Don Was, when we met with Don we played him the demos of our songs and he said ‘These are great but do you have anything else?’ We said we had this one track, but it was not finished. We had several versions on the unfinished demo and he goes ‘Are you kidding me? This is great!’ But we had not really found the chorus to the song. He immediately wanted to start working on that, so he just said ‘Repeat this one part,’ which was “The love shack is a little old place where…” – y’know. We played it only once in the demo but as soon as we repeated it it all fell into place. After we recorded though, I knew, I think we all knew that we had hit upon something. It just had a vibe to it. And you know when there’s a vibe but you can’t really put your finger on what it is? You don’t know why it’s working but it really is, and you just get this feeling about it. And it just that that knowable knowing. Like, ‘My goodness, there’s something here.’"
The video for 'Love Shack' helped to make the song a hit. Pierson reveals: "We knew [RuPaul] from Atlanta when he was in a band called Wee Wee Pole. So we knew him before he was the icon he is today; he was always an icon though. We asked him to be in the video, which took place near where Keith and I were living at the time, in Plattekill near Woodstock, New York. Our friends, ceramic artists Phillip Maberry and Scott Walker, told us that we had to do the video at their place because they lived in the Love Shack. The director went upstate to look at it because he wasn’t convinced that we could film it anywhere outside of New York City. When he saw it, he was bowled over. We got a busload of all our friends and went up there and it turned into a party. Actually, RuPaul started the whole dance line. All of a sudden he organized everyone, clapped his hands, and said, ‘Y’all line up and everybody dance!’ It turned into a party within a video, a real party. The video really captured that because we really were having fun."
Schneider says: "Actually, if you listen to it, a country band could do “Love Shack.” That album—to be honest, people wouldn’t play “Love Shack” at first. The radio wouldn’t touch it, except college radio. That’s why we always… When college radio wants something, we’re there for them. And independent radio. While the band did sound-check, I went with the A&R person to radio stations to beg them to play it. Once it started taking off, the other radio stations started playing it. Then it snowballed. It went to number one all over the country. But it didn’t do it at once. We were behind Paula Abdul and Milli Vanilli [on the charts]."
'Cosmic Thing' went to number thirty-eight in Sweden, eight in the UK, four in the US, and number one in Australia and New Zealand.
http://theb52s.com/
'Love Shack' was certified gold and peaked at number three on the US pop chart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SOryJvTAGs
'Roam' was another gold number three hit on the US pop chart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iNwC0sp-uA4
'Channel Z'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pB4G9WBYMFo
'Deadbeat Club'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KyhesAa-DA
'Cosmic Thing'
full album:
"Cosmic Thing" – 4:50
"Dry County" – 4:54
"Deadbeat Club" – 4:45
"Love Shack" – 5:21
"Junebug" – 5:04
"Roam" – 4:54
"Bushfire" – 4:58
"Channel Z" – 4:49
"Topaz" – 4:20
"Follow Your Bliss" – 4:08
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