by SP

As mentioned in their Official Website Biography, “Before long, their thrift store aesthetic and genre-defying songs were the talk of the post-punk underground … With virtually no radio support, the B-52’s began to attract fans far beyond the punk clubs of the Lower East Side — galvanizing the pop world with their ‘stream-of-consciousness’ approach to songwriting and outrageous performance. The B-52’s had clearly tapped into a growing audience for new music that was much larger than anyone could have anticipated. ‘We always appealed to people outside the mainstream,’ says Kate Pierson, ‘and I think more people feel they're outside the mainstream these days’.”

The first two albums, Mesopotamia, produced by David Byrne (1982), and Whammy! (1983) introduced a great variety of songs, styles and images and made The B-52’s regulars on MTV and Radio. As the band continued to develop their style as the ‘alternative music scene’, the band members suffered a great tragedy.

As we read in the Official Website Biography, the band lost their guitarist Ricky Wilson, who died from AIDS. “He really had a vision…," said [Ricky’s] sister Cindy Wilson. ‘He was one of the strongest elements of the B-52’s from the beginning.’ Ricky Wilson’s passing in 1985 came just after the sessions for Bouncing Off The Satellites (1986). The album, dedicated to Wilson, had taken nearly three years to complete and was worth the wait, serving up the favorites “Summer of Love” and “Wig.” Too heartbroken to promote the album as aggressively as they had in the past, the B-52’s questioned their future in music.”

Wikipedia.com also mentioned in the biographical article about the band that “That year, the B-52’s reformed to record Bouncing Off the Satellites. On October 12, 1985 Ricky Wilson died at age 32 of what was originally reported as cancer but was later revealed to be AIDS-related. Devastated, the band went into immediate seclusion and the album sank without any tour or promotion behind it.”

As we read in the article Media Information for the Cosmic Thing Ricky Wilson’s death “was a blow from which many group’s might not recover and the remaining members carefully considered their options before deciding to carry on. ‘After Ricky we just weren’t sure it would ever be the same’, confides [Ricky’s] sister Cindy Wilson. ‘But what we realized in the end was that we were there for each other. That we were our own source of strength. After that the decision was easy’.”

It took the band almost three years to begin working on a new album. Keith Strickland switched from drums to guitar and, as we read in Media Information For Good Stuff, part 1 article (January 1991), “… the foursome - singers Fred Schneider, Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson, with Keith Strickland completing his transition from drums to guitar and keyboards - started to write songs for the group’s first album without guitarist Ricky Wilson, who died in 1985. ‘We write in a stream-of-consciousness way,’ explains Kate Pierson. ‘Keith writes instrumentation; bass, drums and guitar, sometimes just a bass line.’ Fred and Kate then jam, letting lyrics, melodies and harmonies flow, taping the process, and together the tree construct the song. ‘We are mining the unconscious, so a lot of the lyrics are suggestive and surreal,’ she says.”

The hiatus and the mourning finally ended in 1989 as the band produced their new album Cosmic Thing. Biography on their Official Website describes it as “the greatest commercial achievement for the group, and its success propelled the band from cult act to international superstars. ‘When we started writing (for Cosmic Thing) we realized that a lot of the songs seemed to hark back to our roots, the time spent in Athens,’ explains Fred. ‘It was a way to reassert who we were and why we got together in the first place.’ The look back ended up being a great leap forward for the B-52’s.”

In the article Media Information for the Cosmic Thing this album was also praised as one of the band’s greatest achievements. “Ten cuts that emphatically affirm life, love and the pursuit of fun, Cosmic Thing features production by Nile Rodgers and Don Was, some of the tightest, most topical songwriting in the band’s career and a distinctive ensemble sound that confirms the foursome’s decade long dedication to real music. What’s new is the point of view: a chance for this groundbreaking band to take a look, both forward and backward, stretch their artistry and our expectations and, in the process, rediscover themselves, their audience and the joy of making music. Together.”

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