98. The B-52’s, The B-52’s (Warner, 1979)
There goes a narwhal! Discovering this band on Cosmic Thing in high school was practically a religious experience, and Time Capsule: Songs For a Future Generation is pretty solid for a compilation (although it inexplicably leaves off “Give Me Back My Man”, where Cindy promises a vixen fish and candy to reclaim her beloved). But even now, I admit that the later recordings don’t hold a candle to this immortal debut, where kitsch, cheese and exotica collide with voices and guitars never heard quite like this before. The record that still earns them the title, “World’s ultimate party band”, from unclassifiably “wow!” originals like “Planet Claire” and “Rock Lobster” all the way to their gleeful closing desecration of Petulia Clark’s “Downtown”.
There goes a narwhal! Discovering this band on Cosmic Thing in high school was practically a religious experience, and Time Capsule: Songs For a Future Generation is pretty solid for a compilation (although it inexplicably leaves off “Give Me Back My Man”, where Cindy promises a vixen fish and candy to reclaim her beloved). But even now, I admit that the later recordings don’t hold a candle to this immortal debut, where kitsch, cheese and exotica collide with voices and guitars never heard quite like this before. The record that still earns them the title, “World’s ultimate party band”, from unclassifiably “wow!” originals like “Planet Claire” and “Rock Lobster” all the way to their gleeful closing desecration of Petulia Clark’s “Downtown”.
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