The B-52s 35th Anniversary Party
12/16/2011
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(Kayos) The B-52s will kick off their 35th anniversary year with a very special show at the Classic Center in Athens on February 9th.
The B-52s have announced plans to bring their cosmic dance party back to the town where it all began, Athens, GA. Nearly 35 years to the date of their first-ever show, Valentine's Day 1977, "The Worlds Greatest Party Band" will mark the occasion with an all out call to dance in a party out of bounds that will be a celebration of the band's longtime and venerated career.
The B-52s were formed on an October night in 1976 following drinks at an Athens, GA, Chinese restaurant. Naming themselves after Southern slang for exaggerated 'bouffant" hairdos, the band soon attracted an ardent following, becoming the talk of Athens. Before long they began making trips to New York City for gigs at CBGB's, their thrift store aesthetic and genre-defying songs electrifying the post-punk underground. A record deal soon followed and their self-titled debut sold more than 500,000 copies on the strength of its first singles, the garage rock party classic "Rock Lobster," and "52 Girls."
Thirty five years and over twenty million album sales later, the B-52s remain one rock music's most one-of-a-kind and enduring bands. Looking back at band's pioneering fusions of punk, new wave, and vintage rock, it would be tough to imagine the contemporary musical landscape without Keith Strickland's matchless guitar stylings and the trademark call-and-response vocals of Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson. From groundbreaking songs like "Rock Lobster," "Dance This Mess Around" and "Private Idaho" to chart-topping hits like "Love Shack" and "Roam" and "Deadbeat Club" to their thrilling reemergence on the pop scene with their 2008 CD Funplex, the B-52s can surely take credit for a body of work that is unique, beloved and timeless.
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