History Music / TheB52s

*** In an example of this working in reverse, the only new tracks the band wrote for ''Wild Planet'' were "Party Out Of Bounds", "Dirty Back Road" and "53 Miles (West Of Venus)". The rest had been written and performed live before the first album. These three tracks turned out to hold the album together rather well.
* {{Animorphism}}: Sort of, in "Rock Lobster". Someone's earlobe turns into a lobster:
--> ''His earlobe fell in the deep''\\
''Someone reached in and grabbed it''\\
''It was a rock lobster''

* WastedSong: "Ain't It A Shame" is routinely cited as the great hit single that never was, and might have been had it not been for the lack of promotion behind ''Bouncing Off The Satellites''. The song has somewhat been VindicatedByHistory as Music/SineadOConnor covered it, it appeared on "Nude On The Moon" and Cindy has performed it live on solo tours.

*** This is the premise of the song "Cake", where the whole act of baking a cake is used as a euphemism for sex "let it drip right down the sides! who cares?". It's strongly implied that it's lesbian sex as well.
*** "There's A Moon In The Sky (Called The Moon)" is about accepting your homosexuality - 'if you're in outer space, don't feel out of place, cause there are thousands of others like you'. The genius of the lyric remaining metaphorical is that it can apply to anyone who might be different in some way.

** "Debbie" is about Debbie Harry despite mentioning her "all girl rock band". Whilst Debbie Harry did have an all girl rock band in the pre-Music/{{Blondie}} days, Blondie themselves were predominantly male with her as the only female.

* CampGay: Does it really need to be spelled out?

* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: All five members, but Fred is the goofiest.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

** The first is any of their post-1985 releases, barring "Bouncing Off the Satellites" thanks to Ricky Wilson's death. His death necessitated a GenreShift from quirky NewWave to club-friendly PopRock, though the quirkiness never ''fully'' went away.

The B-52s are an American [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] band based out of Athens, UsefulNotes/{{Georgia|USA}}, which later became the same birthplace of Music/{{REM}}. They're most well-known for their deliberately camp, colorful image, quirky SciFi-themed songs and beehive hairdos worn by the female members (hence the name - said beehive wigs resembled the nose of the Boeing B-52 bomber).

* [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]]: One of the greats!

--> "Planet Claire has pink air, all the trees [[FantasticFlora are red.]] no one ever dies there, no one [[BizarreAlienBiology has a head.]]

--> "Planet Claire has pink air, all the trees [[FantasticFlora are red.]] no one ever dies there, no one -->[[BizarreAlienBiology has a head.]]

* '''''Kate Pierson''''' - vocals, keyboards, maracas (197/-present)

The B-52s are an American [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] band based out of Athens, Georgia, which later became the same birthplace of Music/{{REM}}. They're most well-known for their deliberately camp, colorful image, quirky SciFi-themed songs and beehive hairdos worn by the female members (hence the name - said beehive wigs resembled the nose of the Boeing B-52 bomber).

The B-52s are a [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] Band out of Athens, Georgia, which later became the same birthplace of Music/{{REM}}. They're most well-known for their deliberately camp, colorful image, quirky SciFi-themed songs and beehive hairdos worn by the female members (hence the name - said beehive wigs resembled the nose of the Boeing B-52 bomber).

* '''''Fred Schneider''''' - vocals, cowbell, toy piano, glockenspiel (1979-present)
* '''''Kate Pierson''''' - vocals, keyboards, maracas (1979-present)
* '''''Keith Strickland''''' - guitar, drums, keyboards, programming, backing vocals (1979-present)
* '''''Cindy Wilson''''' - vocals, tambourine, bongos (1979-1990, 1996-present)
* '''Ricky Wilson''' - guitar (1979-1985, died 1985)

* NonAppearingTitle:
** "Legal Tender", "Moon '83". And by definition, all their instrumental songs count.
** The song "Dry County" doesn't use those words until near the end of the song. The refrain (or the closest there is to one) goes "Just sit on the porch and swing... Sit on the porch..."

* NonAppearingTitle: "Legal Tender", "Moon '83". And by definition, all their instrumental songs count.

* RefrainFromAssuming:
** The song "Dry County" doesn't use those words until near the end of the song. The refrain (or the closest there is to one) goes "Just sit on the porch and swing... Sit on the porch..."
** A Non-musical example with the band's first album, which is [[SelfTitledAlbum self-titled]], is often mistaken as being called ''High Fidelity'' due to this phrase appearing in the upper-lefthand corner of the cover. This was actually placed there to mimic labels on older album sleeves.

* CutAndPasteTranslation: The vinyl LP of ''Good Stuff'' replaces 7 of its 10 tracks with edits for timing reasons. Five of these were also used as single mixes, and two were exclusive to the LP.

*** "Funplex" includes a shoutout to "Faster Pussycat, Kill Kill!", both a movie and a band, though it is phrased as "Faster Pussycat!, Thrill Thrill".

* UpToEleven: Ricky with his guitar playing, and how. Kate even said that Ricky played guitar so hard his shirt could have literally been wrung out. Probably not that many guitarists play that hard.

** Who could forget "Glove Slap" for the ''[[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Simpsons]]'' episode "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)", a section from "Love Shack" which the band rerecorded for the occasion, and is included on The Simpsons' Testify compilation.

** "Funplex" satirizes consumerism and "mall culture" in general, with one verse referencing [[RippedFromTheHeadlines a news story from a few years prior]], wherein a customer of a US shopping mall was detained and arrested for wearing a t-shirt reading "give peace a chance". Thus: "private property, hippy be quiet / your peace sign t-shirt could cause a riot".

The B-52s are a [[NewWaveMusic New Wave]] Band out of Athens, Georgia, which later became the same birthplace of Music/{{REM}}. They're most well-known for their deliberately camp, colorful image, quirky SciFi-themed songs and beehive hairdos worn by the female members (hence the name).

* PatterSong: The band get pretty close to it on "The Chosen One", their contribution to the Pokemon 2000: The Power Of One soundtrack. Whilst they were able to write the music themselves, they had to sing the lyrics that the movie's producer wanted. This results in very clunky lines like "Lest these titans wreak distruction upon the world in which they clash".

** "Funplex" satirizes consumerism and "mall culture" in general, with one verse referencing [[RippedFromTheHeadlines a news story from a few years prior]], wherein a customer of a US shopping mall was detained and arrested for wearing a t-shirt reading "give peace a chance".