Made this my first post of the week to read and started me off on a good footing, thanks Joe! I feel multiple connections here. For one thing, you note the song's universal melancholic feel, harking back to good times that can never come again, not least because some of the characters are no longer with us. That part is for everyone.
On an individual level, the year the album Cosmic Thing came out I published the first biography of their townmates' R.E.M., for which a couple of the B-52's granted me interview time, as they were such a key influence on the Athens, GA scene from which R.E.M. and others then followed. Indeed, the only book to come before mine is one called "Party out of Bounds" which covers the early days of both bands.
For some reason (English accent? God knows!) I was tapped by Warners to interview the B-52's for the EPK (remember those!) that accompanied the release of Cosmic Thing, spending the best part of a day at their video shoot for what was surely "Love Shack." You talk about Cindy's tired look on the live video of "Deadbeat Club" and you are right; it's probably fine to say all these years later that she got through about a whole bottle of red wine that afternoon: clearly losing her brother and continuing the band was painful and it behooves us to think about how we might have been in such a situation.
All round, I was happy that they had big hits with "Love Shack" and "Roam." All influential bands deserve a payday and not just the plaudits, and though I especially loved "Roam" I think you're right that "Deadbeat Club" gets closest to the spirit of the album and that bitter-sweet feeling that permeates it. I appreciate that you highlighted that song rather than its upbeat cousins. It's also worth referencing that they never successfully matched or followed Cosmic Thing, it was an incredible comeback which they rode into the sunset effectively.
Couple of sidenotes:
There is a counterpart in R.E.M.'s "Nightswimming," a song that often brings me to tears because of its own universality, which is the beauty of the best songwriting.
And I can edit this part out or leave it in, and I could figure it out for myself no doubt, but I love that you write about the musicality of a piece. Still, is it C major (as you note) or C# major as that weird algorithm you quoted refers to instead?
Thanks, Tony! It's very gratifying for me when you get where I'm going with all of this! Cheers.
Yeah, CT really seemed to have been the album they were fated to make, a peak. A very tough album and mood to follow. Deadbeat Club is timeless, though, and will live on and on, I think.
Couple of sidenotes: ;-)
I loved your REM book, don't know that I ever told you that.
Electronic press kits, a phrase hope I never hear again.
And thanks for the key correction! Funny what slips through...
I do not doubt your transcription of the joke at the begining of the song. However, at least when I listened to it when it came out, it was more:
Hey! Got a job!
So Cindy is announcing that she is going to work, but Kate is cynical ("Jobs are for losers") and Keith does not want to be disturbed and saying he is concentrating while he realy is having a nap.
Are we in mondegreen territory or is it a case of "I hear what I want to hear"? Thank you!
Another great song from a great album! While it wasn't my favorite from Cosmic Thing (really, with Love Shack, Roam, Bushfire, Channel Z, the title cut...how can one choose!) I agree that it does capture the spirit of the album and the group in general.
Made this my first post of the week to read and started me off on a good footing, thanks Joe! I feel multiple connections here. For one thing, you note the song's universal melancholic feel, harking back to good times that can never come again, not least because some of the characters are no longer with us. That part is for everyone.
On an individual level, the year the album Cosmic Thing came out I published the first biography of their townmates' R.E.M., for which a couple of the B-52's granted me interview time, as they were such a key influence on the Athens, GA scene from which R.E.M. and others then followed. Indeed, the only book to come before mine is one called "Party out of Bounds" which covers the early days of both bands.
For some reason (English accent? God knows!) I was tapped by Warners to interview the B-52's for the EPK (remember those!) that accompanied the release of Cosmic Thing, spending the best part of a day at their video shoot for what was surely "Love Shack." You talk about Cindy's tired look on the live video of "Deadbeat Club" and you are right; it's probably fine to say all these years later that she got through about a whole bottle of red wine that afternoon: clearly losing her brother and continuing the band was painful and it behooves us to think about how we might have been in such a situation.
All round, I was happy that they had big hits with "Love Shack" and "Roam." All influential bands deserve a payday and not just the plaudits, and though I especially loved "Roam" I think you're right that "Deadbeat Club" gets closest to the spirit of the album and that bitter-sweet feeling that permeates it. I appreciate that you highlighted that song rather than its upbeat cousins. It's also worth referencing that they never successfully matched or followed Cosmic Thing, it was an incredible comeback which they rode into the sunset effectively.
Couple of sidenotes:
There is a counterpart in R.E.M.'s "Nightswimming," a song that often brings me to tears because of its own universality, which is the beauty of the best songwriting.
And I can edit this part out or leave it in, and I could figure it out for myself no doubt, but I love that you write about the musicality of a piece. Still, is it C major (as you note) or C# major as that weird algorithm you quoted refers to instead?
Thanks again Joe,
Tony
Thanks, Tony! It's very gratifying for me when you get where I'm going with all of this! Cheers.
Yeah, CT really seemed to have been the album they were fated to make, a peak. A very tough album and mood to follow. Deadbeat Club is timeless, though, and will live on and on, I think.
Couple of sidenotes: ;-)
I loved your REM book, don't know that I ever told you that.
Electronic press kits, a phrase hope I never hear again.
And thanks for the key correction! Funny what slips through...
J
Kudos to them for working through their grief and making a comeback. Like you, Joe, I'd lost track of them until "Love Shack" exploded onto the scene.
It seems Kate was right to say "When we were playing together we realized how priceless it was that we still had each other and we had this great music and we could still do it." I was struck by that having read these stats about musician longevity earlier today -- https://www.statsignificant.com/p/how-long-does-music-stardom-last?publication_id=1213033&post_id=147418389&isFreemail=true&r=3jsiyo&triedRedirect=true&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
Well done to the B-52s (and for coming out of Athens, and to you for coming out of another Athens - it sounded like great fun in both places).
Wow, those stats are sobering, if not surprising. Cheers to all of the bands and artists we love who stick it out on their own terms!
And yeah, Athens OH is a helluva town, If you ever get the chance to visit, you shouldn't pass it up!
I do not doubt your transcription of the joke at the begining of the song. However, at least when I listened to it when it came out, it was more:
Hey! Got a job!
So Cindy is announcing that she is going to work, but Kate is cynical ("Jobs are for losers") and Keith does not want to be disturbed and saying he is concentrating while he realy is having a nap.
Are we in mondegreen territory or is it a case of "I hear what I want to hear"? Thank you!
Well, I took it from what I hear and also the Genius lyrics site. Works both ways!
Another great song from a great album! While it wasn't my favorite from Cosmic Thing (really, with Love Shack, Roam, Bushfire, Channel Z, the title cut...how can one choose!) I agree that it does capture the spirit of the album and the group in general.