Abstract
With all four remaining band members still grieving, drummer Keith Strickland begins composing music, at first solely for himself, but soon deciding to invite Cindy, Kate, and Fred to collaborate. They channel their grief into this new music, and slowly begin to rebuild the B-52s. They end up making the album that becomes the most successful of their career. Cosmic Thing not only spawns two Top 10 singles and leads to the band playing mammoth arenas, but adds a new emotional depth to their party music that resonates with millions. During this time, the band uses their expanded spotlight to champion progressive political causes, including making a donation to AIDS Athens that allows the organization to hire their first full-time employee.
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Notes
- 1.
Wilde, “B-52’s,” 8.
- 2.
Sexton, The B-52’s Universe, 77.
- 3.
Azerrad, “Mission Accomplished.”
- 4.
Hart, “B-52’s.”
- 5.
Ibid.
- 6.
Azerrad, “Mission Accomplished.”
- 7.
Matthews, “Fred Schneider,” 15.
- 8.
Wilde, “Refused to Die,” 8.
- 9.
Sexton, The B-52’s Universe, 78.
- 10.
Keith Bennett in conversation with authors, November 8, 2019. This meant Kurfirst got paid more in songwriting royalties for Rock Lobster than Kate did.
- 11.
Ibid.
- 12.
Grow, “Love Shacks.”
- 13.
Sexton, The B-52’s Universe, 79.
- 14.
Azerrad, “Mission Accomplished.”
- 15.
Ibid.
- 16.
Hart, “Cosmic Thing.”
- 17.
Wilde, “Refused to Die,” 9.
- 18.
Azerrad, “Mission Accomplished.”
- 19.
Sexton, The B-52’s Universe, 80.
- 20.
Wilde, “Refused to Die,” 9.
- 21.
Kass, “B-52’s Whirlwind.”
- 22.
Schoemer, “Beehives & Ballyhoo.”
- 23.
Azerrad, “Mission Accomplished.”
- 24.
Keith Bennett in conversation with authors, November 8, 2019.
- 25.
Azerrad, “Mission Accomplished.”
- 26.
Email correspondence with Keith Bennett, August 2022.
- 27.
Ibid.
- 28.
Felder, “B-52’s Organic,” 29.
- 29.
Hart, “Cosmic Thing.”
- 30.
Felder, “B-52’s Organic,” 29.
- 31.
Schultz, “Classic Tracks,” 17.
- 32.
Grow, “Love Shacks.”
- 33.
Harris, “Kate Pierson.”
- 34.
Schultz, “Classic Tracks,” 17.
- 35.
Spitz, “Return,” AR24.
- 36.
Issue #12, The B’s Connection, July 1993, Mats Sexton B-52’s memorabilia collection, Box 1, University of Georgia Libraries Special Collections.
- 37.
Schoemer, “Beehives & Ballyhoo,” 44.
- 38.
Hann, “Everyone Is Welcome.”
- 39.
Sexton, The B-52’s Universe, 28.
- 40.
Boyer and Yearwood, How Sweet the Sound, 192, as cited in Powers, Good Booty.
- 41.
Carpenter, Uncloudy Days, 430.
- 42.
Powers, Good Booty, 128.
- 43.
White, Little Richard, 23–25.
- 44.
Hinson, Fire in My Bones, 130.
- 45.
Sandall, “Love Shack Shakes Again.”
- 46.
Azerrad, “Mission Accomplished.”
- 47.
Wilde, “Refused to Die.”
- 48.
Ayers, “Madonna Struts.”
- 49.
Sexton, The B-52’s Universe, 83.
- 50.
Hochswender, “Jungle Is Given,” B-3.
- 51.
Ellis, “Boybutante.”
- 52.
Schoemer, “Recordings: At Home.”
- 53.
Tannenbaum, “The B-52s Say Farewell,” AR-14.
- 54.
One of this book’s authors grew up near San Diego in the mid-late 1980s and remembers hearing the B-52s catalogue regularly on alternative station 91X long before Cosmic Thing came out.
- 55.
LaSalle, “B-52s Airborne Again.”
- 56.
Horn, “B-52s’ Cindy Wilson.”
- 57.
Parker, “B-52’s’ Fred Schneider.”
- 58.
Greenblatt, “The B-52s: Stories Behind.”
- 59.
Bordowitz, “B-52’s,” 29.
- 60.
Conoly Hester, “Are AIDS Cases Under-Reported in NE Georgia?” Box 1, LGBT Resource Records, UA17-009 University of Georgia Libraries Special Collections.
- 61.
Kim Henderson, “I Never Thought AIDS Could Touch Me,” January 28, 1990, Box 1, LGBT Resource Records, UA17-009 University of Georgia Libraries Special Collections.
- 62.
Schoemer, “Beehives & Ballyhoo,” 41.
- 63.
Ibid.
- 64.
Azerrad, “Mission Accomplished.”
- 65.
Ibid.
- 66.
Ibid.
- 67.
Ibid.
- 68.
Sexton, The B-52’s Universe, 91. Brickell was dating Paul Simon at the time, and they would soon marry. We promise this will be the last time he is mentioned in this book about a band that is not Paul Simon.
- 69.
Reinolds, “Escape From New York.”
- 70.
Azerrad, “Mission Accomplished.”
- 71.
Ibid.
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Creney, S., Herron, B.A. (2023). Cosmic Thing. In: The Story of the B-52s. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22570-3_10
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