Bouncing Off the Satellites

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Bouncing off the Satellites
The B-52's - Bouncing Off the Satellites.jpg
Studio album by
the B-52's
ReleasedSeptember 8, 1986 (1986-09-08)
RecordedJuly 1985
StudioSigma Sound Studios, New York, New York
Genre
Length45:55
LabelWarner Bros.
Producer
The B-52's chronology
Whammy!
(1983) 		Bouncing off the Satellites
(1986) 		Cosmic Thing
(1989)
Singles from Bouncing off the Satellites
  1. "Summer of Love"
    Released: 1986
  2. "Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland"
    Released: 1986
  3. "Wig"
    Released: 1987

Bouncing off the Satellites is the fourth studio album by American new wave band the B-52's, released on September 8, 1986. It was recorded in July 1985 and was produced by Tony Mansfield. Founding member and guitarist Ricky Wilson died of AIDS after most of the work on the album was completed, but a year prior to its release. The B-52's had gone on hiatus by the time Bouncing Off the Satellites was released, and it took three years for the band to recover from Wilson's death and release their next album, Cosmic Thing.

Recording and death of Ricky Wilson[]

Recording sessions for Bouncing off the Satellites began in July 1985. The album was seen as darker and more melancholy than the band's previous work, having more ballads.[1]

A backwards message was deliberately inserted into the album by the B-52's. The message occurs in the song "Detour Thru Your Mind", in the last 30 seconds of the track: Fred Schneider says (slowly and distinctly), "I buried my parakeet in the backyard. Oh no, you're playing the record backwards. Watch out, you might ruin your needle."[2][3][4]

During the recording, guitarist Ricky Wilson had been suffering from AIDS.[5] None of the other band members other than Keith Strickland were aware of his illness. Strickland later stated that Wilson "was very protective of Cindy and his family."[6][7] In another interview, Kate Pierson stated that Wilson had kept his illness secret from his bandmates because he "did not want anyone to worry about him or fuss about him."[7] Because of this and the lack of new material for the album, Wilson and Strickland allowed Pierson and Schneider to contribute solo material they had been working on at the time; they contributed one track each for the album, "Housework" and "Juicy Jungle", respectively.

On October 12, 1985, Wilson finally succumbed to the illness, at the age of 32, and though Strickland and a few session musicians worked on overdubs for the recorded tracks, the rest of the band were not involved.[5][8] The band initially felt that it would be impossible to continue without Ricky and decided to take a hiatus from their musical careers until they reformed in 1988 for the recording of their next album, Cosmic Thing.

Release, promotion and reception[]

The album was finally released on September 8, 1986. Devastated at Wilson's death, the band went into seclusion and did not tour and were involved in minimal promotion for the album.[9] "Summer of Love" was released as a lead single and initially received a considerable amount of airplay from some radio stations thus managed to peak at No. 3 on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart.[10] The music video for "Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland" was also made.

The band's record label did not promote the album due to the band's lack of TV or promotional appearances; as a result, it only reached No. 85 on the Billboard 200 chart.[10][11]

Bouncing off the Satellites was, by most accounts and in comparison the band's previous albums, a critical and commercial failure, though three tracks from the album — "Summer of Love", "Wig" and "Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland" — have been performed semi-regularly by the band on tour since the 1990s.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic2/5 stars[12]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide2/5 stars[13]
Spin Alternative Record Guide7/10[14]
The Village VoiceB+[15]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by The B-52's, except where noted.

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)VocalLength
1."Summer of Love"Kate Pierson, Keith Strickland, Cindy Wilson, Ricky WilsonPierson, C. Wilson4:02
2."Girl from Ipanema Goes to Greenland"Strickland, C. Wilson, R. WilsonC. Wilson4:22
3."Housework"Pierson, Tim RollinsPierson4:04
4."Detour Thru Your Mind" Pierson, Schneider5:06
5."Wig" Pierson, Schneider, C. Wilson4:22
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)VocalLength
1."Theme for a Nude Beach" Pierson, Schneider, Strickland, C. Wilson, R. Wilson4:50
2."Ain't It a Shame"Strickland, C. Wilson, R. WilsonC. Wilson, Strickland, R. Wilson5:30
3."Juicy Jungle"Fred Schneider (lyrics), John Coté (music)Schneider4:50
4."Communicate" Pierson, Schneider, C. Wilson4:08
5."She Brakes for Rainbows"Strickland, R. WilsonC. Wilson, Pierson, Strickland, R. Wilson4:41
Total length:45:55

Personnel[]

Chart performance[]

Chart (1987) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard 200 85[10]

References[]

  1. ^ Wener, Ben (August 11, 1998). "The B-52s party on!: Nearly 20 years after turning the pop world on its ear, the group is gaining in popularity". The Spectator. p. D-10.
  2. ^ Patterson, R. Gary (2004). Take a Walk on the Dark Side: Rock and Roll Myths, Legends, and Curses. Fireside. p. 174. ISBN 0-7432-4423-0.
  3. ^ Poundstone, William (1994). "Backward Messages on Records". Biggest Secrets. Harper Perennial. p. 229. ISBN 0-688-13792-X. Retrieved December 22, 2009.
  4. ^ "Hard Rock/Metal/Punk". Backmask Online. Archived from the original on August 19, 2006. Retrieved July 25, 2006.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b AIDS and the Arts: A Lost Generation - Newsweek Health - MSNBC.com Archived June 26, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ "Bounce It Off Your Satellite". June 19, 2015.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b "YouTube". www.youtube.com.
  8. ^ Edmondson, Jacqueline, Ph.D., ed. (2013). Music in American Life: An Encyclopedia of the Songs, Styles, Stars, and Stories that Shaped our Culture. ABC-CLIO. p. 89. ISBN 978-0-313-39348-8. While the band was recording Bouncing off the Satellites (1986), tragedy struck. Ricky Wilson died from HIV/AIDs-related illness.
  9. ^ "The B-52s - Biography, Albums, Streaming Links - AllMusic". AllMusic.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c "The B-52's Chart History". Billboard.biz. Billboard. Retrieved November 30, 2016.[permanent dead link]
  11. ^ Allmusic Guide Chart Information for Bouncing Off the Satellites
  12. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Bouncing Off the Satellites – The B-52's". AllMusic. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
  13. ^ Considine, J. D. (2004). "The B-52's". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. pp. 67–68. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved November 2, 2011.
  14. ^ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  15. ^ Christgau, Robert (December 2, 1986). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved August 23, 2016.
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