The B-52’s Were Too Weird to Mess With

Kate Pierson has two ears, a heart, and keys to a car that’s as big as a whale — of course she wanted “Love Shack” to serve as the lead single for the B-52’s’ ethereal Cosmic Thing, an album that would catapult the band into, well, a new cosmos of fame. But the stars didn’t align. The group had been in relative seclusion after the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson from AIDS, and the record label decided the politically driven blitz of “Channel Z” was the best way to tease a return. “People thought we were gone,” Pierson tells me. “So the executives believed this would be a good announcement that we’re back with a bang. And once we get your attention, now we’ll hit you with ‘Love Shack.’” A few months later, that funky little tune got its release as Cosmic Thing’s second track. “Roam” followed. The party never stopped.