Modern Rock Tracks No.1s - B-52's and "Channel Z"

Eclectic new-wave rockers B-52's channel their 1980s-era past while helping alternative music turn the page into the 1990s with their first big hit off "Cosmic Thing"

B-52’s - “Channel Z”

Weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart: 3 (8/5/89 - 8/19/89)

Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers during this time:

• Prince - “Batdance (From “Batman”)” (8/5/89)

• Richard Marx - “Right Here Waiting” (8/12/89 and 8/19/89)

The B-52’s are a band you either love or loathe, depending on your taste in music. I can understand how the goofy rock aesthetic, which thrived in the new-wave post-punk era of the late 1970s and into the 1980s, might rub some people the wrong way. It’s a tricky transition for alternative rock fans, loving goth-friendly bands like The Cure, or Love and Rockets, while also trying to maintain that street cred bopping out to a ‘60s-adjacent surf-pop confection like “Rock Lobster,” which was the band’s first big hit in 1978 (it reached #56 on the Hot 100). (For another perspective on “Rock Lobster,” check out the “Songs That Saved Your Life” Substack and its historical review of the song.)

In that sense, the B-52’s have always thrived bubbling just under the mainstream, finding a niche by exploring many different derivations of kitschy rock, new wave, surf rock, and bubblegum pop. I could go on for paragraphs about the successes and setbacks that affected this band throughout its formative decade, including the untimely death of guitarist Ricky Wilson in 1985 that nearly ended the band entirely. That discussion is best left to the real experts, so I defer to Slate Magazine’s Chris Molanphy and his superlative two-part podcast “Hit Parade: The Deadbeat Club Edition” for a biographical review of both the B-52’s and R.E.M.

For our purposes here, I’m going to talk about how the B-52’s came back together and produced one of the best alt-rock albums of the 1980s, and how the first big hit off “Cosmic Thing” managed to draw upon the influences that made the band an underground favorite while producing an album that would set a template for alternative rock to follow into the 1990s and beyond. We’re not roaming around any love shacks yet, though; we’re just going to turn the dial to “Channel Z.”

You’d be forgiven if you thought we’d be starting off with “Love Shack,” the superlative pop hit that most everyone thinks of first when they hear the name B-52’s. We’ll get there, sooner than you think. But I suspect the release of “Channel Z” as the first official single off “Cosmic Thing” was done with the intention of highlighting those aspects of the band that made them famous on the college radio and alternative music scene: eclectic guitar work, a unique male vocalist, and one of the most enduring one-two punches of female lead vocals in modern rock history.

Audiences were already familiar with the band’s eclecticism; in addition to the aforementioned “Rock Lobster,” the B-52’s scored minor Hot 100 hits with such comparable sonically mish-mashed rock spectacles as “Private Idaho” (#74 on the Hot 100 in 1980), “Legal Tender,” (#81, Hot 100), and the track “Cosmic Thing,” which peaked at #7 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart earlier in 1989.

But there’s something about “Channel Z” that stands out among the band’s other hits. I can’t put my finger on it, but the best way I can describe it is this track seems to have a certain polished sheen to it that the other tracks to this point were lacking. In its own way, I think the B-52’s — with the help of producers Nile Rodgers and, in the case of “Channel Z,” Don Was — were ready for the limelight of the mainstream, and with the help of the MRT chart, they had a gateway track that bridged the old-school charm of the band’s earlier hits with the mainstream goliaths they would soon become.

The band hits all of its high points in this song right from the outset: a smooth bass line, consistent guitar work, and that amazing harmony from vocalists Cindy Wilson and Kate Pierson. Everything lines up perfectly. In the hands of a less-talented group, this track could have become a garbled mess; with the B-52’s, everything that sounds sonically out of step comes together in just the right way.

It’s remarkable, too, that the band found themselves performing their most politically motivated song during a unique time of geopolitical transition. Historically, the release of this single would be followed a few months later with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the steady deconstruction of communism and the breakup of the U.S.S.R. At the same time, a heightened sense of concern regarding the environment started a wave of efforts globally to reverse ozone layer depletion and improve recycling efforts.

Fred Schneider delivers individual lyrical shots about the state of the world at that time: space junk, laser bombs, ozone holes, BOMBS! While it is an interesting time capsule of that particular moment, the ideas in the song continue to resonate into the present day. And for as much as the song oozes a certain 1980s charm, this song’s not-so-veiled knock on the societal “static” that distracts us from larger issues and concerns would be echoed into the ‘90s and beyond by many other alternative and pop acts.

In the end, however, the B-52’s would not permit themselves to be shoehorned into the mold of political activism. Indeed, their Athens, Ga., counterparts, R.E.M., already took a few stabs at that with a number of singles off their “Green” album, and there’s certainly no shortage of musical acts across the generations that make those types of statements. And I think the band makes it clear in “Channel Z” that they want to cut through the noise and get back to the good feelings they’d championed with their music:

I don't know
I feel like something's happening
Something good is happening!
I feel love has got to come on, and I want it
Something big and lovely
I want the world to change for me!
Gotta get away
Away from Z

For Schneider, Pierson, Wilson, Keith Strickland and the others who played with the band over the years, the political tone behind “Channel Z” was more of a one-off than a group-defining single, but the song sets the tone for everything that follows: finding an outlet for having fun, feeling the love, and exploring the world. As we’ll see in upcoming discussions about the B-52’s, the kitsch is what makes them great, and soon they’ll be hopping into a whale-sized Chrysler and heading way back into the middle of a field with a bunch of folks looking for a love getaway. And something about a rusted roof. Made of tin. Stay tuned…

Rating: 8/10

Chart notes: Another column, another Fine Young Cannibals song. It’s not my favorite, but credit where credit is due: it’s their third top-10 hit on the MRT chart in 1989. I also have some Al Gore trivia and an interesting cover of one of my favorite ‘70s songs.

• "Let The Day Begin" by The Call: I didn’t realize this song was the campaign theme for Al Gore’s 2000 presidential campaign. I admit the only song I can recall historically being involved in a presidential race is Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop,” which was part of Bill Clinton’s 1992 candidacy. But I digress. The Call reached their high-water mark in 1989 with this song, which peaked at #5 behind “Channel Z” and hit #51 on the Hot 100.

• "Don’t Look Back" by Fine Young Cannibals: I swear, this is it. FYC officially ends its run on the MRT chart with this standard rock/pop ditty about not looking back on hard times. It missed the top 10 on the Hot 100, finishing its run at #11. On the MRT chart, it peaked at #9 behind “Channel Z.” I won’t look back fondly on this track.

• "Radio Silence" by Boris Grebenshikov: As if to underscore the oddities of the MRT chart in the late ‘80s, we have this post-punk new wave Russian rocker by Boris Grebenshikov, whose “Radio Silence” peaked at #7 behind “Channel Z.” He’s apparently one of the “founding fathers of Russian rock music,” so it’s a neat little historical footnote on this chart. It’s not a terrible song, either.

• "Everlasting Love” by U2: This is … definitely a cover of a good song. U2, coming off of their Americana-inspired “Rattle and Hum” album, released this track as a B-side to the single “All I Want Is You.” It’s fine, I guess, but it’s definitely a far cry from so many of the hits that made U2 great over the years. It still struck a chord with some alt-radio producers, though, since it managed a peak of #11 on the MRT chart behind “Channel Z.”

• “Everlasting Love” by Carl Carlton: This one was #6 on the Hot 100 in 1974 and is, in my opinion, the definitive version. You’re welcome.