Modern Rock Tracks No.1s - The B-52’s and "Love Shack”

In an era when all the cool kids were head banging to hair metal, The B-52’s went looking for a love getaway in a whale-sized Chrysler and ended up creating their generation’s nerd-rock party anthem

The B-52’s - “Love Shack”

Weeks atop the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart: 4 (9/16/89 - 10/7/89)

Billboard Hot 100 chart toppers during this time (and a really sappy month for the Hot 100, eh? Lots of people missing people and not wanting to lose people.):

• Gloria Estefan - “Don’t Wanna Lose You” (9/16/89)

• Milli Vanilli - “Girl I’m Gonna Miss You” (9/23/89 and 9/30/89)

• Janet Jackson - “Miss You Much” (10/7/89)

It’s entirely possible my youth clouded my vision of what it meant to be cool in the 1980s, but I think I got the gist of it. I could start an entirely different Substack about 1980s culture, how “cool” and “nerdy” were portrayed in everything from movies to television to music. In music specifically, the cool stuff was generally all over MTV. Whatever grabbed teenage eyeballs in those days often played out to huge Billboard chart success in radio spins and sales. The mainstream viability of the second British Invasion and new wave eventually moved into hair metal and the glamor-rock movement of the last half of the decade.

If you were cool in the late ‘80s, you were playing Guns N’ Roses or Bon Jovi, Van Halen or Poison. Even if hair metal wasn’t your thing, sex icons like Prince and George Michael, or mall-rock teen heartthrobs Debbie Gibson and Tiffany, generally gave you some neighborhood street cred as someone into “cool” music. (I was decidedly not into the coolest music, trending more toward ‘60s and ‘70s standards over the cool stuff of the era.)

So, for someone like me — and I’m sure there were a LOT of people just like me, left out of the cool-kid party and stuck without an anthem capturing our unique aesthetic — The B-52’s were a breath of fresh air. They were weird, but in a cool way. Put differently, they made weird look cool. The leading ladies were beautiful without being overly glammed up, the lead male vocalist looked like an average guy with occasional falsetto hooks within his unique voice, and the band played songs that were weird, but strangely addictive.

I’ve talked a bit about songs like “Rock Lobster” and “(Shake That) Cosmic Thing” in previous articles, but these were mere appetizers for what would become The B-52’s main course: the single greatest nerd party anthem written to that point. And if you saw that faded sign on the sign of the road, you were more than welcome to join the party at the “Love Shack.”

The band performed the song with deceased band member Ricky Wilson in mind. In a 30th anniversary retrospective on “Cosmic Thing” for Billboard magazine, Kate Pierson noted that the song wasn’t even slated to make the album, but “after we added that chorus, ‘Bingo,’ here it is. It sounds like a hit. But we didn’t aim to write hits, we aimed to heal ourselves and channel Ricky’s spirit. That was the goal, and I knew his presence was there.”

And really, what better way to celebrate life than to give in to the full spirit of the human experience: getting together with people, dancing around, grooving, getting funky and finding a love getaway. In these post-pandemic times, I think most people agree this is a cathartic release that brings us all closer to our humanity and common spirit, and The B-52’s were able to capture that experience perfectly from start to finish.

But even if the nerd-party vibe wasn’t the main focus of the song, it’s certainly apparent in the video. When I think of music videos from the late 1980s amplifying the cool party scene, I think of Bon Jovi or Poison or White Snake, big teased hair, mullets flowing, jamming in eye-damaging shiny clothes while sexy women writhe on car hoods or inside packed arenas. The B-52’s did not emulate that.

If you watch the people in the “Love Shack” video, they are a glorious amalgam of styles, genders, colors, and ages. You have the 50-something gentleman in a suit and tie, the bass player who looks like a future extra from the live-action “Flintstones” movie which would ironically feature The B-52’s, the random saxophonists, the guy in the yellow tank top with the backwards red Budweiser cap, the bathtub woman drinking soapy water from a martini glass, the lady with the big hair and head band, and the woman with Cyndi Lauper hair, among many others. I may or may not have had a big crush on Cindy Wilson as a result of this video.

The point is this song found an audience on modern rock and alternative radio at a time when hair metal was at its glorious peak, and when hip new acts like Bobby Brown, NKOTB, and Milli Vanilli were creating the next wave of what teens would consider cool. This song became a port in the storm for people who were looking to have fun without necessarily being trendy or cool. The B-52’s carved out that niche wonderfully, and they were rewarded handsomely on the music charts for their effort.

“Love Shack” debuted on both the MRT chart and the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, the week ending Sept. 2, 1989; on MRT, it entered the chart at #6, while on the Hot 100, it began its ascent at #84. It hit #1 on MRT within a month, all the while gaining mainstream momentum. Long after its run on MRT, “Love Shack” continued to build steam and eventually peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 the week ending Nov. 25, 1989. If you were at a high school or college party that fall, there’s a good chance “Love Shack” was spinning somewhere between “Hangin’ Tough” and “Blame It On The Rain.”

The B-52’s will be back in this Substack again, though not for anything else on “Cosmic Thing.” Surprisingly, “Roam,” the band’s follow-up to “Love Shack” and a joyous ode to experiencing the greatness of the world around you through aimless roaming, peaked at a mere #6 on the MRT chart, though it did match the Hot 100 peak of “Love Shack” with a #3 finish in early 1990. But even without the hits, The B-52’s cemented their place in party-music history, created a memorably life-affirming anthem to their departed band mate, and generated one of the most enduring classics in alternative rock history.

Rating: 10/10

Chart notes: Quite a few tracks made the cut this week, with a fair turnover in the top 10 while “Love Shack” ruled the roost.

• “Between Something And Nothing” by The Ocean Blue: It’s not a surprise that this jangle-pop indie track peaked at #2 behind “Love Shack.” It hits all the high points of alternative music at the time: jangly guitar, vaguely British-sounding lead singer, and a dreamy narrative about a beautiful woman in a painting. It also sounds adjacent to The Cure in its own way. The interesting part: this band, formed in the late ‘80s, was just out of high school in Hershey, Pennsylvania, when they recorded their eponymous debut album. They’ll pop up in the chart notes from time to time, as they never quite reached the top, but not a bad starting effort for this crew.

• “Knock Me Down” by Red Hot Chili Peppers: They’re coming, you guys. RHCP, one of the most decorated bands in the history of the MRT chart, reached the top 10 of that chart for the first time with this single off “Mother’s Milk.” The band’s ode to looking out for a friend who is headed down a dark path with drug use peaked at #6 behind “Love Shack,” and is slightly more up-tempo than their contemporary hits would be, but it won’t be too long before they start dominating this chart.

• “Way Of The World” by Max Q: INXS frontman Michael Hutchence helmed Aussie side project Max Q, which released “Way Of The World” as the lead single from the group’s only album release, and it peaked at #6 behind The B-52’s. It’s a decent piece of electro pop, if you’re into that sort of thing. I suspect it got its airplay boost due to the INXS connection.

• “She Bangs The Drums” by The Stone Roses: I’m hardly a British alt rock aficionado, but I’ve definitely heard of the “Madchester” sound from the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and The Stone Roses are considered one of the seminal bands of that movement. A musical mix of alt rock, indie rock, and psychedelia came together beautifully with this band’s effort on “She Bangs The Drums,” which peaked at a surprisingly low #9 behind The B-52’s. These guys would be cited as the influence behind some of the biggest British rock acts of the 1990s and beyond, so we’ll hear more about them in the future.