WILD PLANET

	Wild Planet
	Produced by Rhett Davies and the B-52's
	Released on September 1980
	US CHART POSITION #18 . . . UK CHART POSITION #18 . . . GOLD RECORD (10/21/81)
	Find it at GEMM
BSK 3471 cover

T he band apparently felt an encore was all that was in order, from the duplicate cover photo to the familiar fare within. Nothing on here advances the groundbreaking music of “Rock Lobster” or “Dance This Mess Around.” Instead, The B-52’s merely reproduce it, with “Private Idaho” and “Party Out of Bounds” offered up in case you missed it the first time. Wild Planet is still fun, and the combination of “Give Me Back My Man” and “Private Idaho” is as powerful a punch as anything on their debut, but it’s not ambitious. Revolutionary bands (which The B-52’s seemed to be at first) were supposed to keep chipping away at the social foundation. “Devil In My Car” was cute if you didn’t know any better, but X’s “Riding With Mary” -- now that’s a road song. Wild Planet smacks of complacency, and Gang of Four fans are likely to cringe when they hear that band’s anarchic style treated like a faded party favor. If you’re a fan of the band, then tracks like “Strobe Light” and “Quiche Lorraine” are worth hearing. But the general impression here is of a band hard-pressed to come up with new material, which the subsequent Party Mix and Mesopotamia EPs seemed to confirm. Honestly, their best of captures the best of Wild Planet (and then some), so I’d recommend buying that instead or simply skipping ahead to Cosmic Thing. Given the interchangeable nature of the music, the 2-for-1 release that combines the first two efforts makes even more sense (if you can find it).

BSK 3471 back cover

TRACK LISTING

PARTY OUT OF BOUNDS (Fred Schneider/Keith Strickland/Ricky Wilson/Condy Wilson/Kate Pierson) 3:21
DIRTY BACK ROAD (Ricky Wilson/Robert Waldrop) 3:21
RUNNIN' AROUND (Fred Schneider/Keith Strickland/Ricky Wilson/Condy Wilson/Kate Pierson) 3:09
GIVE ME BACK MY MAN (Fred Schneider/Ricky Wilson/Keith Strickland/Cindy Wilson) 4:00
PRIVATE IDAHO (Fred Schneider/Keith Strickland/Ricky Wilson/Condy Wilson/Kate Pierson) 3:35
DEVIL IN MY CAR (Fred Schneider/Ricky Wlson/Cindy Wilson/Kate Pierson) 4:28
QUICHE LORRAINE (Fred Schneider/Keith Strickland/Ricky Wilson) 3:58
STROBE LIGHT (Fred Schneider/Keith Strickland/Ricky Wilson) 3:59
53 MILES WEST OF VENUS (Keith Strickland/Ricky Wilson/Cindy Wilson/Kate Pierson) 4:53

CREDITS

KATE PIERSON --
FRED SCHNEIDER --
KEITH STRICKLAND --
CINDY WILSON --
RICKY WILSON --
Chris Blackwell -- executive producer
Rhett Davies -- engineer
Robert Waldrop -- art direction
Lynn Goldsmith -- cover photograph
La Verne & Phyllis -- ahirdos
Paul Bricker -- makeup

return to THE B-52's discography

REGION	RELEASE DATE	LABEL	MEDIA	ID NUMBER	FEATURES
US	September 1980	Warner Bros.	LP/CS	BSK/M5 3471	inner sleeve
UK	September 1980	Island	LP	ILPS 9622	inner sleeve
CAN	1980	Warner Bros.	LP	XBS 3471	inner sleeve
FRA	1980	Island	LP	6313 082	inner sleeve
GER	1980	Island	LP	202.587.320	inner sleeve
BRA	1981	Warner	LP	6107 031
US	1989	Warner Bros.	CD	3471
UK	1990	Island	CD	842 436

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