By 1989, The B-52s had already released several albums and more than a dozen singles, without having much success on the radio. The group, formed in Atlanta, Georgia, might have eventually faded into obscurity if not for one hit song, “Love Shack”. On their Cosmic Thing record, the songwriting credit goes to all of the band members.
Surprisingly, The B-52s almost skipped recording “Love Shack”, the song that changed everything for them. In fact, The B-52s thought Cosmic Thing was already finished. And indeed, it may have been, if not for producer Don Was.
“We finished all the songs we had to do a day early, so we had this extra day to do something,” Was tells Billboard. “So they said, ‘We have this other thing, but it’s 15 minutes long, and we haven’t figured it out.’ I remember sitting on the steps outside the studio and thinking about this thing they were improvising about a love shack and going, ‘Well maybe that’s the chorus.’”
How “Love Shack” Made It Onto ‘Cosmic Thing’ by The B-52s
“Love Shack” says in part, “I got me a car, it’s as big as a whale / And we’re headin’ on down to the Love Shack / I got me a Chrysler, it seats about 20 / So hurry up and bring your jukebox money / The love shack is a little old place / Where we can get together / Love Shack, baby.”
A very unique lyric, not only did The B-52s not think “Love Shack” would be on the record, they weren’t even sure they were going to make more music. In 1985, band member Ricky Wilson passed away. One of the founders of The B-52s, the remaining members weren’t at all sure they could continue making music.
“I remember how ‘Love Shack’ wasn’t put together yet,” The B-52s’ Kate Pierson recounts. “And Don said how it needed a chorus. It wasn’t even gonna make the album because it wasn’t solidified. 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.”
Fortunately for The B-52s and their fans, they together found a way to make “Love Shack” one of their most enduring songs.
“We started rearranging the lyrics like a puzzle,” Was remembers. “And we were able to get it down to three and a half minutes with a chorus and some semblance of a plot line and cut it.”
The success of “Love Shack” goes to the band members and Was being able to rearrange the song into something that makes sense. But it also goes to The B-52s’ Cindy Wilson, who sings the iconic “Tin roof, rusted” line in the song.
“I don’t know what that line means; I don’t think anybody knew what that line means,” Was admits. “But she infused it with so much feeling, it threw everybody. I think she even choked up at the end of the line.”
Photo by Gie Knaeps/Getty Images
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Go To Source | Author: Gayle Thompson