The above live version of Dry County from the Cosmic Thing album is proof positive that you can find ANYTHING on Youtube. As I was about to begin this entry, I began to wonder if The B-52’s had ever done Dry County live? Seeing this video on Youtube makes me grateful for Youtube, and at the same time, even more pissed at myself that I missed seeing the band at Public Hall on the Cosmic Thing tour.

Cosmic Thing is both my favorite album from the band, as well as the album that introduced me to the world of The B-52’s. Produced by red hot producers Nile Rodgers and Don Was, it was certainly their most accessible release at that point, and musically wasn’t a hard sell to the average music fan. You couldn’t turn on a radio in 1989/1990 without hearing the good time party in a box that was Love Shack, and good times were jam packed into radio favorite Roam as well.

That was Cosmic Thing in a nutshell – an audio invitation to the ultimate party of 1989 with The B-52’s as your host. You had “the girls” with Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson, that “weird guy” with the one of a kind Fred Schneider, and the rest of the band holding things together musically, keeping the party from “going out of bounds,” to borrow a previous phrase from the B’s. It was a musical knockout punch, and as I listen to the album today, it hasn’t lost a step after all of these years. That’s right, Cosmic Thing is nearly 20 years old. Will the B’s do something special to recognize that upcoming anniversary? Who knows?

Dry County and Deadbeat Club to me, represent the musical version of driving with your friends on a Friday night – hell, whether you were a guy or girl, you all had that album growing up that you sung along with as you drove in the car, and with Cosmic Thing, it really felt like the band were singing along with you just as much as you were singing with them. I never was dancing in torn sheets in the rain, but as a guy, that’s probably for the best.

Fred Schneider was at his quirky best on tracks like Channel Z (which I never quite found on my TV,) the title track, and of course Love Shack.

It’s a shame that the band was really unable to capitalize on this album. Cindy Wilson retired from the road after this album, and the band didn’t quite match the prior success with Good Stuff, although I personally thought it was a worthy followup. Critically, the overall consensus seemed to find the B’s without Cindy Wilson lacking.

Wilson has been back with the band for several years now, and the band appear poised to unleash an album that is very much in the ballpark of Cosmic Thing, if the title track and first single Funplex is any indication. The new album is in stores in March, and if you haven’t heard the single yet, it is worth a listen – this song and the new single from R.E.M. are my two favorite singles of the moment.

Cosmic Thing – Amazon MP3

Funplex (via Mixtape Maestro)

Junebug (live in Florida 2003)