Day 0431 - The B-52s

The B-52s "The B-52s" (1979) - got it

Like a weird mix of 50s rock n roll, 60s surf rock with the directness of punk, the twang of 1960s spy or batman music, mixed together with a whole lot of quirkiness and theatricality.

Prior to hearing this I was mostly familiar with the song 'love shack' that I'd heard at so many school discos and then bars/clubs that the name 'B-52s' was shrouded in commercialism and 'classic rock' radio. In contrast this album is fresh and interesting post-punk with all the ingredients listed above.

Full disclosure, I first checked out this album in the days when I enjoyed Family Guy and saw Peter Griffin perform 'rock lobster' and it seemed too brilliantly ridiculous to be a real song.... still kind of does.

Day 0385 - Pacific Ocean Blue

Dennis Wilson "Pacific Ocean Blue" (1977)

 
I'm looking forward to the next run of 3 or 4 albums.  This album is one that I listened to and enjoyed when I checked out the book the first time around 2011.

Dennis was looked on as not being (according to one doco I saw) the greatest of drummers.  Some Beach Boys drum parts were completed by session musicians and other people who were not Dennis... so in some ways, it was kind of a ballsy move for him to go ahead and make a solo album.

This doesn't sound a like a "Drummer album".  This is a vocal-heavy album, but not the clean complex harmonies of a Brian Wilson production (I'm actually now listening to the Beach Boys' "Friends" album as I type this) it's more of a cathartic clamour.  That's interesting, as the music is certainly not a non-stop journey of joy.  Dennis himself struggled with alcoholism and cocaine addiction.

It was always that rather odd thing with the Beach Boys where they sang all about surfing but Dennis was the only one who surfed (It would be like if all of RHCP except the drummer were virgins, or if Motorhead were teetotallers) and he ended up drowning after a vodka binge.

The album was well received and Dennis was grateful for the recognition. He started recording a follow-up but died before he could complete it.