DJ Theo Parrish, the godfather of Detroit house, told me to buy the B-52's Mesopotamia , a six-track album from 1982 produced by David Byrne. The support certainly didn't come from the white Rolling Stone rock critics we've encountered in the past, or from the Village Voice's Nelson George or Greg Tate (two of the few black voices covering music for everyone). -then weekly independent on titan). Even Pitchfork, in recent years, has allowed us to read past albums that were highly praised on Sunday. Sometimes they are right, sometimes - ugh .
No, none of them.
Theo (cursed) Parrish, soul deck controller and extreme producer, father of the pioneer Ugly Edits (thanks Black Jesus). A needle artist jumps in as the vinyl spins for over six hours, so you know it's a human and not a robot behind the wheel. His NTS mixes and IRT DJ shows are the kind of music people in Brooklyn, Berlin or London write playlists on toilet paper. Everyone there knew they were on their way. Disco, techno, hip-hop, house, new wave, rock, jazz, dub, fusion, Brazilian - everything is played on its floors.
Yes, that guy. And when I got the suction cup, I wasn't ready yet.
In the late 2000s, I was willing to go to the Mighty hit club (now known as the Great North) to see Theo perform folk. Sorry, go ahead. He was outside looking at what shoes the women were wearing. (If they're wearing sneakers, I mean flip flops, that means people here are ready to dance—Duke Ellington's old observation still applies.) I was talking about how I got into disco music, not post -punk, no wave, disco, and before I knew it, he spoke (unlike me, he had a set to perform that night). "Hello, bad boy, Dr. Toki McTalky. Visit your local thrift store and pick up a mesopotamian rock site around B-52. Produced by David Byrne. It won't cost more than two bucks and will be a great addition to your DJ set.”
bet to say
The next day I walked down the street to Community Thrift in Valencia. Arrived at 8:59, checked out the rock section, sold over five million copies of Gray Scaggs' Degrees of Silk (which I might add is the subject of the Sunday Wild 2021 review), discovered Mesopotamia and cost seventy. paid five bucks, bought an expensive octane and a croissant from Blue Bottle, went home and threw this bad boy in the spinner.
And he was surprised.
It's interesting that everything is back to normal, isn't it? Talking Heads gave a fitting farewell in the recently restored music documentary Stop Making Sense to celebrate their 40th anniversary. The actors get along well and really get laughs in the film. It's kind of crazy, isn't it?
Meanwhile, the B-52s themselves were shaking things up and heading into semi-retirement, deservedly known as a quintet of mostly gay, party-goers and college dropouts who were changing the musical landscape. They took the world by storm with their unique, rule-breaking genre of post-punk. During the Reagan era of the 1980s, they went ahead without fear. They consider themselves cheerful and honest people and remain courageous after 40 years.
I mean, I love REM too, but if I could see any iconic band from Athens, Georgia, I mean, would it come close? No.
By then I knew the specs of the B-52. "Rock Lobster" is a timeless jam that always gets people dancing and moving. It hit the floor with a thud like a ham. But when "Love Shack" took over, MTV drank with the best. Played every hour.
In the meantime, I have to find something else to do.
Since the beginning of their career, the B-52s have embraced alien stories, punk attitude and camp culture, creating a unique and energetic synthesis of high and low art that is always entertaining. No one else can repeat it. One of my favorite boxes is Legal Tender whose synths are amazing. It's simply amazing, perfectly composed with vocals blending perfectly with the hand claps and guitar accents. Just a carefully crafted sound collage.
Then I thought about Mesopotamia .
See, mainstream B-52 fans weren't too happy with this album when it came out. Many believed Byrne was making a Talking Heads album to fulfill his dream of facing the B-52s. And they may be right.
At the time, Byrne was working on music for a dance production of Twyla Tharp's The Catherine Wheel . He is forced to work all day, working on Tharp's projects during the day and hitting the studio with the B-52s at night.
According to Roger Lyle Brown's book The Party Outside: The B-52s, REM, and the Kids Who Rocked Afhens, Georgia, he found the party crowd tired, jaded, and lacking in creativity. More importantly, they were tired of being known as a party group.
"In 1980, we toured for about nine months and were overwhelmed, exhausted," says drummer Keith Strickland in the book. "We are ready to rest. It really becomes work and the fun and spontaneity is gone, gone forever.”
Also at a crossroads, Byrne's Talking Heads in the Light was a critical and commercial success. But the B-52 somehow survived. They needed to shape the new direction like clay, so Byrne moved them from the boring term "minimalist techno" to minimalism about a decade ago. It deepens the beat, adds synths, softens the crazy music and adds a cool wave vibe. When released, they recorded an album that was not well received by everyone.
Upon its release on January 27, 1982, the EP entered the US Billboard 200 and the title track received heavy support from Detroit DJs The Electrifying Mojo.
A major influence on black radio across the country in the 70s and early 80s, The Electrifying Mojo landed the album on the Black Billboard charts. He was one of the rare people who could interview the Prince. Adhering to the tenets of all styles in his playlists, this sci-fi intellectual is heavily influenced by Detroit's first wave of techno producers.
Electrification, Mojo support and the signing of the B-52 contract are essential. He regularly performs the song "Mesopotamia" and even leads the band in his shows.
"We've never sold our music to a specific audience," B-52s frontman Fred Schneider told the influential Detroit DJ at the Red Bull Music Academy. “Mojo [plays our music on Black stations]… our manager didn't like the idea, but we didn't care what he thought. We want to reach everyone who wants to have fun and be entertained, who likes our music and who likes Mojo."
Of course he loved Mojo and Black Radio. Soak up breakfast in this little gravy mix where rock and dance collide, hook up, fight, make love, slow dance and share bagels. Same beat as Common Sense's "Voices Inside My Head" and Gary Numan's early dance-rock version (minus his radio hit "Cars").
"Mesopotamia" can mean a transition to techno in DJ sets, or a transition from electronic forms of music to other forms of dance. The interplay between Schnieders and Cindy Wilson's vocals and the song's intense and authoritative delivery is beautifully combined with rhythms reminiscent of David Byrne's restless background and shimmering guitar tones. It's a masterclass in an attractive variety at a party.
B-52 singer and instrumentalist Kate Pierson recalled a 1982 conflict with the band's manager, who convinced them not to appear on New York's WBLS, the nation's largest black radio station, to promote the album. She seemed "confused" to their core audience.
In retrospect, it seems the team manager was confused.
Guess who doesn't? Theo Parrish.
