The B-52's - Party Mix/Mesopotamia (1981/1982)

2 EPs on 1 CD. Each of these EPs had 6 tracks and clocked in at under 30 minutes apiece, making it a good pairing for a single CD. The buzz on the fansites is that the production on this CD is somehow different from the original EPs. I never had the originals, so I can't speak to that, but messing with the originals sure has the hardcore fans upset and holding on to their vinyl. This isn't one of my favorites, but when I saw a cutout in the bargain bin, I couldn't resist.

Party Mix is a remix album featuring remixes of songs from their first two albums (originally three remixes from album two on side one and vice versa). The songs were bouncy and danceable enough to begin with, but these alternatives are a fun listen every now and then, however unnecessary.

Mesopotamia was supposed to be the band's third album, with David Byrne doing the production. Although that pairing may have looked good on paper, evidently the sessions didn't go as expected and so the label cut things short and hastily put out this stop gap effort. Ah well, there's still a few good cuts here and the band eventually got back on track with Whammy! in 1983.

Musician, May 1982, pp.76 & 78

Peak on the US Billboard Top 200 chart: Party Mix #55, Mesopotamia #35
Peak on CashBox album chart: Party Mix #58, Mesopotamia #30

Tracks:  From Party Mix, the best tracks are the remixes of Private Idaho and Give Me Back My Man. I'm not a fan of being yelled at, but when listening to Dance This Mess Around, I smile every time I hear Cindy yell, "WHY DON'T YOU DANCE WITH ME? I'M NOT NO LIMBURGER!"

From Mesopotamia, I like Loveland, the title track, and Nip It In the Bud. Because of Byrne's production, some tracks sound more like Talking Heads than The B-52's: Deep Sleep and Throw That Beat In The Garbage Can (I want to like the latter tune just because of its awesome name, but the music just doesn't live up to the title).

For more information on the brief life of the CD longbox,
go visit The Legend of the Longbox.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD:  Like many college students, I returned home to live with my parents for the summer after my freshman year. Soon after getting back to town, I reconnected with Brett, an old high school buddy. When we piled into his Mercury Cougar, he had Mesopotamia playing in the cassette player. It seemed that all he had listened to in college that year was The B-52's and Frankie Goes To Hollywood.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Funplex (2008)
Love Shack (1989)
Whammy! (1983)

Blog post #600