Sunday, February 17, 2019

#50. "Private Idaho" - The B-52s (1980)

If we attempted to chart artists and music genres on a graph, I'd place The B-52s at the intersection of punk and new wave. With "Private Idaho" at the dead centre. 

The B-52's are my favourite all-American band (Fleetwood Mac makes things complicated!). They're just so cool and cooky.

Forget about the party anthem "Love Shack", it's tunes like "Rock Lobster" (1979) and "Private Idaho" that are the heart and soul of this quirky outfit. 

The track flat out grooves, led by the surf guitar and fueled by lead singer Fred Schneider's deadpan vocal delivery, while Cindy and Kate lay down some amazing harmonies. 

"Private Idaho" is undoubtedly my favorite song about the subject of paranoia: "Get out of the state" referring to state of mind, not the actual potato capital of the US. 

A close second in terms of 80s songs about paranoia would be this Rockwell classic:


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