T/S Blondie vs. B-52's

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As a five-year-old, I always detested the B-52's for "Love Shack." The video was all over Vh1's pop-up video, and I thought Fred Schneider's voice was painful. Now, around ten years later, I'm starting to fall in love with most of the B-52's songs that I ignored for so long.

A few years ago, I went through my sister's cassette tape collection and found some Blondie singles on a mixtape. I overplayed most of those songs, but now, it's been a few years. Their music sounds fresh again to me.

Overall, though, I find myself enjoying the B-52's more. I might be insane. I should probably stop, go back and actually listen to all of each bands' albums before declaring this my vote. Your thoughts?

― Tape Store (Tape Store), Sunday, 6 August 2006 20:39 (nineteen years ago)

Tough one, but the Ricky Wilson years of the B-52's are one of the hardest eras of any band to beat from any angle really, including the awkward Mesopotamia period, so I'm going with the B-52's here.

― dottie nuttie dach nach dtnt hhhhhhhh (donut), Sunday, 6 August 2006 20:46 (nineteen years ago)

Hm. Blondie made a bunch of terrific, shiny pop singles. But they're so deeply imprinted onto my brain, I don't feel like I'll ever need to actually *listen* to them again.

The B-52's eponymous debut, however - I think I'll be listening to that forever. Same goes for almost all the Ricky Wilson stuff. Gold.

― Clumsy Colin in ACTION BIKER (coach_mcguirk), Sunday, 6 August 2006 20:54 (nineteen years ago)

blondie. i like the b-52's a lot, but still. blondie. blondie. blondie.

dreaming. picture this. call me. heart of glass. sunday girl. 11:59. atomic. rip her to shreds. union city blue.

not shiny -- incandescent.

― gypsy mothra (gypsy mothra), Sunday, 6 August 2006 21:18 (nineteen years ago)

But they're so deeply imprinted onto my brain, I don't feel like I'll ever need to actually *listen* to them again.

This is OTM. My brain had completely forgotten I even own Parallel Lines, I've maybe played it twice since I got it, whereas the B-52's tapes I picked up a while back make me absolutely giddy every time I put them on.

― fandango (fandango), Sunday, 6 August 2006 21:40 (nineteen years ago)

I cannot choose. Sorry. They both need to exist for the world to have meaning.

― The Mad Puffin (The Mad Puffin), Sunday, 6 August 2006 22:18 (nineteen years ago)

Can I make a confession here? Blondie has always bored the shit out of me. I tried to convince myself I liked "Rapture" and a few other things, and okay, "Heart of Glass" is kinda okay, but really most everything I hear by this band is boring! Actually, aside from how much of a rigged fight it is, this is a weird TS - do these bands even sound alike? Dress alike? Anything?

B-52's blow Blandie out of the water with Wild Planet and Cosmic Thing alone, and if you cherry-pick from the debut and Whammy! they become powerful enough to beat pretty much any other band of their generation. No contest at all.

― Doctor Casino (Doctor Casino), Sunday, 6 August 2006 22:38 (nineteen years ago)

Actually, aside from how much of a rigged fight it is, this is a weird TS - do these bands even sound alike? Dress alike? Anything?

They both played sort of the same NYC scene in the late 1970s/early 1980s, and they both have good rhythm sections.

And Blondie, obv.

― max (maxreax), Sunday, 6 August 2006 22:41 (nineteen years ago)

At present I'd rather hear Parallel Lines over the eponymous B-52's record; but the latter created far more essential records (Whammy, Cosmic Thing). The B'52's never recorded albums as awful as Autoamerican and The Hunter.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 6 August 2006 22:45 (nineteen years ago)

Alfred I know you're given to overstatement but I know you didn't just call Autoamerican "awful" nor lump it in with The Hunter

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Sunday, 6 August 2006 22:52 (nineteen years ago)

I'd rather chew on my carpet than listen to "Faces" or "Europa" again.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 6 August 2006 22:54 (nineteen years ago)

dude those are two songs

two others are "Angels on the Balcony" and fucking "Rapture": an album which had "Rapture" followed by thirty minutes of gastrointestinal lavage recorded with a handheld at Loma Linda would still be a fucking excellent album

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Sunday, 6 August 2006 23:00 (nineteen years ago)

thomas tallis liking a rap song! dogs cats living together!

― j blount (papa la bas), Sunday, 6 August 2006 23:03 (nineteen years ago)

No contest at all.

Agreed. Even if I liked Blondie, they are still just a plain ol' pop band whereas the B52s really pushed things forward while writing (arguably) catchier songs.

― gaseous (gaseous), Sunday, 6 August 2006 23:05 (nineteen years ago)

b-52s pretty easy for me too - can't BELIEVE noone's at least namechecked "debbie" yet!

xpost - o dear god ilm wtf

― j blount (papa la bas), Sunday, 6 August 2006 23:06 (nineteen years ago)

He knows not what he does.

― jimnaseum - formalist rigour! (jimnaseum), Sunday, 6 August 2006 23:07 (nineteen years ago)

still just a plain ol' pop band whereas the B52s

"Still."

As if the Bees weren't "just a plain ol' pop band" (with songs about UFO's, fictional dance crazes, etc) either.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Sunday, 6 August 2006 23:12 (nineteen years ago)

b-52s for me - and i adore cosmic shack too - it has some of their greatest moments.

― phil turnbull (philT), Monday, 7 August 2006 05:46 (nineteen years ago)

blondie

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Monday, 7 August 2006 05:54 (nineteen years ago)

Blondie, absolutely.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Monday, 7 August 2006 05:57 (nineteen years ago)

b-52's > blondie > "rock and rule"

― christopherscottknudsen (christopherscottknudsen), Monday, 7 August 2006 10:37 (nineteen years ago)

o jb u make me sigh w/frustration, i've loved rap for many years and it's a mean-spirited mischaracterization of stuff i've said to claim i don't like rap

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Monday, 7 August 2006 11:07 (nineteen years ago)

I think it's an excellent, and incredibly difficult, question! To my way of thinking, both bands drew from similar non-rawk influences (surf, girl-group, soundtracks) to create debut LPs of quirky and lovable pastiche-pop, and solidified the sound for the followup records.

My comparison doesn't quite work as Blondie hits one out of the park with "Parallel Lines," while the B's flounder a bit and try to figure out a next move with "Party Mix" and "Mesopotamia" -- and am I the only one who thinks the rhythm-box-driven "Whammy!" is a braver and better record than "Eat To The Beat?"

"Autoamerican" and "Cosmic Thing" find the bands expanding beyond their original sounds for bigger-than-ever sales (TS: "Rapture" vs "Roam") and "Hunter" and "Good Stuff" are both pretty tired-sounding swansongs for the original era.

I own every record by both, and will never part with any of them, so for me: total, unbreakable tie.

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Monday, 7 August 2006 14:08 (nineteen years ago)

Damn, I forgot all about "Bouncing off the Satellites" in that analogy. Back to the drawing board...

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Monday, 7 August 2006 15:02 (nineteen years ago)

B-52's for one reason only, ROCK LOBSTER!!!!!

― Mandorf (mandorf), Monday, 7 August 2006 15:03 (nineteen years ago)

Such different methodologies too. The Bees didn't use kitsch as props: they really loved kitsch, enbracing it like the outsiders they were. "Dance This Mess Around" is an uneasy listen, in a way that no Blondie song is. I had a weird experience listening to "Shayla" a few weeks ago: I was struck by how beautifully Harry's vocal curled around the drums and guitars, yet what a hollow exercise: a song, in the third person, sung to and written about a factory girl, devoid of the curiosity, contempt, and addled affection that, say, Jagger brought to "Factory Girl."

Few preAutoamericansongs are this unintentionally bizarre, but you get the idea.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 7 August 2006 15:22 (nineteen years ago)

B-52s by quite a lot, though Blondie was often great too.

― Mark (MarkR), Monday, 7 August 2006 18:59 (nineteen years ago)

Plastic or pineapple?

PINEAPPLE!

― gabbneb (gabbneb), Monday, 7 August 2006 19:11 (nineteen years ago)

I wonder how the B-52s would have been with Clem Burke instead of Keith "Nick Mason" Strickland and/or Mike Chapman producing. Then I wonder how Blondie would have sounded with someone as iconic-sounding as Ricky Wilson on board.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Monday, 7 August 2006 19:16 (nineteen years ago)

The great Blondie records came a little too early for me. Plus, THEY aren't playing for free near Coney this Thursday:

http://www.brooklynconcerts.com/seaside.html

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 7 August 2006 19:48 (nineteen years ago)

the rap in Rapture is embarrassing. Man from mars eating cars? shut the fuck up.

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 7 August 2006 20:00 (nineteen years ago)

the rap in Rapture is embarrassing. Man from mars eating cars? shut the fuck up.

Bah. I thought it was great when it was released and still do now.

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Monday, 7 August 2006 20:08 (nineteen years ago)

"now he only eats guitars" (guitar solo) FUCK THAT SHIT

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 7 August 2006 20:10 (nineteen years ago)

otherwise the song is fine.

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 7 August 2006 20:10 (nineteen years ago)

Blondie sounds dated. They took their music too seriously and most of it is pretty dull now.

B-52s were never serious. They're music is just as much party now as it was party then.

Plus, nothing in Blondie's canon will ever come close to touching "Rock Lobster".

― Sean Robison (yaratnam), Monday, 7 August 2006 23:14 (nineteen years ago)

Blondie sounds dated. They took their music too seriously

Explain.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 7 August 2006 23:23 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, I'm not sure I hear the "too seriously," but I do agree that they sound way more dated. I'm not sure if that's really Blondie's fault, though. The B's had the genius/luck to generate a sound that no one could really match or imitate - wasn't there a thread on "Did the B-52's actually influence anybody?" that came up with a resounding "No, but you can sorta draw a comparison to X, Y, and Z"? So the B-52's sound never caught on, and hence doesn't sound dated. Theirs are the only records that sound like them. Cosmic Thing obviously less so without Ricky Wilson and with a generally more of-the-period sheen..... but of course, it's still a work of genius.

― Doctor Casino (Doctor Casino), Monday, 7 August 2006 23:37 (nineteen years ago)

The B-52's: their legacy/influence today

― electric sound of jim [and why not] (electricsound), Monday, 7 August 2006 23:49 (nineteen years ago)

wha??? i only know "love shack" and "rock lobster." [seeeaaarchh]

However, temporarily: Blondie forever.

― poortheatre (poortheatre), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 00:27 (nineteen years ago)

Plus, nothing in Blondie's canon will ever come close to touching "Rock Lobster".

Plus, nothing in the B-52's canon will ever come close to touching "Dreaming."

― Elvis Telecom (Chris Barrus), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 00:44 (nineteen years ago)

"Picture This"!

― Rickey Wright (Rrrickey), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 00:56 (nineteen years ago)

> Yeah, I'm not sure I hear the "too seriously," but I do agree that they sound way more dated.

Okay, I take back the "too seriously". This is why I shouldn't post during working hours... the brain's pointing in too many directions to come up with rational comments.

However, I still hold that they sound dated. I'll need to drag out "Parallel Lines" again to get a better handle on WHY they sound dated. There was a sound that seemed common to the late 70s/early 80s New Wave Punk bands that, when you hear it, you instantly know the song came from that time.

― Sean Robison (yaratnam), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 01:04 (nineteen years ago)

I thought I would be completely unable to decide, but Blondie have the opening riff of 'Union City Blue' on their side, which is kind of a trump card. Blondie.

― scriblerus (mike lynch), Tuesday, 8 August 2006 01:13 (nineteen years ago)

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