Apparently, you can be either a dog person or a cat person. A few people are both. If you’re a cat person please take heed of this friendly warning – don’t try to put out fires with gasoline. It’s an accident waiting to happen and David Bowie was extremely irresponsible to promote the idea.
Fred Schneider, of The B-52s, is a dog person – the evidence lies within our cassette of the day, ‘Wild Planet’, by one of Athens' finest bands.
‘Quiche Lorraine’ is an everyday tale of a two-inch green poodle named, you’ve guessed it, Quiche Lorraine. Much to singer Fred’s chagrin, Quiche slips her leash. You might like to give a call if you see her – if it’s any help she’s wearing sunglasses and a bonnet. I think it’s fair to say that only Fred would have a dog that fits that description. Although I believe Neil Tennant has a similar one in pink.
And on ‘Give me back my man’, Kate (or is it Cindy?) hatches a plan to reclaim her partner in return for the twin inducements of fish and candy. They say it pays to have a plan, but I’m not too sure that this one has any legs.
There genuinely isn’t a poor track to be found on this strong second album and in addition to the two tunes mentioned so far it boasts a number of minor classics, from the exuberant opening track ‘Party out of bounds’ to the wonderful ‘Dirty back road’ with its hesitant beginning and the iconic ‘Private Idaho’ which pre-dated the similarly titled River Phoenix film by 11 years.
It’s the punky, sexy penultimate tune, ‘Strobelight’ that’s the most fun on an album that has no shortage of it. If you have a penchant for being made love to under the aforementioned strobelight, or if you relish having your pineapple kissed, then this is the track for you.
The B-52s went on to achieve far greater success, but they were never better than they are on ‘Wild Planet’.
Label – Island
Year – 1980
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