Cosmic Thing by The B-52's

Cosmic Thing, the B-52's' fifth album, came out on Reprise in 1989, and it's a party record with a lump in its throat. It was their comeback after they lost Ricky Wilson, their guitarist, a founding member and one of their songwriters, who died in 1985, and instead of mourning they did what they always did best: threw open the doors and turned up the surf guitar.

The work was split between two producers: Nile Rodgers handled six songs in New York City and Don Was the other four in upstate New York, and between them they gave the band's thrift-store new wave a fat, glossy bottom end without dimming the kitsch. "Love Shack" is the shindig of the decade, a rickety, whooping dance-off with call-and-response vocals that sound like a house party about to fall through the floor. "Roam" glides along on dreamy harmonies and wanderlust, "Deadbeat Club" drifts by on a lazy, sun-dazed shuffle, and "Channel Z" and the title track keep the go-go boots moving.

It became one of the biggest records of 1990, peaking at number four on the Billboard 200 and going on to four-times platinum in the US, reached number one in Australia and New Zealand and the top 10 in Britain, and the "Love Shack" video won Best Group Video at the 1990 MTV Video Music Awards. A worldwide Cosmic Tour followed.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.