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Cover of Cosmic Thing by The B-52's
Cover: Cosmic Thing

Song · The B-52's

“Roam” by The B-52's

From the album Cosmic Thing (1989)

“Roam” by The B-52's appears on 45 radio countdowns from 19 stations between 1989 and 2026. It was first released in 1989 on the album Cosmic Thing. Its best result is #18 on The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #55 alternative song of 1990, #615 alternative song of all time and #218 of the '80s.

45countdowns
19stations
#18best position
0#1 finishes
0top 10 finishes
1989–2026years charted

Watch

The B-52's - Roam (Official Music Video)

Video from YouTube (RHINO). Pressing play loads YouTube's player. Watch on YouTube

"Roam" was the third single The B-52's pulled from Cosmic Thing in 1989, following "Love Shack" out the door, and it hands the whole show to Kate Pierson and Cindy Wilson. Fred Schneider leaves the microphone to them, and their two voices wind around each other, bright and giddy, pitched somewhere between girl-group harmony and a siren, never letting go of the melody.

The music came from Pierson, Wilson, Schneider and Keith Strickland, but the band brought in an outside co-writer, Robert Waldrop, to write the words. Nile Rodgers produced it and mixed it with Tom Durack, and he knew exactly where the groove lived: Sara Lee's bass bounces, Leroy Clouden's drums snap, Strickland's guitar jangles and Richard Hilton's keyboards fill the corners. It's pop rock with the sun shining straight through it.

It climbed to number three on the Billboard Hot 100 and went top 10 in Canada, Ireland and New Zealand before "Deadbeat Club" took its turn.

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

RockLists rankings

Alternative & Modern Rock

Indie & Adult Alternative

All Rock Formats

Year-end countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 68 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1989 107
1989 25 91X San Diego, CA / Tijuana 91X Top 91 Songs of 1989 90
1990 39 KROQ Los Angeles, CA KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1990 107
1990 53 CFNY 102.1 The Edge Toronto, ON CFNY Top 90 Songs of 1990 90
1990 23 Studio Brussel Flanders, Belgium Studio Brussel De Eindafrekening 1990 30

All-time and decade countdowns

Year#StationCountdownof
1989 22 WFNX WFNX Top 101 Songs of the Decade (December 1989) 101
1990 97 Live 105 Live 105 Top 300 Songs of All-Time (Memorial Day 1990) 299
1990 97 Triple J Triple J Hottest 100 of All-Time (1990) 100
1991 534 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (1991 Edition) 1002
1992 390 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1992) 500
1994 338 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1994) 497
1995 392 KROQ KROQ Flashback 500 (Memorial Day 1995) 500
1999 266 91X 91X Fat 500 Songs of All-Time (July 1999) 500
1999 628 Q101 Q101 Top 1,011 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1017
1999 184 WLIR / WDRE WLIR Top 300 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 300
1999 317 107.7 The End The End Top 1077 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 1077
1999 644 CD101 CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) 2000
1999 400 CFNY 102.1 The Edge CFNY Top 1002 Songs of All-Time (November 1999) 1002
2000 644 CD101 CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) 2001
2001 652 CD101 CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) 2002
2002 652 CD101 CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) 2003
2002 1147 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (July 2002) 2002
2003 652 CD101 CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) 2004
2003 922 Fred (XM 44) Fred XM Top 2044 Songs of All-Time (July 2003) 2044
2004 652 CD101 CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) 2005
2005 652 CD101 CD101 Top 2006 Songs of All-Time (December 2005) 1994
2005 813 99X 99X Freedom of Choice 1000 (2005) 1000
2007 1064 CD101 CD101 Top 2008 Songs of All-Time (December 2007) 2008
2007 808 WTMD WTMD Top 897 Songs of All Time 897
2008 928 CD101 CD101 Top 2009 Songs of All-Time (December 2008) 2009
2009 881 CD101 CD101 Top 2010 Songs of All-Time (December 2009) 2010
2010 809 CD101 CD101 Top 2011 Songs of All-Time (December 2010) 2011
2010 68 WXPN WXPN 885 Ultimate Road Trip Songs (2010) 885
2011 836 CD101 CD101 Top 2012 Songs of All-Time (December 2011) 2011
2013 850 CD101 CD101 Top 2013 Songs of All-Time (December 2013) 2012
2014 849 CD101 CD101 Top 2014 Songs of All-Time (2014) 2013
2020 934 WXPN WXPN 2020 Greatest Songs of All Time 2020
2021 239 90.9 The Bridge 90.9 The Bridge Top 909 Songs of the '80s 909
2022 144 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 900 Songs of the '90s 900
2022 269 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 1055 Colorado Sound Songs of All Time 1055
2023 197 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 850 Songs of the 1980s 850
2024 221 WYEP WYEP Best Songs of the Past 50 Years 1049
2025 18 The Colorado Sound The Colorado Sound Top 800 Mood Booster Songs 800
2026 164 WFPK WFPK Top 500 Songs of the '80s 498
2026 397 WYEP WYEP Greatest Songs of All Time 1180

Charting alongside it in 1990

Best songs of 1990 →
  1. 1Nothing Compares 2 USinéad O'Connor
  2. 2The Only One I KnowThe Charlatans
  3. 3Blue Sky MineMidnight Oil
  4. 4Enjoy the SilenceDepeche Mode
  5. 5Here's Where The Story EndsThe Sundays
  6. 6The Emperor's New ClothesSinéad O'Connor

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