Description
The B-52s were always queer, though not overtly, and this book dissects the coded queer messaging in the B-52s music, using Cosmic Thing as a launching point. Alongside the authors own queer awakening, this book looks at what was obvious all along – the B-52s aren't just pop culture icons, they are queer history.
The B-52s fifth record Cosmic Thing took the world by storm in 1989 in the wake of the band's single greatest tragedy: losing guitarist Ricky Wilson to complications from AIDS in 1985. Cosmic Thing is a celebration of queer joy in the face of that seismic setback. Not only did the B-52s have to fight through their pain and grief to make Cosmic Thing, they were up against a conservative government under Reagan (then Bush), a misunderstood virus still ravaging the queer community and the expectations of what 'serious' artists were supposed to look like.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. 'Deadbeat Club' – 1977-1979
2. 'Dance This Mess Around' – 1979-1980
3. 'Deep Sleep' – 1981-1989
4. 'Cosmic Thing' – 1989-1990
5. 'Keep This Party Going' – 1990-2025
Conclusion
References
Product details
| Published | 24 Jul 2025 |
|---|---|
| Format | Ebook (PDF) |
| Edition | 1st |
| Extent | 128 |
| ISBN | 9798765133149 |
| Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
| Series | 33 1/3 |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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