The B-52s: Pioneers of LGBTQ Activism in the New Wave Scene

The B-52’s

Pioneers of LGBTQ+ activism within the New Wave scene

The punk and new wave scene of the late 70s and 80s is often seen as dominated by the angry voices of straight white men. The bands from that that theory. In 1976, however, a band formed in Athens, Georgia, over a bands to come out of that scene, but one of the greatest bands in history. The B-52’s, over the course of their history (1976-present) have created some of the most brilliantly original songs of the 20th Century. Borrowing from a plethora of genres such as doo-wop, surf, psychedelia and everything

them solely on ‘Rock Lobster’ or ‘Love Shack’, their most commercially come out of that era of new wave. From the high energy of ’52 Girls’, to the experimental fever dream of ‘Quiche Lorraine’ and to the 50s surf inspired ‘Give Me Back My Man’ - do yourself a favour and listen to a B-52’s album in its entirety. You will come out of that experience a better person. Throughout their entire history, the B-52’s have been fearlessly going against the grain of the punk scene that bores them. The art school kids from Athens swapped mohawks for beehives, bondage trousers for vintage dresses, and it was to LGBTQ+ audiences in a way which was not really seen by many other new album in 1979, ‘punk’ had become a conformist fashion trend, much of the new music being released had congealed into the same boring sound concerned with clichéd, macho adolescent anger. The B-52’ s, however, never bought into those ideals to begin with – they were always unapologetically non-conformist. In fact, vocalist, lyricist and organ player Kate Pierson said they never considered queer — as in eccentric,“ they said, which might explain why the B-52’s are so criminally overlooked when exploring the history of LGBTQ+ within music. about the crisis, producing a public service announcement for AMFAR (The disease’s criminal treatment from Margaret Thatcher in the U.K. and Ronald Reagan in the US meant that very little was being done to curve the crisis. Even number of people, the B-52‘s were doing an incredibly important service. The impact of the B-52’s on the LGBTQ+ community, and pop culture in frontman Fred Schneider appeared on two separate albums by Jinkx Birch also recently shared a lip sync video of ‘Give Me Back My Man’, which is well worth your time. The history of the LGBTQ+ community and the history of

The B-52’s have always been, and should be remembered as, an indescribably and have constantly supported the LGBTQ+ community and all those who identify with it. A quote from Pierson, speaking to Lesbian/Bisexual women’s publication AfterEllen, puts it best in the quote: “One of the things the B-52’s wanted to accomplish was for people to embrace their difference and encourage people to be who they are and accept themselves.”

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