B-52’s Restore Original Vision For ‘Mesopotamia’

The B-52’s are revisiting one of the most intriguing detours in their catalog. On Aug. 21, Rhino will release Ancient Culture: Mesopotamia Revisited, a deluxe expansion of the band’s 1982 Mesopotamia EP that restores the project to its originally envisioned full-length form while opening the vault with unreleased songs, alternate mixes and a previously unheard live concert.

Originally intended as the Athens, Ga.-reared group’s third full-length album, Mesopotamia was cut short when management ended the sessions with producer David Byrne of Talking Heads and rushed out the six-song EP instead. Although the abbreviated release still cracked the Top 40 in early 1982, it puzzled fans expecting another blast of the B-52’s surf-inflected new wave.

More from Spin:

• Rolling Stones Stage Surprise London Performance
• ‘Total Eclipse Of The Heart’ Singer Bonnie Tyler Dies
• Armisen, Brownstein Will Rewatch ‘Portlandia’ On New Podcast

Mesopotamia has since emerged as a hidden gem in the band’s discography, with Byrne steering the group toward a more experimental, atmospheric sound. Songs such as the title track and “Loveland” hinted at a bold new direction that was initially misunderstood but has grown in stature over the decades.

Ancient Culture presents that vision in fuller form, pairing newly remastered versions of the EP’s six original songs with three recordings intended for the sessions: previously unreleased takes of “Big Bird” and the long-sought “Adios Desconocida,” plus “Queen of Las Vegas,” which first surfaced on the band’s 2002 anthology.

The collection also traces the evolution of the material through the rare “International Mixes” prepared for early U.K. pressings of the EP, Tom Durack’s 1990 remixes and a previously unreleased recording of the B-52’s April 19, 1982, concert at New York’s Roseland Ballroom. Captured during the band’s Meso-America tour, the performance features live takes on “Nip It in the Bud” and “Throw That Beat in the Garbage Can” alongside staples including “Rock Lobster” and “Private Idaho.”

The circumstances surrounding Mesopotamia have long occupied a unique place in the band’s history. In a 1990 interview with SPIN, drummer/guitarist Keith Strickland reflected on the group’s years living together in an isolated upstate New York house while writing and recording the material, saying the environment seeped into the music itself. “I think a lot of Mesopotamia really reflects that isolation,” he said, pointing specifically to “Throw That Beat in the Garbage Can.” Vocalist Cindy Wilson recalled the band’s neighbors repeatedly suing them simply because “they didn’t like men and women living together in the same house,” adding, “Everybody tried to get rid of us.”

Back in the present, the B-52’s will perform Saturday (July 11) in Freehold, N.J., and Aug. 21 in Lincoln, Ca., before resuming their Cosmic De-Evolution tour alongside Devo Sept. 17 in Tinley Park, Il.

To see our running list of the top 100 greatest rock stars of all time, click here.