Never underestimate the power of a Volcano Bowl....

From the SF Travel section today:

It all began with a cocktail. Just one cocktail. One really enormous punch bowl of a cocktail.

And five straws.

"I think of it as the Night of the Flaming Volcano," says Cindy Wilson, of the B-52's. She's the blond one, with the yearling eyes.

"We all pitched in for this giant rum drink at a Chinese restaurant," says Keith Strickland, the band's pretty-boy drummer and guitarist. "It had a Sterno can burning under it."

"It was all very ceremonial," says Wilson. "Then we went and played."

And played. And played. And played.

And they're playing still. Wilson, Strickland and three other young arty- party hang-abouts -- Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson and the late Ricky Wilson, Cindy's brother -- left that restaurant for a rum-buzzed jam session at a friend's house. Sometime in the wee hours, a lean surf-guitar vibe began to coalesce around an irresistible dance groove and a Lava lamp sense of fun. By morning, a band had formed that would lay down the funk-pop dance beat of an era. The B-52's were born, and a small Southern college town -- Athens, Ga. -- emerged as the center of the expanding underground universe of alternative rock.

Wow, that's a coincidence! I was just listening to their first album a few hours ago. I had it on a tape I made in like 1984 that I hadn't listened to in years, and it just turned up in the jeep today, so I popped it in. Hot Lava, Rock Lobster, Planet Claire.....that really takes me back!

wow - i just picked up the anthology "nude on the moon" and there's a blurb in there about the volcano bowl, too. very cool. i can see the b-52s being all over the tiki.

The B-52s are one of my long time favorite bands. I remember hearing an older cousin's cassette in 1980. I thought it was cool then and still cool now.

I can vividly remember keepin my hand on the volume knob of our family cassette player to be ready for "Strobe Light". Once I found out (I was a kid remember) what the line "I wanna kiss your Pineapples..." meant I had to make sure that my mom wouldn't hear it.

The B-52s will be playing as one of the headline acts in the upcoming Street Scene festical in San Diego in September.

Street Scene is a 3 day music and entertainment festival that closes roughly 6 blocks of our downtown area.

Just saw them a week and a half ago at a free show at our state fair... wow, they still sound and perform the same... and Fred's new ad-libbed sea creature lyrics to Rock Lobster were hilarious...

Check out the cover of Cosmic Thing. There's a familiar string of lights above the band. Fun!