The B-52’s are currently on their Farewell Tour, so today’s Halloween post rerun is dedicated to all the years of fun they brought to us.
Back in 1979, there had never been a group quite like The B-52’s before. They were part of the punk movement but used a toy piano, fire alarm, and a walkie talkie along with standard rock instruments on their self-titled debut album. And their lyrics were consistently pure nonsense. Starting with a four-and-a-half-minute track on Side One about a fictional orb in a distant galaxy.
Opening with a lengthy instrumental passage that features eerie keyboards, “Planet Claire” introduces us to an unnamed alien who came from the title planet via a Plymouth Satellite she drives faster than the speed of light. Like all Clairelings, she doesn’t have a head, so it’s hard to imagine how she could see where she’s going. Then again, you could say the same thing about Earthlings who text while driving.
Vocalist Fred Schneider, who composed the song with drummer Keith Strickland, affects an appropriately silly tone throughout the song. Especially when he screams, “WELL SHE ISN’T” in response to speculation that the alien is “from Mars or one of the seven stars that shine after 3:30 in the morning.” Unlike other outer space invaders, this visitor from “Planet Claire” doesn’t appear to have any evil plans. She’s been partying here on Earth for three decades, and she might even be a Kardashian.
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