Another repost from the BHT haunted vault.
Back in 1979, The B-52’s were unlike any current bands or any that preceded them. Over 40 years later, they’re still in a category all their own. They arrived as part of the punk movement but used a toy piano, fire alarm, and walkie talkie, along with standard rock instruments on their self-titled debut album. Their lyrics were nonsensical yet intriguing and fun.
Opening with a mostly instrumental passage that features eerie keyboards along with high-pitched vocalizing, “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 was going. Then again, the same could be said about Earthlings who text while zipping along the I-55 expressway.
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 many outer space invaders, the visitor from “Planet Claire” doesn’t appear to have any evil plans. She’s been partying here on Earth for decades, and is possibly the one behind all those mind-blowing AI clips on Instagram.
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