THE B-52'S

Tuesday, 20 April 1982

Roseland Ballroom
239 West 52nd Street
New York, New York 10019
USA


FLAC master, 24 December 2024, by elegymart:
Analog audience recording (stereo) {recorded by Gene Poole}: unknown mics/recorder > 1980-82 US Maxell XLI-S (Type I Normal) 90-minute analog audio cassette master {from the Gene Poole collection} > Sony TC-WE435 (azimuth adjustment) > Roland R05 (24/96) > Cool Edit Pro 2.0 (audio cleanup, convert to 16/44) > SHNtool (fixed SBE) > CD Wave (track splits) > TLH (WAV > FLAC8).
Created this text file.



Total running time [71:57]
----------------------------------------------------------------------
01 introduction [1:15] >
02 Party Out of Bounds [5:32]
03 Give Me Back My Man [5:52]
04 Big Bird [4:35]
05 Cake [6:15]
06 Lava [4:23]
07 Loveland [4:52]
08 Mesopotamia [3:59]
09 Planet Claire [4:57]
10 6060-842 [3:21]
11 Throw That Beat in the Garbage Can [4:32]
12 Dance This Mess Around [4:45]
13 52 Girls [4:03]
-- encore 1 --
14 Nip It in the Bud [3:51]
15 Rock Lobster [5:46]
-- encore 2 --
16 Private Idaho [3:52]


Band line-up:
Fred Schneider - vocals, toy piano, keyboard bass, percussion, walkie-talkie, glockenspiel
Cindy Wilson - vocals, bongos, tambourine, glockenspiel
Kate Pierson - vocals, organ, keyboards, keyboard bass, guitar
Ricky Wilson - guitar, various effects
Keith Strickland - drums, percussion
David Buck - trumpet
Ralph Carney - saxophone


Notes:

1) THE GENE POOLE COLLECTION VOL. 226

Here's the latest installment of the Gene Poole Collection, a random wellspring of recordings which surfaced during the pandemic. To paraphrase Lou: This is gonna go on for a while, so we should get used to each other, settle back, pull up your cushions, whatever else you have with you that makes life bearable in what has already been the mid-2020s norm.

Some of Gene's handiwork has probably been heard by your very ears before, for the most part via the Stonecutter Archives, but this was the first major unearthing of tapes direct from the legend himself. As promising as that may seem, it's best to let the surprises hit as they are shared. The trade-off to the prolific taping on Gene's part is that the expectations for a perfect track record would be unrealistic and unfair. There will be instances of incomplete recordings, caused by late arrivals to gigs, recorder and microphone malfunctions, and other assorted foibles as would befall any mortal taper. There will be times where a master from another source exists which could be superior. For the most part, Gene recorded with a variety of mics and recorders, and many shows suffered from wire dropouts, so that only one channel was extant in the capture. Due warning about the past imperfect given and out of the way, credit should be given where due as well -- for many shows thought lost forever, it's exciting to discover that many of these even in incomplete form have now cropped up.

The transfers, the audio fixes, and the research all have required some lead time -- many tapes had scant info (sometimes just the name of the artist/band, with no date listed for the performance). Needless to say, gear documentation is virtually nil -- if we wait around for that precise detail to be forthcoming, nothing from the collection would probably see the light of day.

This time we bring you New York's favorite adopted Atlanta band, the B-52's, for a "homecoming" of sorts on their "MesoAmerican" tour. This is the last of four nights at Roseland. The 19th circulates as a soundboard, minus "Private Idaho," but was probably an FM broadcast. They also managed to sneak in an appearance on a daytime soap ("Guiding Light") around this time. The Bongos opened on the 19th and probably did for the other New York shows in this run as well.

If you're looking for a clean, clinical recording of the band on this tour, go seek out the soundboard from the prior night. You want to hear a presentation proper of a live party out of bounds, replete with an energetic general admission open floor audience mixed into your concert listening salad, grab this one. A few of the "Mesopotamia" songs here were never performed again after this tour, so luxuriate in their live renditions here while visiting. Their work with David Byrne around this time only kicked the fun up a notch, here best heard in their rollout of "Big Bird" in the set.

Enjoy,
elegymart