When the B-52’s moved from Athens, Ga., to New York City
in the late ’70s, one of the first bands that befriended the new wave quintet
was Talking Heads. Although the groups had distinct approaches to their music,
an alliance made sense, given their shared love of dance music and off-kilter
humour. They also shared a manager in Gary Kurfirst (who also worked with the
Ramones and Blondie). The B-52s' first two albums – 1979’s self-titled debut
and 1980’s Wild Planet – used up all of the band’s pre-existing songs. Kurfirst
knew the group needed an infusion of new material, although he didn’t expect
much to change in regard to the B-52’s nervy, retro-go-go, surf-rock sound.
“I really do feel trapped,” guitarist Ricky Wilson told
Rolling Stone near the end of 1980. “Gary was talking about our next album, and
I mentioned that it might not be a dance record, and he was so shocked by that
idea. It’s shocking to me that people really do expect that of us now.”
Perhaps seeing a way to soothe Ricky and the band’s frustrations
while simultaneously pairing two of his clients together, Kurfirst advocated
for Talking Heads frontman David Byrne to produce the next B-52’s album. He
wanted Byrne and the B-52’s to begin the project right away, in 1981.
“Actually, we wanted to write more songs,”
singer/multi-instrumentalist Kate Pierson recalled to the A.V. Club. “We
weren’t really ready to put out this album, and Gary had suggested working with
David Byrne, but we hadn’t written all the songs out. He said, ‘You gotta put
another record out!’ He was one of those managers who was, ‘Ya gotta do this!
Ya gotta do that!’ So he kind of forced us.”
Although the band – who were looking to do something new
– and Byrne – who had become interested in production via Talking Heads’ work
with Brian Eno – were excited to work together, the situation in ’81 was far
from ideal. As Pierson said, the B-52’s barely had enough material to record
while the Talking Heads’ singer was working on his soundtrack for Twyla Tharp’s
dance project The Catherine Wheel. Bowing to pressure, each side made
compromises. The band hastily readied the new songs and Byrne worked
simultaneously on the projects – devoting time to The Catherine Wheel during
the day and producing the B-52’s by night (and getting little sleep in the
process). The match between these musicians seemed ideal, but the situation was
far from it.
“‘Cake’ wasn’t really finished,” Pierson said. “‘Deep
Sleep,’ I just kind of stuck that lyric on in the studio in one take. It was
just not finished.”
Mesopotamia was the name given to the project, which
found Byrne helping the B-52’s to broaden their sound by using a lot of
elements familiar to the recent Talking Heads LPs: worldbeat, horn sections and
densely layered synthesizers. Whether it was lack of sleep, material or
artistic cohesion, the collaboration soon broke down. The sessions stopped,
leaving Kurfirst in a difficult spot. The manager had promised this new release
with a high-profile partnership to the B-52’s record labels (Warner Bros. in
the U.S., Island in the U.K.) and now might have nothing to show for it.
Kurfirst arranged to put out a remix EP – Party Mix – to buy the band some time
to assemble something from the Mesopotamia studio sessions. Eventually, the
band agreed that there was enough good material to deliver a 25-minute EP with
six songs. Ironically, “Throw That Trash in the Garbage Can” made the final
tracklist. Other songs were junked and some were refashioned/re-recorded for
1983’s Whammy.
Mesopotamia came out on Jan. 27, 1982, followed by the
B-52’s “Meso-American” tour to promote the record, including a guest spot on
the daytime soap opera Guiding Light. But the difficulties didn’t end with the
EP’s release. In Island’s haste to get Mesopotamia printed and in stores, the
label accidentally included longer rough mixes of “Cake,” “Loveland” and “Throw
That Beat” – upping the EP’s running time by more than seven minutes. The error
was found and corrected, but the fans who got their hands on an initial version
quickly dubbed the demo versions “David Byrne’s original mixes,” due to some
funkier touches and denser sounds. Some listeners still prefer the rougher
takes to the versions on the approved EP, which earned mostly mixed reviews
from fans and critics. Because of the project’s rushed nature, fizzled
collaboration and (partially) botched release, Mesopotamia remains a
controversial entry in the B-52’s catalogue. Over the decades there have been rumours,
and even some blunt talk from singer Fred Schneider, about expanding the EP
into a fully realized album.
“We sometimes think, ‘Wow, if only we could go back and
finish Mesopotamia’,” Pierson said.
Bryan Wawzenek
