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- This article is about the song; for the animal, see Southern rock lobster.
| “Rock Lobster” | |||||
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| Single by The B-52's from the album The B-52's |
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| B-side | "52 Girls" | ||||
| Released | 1978 | ||||
| Format | 7" single | ||||
| Recorded | 1978 | ||||
| Genre | Rock/New wave | ||||
| Length | 4:54 (single version) 6:52 (album version) |
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| Label | Boo-Fant Records | ||||
| Writer(s) | Fred Schneider and Ricky Wilson | ||||
| Producer | Chris Blackwell | ||||
| The B-52's singles chronology | |||||
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"Rock Lobster" is The B-52's' first single, released in 1978 and in a longer version placed on the band's self-titled debut album, The B-52's, one year later. It has become one of their signature tunes, and it helped launch the band's success. "Rock Lobster" was the band's first single to appear on Billboard's Hot 100. Instruments used in the music include a twangy, baritone surf-style electric guitar, (a Mosrite), a Farfisa, Vox or Gibson organ, and drums. Unlike most pop and rock songs, no bass guitar was present. Instead, Kate Pierson played the bass line on keyboards.
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The album version of "Rock Lobster" (released in 1979) clocks in at about seven minutes and, like the original single, contains superficially nonsensical lyrics about a beach party and excited rants about real or imagined marine animals ("There goes a dog-fish, chased by a cat-fish! In flew a sea robin! Watch out for that piranha! There goes a narwhal! Here comes a bikini whale!"), accompanied by absurd, fictional noises attributed to them; the chorus consists of the words "Rock lobster!" repeated over and over.
As with other tracks on the album ("Dance This Mess Around"), there are references to dances popular in the early 1960s, such as the Frug ("Everybody's fruggin'") and the Twist ("Twistin' round the fire"), which, combined with the absurd, beach party-themed lyrics and the early 60s outfits the band wore at the time, suggest a parody of 1960s beach party films.
The song "Rock Lobster" is part of the The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll list.1
The song remains a part of pop culture, with versions of "Rock Lobster" appearing in a 2005 episode of Family Guy 23 and parodied as "Rock Monster" in The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A Veggie Tales Movie 45.
"Rock Lobster" appears at number 146 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of greatest songs.
References
- ^ Rock and Roll Hall of Fame "500 songs that shaped rock and roll" [1]
- ^ Usage in Family Guy
- ^ Usage in Family Guy
- ^ Usage in Veggie Tales Movie
- ^ Usage in Veggie Tales Movie
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 21 November 2008, at 20:39.
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