Party Mix!

Party Mix! is a remix album by American new wave band the B-52's, originally released in 1981 by Warner Bros. Records.

Party Mix!
Remix album by
the B-52's
ReleasedJuly 1981
Recorded1980
StudioCompass Point (Nassau)[1]
Genre
Length28:29
LabelWarner Bros.
ProducerRhett Davies, the B-52's, Chris Blackwell
The B-52's chronology
Wild Planet
(1980)		 Party Mix!
(1981)		 Mesopotamia
(1982)
Singles from Party Mix!

Background

The album was released between the band's second album, Wild Planet (1980), and their Mesopotamia EP (1982).[2] It was devised as a stop-gap release by the band's manager, Gary Kurfirst, while the band was working on the Mesopotamia sessions.[3]

On the original vinyl, the six-song collection featured songs from their first two albums remixed and sequenced to form two long tracks, one on each side.[4] On the CD version, however, the six songs were their own individual tracks.

In 1991, Party Mix! and a 1990 remix version of Mesopotamia were combined and released as one CD in the US.[5] In Europe, both albums were made available on separate CDs, with Mesopotamia retaining the original U.S. mix.

Reception

Commercial

Party Mix! spent 11 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 55.[6]

Critical
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Christgau's Record GuideA−[8]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music[9]
The New Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Select3/5[11]

Robert Christgau of The Village Voice observed that the album's "implicit equation of party and disco offends old new-wavers, but at EP list for half an hour's music the extravagance is recommended."[8] Trouser Press opined that the album was "functional for discos but antithetical to the B-52's' minimalist precepts."[2]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann stated, "Since the group's bouncy songs are already dance-ready, this makes for alternatives rather than real improvements, even from a dancefloor perspective."[7]

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Party Out of Bounds" (Fred Schneider, Keith Strickland, Ricky Wilson, Cindy Wilson, Kate Pierson) – 5:12
  2. "Private Idaho" (Schneider, Strickland, R. Wilson, C. Wilson, Pierson) – 4:04
  3. "Give Me Back My Man" (Schneider, Strickland, R. Wilson, C. Wilson) – 7:02

Side two

  1. "Lava" (The B-52's) – 6:08
  2. "Dance This Mess Around" (The B-52's) – 2:59
  3. "52 Girls" (Jeremy Ayers, R. Wilson) – 2:58

Personnel

Credits adapted from Party Mix / Mesopotamia CD liner notes.[1]

Chart performance
Chart (1981) Peak
position
Australia Albums Chart 79
UK Albums (OCC)[12] 36
U.S. Billboard 200 55[6]
Peru Lima Air Play [13] 1 (Album of the summer 1983)

References
  1. The B-52's (1991). Party Mix / Mesopotamia (CD liner notes). Reprise Records. 9 26401-2.
  2. Isler, Scott; Robbins, Ira; Neugebauer, Delvin. "B-52's". Trouser Press.
  3. Wawzenek, Bryan (30 January 2017). "35 Years Ago: B-52's, David Byrne Team Up on 'Mesopotamia'". Diffuser. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  4. Zaleski, Annie (14 July 2017). "No novelty, the B-52s may be the most subversive band America ever gave us". Salon.com.
  5. "Party Mix!/Mesopotamia - The B-52s". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 February 2022.
  6. "The B-52s". Billboard.
  7. Ruhlmann, William. "The B-52's - Party Mix! Album Reviews, Songs & More". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
  8. Christgau, Robert (1990). "B". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved 17 August 2020 – via robertchristgau.com.
  9. Larkin, Colin (27 May 2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Omnibus Press. ISBN 9780857125958 – via Google Books.
  10. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian David (27 May 2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9780743201698 – via Google Books.
  11. Cavanagh, David (July 1990). "Flip Your Wig". Select. p. 121.
  12. "B-52s | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  13. "La más más del verano". 1983.
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