Party Mix!
Remix album
Artistthe B-52's
CoverB52s partymix.jpg
ReleasedJuly 1981
Recorded1979–1980
StudioCompass Point (Nassau, Bahamas)
Genre
Length28:29
Label
Producer
Prev year1980
Next year1982

Party Mix! is a remix album by American new wave band the B-52's, released in 1981 by Warner Bros. (US) and Island Records (Europe, Japan). It features three songs from their first studio album, The B-52's (1979), and three songs from their second LP, Wild Planet (1980). It has received generally good reviews. Commercially, the album peaked at number 55 in the US and number 36 in the UK.[1]

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

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."[7] 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."[8] In 2022, Treble magazine named Party Mix! one of the ten essential remix albums, and wrote: "Party Mix! is such a part of the canon that DJ Shadow and Soulwax would reference it in a mashup 21 years later".[9]

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.[10]

Charts

Chart (1981)Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[11]80

References

  1. ^ Strong, Martin C. (2003). The Great Indie Discography. Edinburgh: Canongate. p. 11. ISBN 1-84195-335-0.
  2. ^ Isler, Scott; Robbins, Ira; Neugebauer, Delvin. "B-52's". Trouser Press
  3. ^ Wawzenek, Bryan (January 30, 2017). "35 Years Ago: B-52's, David Byrne Team Up on 'Mesopotamia'". Diffuser. Retrieved January 26, 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. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "Party Mix!/Mesopotamia – The B-52s – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  6. ^ "The B-52s". Billboard
  7. ^ Christgau, Robert (1990). "B". Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s. Pantheon Books. ISBN 0-679-73015-X. Retrieved 17 August 2020. – via robertchristgau.com.
  8. ^ Ruhlmann, William. "The B-52's – Party Mix! – Review". AllMusic. Retrieved February 18, 2025.
  9. ^ Blyweiss, Adam (19 May 2022). "10 Essential Remix Albums: The B-52's – Party Mix!". Treble
  10. ^ The B-52's (1991). Party Mix / Mesopotamia (CD liner notes). Reprise Records. 9 26401-2.
  11. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. illustrated ed. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.