The Alternative Number Ones: The B-52’s’ “Good Stuff”

In The Alternative Number Ones, I'm reviewing every #1 single in the history of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks/Alternative Songs, starting with the moment that the chart launched in 1988. This column is a companion piece to The Number Ones, and it's for members only. Thank you to everyone who's helping to keep Stereogum afloat.

Were you aware that there are some people who don't like the B-52's song "Good Stuff"? I know! Crazy! I understand the people who don't like the B-52's at all. I don't agree with them, but I get it. The B-52's are an absurd, exaggerated party-rock institution, and if rubbery wackiness is not your thing, then you're going to have an uphill battle with them. It's especially rough for the people who were kids during the B-52's' heyday. Nobody wants to be the one kid with their arms folded, leaning against the wall and scowling at the middle-school dance while all their friends are losing it to "Love Shack." That's a rough place to be. You have to feel for those people.

I can also understand the people who don't really like the B-52's album Good Stuff, even if I don't agree with those people, either. The group hit a wild, unexpected career peak when their 1989 album Cosmic Thing crossed over to pop-blockbuster status, going quadruple platinum and sending multiple singles into the upper reaches of the Hot 100. The B-52's struggled to follow that album, and they made it without one very important member. There's a lot of fun to be found on Good Stuff, but if people were hoping for another Cosmic Thing, then those people were going to be disappointed. We only get one Cosmic Thing, and we should be glad to have it. Compared to Cosmic Thing, Good Stuff is a little leaden and self-important, even if it's a total blast when compared to virtually anything else.