"Rock Lobster" is a song written by
Fred Schneider and
Ricky Wilson, two members of
the B-52's
The B-52's, also styled as The B-52s, are an American new wave band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1976. The original lineup consisted of Fred Schneider (vocals, percussion), Kate Pierson (vocals, keyboards, synth bass), Cindy Wilson (vocals, ...
. It was twice recorded and released as a
single, first by
DB Records as their debut release in April 1978, and again the following year for the band's
self-titled debut album on
Warner Bros. Records
Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...
. The song became one of their
signature tunes and launched the band's career. "Rock Lobster" was well-received by
critics
A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as art, literature, music, cinema, theater, fashion, architecture, and food. Critics may also take as their subject social or governme ...
, and went on to place at No. 147 on
Rolling Stone
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...
's
500 Greatest Songs of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time" is a recurring survey compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and industry figures. The first list was published in December 2004 in ...
list in December 2004.
Composition and themes
The original
DB Records single version has a duration of 4:37, and is faster in
tempo
In musical terminology, tempo ( Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (ofte ...
and more "raw" than the 1979 single version, basically due to lower sound quality and the absence of a
bassline. It has the same lyrics as the re-recorded version, but with more lines during the sequence that lists
marine animals
Marine life, sea life, or ocean life is the plants, animals and other organisms that live in the salt water of seas or oceans, or the brackish water of coastal estuaries. At a fundamental level, marine life affects the nature of the planet. M ...
. The 1979 version is edited down from the album version, which lasts about seven minutes and contains an additional
verse.
According to a "Behind the Vinyl" video with B-52's singer
Fred Schneider for
CHBM-FM
CHBM-FM is a radio station in Toronto, Ontario, Canada broadcasting at 97.3 FM. The station currently broadcasts a classic hits format branded as '' Boom 97.3''. CHBM's studios are located at Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue in Toronto's Deer ...
, the song was mostly inspired by a
nightclub
A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music.
Nightclubs gener ...
in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
named 2001, where, instead of having a light show, the club featured a
slide show
A slide show (slideshow) is a presentation of a series of still images ( slides) on a projection screen or electronic display device, typically in a prearranged sequence. The changes may be automatic and at regular intervals or they may be manu ...
with pictures of puppies, babies, and lobsters on a grill.
The song's lyrics describe a beach party while mentioning both real and imagined marine animals ("There goes a
dogfish, chased by a
catfish
Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive ...
, in flew a
sea robin
Prionotinae is a subfamily of demersal, marine ray-finned fishes, part of the family Triglidae. The fishes in this subfamily are called sea robins and are found in the Western Atlantic and Eastern Pacific Oceans, the other two Triglid subfamilies ...
, watch out for that
piranha
A piranha or piraña (, , or ; or , ) is one of a number of freshwater fish in the family Serrasalmidae, or the subfamily Serrasalminae within the tetra family, Characidae in order Characiformes. These fish inhabit South American rivers, fl ...
, there goes a
narwhal, here comes a bikini whale!"), with absurd noises accompanying each, provided by
Kate Pierson
Catherine Elizabeth Pierson (born April 27, 1948) is an American singer, lyricist, and founding member of the B-52's. She plays guitar, bass and various keyboard instruments. In the B-52s, she has performed alongside Cindy Wilson, Fred Schneid ...
on the higher-pitched sounds and
Cindy Wilson
Cynthia Leigh Wilson (born February 28, 1957) is an American musician and one of the vocalists, songwriters and founding members of new wave rock band the B-52's. She is noted for her distinctive contralto voice and also plays percussion during ...
the lower-pitched ones. The
chorus features Pierson and Wilson singing a long "ahhh" at an ascending pitch, followed by Schneider exclaiming the phrase "rock lobster!".
"Rock Lobster" is written in the key of
C minor
C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major.
The C natural minor scale is:
:
Cha ...
(with a raised fourth in the chorus) and is in
common time
The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note val ...
. Instruments used in the music include a baritone-tuned
surf-style
Mosrite
Mosrite is an American guitar manufacturing company, based in Bakersfield, California, from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Founded by Semie Moseley, Mosrite guitars were played by many rock and roll and country artists.
Mosrite guitars wer ...
electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...
, a
Farfisa
Farfisa (Fabbriche Riunite di Fisarmoniche) is a manufacturer of electronics based in Osimo, Italy, founded in 1946. The company manufactured a series of compact electronic organs in the 1960s and 1970s, including the Compact, FAST, Professio ...
Combo Compact
organ, and
drums. Pierson played the song's
bassline on a
Korg
, founded as Keio Electronic Laboratories, is a Japanese multinational corporation that manufactures electronic musical instruments, audio processors and guitar pedals, recording equipment, and electronic tuners. Under the Vox brand name, th ...
SB-100
synthesizer in the 1979 version.
Reception
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
called the song "incredibly infectious" and "memorable".
''
Cash Box'' called it a "silly yet utterly enjoyable affair."
Chart performance
The version of "Rock Lobster" released by Warner Bros. was the band's first single to appear on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it reached No. 56. A major hit in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, the single went all the way to No. 1 in the ''
RPM
Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines.
Standards
ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...
'' national chart. "Rock Lobster" reached #37 on the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
in August 1979; when
reissued as a
double A-side with "
Planet Claire
"Planet Claire" is the second single released by The B-52's from their self-titled debut album. Based on Duane Eddy's 1959 version of the Peter Gunn theme song, the single was their second to chart anywhere, at no. 43 in Australia and no. 24 on ...
" in 1986, it peaked at No. 12. In
Australia, it peaked at No. 3 in 1980.
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
In popular culture
On January 26, 1980, the band appeared on
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock (streaming service), Peacock. ...
, where they performed "Rock Lobster" and "
Dance This Mess Around".
In the spring of 1980
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
, whose post-
Beatles music career had been on hiatus for nearly five years while focusing on raising his son
Sean
Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angli ...
, was prompted to record again after hearing "Rock Lobster".
According to Lennon, "it sounds just like
Ono's music, so I said to meself, 'it's time to get out the old
axe
An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...
and wake the wife up!'" His return to the studio led to the release of 1980's ''
Double Fantasy
''Double Fantasy'' is the fifth album by John Lennon and Yoko Ono, released in November 1980 on Geffen Records. Produced by Lennon, Ono and Jack Douglas, it was the seventh and final studio album released by Lennon during his lifetime. The al ...
'', which would be his final album.
At a 2002 B-52's concert in New York, Ono joined the band on stage for the performance of this song.
The song appears in the ''
Family Guy'' episodes "
The Cleveland–Loretta Quagmire
"The Cleveland–Loretta Quagmire" is the fifth episode of the fourth season of the American animated television series ''Family Guy''. This episode marks the final appearance of Loretta, until the season 7 episode, "Love, Blactually". In the ep ...
" (in which
Peter
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
plays it on guitar), and "
Screams of Silence: The Story of Brenda Q" (as "Iraq Lobster"). It also appears in the 2008 movie ''
The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything: A VeggieTales Movie'' (as "Rock Monster").
Early
Commodore
Commodore may refer to:
Ranks
* Commodore (rank), a naval rank
** Commodore (Royal Navy), in the United Kingdom
** Commodore (United States)
** Commodore (Canada)
** Commodore (Finland)
** Commodore (Germany) or ''Kommodore''
* Air commodore ...
Amiga 500
The Amiga 500, also known as the A500, is the first low-end version of the Amiga home computer. It contains the same Motorola 68000 as the Amiga 1000, as well as the same graphics and sound coprocessors, but is in a smaller case similar to th ...
units had "B52/ROCK LOBSTER" etched on the main circuit board.
The song is
playable in the
video game
Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...
s ''
Donkey Konga
is a GameCube rhythm video game series starring the ape Donkey Kong, developed by Namco and published by Nintendo. The series' games are intended to be played with a special controller called the DK Bongos that resemble two small bongo drums, b ...
'', ''
Rock Band 3
''Rock Band 3'' is a 2010 music video game developed by Harmonix. The game was initially published and distributed by MTV Games and Electronic Arts, respectively, in late October 2010. Mad Catz took over both roles and re-released the title on N ...
'', and ''
Just Dance 4
''Just Dance 4'' is a 2012 music rhythm game developed and published by Ubisoft as the fourth main installment of the ''Just Dance'' series. Announced at E3 2012 by Flo Rida and Aisha Tyler, it was released on the Wii, the Wii U, the PlayStatio ...
''.
Panic! at the Disco sampled
Sample or samples may refer to:
Base meaning
* Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set
* Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal
* Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...
the song's guitar
riff
A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or acc ...
for their song "
Don't Threaten Me with a Good Time" from their fifth studio album ''
Death of a Bachelor
''Death of a Bachelor'' is the fifth studio album by Panic! at the Disco, and their first as a solo project, released January 15, 2016 on Fueled by Ramen and DCD2. It is the follow-up to the band's fourth studio album, ''Too Weird to Live, Too R ...
'' (2016).
In 1988, Paul Sadoff named his Bicycle Frame business Rock Lobster Cycles after the song.
See also
*
List of number-one singles of 1980 (Canada)
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
1978 debut singles
1978 songs
1979 singles
1980 singles
The B-52's songs
Fictional lobsters and crayfish
Novelty songs
Warner Records singles
RPM Top Singles number-one singles
Songs about invertebrates
Songs written by Fred Schneider