The The is an English musical and multimedia group with singer/songwriter Matt Johnson being the only constant band member. The group has no permanent group line-up, and Johnson has collaborated with a wide range of musicians, changing personnel from project to project…

This spirited 12-track live performance was recorded at the Disney Rock 'N Rockets Festival in Orlando in November 1998. Drawing from retro 1950s and 1960s pop sources, trash culture, and rock and roll, the B-52s evidenced a "thrift shop" aesthetic. The "guy vs. Gals" vocals of Schneider, Pierson, and Wilson, sometimes used in call and response style, and their unique guitar and keyboard driven instrumentation compose their trademark sound. Limited live release pressed on black polycarbonate HD compact disc. This album has never been released on CD before. Songs include 'Planet Claire', 'Rock Lobster', 'Love Shack', 'Dance This Mess Around' and more.

Six weeks after the B-52s released their brilliant first album in the hot new wave summer of 1979, they found themselves on-stage in Boston opening for Talking Heads. Some brilliant person decided it would be a good night to record the band; some less brilliant person buried the tape in the Warner Bros. vault for decades. Finally released in 2015 as Live! 8-24-1979, the performance includes songs from both the first album and Wild Planet, and features the B-52s ripping heartily through the songs like they were dedicated to giving the crowd the night of their lives. Decades later the effect is still the same. The surviving tape has been restored to near pristine quality, guitarist Ricky Wilson sounds like his guitar is giving off electric currents, and the vocals of Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, and Cindy Wilson…well, what can you say? Perfect. Though it's a short set, it contains great versions of great songs (including a wild run-through of the deathless "Rock Lobster"), and hearing it is sure to give B-52s fans chills. Quick, send someone back into the vaults to look for more!

Among the first American new wave acts to break through to mainstream visibility, the B-52s became one of the biggest success stories to emerge from the American underground in the late '70s. Making music that was full of quirks but also sounded friendly and fun to dance to, the B-52s filtered surf music, '60s pop, vintage soul, and low-budget sci-fi soundtracks through a pop culture kaleidoscope, with vocals laid over the top that suggested someone had been listening to a lot of Yoko Ono and Yma Sumac records…

Nina Hagen is a unique vocalist, ranging from a coloratura soprano to a guttural alto and phrasing in surprising, dramatically changing ways, so that her performances are musical roller coasters, full of sudden shifts in mood and volume. Singing alternately in German and English, Hagen is backed by rock tracks leaning toward punk on some songs, and by producer Giorgio Moroder's signature Euro-disco synth-dance sounds on others on this 14-track, 74-minute compilation. Want to hear a German-language version of the Tubes' "White Punks on Dope"? How about a performance of "My Way" (also in German) that rivals Sid Vicious' for outrageousness? Ultimately, Nina Hagen may be a period novelty act of the early '80s, a mixture of Toni Basil, Falco, and a hyena. But she gets your attention.

In the U.S., Gary Numan is remembered as a one-hit-wonder, while back home in his native England, he continued to crank out hit after hit and became a superstar in the process. His icy space-age persona and sound may be forever associated with early-80's British new wave (Flock of Seagulls, early Duran Duran, etc.), but he was the originator, and today seems pretty darned original. Numan was a scholar of the David Bowie Ziggy Stardust-era, and used Bowie's space alien approach as a starting point. While retaining his futuristic lyrics, Gary stripped Ziggy's sound free of the distorted guitar riffing and posturing, and replaced it with clinical synthesizers and a standoffish stage persona. His music also gives off a paranoid vibe at times, as evidenced on the hits "I Die: You Die" and "Are 'Friends' Electric?" But Numan's songs can also sedate you ("Down in the Park"), while other times sneak up on you (the unexpected punk rocker "Bombers"). And of course there's his sole U.S. hit, "Cars," which sounds like a not so distant ancestor to fellow futuristic weirdos Devo.