Love Shack

"Love Shack" is a single by American new wave band The B-52's from their 1989 album Cosmic Thing. It was released on June 20, 1989 and produced by Don Was. The song was a comeback of sorts for the band following their decline in popularity in the mid-1980s and the death of guitarist Ricky Wilson in 1985.

"Love Shack" is considered the band's signature song and has been a concert staple since its release. Commercially, the single topped the charts in Australia, Ireland and New Zealand and reached number two on the UK Singles Chart, number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 (becoming their first Top 40 hit), and number five on the Canadian RPM Top Singles chart. It also became a top-twenty hit in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Background
The inspiration for the song was "a cabin around Athens, Georgia," with a tin roof, where the band conceived "Rock Lobster", a single from their first album. The cabin was said to have been located off US Route 78 near Athens. B-52's singer Kate Pierson lived in the cabin in the 1970s, and it burned down in December 2004. Cindy Wilson's line "tin roof rusted" was originally an outtake from a jamming session, where Wilson continued her line while the tape had stopped.

Music video
The music video was directed by Adam Bernstein and shot at the home and studio of ceramic artists Philip Maberry and Scott Walker in Highland, New York.

Commercial performance
The single was the band's biggest hit song as well as their first million-copy seller. It was the band's first song to reach the Top 40 on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number three in November of 1989. It also reached number five in Canada, number two in the United Kingdom (kept off the top spot by Beats International's "Dub Be Good to Me" and Snap!'s "The Power"), and number one in Australia (eight weeks), Ireland (one week) and New Zealand (four weeks), as well as on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart (four weeks).

Awards and accolades
The song has received several accolades:
 * Named one of the 365 Songs of the Century in 2001
 * The video for the song received an award from MTV as the Best Group Video
 * Named Best Single of 1989 by Rolling Stone.
 * Ranked 246th on the list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time by Rolling Stone.

Track listings
The single release contained different tracks in different countries of release. Some countries, including the United States, had singles backed with "Channel Z", while other releases included a live version of "Rock Lobster" as the B-side. A reissue single in the US paired it with the follow-up single "Roam". In 1998 and 1999, the single was released again with a number of remixes, including one by DJ Tonka. Although the re-release did not chart in the United States, it did enter the UK Singles Chart.

UK single
 * 1) "Love Shack" (Single Version) — 4:20
 * 2) "Love Shack" (LP Version) — 5:21

US 12" single / CD maxi-single
 * 1) "Love Shack" (12" Remix) — 8:00
 * 2) "Love Shack" (Remix/Edit) — 4:07
 * 3) "Channel Z" (12" Rock Mix) — 6:24
 * 4) "Love Shack" (12" Mix) — 6:10
 * 5) "Love Shack" (A Capella) — 3:56
 * 6) "Love Shack" (Big Radio Mix) — 5:31

Weekly charts
Love Shack '99

In popular culture

 * "Love Shack" was played in the third-season finale of Full House, where Stephanie danced to the song at the "We Love Our Children" telethon.
 * The Simpsons parodied the song in the 1999 episode "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)" with a song titled "Glove Slap" over a montage of Homer challenging Springfield residents to a duel with gloves, as well as the end credits. This parody was also sung by the B-52's.
 * The song is heard in the 1991 film Frankie and Johnny, when Johnny (Al Pacino) interrupts Frankie's (Michelle Pfeiffer) bowling league, vying for her affections, to her dismay.
 * The song was used as a lip-sync song in the 2nd episode of the 9th season of the show RuPaul's Drag Race which the B-52's were also guests on (RuPaul’s first mainstream appearance was as a dancer in the “Love Shack” video).
 * The song was parodied during a karaoke performance by Mimi and Steve during season 8 episode 17 of The Drew Carey Show.