Bouncing Off the Satellites

Bouncing off the Satellites is the fourth studio album by New Wave band The B-52’s, released on September 8, 1986. It was recorded in July 1985 and was produced by Tony Mansfield. Guitarist Ricky Wilson died of AIDS during the recording. With the band too distraught to tour, the album received minimal promotion and failed to yield any hits despite some stations initially giving good airplay to “Summer of Love”. The album was seen as a departure from the band’s original New Wave sound as a result, the album was initially a critical and commercial failure.

Recording sessions for Bouncing off the Satellites began in July 1985. A backwards message was deliberately inserted into the album by The B-52’s. The message occurs in the song “Detour Thru Your Mind”, towards the end of the passage. If Fred Schneider’s psychedelic talking is played backwards, he can be heard saying “I buried my parakeet in the backyard. Oh no, you’re playing the record backwards. Watch out, you might ruin your needle.”

During the recording, guitarist Ricky Wilson had been suffering from AIDS/HIV-related health complications.None of the other band members were aware of his illness.In an interview, fellow band member Kate Pierson stated that Wilson had kept his illness secret from his fellow band members because he “did not want anyone to worry about him or fuss about him.” On October 12, 1985, Wilson finally succumbed to the illness, at the age of 32. Devastated, the band went into seclusion and did not tour to promote the album. Nevertheless, Bouncing Off the Satellites eventually reached 85 on the Billboard 200.