B-52s Frontman Fred Schneider To Relive Glory Days At WHB PAC

The catchy, opening beat is iconic among partiers spanning generations. It is nostalgic of a place off the Atlanta freeway, set right back in the middle of a field, with glitter on the front porch and mattress, all tucked under a tin roof, rusted.

“Love Shack” put The B-52s on the map in 1989 with the new wave band’s first Top 10 hit in the United States, catapulting the original lineup—Fred Schneider, Kate Pierson, Cindy Wilson, the late Ricky Wilson and Keith Strickland—from cult favorites to international stardom.

Mr. Schneider, who is also a poet and lives on the East End, will hit the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center stage on Saturday night, performing party classics alongside Ms. Wilson and Ms. Pierson. But, first, he caught up with The Press about his move to the East End, growing up gay in New Jersey, and getting discovered at the University of Georgia’s Legion Field.

The Press: The B-52s have a sound evoking many genres. What are some of your personal favorites?

Fred Schneider: Motown, soul, and I also like jazz vocalists—Little Jimmy Scott, Dinah Washington, Billie Holiday, Betty Roché, the list goes on. I love old electronic music and John Cage. I like pretty much everything. I don’t like Bronze, though.

Do you ever perform any of your poetry on stage?

Schneider: I used to, when strings would break and Ricky had to [change them]. Also, I would get the audience to do “Mo Dean” where I would just go, “Is that you, Mo Dean?” and have the audience go, “It’s me, Mo Dean.” … We always wanted to do a song called “Mo Dean,” and finally did on the album “Good Stuff.”

Is the group still writing songs?

Schneider: No. Keith retired from the band, and he and Ricky were the musical forces of the band, while Kate, Cindy and I were the lyrical forces. We were all the arrangers, but it would take Keith to come back, because he’s just a brilliant musician.

Does the group continue to commemorate Ricky Wilson?

Schneider: He’s always a part of the band—part of our beginning and every album up to “Bouncing Off the Satellites.” We always give him credit whenever we do interviews if we have to talk about our past, which we often do because we’ve been around for almost 40 years.

How did you meet Ricky and Keith?

Schneider: I went to the University of Georgia and dropped out after junior year. They would have shows everywhere in the early ’70s, and I was at one on Legion Field, which was a sort of outdoor thing between the dormitories. There was a band playing, and I was dancing wild and wearing a Hawaiian-print shirt. Keith and Ricky and some friends—locals from Athens who didn’t go to the school but would go to the shows—were there, and Keith was throwing foam on top of people. He thought I was interesting, because I was dancing so crazy. So we got to talking and became friends.

How long have you lived on the East End?

Schneider: Since ’92. A friend of mine used to summer out in East Hampton on the way to Amagansett, and we’d stay with her because we’re a fun bunch. I went upstate to look, and that just wasn’t for me. So me and my ex-partner chose out here, because we loved the ocean. I can’t go in the sun much—but I like volleyball.

I understand you grew up in New Jersey?

Schneider: I grew up near Long Branch. I was born in Newark and, until I was 6, I lived in Belleville—not Bellevue, though I’ll be there eventually.

Isn’t there a place called Fat Momma’s or something down in Long Branch?

Schneider: Oh, I don’t know. When I go home, I cook for my mother. I’d rather eat at home.

How old were you when you came out to your mother as being gay?

Schneider: I was in my early 20s, and I don’t know why I decided to, but I told her very matter-of-factly while she was vacuuming and she just said, “I know.” [Laughs.] This was back in the Stone Age.

What has it been like to watch the LGBT movement right in front of your eyes?

Schneider: I didn’t even know what gay was when I was a kid, even in high school, but [the difference between then and now] is like night and day. You still have all the hateful people out there, but, luckily, they’re dying off.

The B-52s are billed as the “world’s greatest party band.” Is that evident in the performances?

Schneider: Oh yeah, we get people going. We started out playing parties, and we [wrote] all kinds of songs, but we tend to do whatever’s recent and got the most attention from every album, and then we’ll talk politics.

At the show?

Schneider: I’ll introduce things and do some cutting gibes against Republicans.

So it’s not just about the party?

Schneider: I think that’s the best way we entertain, but I think we’re also going to start bringing along voter registration people so we can get rid of turds like [U.S. Senator] Mitch McConnell.

The B-52s will play a concert on Saturday, May 23, at 8 p.m. at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center. Tickets start at $128. For more information, call (631) 288-1500, or visit whbpac.org.