

Long before “Love Shack” came this alien transmission, a debut that melded punk energy to campy, girl-group pop in order to form what we now call New Wave. Anchored by the perennially fun—and equally strange—“Rock Lobster,” The B-52’s set the bar high, taking on kitsch culture with an almost avant-garde eye, delving into old dance crazes like the Mashed Potato as though it were high art—which of course the band thought it was.