00:02I first fell in love with their music when I was working on one of my first
00:06radio gigs in America in San Luis Obispo and it was called Z93 the music
00:12FM and I got to be program director there and we were playing Christopher
00:17Cross and Toto and Journey and then I put on Dance This Mess Around I remember
00:25the owner coming in and going Richard actually was dick at the time but I had
00:33to change my name because it didn't sound too good on the radio as Jimmy Kimmel
00:37once said DJ dick sounds like something you catch from a urinal in studio 54 so
00:45so he came in because what song was that you just played I said what is the B 52
00:51new band out of Athens Georgia it's called Dance This Mess Around he said
00:55what do you think it fits with the format I said look we're a college town this is
00:59San Luis Obispo the kids will love it yes I'm not sure about that he walked out and
01:05I thought wait till he hears 52 girls in 10 minutes but that was my induction and
01:11introduction to the B 52s and I just fell in love with them and over the years it
01:16didn't matter whether I was working at K and AC or K rock I would play the B 50s oh
01:22by the way if you're local go you rock I would make sure they were played every
01:29two to three hours because they're just a part of any radios playlist and when I do
01:35personal gigs there's a few songs that I keep in my back pocket as a DJ just in
01:41case I start to lose the dance floor one of them is from Depeche Mode one of them
01:47is from soft sell ones from the cure and two are from this band and I just DJed a
01:57beautiful wedding in Malibu two weeks ago and normally at the end of a wedding you
02:03know wedding six hours long and people like oh my feet I gotta sit down I want to go
02:08home the energy is going so you finish your wedding with a slow song save a
02:13prayer from Duran Duran true from Spandau in excess never tear us apart not
02:19this wedding no Jeff and Leah we're getting married and let's see if this
02:25mic's on hello yes it is on okay good Jeff and Leah are here today so just they
02:35flew in from Northern California because they love you guys so Jeff and Leah what
02:42was the song you asked me to play as the final track at your wedding when normally
02:48everyone's mellowing out and this much is true what was the song you wanted it took
02:54me back to my college days in the early 80s and it was rock lobster
03:01it was a memorable wedding and even though the people have been there for hours and hours and
03:08hours the entire dance floor filled with everyone from 17 to 70 years old was going
03:15dum dum dum dum dum dum dum thanks to you and thank you for helping my career because without
03:22you guys I probably wouldn't have got a star on the walk of fame b-52s have meant so much
03:27to me and you
03:28deserve this so much so thank you all right I think my time is up and we need to bring
03:37someone else back up on
03:39stage and that is Ron Frierson from the Hollywood Chamber of Connors and Ron is
03:46going to make a special presentation right now on behalf of the City of LA.
03:51So do you want? Oh I can use this one instead. Let's give it up for Richard again.
03:59And this is coming for me. I love that voice. I love that voice. You know we have another
04:06special guest in the audience. I'd like for her to join me on stage as we present this resolution
04:11to the B-52s from a council person from the 7th District Monica Rodriguez. Please join me on stage.
04:19Would you like to say something? Yes. Well on behalf of the City of Los Angeles it's incredible
04:25it's incredible to be here to celebrate a band that has been part of my musical playlist my entire life.
04:33And it you know it really is apropos because Los Angeles has the best fans anywhere in the world.
04:44But from Rock Lobster to Love Shack this band has given us a reason to dance in the garden and
04:52torn
04:52sheets in the rain. And I am just so grateful to be here in celebrating the incredible accomplishments
05:01of a band that has transcended so many generations. I was at your concert at the Hollywood Bowl last year
05:08and no one was ever sitting down. Thank you for the music that has meant so much to all of
05:14our lives.
05:15To be part of the rock legends along with the Go-Go's another LA band. It's just it's remarkable to
05:22be here
05:22in celebrating you all on behalf of a grateful city, City of Angels to Athens, Georgia for giving us
05:30the incredible music that has gifted our lives. Congratulations on a well-deserved recognition.
05:39And now I would love for the honorees to join me on stage.
05:49So the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce administers the Walk of Fame on behalf of the City of Los Angeles.
05:55And on behalf of CD13 Hugo Sotomartinez and on behalf of Councilwoman Monica Rodriguez,
06:01we will present these resolutions to the B-52s.
06:17All right. Thank you so much.
06:19Of course. Of course. This is a pleasure. So we're going to do this. We're going to let the people
06:23over there see us first.
06:25Then we're going to go to the point and go to the side. So let's go over here first.
06:35Let's go. Let's go. Let's squeeze up front. Keith, get in here.
06:39All right, all right, all right. Get in there. Hold that.
06:42Right in front. Can you hold the bottom of that?
06:45I got it. All right.
06:54Let's go.
06:57This one that's going to be a little more tricky because this is for the cameras and this is for
07:00many of us.
07:01Okay. So I don't want to stand next to you and try your life.
07:05All right.
07:06I'll get over here.
07:14We love you.
07:17We love you.
07:17We love you.
07:19We love you.
07:24Please stand up here, guys.
07:27Now for the moment we've all been waiting for, let's hear from the band themselves, the B-52s. The microphone
07:33is yours.
07:41Who wants to go first? All right. Who wants to go first? I don't guess. All right. Well, first of
07:47all, I'm, I am blown away by seeing all you out here tonight.
07:51Today. It's not night yet. No. Oh my God. It's so thrilling. See all you friends, family, and fans.
08:01First of all, I just want to thank, thank everyone for being here. And thank you, Go-Go's, Fred.
08:09I just, everybody, I just want to thank. I feel so thankful. And I just want to thank our team
08:14at Crush
08:15Management, and particularly our manager, Wayne Sharp, and WME, and Carlene Donovan, our long time
08:23crew, Frank Gallagher, who's with, been with us long enough to have his eyebrows grow to extraordinary
08:28Lance, and Michael Hall, and our, we could not be the B-52s. After Ricky died, we configured our band,
08:38and we, we had the big band come. And our band now is the best, most talented band. It makes
08:47us
08:48really shine and rock in what we are today. I'd like to thank John Andrews, Ken Murie, Sterling Campbell,
08:56and Tracy Wormworth. You guys are the best. And I would like to thank the collaborators and early
09:04supporters, Jeremy Ayers, Robert Waldrop, Danny Beard, and the Wilson family. And thanks for love and
09:10support from my wife, Monica Coleman. And love you, Ricky.
09:24Good morning, or good afternoon.
09:29We started this band just to entertain ourselves and our friends. And I don't think any of us imagined
09:37that one day we would get a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. So I'd like to thank Hollywood
09:44for
09:44including us in this monument. It's a badge. Thank you, Fred, Gina, Jane, and Charlotte for your support
09:52and kind words. It's a huge honor and really cool. Um, thank you, Fred. Fred, I want to thank Fred,
10:02Kate, and Cindy for your imagination, creativity, and friendship. And Ricky. I met Ricky when I was 16
10:10years old in high school, and he invited me to his house one day to hear some music that he
10:16had written
10:16and recorded on his two-track tape recorder. And I realized then that my new best friend was also
10:22a musical genius. We miss you, Ricky. And we love you.
10:31I also wish to thank our friends and fans for your love and support. This star belongs to you as
10:38well.
10:42Also, supporting musicians, road crews, engineers, producers who have helped us throughout the decades.
10:48And Wayne, our manager, for keeping it all together, your guidance, and doing it all so well.
10:56Um, I think Maurice White said it best when he sang,
11:00you're a shining star no matter who you are, shining bright to see what you can truly be.
11:06Oh, that's nice. Thank you.
11:14Hey, y'all. Um, first, I'd like to thank, uh, Ricky, Cindy, Kate, and Keith, because, um, I can't, I
11:23could not
11:24imagine working with any other people. And I'm so happy that I'm in a band because I had no marketable
11:32skills after dropping out of college. Um, and I also want to thank all the fans, everyone we've worked
11:40with, our bands, our crew, our management, uh, Crushed Malibu. And we're still going. We're shaking our-
11:53We'll be back here in L.A. uh, next year at the Hollywood Bowl. So,
11:59so, anyway, thank you so much. This is really an honor.
12:05Stay up one more second, guys.
12:08Wait, Cindy's gotta go.
12:09Oh, Cindy has to go. I'm so sorry.
12:23Thank you so much. This, this day means a great deal to us all. And it's, it's been fabulous. And
12:32anyway, I, um, I wrote it down. I'm going to read mine. It says, when we first started making music
12:38music in a former mortuary on Hall Street in Athens, Georgia, none of us could have envisioned this
12:45moment. It's so true. Looking at the star, you know, I'm struck by the sheer serendipity of it all,
12:53that an unlikely group of friends could come together to high dive into the stream of consciousness
13:02and find a unique sound that would take us on this incredible journey. Ricky was a quiet visionary
13:10and a creative genius. But to me, he was my, simply my cool, wonderful older brother, whom I loved and
13:18looked up to and who influenced me profoundly. Although we lost him so long ago, his legacy lives on through
13:25our music. But when, but when we lost Ricky, it was Keith Strickland, I'm going to cry,
13:34who stepped up heroically to take on the monumental task of writing music.
13:42Anyway, thank you.
