“Nude on the Moon” has been chosen as the title for a forthcoming two-disc anthology from the original Athens, Ga., college-rock pranksters, the B-52s, due Jan. 15 from Rhino/Warner Bros. The set will collect 35 songs spanning the group’s 25-year career, including hits, album tracks, rarities, remixes, and live tracks.
Warner released a single-disc greatest-hits album, “Time Capsule: Songs for a Future Generation,” in 1998, but the B-52s haven’t dropped an album of original material since 1992’s “Good Stuff” (Reprise). Cuts from both of those records (including “Debbie,” a tribute to Blondie frontwoman Debbie Harry which was only previously available on “Time Capsule”) can be found on “Nude on the Moon,” as well as material spanning back to the group’s first album, the 1979 self-titled Warner set.
The packaging will include liner notes by author Michael Azerrad, previously unseen photos of the band, and “reminiscences” by the band members.
Among the previously unreleased tracks included on the set are “Is That You, Mo-Dean? (Interdimension Mix),” a 1992 remix by Moby, and a David Byrne-produced version of “Queen of Las Vegas.” Live rarities include a concert recording of “Quiche Lorraine,” previously only found on the PETA benefit album “Tame Yourself,” and a live take of “Whammy Kiss” that appeared on the U.K. single for the group’s 1989 hit, “Roam.”
The B-52s’ biggest chart success came in 1990, when the “Cosmic Thing” album hit No. 4 on The Billboard 200. The group recently took part in the Beastie Boys-organized New Yorkers Against Violence benefit show at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom.
