Party Mix!

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title: "Party Mix!" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1981-eps", "1981-remix-albums", "albums-produced-by-chris-blackwell", "albums-produced-by-rhett-davies", "albums-recorded-at-compass-point-studios", "the-b-52's-eps", "the-b-52's-remix-albums", "island-records-eps", "island-records-remix-albums", "remix-eps", "warner-records-eps", "warner-records-remix-albums"] topic_path: "arts/music" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Party_Mix!" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::data[format=table title="Infobox album"]

Field	Value
name	Party Mix!
type	Remix album
artist	the B-52's
cover	B52s partymix.jpg
released	July 1981
recorded	1979–1980
studio	Compass Point (Nassau, Bahamas)
genre	* New wave
length	28:29
producer	* Rhett Davies
prev_title	Wild Planet
prev_year	1980
next_title	Mesopotamia
next_year	1982
misc	{{Singles
name	Party Mix!
type	Remix
single1	Give Me Back My Man (Party Mix)
single1date	1981
::

| name = Party Mix! | type = Remix album | artist = the B-52's | cover = B52s partymix.jpg | alt = | released = July 1981 | recorded = 1979–1980 | studio = Compass Point (Nassau, Bahamas) | genre = * New wave

• post-punk | length = 28:29 | label =
• Island
• Warner Bros. | producer = * Rhett Davies
• the B-52's
• Chris Blackwell | prev_title = Wild Planet | prev_year = 1980 | next_title = Mesopotamia | next_year = 1982 | misc = {{Singles | name = Party Mix! | type = Remix | single1 = Give Me Back My Man (Party Mix) | single1date = 1981

Party Mix! is a remix album by American new wave band the B-52's, released in 1981 by Warner Bros. (US) and Island Records (Europe, Japan). It features three songs from their first studio album, The B-52's (1979), and three songs from their second LP, Wild Planet (1980). It has received generally good reviews. Commercially, the album peaked at number 55 in the US and number 36 in the UK.

Background

The album was released between the band's second album, Wild Planet (1980), and their Mesopotamia EP (1982). It was devised as a stop-gap release by the band's manager, Gary Kurfirst, while the band was working on the Mesopotamia sessions.

On the original vinyl, the six-song collection featured songs from their first two albums remixed and sequenced to form two long tracks, one on each side. On the CD version, however, the six songs were their own individual tracks.

In 1991, Party Mix! and a 1990 remix version of Mesopotamia were combined and released as one CD in the US. In Europe, both albums were made available on separate CDs, with Mesopotamia retaining the original U.S. mix.

Reception

Commercial

Party Mix! spent 11 weeks on the Billboard 200, peaking at No. 55.

Critical

|rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = |rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide |rev2score = A− |rev3 = The Encyclopedia of Popular Music |rev3score = |rev4 = The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |rev4score = | rev5 = Select | rev5Score = 3/5 |noprose=yes Robert Christgau of The Village Voice observed that the album's "implicit equation of party and disco offends old new-wavers, but at EP list for half an hour's music the extravagance is recommended." Trouser Press opined that the album was "functional for discos but antithetical to the B-52's' minimalist precepts."

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, William Ruhlmann stated, "Since the group's bouncy songs are already dance-ready, this makes for alternatives rather than real improvements, even from a dancefloor perspective." In 2022, Treble magazine named Party Mix! one of the ten essential remix albums, and wrote: "Party Mix! is such a part of the canon that DJ Shadow and Soulwax would reference it in a mashup 21 years later".

Track listing

Side one

1. "Party Out of Bounds" (Fred Schneider, Keith Strickland, Ricky Wilson, Cindy Wilson, Kate Pierson) – 5:12
2. "Private Idaho" (Schneider, Strickland, R. Wilson, C. Wilson, Pierson) – 4:04
3. "Give Me Back My Man" (Schneider, Strickland, R. Wilson, C. Wilson) – 7:02

Side two

1. "Lava" (The B-52's) – 6:08
2. "Dance This Mess Around" (The B-52's) – 2:59
3. "52 Girls" (Jeremy Ayers, R. Wilson) – 2:58

• Side one: original versions from Wild Planet (1980)
• Side two: original versions from The B-52's (1979)

Personnel

Credits adapted from Party Mix / Mesopotamia CD liner notes.

• Rhett Davies – producer (1–3)
• The B-52's – producers (1–3)
• Daniel Coulombe – remixing
• Steven Stanley – remixing
• Paul Wexler – remixing
• Chris Blackwell – producer (4–6)
• Robert Ash – associate producer (4–6)
• Tony Wright – cover
• Lynn Goldsmith – photograph

Chart performance

::data[format=table] | Chart (1981) | Peak position | |---|---| | Australia Albums Chart | 79 | | U.S. Billboard 200 | 55 | ::

References

References

1. Strong, Martin C.. (2003). "The Great Indie Discography". [[Canongate Books.
2. "B-52's".
3. Wawzenek, Bryan. (January 30, 2017). "35 Years Ago: B-52's, David Byrne Team Up on 'Mesopotamia'".
4. Zaleski, Annie. (14 July 2017). "No novelty, the B-52s may be the most subversive band America ever gave us".
5. Ruhlmann, William. "Party Mix!/Mesopotamia – The B-52s – Review".
6. "The B-52s".
7. Ruhlmann, William. "The B-52's – Party Mix! – Review".
8. Christgau, Robert. (1990). "Christgau's Record Guide: The '80s". [[Pantheon Books]].
9. Larkin, Colin. (2011). "The Encyclopedia of Popular Music". Omnibus Press.
10. Considine, J. D.. (2004). "The New Rolling Stone Album Guide". Simon & Schuster.
11. Cavanagh, David. (July 1990). "Flip Your Wig".
12. Blyweiss, Adam. (19 May 2022). "10 Essential Remix Albums: The B-52's – ''Party Mix!''".
13. The B-52's. (1991). "Party Mix / Mesopotamia". [[Reprise Records]].

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