5 Albums I Can’t Live Without: Kate Pierson of The B-52s
Name Kate Pierson
Best known for Beehive hair and singer in The B-52s.
More from Spin:
Current city Cape Cod, MA
Really want to be in Where I am now J.
Excited about My new record Radios And Rainbows.
My current music collection has a lot of Eclectic music from Brazilian African to pop, folk, jazz, rock you name it!
And a little bit of Flamenco music.
Preferred format Streaming because I can get every genre of music. But I still love my vinyl collection and my Dad’s 1000 big band and jazzy 78s.
5 Albums I Can’t Live Without:
1
Blue, Joni Mitchell
It is such a beautiful album full of heartstring-pulling songs and it makes you sweetly satisfyingly sad to listen to. I used to listen to this album over and over and stare at the blueness of the album cover.
2
The Freewheeling’ Bob Dylan, Bob Dylan
This album came out when I was in junior high school, and my folk protest band called The Sun Donuts played it. I played “A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall” multiple times for my bandmates — they were not having it. I thought it was just genius. “Masters of War” is still the all-time greatest anti-war song… But the album is still full of folk classics, like “Blowin’ in the Wind.” Listening to these songs was my first consciousness that music can change the world.
3
Some People Have Real Problems, Sia
My wife Monica and I met Sia through our friend’s band, Betty. We all had to sing a song at the birthday party they had and Sia got up and sang and I was absolutely blown away. Who was this girl? Then we became friends and her songwriting and lyrics have been an inspiration to me. She wrote and produced my first solo record, “Guitars and Microphones,” and she has since gone on to be a world phenomenon.
4
Horses, Patti Smith
This album came out just before The B-52s began, but we were listening to “Piss Factory” by Patti Smith and our friend Robert Waldrop ordered it from a music magazine. When “Horses” came out, punk and poetry emerged in the most beautiful way. I got to see Patti Smith perform at CBGB multiple times and she is a shaman.
5
Lady Soul, Aretha Franklin
It’s hard to pick just one Aretha Franklin album. She is, after all, the queen of soul. This record came out at a time in my life when I was in college and was protesting the Vietnam War and involved in civil rights movements. Her song “People Get Ready” is so beautiful and moving and was an inspiration (again) that music can change the world — and change me! It also was so groovy and danceable.
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