Meet The Flintstones

Album: The Flintstones Soundtrack (1994)
Charted: 3 33
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This B-52s song is perhaps the best thing to come out of the star-studded but ill-fated 1994 live action film The Flintstones. For this appearance they were billed as "The B.C. 52's" for the prehistoric theme. William Hanna, Joseph Barbera, and Hoyt Curtin composed this song for the film and soundtrack.

    The film itself was something of a critical flop even though it was a box-office success. It had a cast that was nothing less than amazing: John Goodman, Rick Moranis, Kyle MacLachlan (David Lynch favorite), Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Moll (Night Court), Harvey Korman, Halle Berry, Chris Rock, Jay Leno and Jonathan Winters all in the same movie!. However, the script bombed (One IMDB reviewer put it: "the story feels like it was written on the back of a cigarette packet in 5 minutes."). and the casting choices were criticized for not being close enough to the original cartoon. Nevertheless it has a strong cult following and has been vindicated by Netflix.
  • Frank Moriarty's Seventies Rock: The Decade of Creative Chaos explains the mystique of the B-52s: "Admittedly amateurish in the musicianship department, The B-52s used their limitations to their advantage. They created simple, wacky rock that existed in a world of equal parts retro, sci-fi, and B-movie camp. Schneider's talk-sing approach was sweetly surrounded by the vocals of Pierson and Wilson, and the fun factor of the band's hyperactive live performances went a long way towards breaking the band into the mainstream."

Comments: 2

  • Chris from Germany Not their best song.
  • Thegripester from Wellington, New ZealandPhoo on Moriarty - amateurish? They were hardened pros who worked their butts off every night. No one left the concert without being completely exhausted from jumping up and down all night. And as for musicianship, they got very sophisticated by the late 80's. Some of the vocal harmonies are very advanced, and Kate was often playing keyboard bass with her left hand, playing cross-rhythms with her right hand, and singing at the top of her lungs simultaneously. Their secret is that they absolutely loved doing what they did, and the audience could feel it. I saw many many live acts in the early 1980's, and the B-52's were among the best.
see more comments

Editor's Picks

Band Names

Band NamesFact or Fiction

Was "Pearl" Eddie Vedder's grandmother, and did she really make a hallucinogenic jam? Did Journey have a contest to name the group? And what does KISS stand for anyway?

Judas Priest

Judas PriestSongwriter Interviews

Rob Halford, Richie Faulkner and Glenn Tipton talk twin guitar harmonies and explain how they create songs in Judas Priest.

Donald Fagen

Donald FagenSongwriter Interviews

Fagen talks about how the Steely Dan songwriting strategy has changed over the years, and explains why you don't hear many covers of their songs.

Boy Bands

Boy BandsFact or Fiction

From NKOTB to 1D, how well do you know your boy bands?

The Truth Is Out There: A History of Alien Songs

The Truth Is Out There: A History of Alien SongsSong Writing

The trail runs from flying saucer songs in the '50s, through Bowie, blink-182 and Katy Perry.

David Gray

David GraySongwriter Interviews

David Gray explains the significance of the word "Babylon," and talks about how songs are a form of active imagination, with lyrics that reveal what's inside us.