It’s the kind of party where big music and big hair shack up for big fun.

Named for the bouffant hairdos of the Southern women they grew up around, the B-52s have been delivering their raucous brand of playful sounds to audiences for 35 years now. And they’ll be doing it for the Springs at the Pikes Peak Center Thursday.

Passionate performers known for their wild concerts, the B-52s have enjoyed international stardom. With more than 20 million albums and a relentless touring schedule, they still manage to bring a fresh, intense energy to crowds who know them well.

Like any band, they’ve seen their share of challenges — most notably the death of guitarist, Ricky Wilson in 1985.

“We didn’t think we’d continue,” says current guitarist and founding member, Keith Strickland, “but we’ve found a lot of comfort in playing together again.”

And with their instantly recognizable blend of experimental pop and earthy punk rock grind, it’s hard to imagine more than three decades of music without them.

“Not in our wildest dreams did we ever think we’d (still) be here,” Strickland says.

Here, we talk to Strickland about the lifetime of the band, the way the death of Ricky Wilson brought them together and what it takes to keep it going after all these years.

The Gazette: So, after all this time together, what are some of the standout moments?Keith Strickland: That’s pretty tough. (It’s) hard to choose one. The whole journey has been amazing. It’s something we really didn’t foresee. We started as a way to entertain ourselves and our friends liked what we did. We played parties, had fun, it was all very organic, never planned.

We just recently played at the Ryman Theatre in Nashville. It was a beautiful sounding room. Felt like I was playing in a church, a lot of resonance. Then there was Earth Day in 1990 in New York City in Central Park. That was at the height of our popularity. We got to open for the Rolling Stones with Paul McCartney.

Gazette: What’s made it work?Strickland: We’ve just done it our way and we’ve taken lots of time off. That’s helped. But we were a good group of friends and we’ve remained a good group of friends, like family. I mean, there are times where somebody can really push your buttons, but we know each other really well and there’s a lot of love there. We enjoy it and that’s really the answer. I never get tired of performing. The travelling is tough, but performing is just really alive and it always feels different and there’s nothing else like that.

Gazette: I understand you celebrated part of your 35 year anniversary in a van during an 11-hour drive from New York to Canada. Did that really bring it all home for you?Strickland: Yeah, we had a show in Canada but the flights were cancelled. I would say it was definitely an experience that brought us back to our roots. In the early days, we toured in a van packed with our equipment. We had foam mattresses on top of the amps that we all took turns sleeping on. Can’t help but remember those days.

Gazette: You guys have really carved out a genre of your own. Your sound is distinct and experimental. So, which musicians influence you?Strickland: I would say “inspired” more than influenced. I can now hear a lot of blues riffs in our music. You wouldn’t think of that, but if you slowed down the riff to “Private Idaho,” it’s actually very bluesy. It has a lot of roots to it.

Joni Mitchell has had a big influence. She’s just got a real harmonic sensibility. Also, a lot of soundtrack music, like from Italian composer, Nino Rota. He’s composed for Felini films. I call inspirations like those “jumping off points.”

For the last album, “Funplex,” I was trying to decide what direction I wanted to go. I wanted to write music that was going to work in a live setting. We’d been touring and learning what works live and also listening to electro and British invasion music like the Kinks. I started to put those two together and, once you start writing, it just evolves. You never know where the music is going to take you, but it always leads you somewhere.

The Gazette: You’re known as the “World’s Greatest Party Band,” but one of your top-selling albums, “Cosmic Thing” (1989), came out after period of mourning the death of bandmate Ricky Wilson. What happened during that time to help you emerge so successfully?Strickland: We all just went our separate ways for two years. I started writing, then met up with Kate and Cindy for a visit, and slowly, we warmed back up to the idea that maybe we could do this. Before we knew it, we’d written enough for an album. It was a healing process. We were young and it ended up putting things in focus. We realized how precious friendships are. We also thought, “We still have the four of us, so let’s try something.” There was a lot of comfort in that. When we started playing together again, I think it was reassuring for Cindy to know she had us. We all bonded as family.

And something unexpected was that, out of that sadness, there was a lot of joy that came out in the music. I look at it like it was a celebration of Ricky’s life. When I had to come up with a song sequence — which is always a tricky thing — I realized each of the songs marked a point in the journey. There was a lot of nostalgia and reflecting. Overall, I saw “Cosmic Thing” as being a celebration of the preciousness of life.

Gazette: Talk a little about “The Wild Crowd.”Strickland: Yeah, the DVD. It was pretty spontaneous. We’d booked a show in Athens (Ga.) and we realized it was close to our (35th) anniversary. We’d never really filmed a concert and saw the opportunity to do it since we were playing at home. It turned out to be a great document. It really captured this period of our career. I mean, it was nerve-wracking when we were doing it. There’s a little bit of stress and tension when you know you’re being filmed but I think it was a good show. Oddly enough, as much fun as we have on stage, the four of us are actually pretty camera shy. We’re live performers. We’ve always really tuned into the audience.

Gazette: “Funplex” was released in 2008. Are there any plans to do another? Strickland: At the moment, there’s an absence of any plan.

Gazette: What can people expect when they come to a B-52s concert?Strickland: This is moment that you’re supposed to participate in. Get into it and have fun. … I mean, that’s what it’s about. That’s the moment. That’s the present experience. 

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The music of the B-52s will be heard through Schlock Lobster as part of Monsters of Mock.

courtesy Photos