The Bees are a very shy outfit who rarely give interviews. Jetsetting sleuth Robert Elms tracked them down in New York city and, with the aid of Japanese cuisine, persuaded them to reveal all.

"The B-52's god bless 'em, they've been really important in terms of making people listen to a different type of dance music, and getting success without getting any airplay." - August Darnell

"The B-52's - 100 mph dance music." - Perry Haines

"The B-52's, you jammy little journalist you - they really are a superb band you know." -Mark Ellen (Smash Hits)

Those who've seen the light that the B-52's threw over a still grey scene when they first emerged with their quirky, happy, lobster rock don't forget easily. The Bees with their silly hairdo's leading the way blazed a trail of prime pop that made more parties dance than any other white trash could. I was one of those parties and I've always been fond of the B-52's.

I suppose it's the intelligence that left the greatest mark. I mean they had all this wordy wit and wisdom in their always humorous ditties, yet every time you heard them your feet were in a turmoil and your mind was in a spin. The appeal was in the perversity.

The appeal was also remarkably widespread, they were so eclectic, such a mix 'n 'match of American thrift shop aesthetics that there was bound to be a bit in there somewhere that you liked. The bit I liked best was when they said 'I'll give you fish, I'll give you candy, I'll give you anything, just give me back my man." That startled me when I first heard it. Honestly, I went around for days repeating it to myself, musing on its surrealist beauty and occasionally looking very stupid for dancing in the street while mouthing words about fish.

"The Brooklyn Bridge is shut, I just hope those mothers haven't shut the park yet."

It's also pretty disorientating to suddenly find yourself in a chequered yellow tank riding through East Harlem, desperately trying to work out what you're going to say to a pop group who sing songs about fish. I was watching The Last Of The Summer Wine last night and now I'm on my way to talk to the Georgia beehives.

They haven't done any interviews for almost a year, they don't like them, they wind up interviewers mercilessly to hide their shyness, they're like a big family, who aren't fond of intruders. I'd heard all these things, and on the frozen walk up 57^th Street I was more than a little bit wary. The punishing intensity of New York nightlife had ensured that I hadn't slept, and all the doubts that I felt about Mesopotamia, their latest David Byrne-produced album, were weighing heavily on the well cut shoulders of the new Simon Withers jacket I donned as scant protection from the wind.

Gloria Robinson was the lady I had to meet. She's a part of their management set-up, and she was to escort me to luncheon with the ogres, where I would be allowed to ask them questions. Them was to be Keith Strickland and Kate Pierson, and lunch was to be Japanese, a compromise between their vegetarianism and my virtual cannibalism.

Gloria Robinson, let me tell you now, is one of the funniest hard-edged New Yorkers you could care to meet; Keith Strickland and Kate Pierson are intelligent, gentle, thoroughly nice southerners; and raw fish wrapped up in seaweed is delicious.

Robert "When you played that club gig the other night, was it a warm-up for something?"

Kate "It was a warm-up for our feet, we had cold feet."

Robert "What have you been doing while you haven't been playing?"

Kate "I went to the Everglades, Keith went to Mexico and got stuck in a pyramid. I got attacked by raccoons."

Robert "What about music?"

Kate "We've been working a lot in the studio, and we've added two horn players to the B-52's. Ralph and Dave, the Young Horns.

Gloria "The horny horns."

Robert "Is that a reflection of some change in taste? What are you listening to at the moment?"

Kate "I like The Clash."

Gloria "She just likes Joe Strummer."

Kate "I listen to organ favourites for pleasure."

Gloria "She's getting dirty again, this always happens when we get together."

Keith "Could I have some Miso soup please."

Kate "I like muzak as well. That's another thing I used to hate, but now I love it, it's soothing and I sing along."

Robert "In the early days, were you aware of doing something different?"

Kate "Oh yes, when we started and first came to New York there wasn't any dance bands. It simply wasn't the thing to do at the time, everybody was leaning against the bar looking bored in a leather jacket. But I felt at the time that we were part of something that was going to happen. People were bound to get into it."

Robert "Are you into black dance music?"

Kate "I love it."

Keith "I didn't really get into disco until the last two years. I mean I grew up listening to James Brown and stuff like that, but then I really started listening to disco through Michael Jackson and Chic."

Kate "We use lots of elements of disco. We consciously decided to do dance music, and therefore we inevitably draw on disco."

Keith "We decided at the very beginning, what kind of band are we? We are a dance band, we played parties and stuff. In Athens where we all come from that's what everybody does, go to parties. They all like to dance."

Robert "Do you ever go back to Athens?"

Keith "We all go back, there's loads of bands now and a whole scene. There's this amazing place called the Coffee Club where they have a constant coffee pot going all night and a typewriter, and people just go in there and write. There's no place like the Coffee Club in New York."

Gloria "That's because somebody would steal the typewriter."

Robert "Have you been surprised by your success?"

Keith "We've taken ourselves completely by surprise. We originally started just to play one party. We've just sort of improvised since that night. Whenever opportunities arise, if we feel like going for them we will. I'm surprised we've been together five years."

Kate "We started as a sort of clique in Athens who hung around together but it was a much larger clique. Then we moved up here and bought a house together. It's in Mahopac which is right in the wilds. It's more of a creative retreat now. We're very isolated up there. It's full of retired people that want us to leave in case we drive the value of the property down.

Gloria "I agree, get these degenerate, scum musicians out."

Keith "We're pretty much all introverted."

Kate "We are all a bit shy."

Gloria "Is that a shrimp?"

Robert "The new album has been criticised in some parts, are you happy with it?"

Kate "Yes."

Keith "Yes. The record company were a bit disappointed, they had gotten the idea that we're a certain kind of dance band. We're supposed to be funny and danceable all the time. When we first came out, companies didn't want to know. It's taken them a long time to come around, and now that we've changed a bit they find it hard to adjust. This is just a natural move, it's unnatural to stay in one place."

Robert "Aren't you in danger though, through the association with David Byrne, of being pulled into the whole New York prep school of button down shirts and sensible haircuts?"

Kate "We've never had sensible haircuts."

Keith "We felt the need to get out of little precise arrangements. This album is just an experiment and we won't necessarily continue in this vein. We felt the need to try some different things, to stretch the ideas out more.

Robert "Are you aware of no longer being the latest new name, I mean a lot of things have changed since you first appeared?"

Kate "I don't like the pressure of constantly feeling you have the be the new thing, because that is not always the best thing. I'd like to be able to change and still be accepted by somebody. But this is a hard time to experiment and progress. American music is really reactionary now, more so than ever since Reagan took over. Everything is going backwards."

"The B-52's - who are they?" - Customs official - Kennedy Airport.