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The rock music scene of Athens, GA is regarded as one of the most important and influential in the country.  Athens was home to the country's first and most famous college music scene, beginning in the late 1970s.  By the mid 1980s the "Athens Scene", as it was called, had garnered national and international attention because of the surprising numbers of Athens bands that were achieving success and influencing bands all over the country.

Some of the Athens bands from this time are well known: the B-52s and R.E.M. most notably.  But there are many more that didn't achieve widespread commercial success, yet contributed to the creative melting pot that made the "Athens Scene" happen.

I lived in Athens from 1979 to 1983 while attending the University of Georgia.  This blog is a tribute to the city's past and current music scene and to all the great bands I had the good fortune to see during my time there.

I was not on the "inside" of the Athens music scene.  I didn't know any band members, didn't attend any of the famous parties they threw.  But I went to the shows.  I bought the records.  I loved the music.  And I love sharing what I know about that incredible time and place.

The B-52s

The B-52s were the band that started it all, the first Athens rock band to achieve national recognition and success.  And their success came quickly.

Formed in 1976, they made their first public appearance at an Athens party on Valentine's Day 1977. In December that year, after playing in public exactly three times, they played a show at Max's Kansas City, a prestigious new-music club in Manhattan.  The show was a great success and led to other New York gigs.  They released their first single in 1978, then signed with Warner Bros Records and released their first album in 1979.  The album went platinum.

It has often been said that the success of the B-52s inspired others in Athens to pick up guitars and try it themselves, thus creating the groundswell of musical activity that ultimately made Athens famous.  But I think there is something else about the B-52s that had an even bigger impact on the Athens music scene.  The B-52s succeeded by being completely unconventional and uncompromisingly following their creative instincts.  This was to be a common thread for all Athens bands to follow; and it made the Athens music scene more diverse and interesting than any other.

The B-52s' early success in New York City also established a tradition for Athens bands: playing New York early and often in their careers.  Many of the bands featured here played New York regularly.  New York fans were intrigued by all the talent coming out of one sleepy Southern town, and the shows were well attended.  The New York new-music press, the most influential in the country, followed suit, lauding most Athens groups with much praise.  As author Rodger Lyle Brown wrote, Manhattan  became a "candy store" for bands from Athens.

The B-52s have sold over 30 million records and are still going strong – they released their latest studio album in 2008 and are still touring.  Shoe-ins for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  What I like most about the B-52s is the fact that after over 30 years, they still have the same happy-go-lucky, party-girl attitude they had when they started.

Here's an Athens-inspired song from their 1989 album Cosmic Thing, the first album they did after a four-year hiatus following the tragic death of guitarist Ricky Wilson, and their best selling record ever.  It has to be the greatest comeback album of all time.
Deadbeat Club

From their first album, released in 1979.

Planet Claire

From their second album Wild Planet, 1980.

Give Me Back My Man

From the album Whammy!, 1983

Song for a Future Generation

A beautiful tribute to Ricky Wilson, by sister Cindy Wilson's side project The Cindy Wilson Band:

Ricky

R.E.M.

R.E.M. needs no introduction.  With over 70 million records sold and a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, they are one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed bands in the world over the last 30 years.  The B-52’s put Athens on the musical map, but R.E.M. made the town legend. 

In contrast to the B-52s immediate success, success for R.E.M. came slowly.  Eschewing the Athens tradition of playing New York clubs, the band spent their early years relentlessly touring the Southeast, playing in any dive that would have them and living on a $2 a day food allowance.  Their reputation grew steadily, but they didn't achieve a platinum-selling album until 1987's Document, their fifth LP.

What endears me most to R.E.M. is that, in spite of incredible fame and fortune, R.E.M. never strayed far from Athens.  During most of their career, the band members all lived there, and two members still do.  They’re also very active in the Athens community.  They play at Athfest, the annual arts and music festival.  They often show up to play with local acts.  Singer Michael Stipe was instrumental in the opening of The Grit, Athens' first and only vegetarian-only restaurant (he owns the building where it’s located).  Guitarist Peter Buck and his wife owned the 40 Watt Club for a time until their divorce in 1994; now she is sole owner.  Drummer Bill Berry owns a farm in nearby Watkinsville.  Good examples of how you can get hooked on Athens.

Below are some of my favorite R.E.M. songs from their early years.

This is R.E.M.’s very first recording, released on 45 rpm vinyl in 1981, about a year before their first album.  One of these days I’m gonna dig through my records and see if I still have my copy…

Radio Free Europe

Sitting Still

This from their 1982 5-track EP Chronic Town:
Gardening At Night



From their first LP, Murmur, released in 1983:
Shaking Through
 

From the 1984 LP Reckoning:
Pretty Persuasion