The four members of Pylon were art students at the University of Georgia in Athens.
Guitarist Randall Bewley and bass guitarist Michael Lachowski began playing music and attempting to form a band in 1978.
Neither had any musical experience: as Lachowski later recalled, "A lot of us in the art school were trying out different media with a punk rock message, which is just go in there and do it.
You don’t need training, or authority or legitimacy.
Just figure it out".
They originally formed the band with the intention of securing live appearances in New York City, along with press attention, before splitting up.

They practiced in a studio in downtown Athens that Lachowski rented from Curtis Crowe, upstairs from the later location of the Grill on College Avenue.
The room was lit by a single 40-watt light bulb, so the band referred to it as the "40 Watt Club".
Crowe, who lived above the studio, recalled hearing Lachowski and Bewley's early rehearsals through the floor: "a never-ending series of hooks—no bridges or chorus, just hooks".
He soon joined the band as a drummer, stating that he "had every song memorized" before he approached them to join.
Bewley then approached Vanessa Briscoe (now Vanessa Briscoe Hay) about joining the band on vocals, on the basis that the band were fans of her art work: although she was initially reluctant as she also lacked musical experience, she auditioned for the band on February 14, 1979 and joined the lineup.

Contrary to some accounts, Pylon did not name themselves after William Faulkner's 1935 novel of the same name.
As Hay later explained to Nashville Scene writer Edd Hurt, the band was unaware of the Faulkner novel when they began playing, and instead were inspired by traffic cones.
According to Lachowski, "we chose Pylon because it is severe, industrial, monolithic, functional".
Their musical influences included Cabaret Voltaire, Suicide, the No New York compilation and the soundtrack to Eraserhead.

Pylon played their first live show at a party on March 9, 1979.
Despite receiving a relatively cool reception at their first two concerts, members of the B-52's attended Pylon's third show, where "they started dancing and running around like crazy and everybody else did too", according to Briscoe Hay.
Fred Schneider and Kate Pierson of the B-52's were particularly supportive and helped promote Pylon's music in New York City, getting them a gig at Hurrah.
After Schneider passed Hurrah's manager Jim Fouratt a Pylon demo tape, Fouratt called the band and offered them their choice of opening slots for a number of upcoming headlining bands: they chose to support the Gang of Four.
Their performance was well received by the audience and was the subject of a positive review by Glenn O'Brien in Interview magazine.

Pylon's debut single, "Cool", backed by "Dub", was released on DB Records in 1979, and received many positive critical reviews.
It was followed by their first full-length album, Gyrate, in 1980.
That year they also opened for the B-52s at Central Park.

The !!
10" EP, released in 1980 on the UK label Armageddon Records, included both sides of the debut single plus "Driving School" and "Danger!!"
from the album.
Two further singles followed, "Crazy" (1981), which charted at No.
61 for club play in Billboard, and "Beep" (1982).

From 1980 to 1983, Pylon toured parts of the U.S., Canada and the UK, playing with groups such as the B-52's, Gang of Four, Mission of Burma, Love Tractor, R.E.M., Talking Heads and U2.

Their second album, Chomp, was released in 1983.
By that time, the members of Pylon were beginning to feel that playing together was becoming less fun and more like a business, and after being poorly received by audiences when opening for U2 on the US leg of their War Tour, they decided to break up the band in late 1983, their final show being at Athens' Mad Hatter club on December 1.
Hay later said, "For whatever reason it was our decision.
We were like, 'Let's just quit while we're having fun.'
That was kind of the idea in the first place.
We were just going to perform as long as it was
The four members of Pylon were art students at the University of Georgia in Athens. Guitarist Randall Bewley and bass guitarist Michael Lachowski began playing music and attempting to form a band in 1978. Neither had any musical experience: as Lachowski later recalled, "A lot of us in the art school were trying out different media with a punk rock message, which is just go in there and do it. You don’t need training, or authority or legitimacy. Just figure it out". They originally formed the band with the intention of securing live appearances in New York City, along with press attention, before splitting up.
They practiced in a studio in downtown Athens that Lachowski rented from Curtis Crowe, upstairs from the later location of the Grill on College Avenue. The room was lit by a single 40-watt light bulb, so the band referred to it as the "40 Watt Club". Crowe, who lived above the studio, recalled hearing Lachowski and Bewley's early rehearsals through the floor: "a never-ending series of hooks—no bridges or chorus, just hooks". He soon joined the band as a drummer, stating that he "had every song memorized" before he approached them to join. Bewley then approached Vanessa Briscoe (now Vanessa Briscoe Hay) about joining the band on vocals, on the basis that the band were fans of her art work: although she was initially reluctant as she also lacked musical experience, she auditioned for the band on February 14, 1979 and joined the lineup.
Contrary to some accounts, Pylon did not name themselves after William Faulkner's 1935 novel of the same name. As Hay later explained to Nashville Scene writer Edd Hurt, the band was unaware of the Faulkner novel when they began playing, and instead were inspired by traffic cones. According to Lachowski, "we chose Pylon because it is severe, industrial, monolithic, functional". Their musical influences included Cabaret Voltaire, Suicide, the No New York compilation and the soundtrack to Eraserhead.
Pylon played their first live show at a party on March 9, 1979. Despite receiving a relatively cool reception at their first two concerts, members of the B-52's attended Pylon's third show, where "they started dancing and running around like crazy and everybody else did too", according to Briscoe Hay. Fred Schneider and Kate Pierson of the B-52's were particularly supportive and helped promote Pylon's music in New York City, getting them a gig at Hurrah. After Schneider passed Hurrah's manager Jim Fouratt a Pylon demo tape, Fouratt called the band and offered them their choice of opening slots for a number of upcoming headlining bands: they chose to support the Gang of Four. Their performance was well received by the audience and was the subject of a positive review by Glenn O'Brien in Interview magazine.
Pylon's debut single, "Cool", backed by "Dub", was released on DB Records in 1979, and received many positive critical reviews. It was followed by their first full-length album, Gyrate, in 1980. That year they also opened for the B-52s at Central Park.
The !! 10" EP, released in 1980 on the UK label Armageddon Records, included both sides of the debut single plus "Driving School" and "Danger!!" from the album. Two further singles followed, "Crazy" (1981), which charted at No. 61 for club play in Billboard, and "Beep" (1982).
From 1980 to 1983, Pylon toured parts of the U.S., Canada and the UK, playing with groups such as the B-52's, Gang of Four, Mission of Burma, Love Tractor, R.E.M., Talking Heads and U2.
Their second album, Chomp, was released in 1983. By that time, the members of Pylon were beginning to feel that playing together was becoming less fun and more like a business, and after being poorly received by audiences when opening for U2 on the US leg of their War Tour, they decided to break up the band in late 1983, their final show being at Athens' Mad Hatter club on December 1. Hay later said, "For whatever reason it was our decision. We were like, 'Let's just quit while we're having fun.' That was kind of the idea in the first place. We were just going to perform as long as it was
Pylon (band)