page_title: Music of Athens, Georgia
section_title: Rock
hierarchical_section_title: Music of Athens, Georgia / History / Rock
caption_attribution_description: English: Magnapop performing in 2007. From left to right: bassist Scott Rowe, drummer Chad Williams (obscured except for his hands), singer Linda Hopper, and guitarist and backing vocalist Ruthie Morris
context_page_description: The music of Athens, Georgia, includes a wide variety of popular music and was an important part of the early evolution of alternative rock and new wave. The city is well known as the home of chart-topping bands like R.E.M., Widespread Panic, and The B-52s, and several long-time indie /rock hip-hop groups. Athens hosts the Athens Symphony Orchestra and other music institutions, as well as prominent local music media, such as the college radio station WUOG. Much of the modern Athens music scene relies on students from the large University of Georgia campus in the city. The University sponsors Western classical performances and groups specializing in other styles.
  Athens became a center for music in the region during the Civil War and gained further fame in the early twentieth century with the founding of the Morton Theatre, which was a major touring destination for African American performers. The city's local rock music scene can be traced to the 1950s, with live music at Allen's Hamburgers in Normaltown. International attention came in the 1970s when the B-52's began releasing the first of several best-selling recordings.
context_section_description: In the late 1970s, the 40 Watt Club became a well-known regional attraction for music fans, and was followed by the Uptown Lounge; with the local industry's growth in the 1980s, both the 40 Watt Club and the Uptown Lounge moved to larger spaces, the latter taking over the landmark Georgia Theatre. The early 1980s saw a host of new bands and venues appear, while the city's musical subculture became more diversified. LSD, a hallucinogenic drug, was widely used in the college music scene in this era. Many members of Athens's most prominent later bands became locally renowned starting in the 1970s, including The B-52's.
  Ort's Oldies, a used record store on Jackson Street, and its proprietor, William Orten Carlton, commonly known as Ort, were among the institutional figures that made the Athens music scene possible. Ort has an excellent memory for rock trivia, which served him well in running the store. Perhaps more importantly, his off-the-wall sense of humor and warmly iconoclastic personality (and his thrift-sale wardrobe) were regularly on display at parties, gigs and musical venues around town.
  A final element in creating and sustaining the Athens musical culture was the University of Georgia Lamar Dodd School of Art. The great majority of Athens' musicians and their fan base were associated with the University's liberal arts curriculum, and the School of Art, rather than the music department, was the area where the creative and musical alliances that later defined the scene began forming in the 1970s. Michael Stipe of R.E.M. was an art major (although he did not graduate), and the Art School incubated other major figures such as Curtis Crowe, founding member and drummer for Pylon. The cinematographer for the documentary film Athens GA: Inside/Out was Jim Herbert, an art school professor. Herbert went on to direct music videos for various Athens bands including 14 for R.E.M.
  Rock photographer, Jason Thrasher has documented many Athens musicians in his 2017 book, Athens Potluck. 
  The B-52's and R.E.M. became by far the most famous musical products of Athens in the 1980s, when both bands launched a string of hits. Their roots in the city's local scene go back to the 1970s and early 1980s. The B-52's formed after a St. Valentine's Day party in 1977. The members had little musical knowledge, but performed new wave music with a cheeky and humorous image and sound. They were known for their campy thrift store fashion, and their unusual and eye-catching music videos for hits like "Rock Lobster" and "Love Shack". Though the B-52's were the first Athens band to achieve national prominence, their popularity was soon eclipsed by R.E.M.. The future members of the band R.E.M. moved to Athens to work and/or attend the University of Georgia, including bassist Mike Mills and former drummer Bill Berry. The group began performing as R.E.M. in 1980. They became locally prominent, and released a single, "Radio Free Europe", that was a major college rock hit. Their popularity grew with a series of singles, EPs and albums that made R.E.M. the top underground band in the country, finally breaking into the mainstream with 1987's "The One I Love" and "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)". By 1991's Out of Time album — which featured vocals by Kate Pierson of The B-52s — and its acclaimed follow-up Automatic for the People (named after the motto of Weaver D's, a local Athens soul-food eatery), R.E.M. had become one of the world's biggest rock bands. The band's style went through many evolutions but originally had a jangle pop sound and harmonies often compared to folk-rock band The Byrds; singer and songwriter Michael Stipe is known for obscure, allusive lyrics delivered in a monotonous drone. The success of R.E.M. and the B-52's brought attention from major labels and music media to Athens, and many local bands received a career boost.
  The band Pylon was a long-standing and influential part of the Athens scene, and became critical darlings in the 1980s, but never achieved significant mainstream success. This was partially b
caption: Oh-OK member Linda Hopper would later form the Atlanta-based Magnapop with Ruthie Morris. The band is pictured here performing in 2007. From left to right: bassist Scott Rowe, drummer Chad Williams (obscured except for his hands), singer Linda Hopper, and guitarist and backing vocalist Ruthie Morris.
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