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FINE WINE • DOMESTICS & CRAFT BEER • LIQUOR
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LIQUOR STORE #1
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PERRY S STORE »1
1195 Cedar Shoals Rd.
706-353-0057
PERRY'S STORE #2
4390 Lexington Rd.
706-353-0630
NO I.D. • NO BEER. DRINK RESPONSIBLY.
R.E.M.
continued from p 17
indeed an old church that had been retrofitted with apart
ments. Several members of the group lived there, and they
were practicing in the back of the building where the old altar
was. I used to hang out at the Church, and when a decision
was made that the band would debut at a party on house
mate Kathleen O'Brien's birthday, I was asked to deejay it. It
sounded like fun, but word got around about the shindig, and
I remember being on a UGA bus and hearing some sorority gals
talking about the party. I figured there was going to be a lot of
people there we didn't know. And, indeed, when the day rolled
around, there was instead of the 50 or so friends we expected,
over 500 mostly unfamiliar folks there.
The place was so packed, I gave up on trying to play any
records and just had a good time. And a very good time was
had, as The Side Effects debuted (and don't forget Turtle Bay!),
while the as-yet-unnamed R.E.M. rocked out reasonably well
with a set of mostly covers ("God Save The Queen," "Secret
Agent Man," "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone"). I always thought
that R.E.M.'s meteoritic rise in popularity was at least paitially
due to all those students who showed up at the party and
spread the word back to the dorms about the hot new band in
town."
David Barbe, musician, producer and
director of the UGA Music Business Program
"The first time I heard R.E.M. was hearing the Hib-Tone
single on WRAS in Atlanta. As soon as I heard it, I loved it.
It was a like it was some sort of music that had existed in the
back corner of my subconsciousness somewhere, but I had
never actually heard before. Some combination of propulsive
rhythms, jangling guitar reminiscent of '60s psychedelia, and
vocals that were loud enough, but not exactly clear, rendering
an evocativeness that was unlike anything else...
In August of 1982, Chronic Town was released. It was a
couple of months before they played in Athens again. The
first show I saw was at the I and I Club in October of 1982,
a few weeks after my 19th birthday... They were incredible. I
mean, the energy level was something else. It was like what I
imagined seeing The Who in the '60s would be like; which is
funny because I have never had the impression that The Who
is something that R.E.M. would ever have been influenced by,
and it was absolutely the best show I had ever seen. This is
the period where I became truly hooked. After that, I caught
them every time I could, which basically meant every Athens
and Atlanta show—I and I, 40 Watt, Moon Shadow, Six Flags
(yes, Six Flags), Legion Field, Mad Hatter, parties, wherever. I
saw the side projects and one-offs. I checked out other bands
that had an association, like the dB's and Let's Active.
...Within a few years I would be doing my own indie/punk
rock touring with Mercyland, encountering people all over the
place whose awakening to the burgeoning musical underground
had been provided by R.E.M., many of whom also subsequently
regarded Athens as some sort of Mecca...
R.E.M. credited influences whose artistic contributions
outweighed their sales numbers, like Big Star, Patti Smith and
the Velvet Underground. They shared the spotlight with other
local bands in national interviews, exposing their new fans to
at least an awareness and, ; n some cases, the actual music of
bands like Love Tractor and Pylon. They continued to support
Athens music by having later-era bands like Elf Power, The
Olivia Tremor Control and Now It's Overhead as opening acts...
The way that R.E.M. made music was no more impressive
than the way that R.E.M. Athens, LLC conducted its business.
In the music industry, there is a long and unfortunate history
of shady business dealings by every level of impresarios and
countless artists screwing themselves in the long run by grab
bing everything they can right now. R.E.M. never did that. They
always seemed to put the quality of their art first, maintain
creative control over it, and let everything else build off of
that... They focused on quality, maintained a relationship with
the fans, were able to negotiate from strength, and built their
career on their own terms...
I am not sad or sorry in any way that R.E.M. has broken up.
It is perfectly consistent with the way they have always done
things: on their own terms, not as some broken down thing
that no one cares about anymore, or as a broken record of
weak renditions of their greatest hits.
Congratulations, and thank you."
Thursday,
September 29
@ Whiskey Bent
Friday,
September 30
@ Cfli<l(‘WaV0}
Saturday,
October 1
a.
£ 'IVj&Ilktnor
'/ry)''
CREATION • REVISION
DJRX
"DJRXMusic
UGADJcom
MUSIC
Joseph or Jenny
Only valid for new clients. Offer expires 11/18/11.
(706) 395-1500
1850 Epps Bridge Pkwy, Suite 309
Located in the Markets at Epps Bridge shooping center
a few stores down from Trader Joe’s
18 FLAGPOLE.COM -SEPTEMBER 28. 2011
ANTON CORBIJN
