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R.E.M., Molly Hatchet, Atlanta, Athens and Buffalo: Eighties Memories

Someone mentioned R.E.M. during a conversation with me the other day, and it got my ol’ mind to reeling again. See, I am a die hard Southern Rocker, but I love many other types of music as well. R.E.M. is certainly not a Southern Rock band, yet they are totally Southern and they are a pretty rocking band. I have some really good memories of them, combined with happy memories of my days in Atlanta during the eighties and our frequent trips over to Athens, Georgia to see not only R.E.M. but also bands like The B-52’s, Pylon, The Swimming Pool Q’s and Jason and The Scorchers, all of which I have enjoyed live many, many times.

I remember one R.E.M. show in particular. It was a sunny afternoon on campus at The University of Georgia. What a show that day. I can’t remember if 10,000 Maniacs were on the show as well, but I do know Michael Stipe brought Natalie Merchant out to duet on a few tunes, and R.E.M. did a rousing version of “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” as well as one of my favorites of theirs, “Wendell Gee,” one of the strangest songs ever written.

Those shows in Athens were always killer. Especially the ones at The 40 Watt Club. I recall a B-52’s set one night that whipped the audience into a near punk rocker frenzy. Ah, the good ol’ days. Someone commented that evening on my Marshall Tucker Band t-shirt. Dare to be different.

Later on, in 1991, I was one third of a team that brought Greenville, SC her first alternative press weekly. EDGE Magazine was unlike anything this town had ever seen, and I’d wager to say, they haven’t seen a publication like it since. We were fearless and fierce. We went after celebrity interviews like mad dogs in heat, and we got ‘em. In retrospect, I truly believe our name, EDGE, sounded familiar somehow to publicists, who very well may have thought we were a national magazine. We had interviews with one honest to God Beatle, George Harrison, about the remastered Concert for Bangladesh, an interview I wear like a badge of honor to this very day. We had sit downs with Elton John, Dr. John, Gene Simmons, Marcel Marceau, Chet Atkins - so many greats.

Then one day I met a guy in town named  Bruce Joyner who fronted a band called Out of The Fire. It was a great band, with horns, accordians - all sorts of neat gimmicks, and great music. Bruce was an old pal of Pete Buck of R.E.M., and they were doing some recording together. Bruce invited us to a special show at The 40 Watt featuring Peter Buck, Kevn Kinney and Michelle Malone. Out of The Fire were opening. I went with staff member Phillip Knighten, and we had a stone cold blast.

Hanging backstage was fun. Kevn Kinney was decked out in a denim jacket with a huge Lynyrd Skynyrd 1991 patch sewn on the back, chain smoking and talking to Phillip and I about rock and roll. Soon we got to meet Peter Buck. All I remember was that he was really wired that evening, but a hell of a nice guy. He put a hurtin’ on the lap steel that night. I told him I used to come see his band there at 40 Watt. He was quite cordial. The whole show that night was one for the books.

During my time in Atlanta, I was into a New Wave phase, although I still held tightly to my Southern Rock cloth. One story I like to tell is about seeing Talking Heads at The Fox Theatre. That same night, right across the street at Agora Ballroom, Molly Hatchet was recording what would many years later be released as their Live From The Agora Ballroom. Was seeing David Byrne worth the price of missing Danny Joe Brown? Well, what do you think?

I saw some really great live performances at both The Agora and The Fox, as well as at clubs around Atlanta like 688 and of course all of those Athens venues. Many great memories were forged. We had some friends in a new wave band called The Basics, and saw them many times. Avian and Jimmy. Great stuff. Johnny Sandlin actually produced their record. Now there’s a piece of trivia.

I saw The Basics and Eddie and The Hot Rods open a stellar show for actor/singer Tim Curry. Another good one was The Basics with The Pretenders at The Agora. Awesome show. We saw Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart in their pre-Eurythmics band The Tourists, and The Indigo Girls when they were first starting out. And then there was the balls to the wall show by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers. Killer.

Atlanta and Athens were really good to me. Nothing but happy musical memories. Still, I wish I had seen that Hatchet show at The Agora Ballroom.

Keep it Real. Keep it Southern.
Buffalo

 

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