Party Out of Bounds: The B-52's, R.E.M., and the Kids Who Rocked Athens, Georgia by Rodger L. Brown (1-Dec-2003) Paperback

Music of the American South

by Rodger Lyle Brown

Now back in print, this is the first book to tell the whole story of the sleepy Southern college town that changed the face of American rock and roll. (Music)

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, Biography

Paperback

First published August 1, 1991

Reviews

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This “conjured history” of the early Athens music scene manages to bring to life the events (or collectively agreed upon recollections) of the early Athens music scene as well as the cultural tone of the moment. Rodger Lyle Brown writes a “book-length folklore” that follows Athens’s transition from a “hick college town to a holy shrine designed by a punk Faulkner.”

Brown doesn’t shy away from colorful and inventive descriptors, using a mix of rock-n-roll lexicon dipped in bacon grease. It’s punk and raucous and backwoods and colloquial. And maybe that tone is a reflection of what made the Athens scene go—a burning desire to express through music that couldn’t escape a place and time of a college town in the early 80s that was the center of life for miles, bordered by old cotton fields and soybeans and even smaller towns than the small town it was. Brown pulls in gritty details that read like the memories shared among friends over dinner if your friends just happened to be the members of some of the decade’s most influential bands.

It all comes out as a string of coincidences that were a whole lot of little moments of kids just kicking around in old houses and cheap bars and somehow making magic because it turns out they weren’t really trying. It’s fascinating that the book, published in ‘91, already contains an awareness that the word was out and whatever came after from the “Athens music scene” would be on purpose rather than the happy accidents and punk shenanigans of the first wave Athens bands.

I wanted to climb inside this book and join these weird parties and funky cast of characters.

[Dave Harmon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Oh!" he groaned in a breathy nasal falsetto Ginger-mimic as he crumpled to the sidewalk in his sequin gown and platinum wig. "It must be the oxygen!"

Keith and Ricky picked him up, and on they went, running, shrieking, spilling their drinks. As they crossed the street, the few cars out that late slammed on brakes in short sharp squeals as Fred, crossing last and running with little short Ginger steps, went into his faint in the middle of the crosswalk, "Oh! It must be the oxygen!”— and frat boys in their daddies' cars leaned from their windows and shouted, "Hey, faggots!"

But the gang all felt strength in numbers. They all felt tough. They shouted back at the frats: "Assholes!"

a thorough history of the "scene" in Athens GA from 1978-1987. it starts with the B-52s (above) and after they leave Athens it follows the next group of bands that took their inspiration from them. culminating in R.E.M. - i would recommend anyone interested in the subject.
its hard to get ahold of a copy. 15$ on ebay or its available as an ebook on Hoopla




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[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've lost track of the number of music-in-a-time-and-place books I've read, but I'm always interested to see what conditions (social, cultural, educational, environmental) gave rise to a "scene."

Here, we learn the origins of the silly, arty pop of the B-52s, and the high-concept pop-rock of R.E.M., as well as a few others that should have made it, if you ask those in the scene. No real surprises here if you lived through that period of time anywhere, and if you paid attention to culture at large; admittedly, I didn't hear R.E.M. until "Shiny Happy People" and "Losing my Religion," and I never encountered the B-52s until "Love Shack."

Okay, one surprise. Athens hasn't always been the sophisticated model college town of its repute, and only after the emerging bands thrust it in the spotlight did the cosmopolitan haze descend thanks to the masses crowding the town, hoping to catch a glimpse of The Next ™ or be a part of it themselves.

Under the current circumstances, I cracked this one open to be transported, and Brown did just that. He might have needed another edit, and he admitted his memory of some of those nights is hazy, but even if he wasn't sure he knew exactly who to ask, like a good researcher.

The simple explanation comes at the very end in the afterward—Athens is a college town with a yearly influx of enthusiastic, courageous, optimistic and creative people, pushing each other to greater heights in their art. You could say that about any college town, really, but for some reason Athens really caught that wave in the late 70s and early 80s. Brown skillfully brings it all to the page.

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very nice history of the Athens, Gee-Ay music and party scene. And it really is about the partying; RLB's prose often takes on the wordy you-had-to-be-there-that-night conversational style of people reminiscing about crazy party feats. The partying stories are charming and sometimes shocking--Pete Buck was known to carry a knife around?--but sometimes they don't translate too well because you really had to be there, apparently. I mostly read this book because I really like Pylon, so I was pleased they got their due attention. I enjoyed the insights about the band's experience in a textile factory and their love of Kraftwerk informing the clean, abstract punk-funk of their music. RLB makes a weak case for R.E.M.'s ascendance towards the end of the book, falling into rockist tropes about their raw rock 'n' roll sound. This is especially irritating because R.E.M. is pitted against the arty, new wave kids that had been the focus of the first two thirds of the book. This however is my only real complaint about the book. I suppose an appended timeline would have been very helpful too. A must-read for people who know enough to know who Pylon is, and a recommended read for those interested in one of the many roots of American alternative music.

[Shant · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I don't know if it's because I knew nothing about the Athens music scene compared to something like riot grrrl or grunge, but it was a breath of fresh air. I wanted to know or hang out with each of the bands mentioned. I liked the closing chapter for how a scene could end (Or at least in one sense). I was very surprised to see a reference to the documentary Athens, GA: Inside/Out, especially because it was just blunt criticism.

Also, The Fans might be one of the most frustrating band stories that I have heard.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

By the time I read this book in college, R.E.M. was on the cover of Rolling Stone, and the Athens I was reading about was fading away. But for any fan of the B-52s or early R.E.M. or Pylon...this is a must read.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worthwhile read that focuses on the community in Athens that somehow formed a music scene. Not a history of the B52s or REM or Pylon, and more a look at the human connections, happenstance, and partying that made them possible.

[R. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in high school. Interlibrary loan. Obsessed with the B-52's. Had a poster on the wall...had a crush on Kate... sent away for the fan newsletter. Etc.

[MaryBeth Long · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too wordy; reminds me of people at 60 talking about the glory days when they were poor 20-somethings. They will talk your ear off but really you had to be there.

[Curmudgeon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book less about the music itself than about the scene surrounding it, but what a scene it was. Sure, the famous bands are included (B-52s, R.E.M.), along with the semi-famous (Pylon, Love Tractor, etc.), but you also get a broader portrait of the era and all the surrounding peripheral figures, including many of the oft-neglected women behind the scenes who didn't form major bands of their own. Sure, you don't get too much detail about anything, but given the general air of hedonism and debauchery that the narrative seems to exude, maybe you don't want that much detail anyway. Are all the stories true? I couldn't possibly say. What was it about Athens, Georgia, that produced so much great music? The book doesn't really have an answer to that question. It's not the water, it's not the soil, and it's not simply the fact that it's a college town, as there were/are those all across America. (Why Athens, Georgia and not, say, Athens, Ohio?) Take it for what it is, and as long as you don't expect it to be something it's not, you'll be pleased. (Though I must admit, I was highly amused by some of the photographs.)

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick re-read after finishing BEGIN THE BEGIN, just to see how many anecdotes and stories overlapped (quite a few). I haven't read this since the early 1990's, a fun and lovely book... feels "thinner" than BEGIN THE BEGIN as a deep dive into the scene, but has more detail about THE B-52's and PYLON, which I loved, could have used even more, but was written in the wake of the "scene" exploding and the ending feels hurried, as if trying to get the book done. Still, a lovely walk down memory lane, especially for the B-52's material, which shines.

[Caleb Boyd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good history of the Athens "Scene" from the late 70s to 1984. Bands discussed include: The B-52's, The Fans, Pylon, Oh-OK, Love Tractor, The Method Actors, and R.E.M.

This history is written by a person who lived in Athens, Georgia during that time. He leaves himself out of the history, but it seems he attended some of these parties that he discusses. "Party out of Bounds" is a good title, because Brown discusses not only the bands and actors, but also the venues and residences where these bands partied and delivered their earliest performances.

[Dominique King · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a fun look at the town of Athens and the folks who lived (and partied, mostly) there.
The book moves along fairly swiftly and gives readers a feel for the people who created the legendary music "scene" beyond just the more famous bands and members coming out of Athens during the late 1970s and early 1980s.

[Stella Mabrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite genre is 80’s alternative and new wave so as someone who lives in Georgia and appreciates this era of music I was very pleased by this read! I really got this book so I could learn more about The B-52’s and REM, however I loved reading about bands that I was not too familiar with such as Pylon. Would absolutely recommend!

[Ava Wegner · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different read from what I normally gravitate towards but SO interesting hearing about how the B52's and REM got their start in Athens. Thought it was cool how a lot of the mentioned places in the 70s/80s are still relevant in Athens to this date. Always love hearing about different types of Athens history!

[Alec Mori · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I was trying to get a better "feel" for Athens, Georgia, this book helps capture some of the sentiments and history of the town. However, if I were interested solely in the bands, I would have left disappointed.

[Chris Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a huge R.E.M. fan, I’ve read about their early days, but never from a perspective like this. Also sheds light on other bands that I’ve read about but maybe never understood. Well worth a read if you’re a fan of this era of pre-alternative music.

[Karen Martwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A colorful history of the birth of the Athens scene, from about 1977-1983, told by someone who was there. I read this in preparation for a trip to Athens and really appreciated the details, including addresses of key locations.

[Jon Jurgovan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing depiction of the roots of Athens music. Gives you a grasp of exactly how unpredictable Athens GA becoming a mecca of rock & roll was.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not so much a history, though it is that, as impressions and sensations of a time and group of folks.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. This one's fun to read if you want the gossip about the early 80s Athens music scene, but I wouldn't say it's a serious history of what happened.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This tale of the late 1970s and early 1980s in Athens, Georgia, covers the advent of the music scene in the town, specifically as it relates to the New Wave period of Rock and Roll. Indeed, to this day, when I mention Athens, Georgia, to someone as a place where I live, many will recognize it as the home of two bands: the B-52's and R.E.M. (This is becoming less so as I get older, and the younger generation has no idea who said top 40 bands from the 1980s and 1990s are.) Even though many other bands have come out of the town now, outside of a few who follow indie bands or who happen to like a cult band, most folks outside of town seem not to have heard of said other bands, even ones that have hit the top 100.

But the B-52's and R.E.M. were a definitely unique force in their time. I grew up in California, and by the late 1980s, both bands had made their mark on the top 40, and I knew in each case the place where they had derived. I was not anything close to a connoisseur of counterculture music at that time, so that says something. And in the 1990s, during my grad school days, R.E.M. dominated MTV's playlist. As such, many memories are tangled up with the two bands. One that has particular fondness for me was at a wedding around 1990. A friend of mine from high school got married. The happy couple left, but the reception party, which involved a dance, continued. A local cover band played, and they were fantastic, and one of the songs they covered was "Roam," which was charting at that time. I remember the evening as a lovely hearken back to high school at a time when hearkening back to high school was important to me; I was on my own--my parents freshly having moved away for a job--going to college and working and not feeling as if I really fit in anywhere, the way I had in high school.

The book itself is a memory prod. I came to Athens in my thirties, a good couple of decades after the events recounted in this book. By that time, Athens already had a reputation for rock music. And I became a person who was sort of into the scene, who lived on its edges. I had many acquaintances among people who played in many of the current bands. I went to a few of the parties (though I usually avoided the afterparties, which happened after a bar closed and would stretch in to sunrise). I enjoyed my time in the scene and sort of miss it, though fewer and fewer people I'd see out were my age or even ten years below my age. (As a friend of mine says: The parties are still around--among those who are of the older set--but they are more private now and not as often.) At the same time, I never felt completely at home in it either. I am not a musician and had no desire to be one; I am very conservative religiously and morally, which meant that drugs and sex were not the part of the party culture that I mixed with, which in turn meant that I stayed away from some of the stuff going on.

So anyway, the book covers much of this as it was just getting started. Before these two bands--and the other bands who happened to be around at that time that did not find as large of a following, including Pylon, Love Tractor, and Oh-OK--Athens had been home, apparently, of mostly just country and blues bands, as one would expect of southern towns. One reads of the foundation of the music club, the 40 Watt. One reads of how R.E.M. and the B-52's came to be and of how the town became so hip that others began to come just to be part of the hipness (newspapers writing of it; Matthew Sweet, apparently, showing up for a few months to play until he himself hit it big and moved on, never intending to stay, just wanting the attention connected to Athens).

The stories of the parties--and there are a lot--get to be rather tedious by the middle of the book. And certainly, for me, R.E.M.'s founding was not as interesting, as it seemed more typical of many a band in town--this one just happened to become big stuff. But the early-going portions of the book are exciting. One can't help but feel the excitement as the B-52's become a thing. Formed, it seems, more or less as a lark, they were fun, fun, fun--and definitely the kind of band one would want at a party. Their odd style shook up the times, not just the town. But in a way, though they put Athens on the map for rock music, the predated that whole scene, so much so that they had to move to New York to find places (outside of private parties) to play

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a detailed account of the music scene in Athens, GA, during the late 70's and 80's. It was not of great interest to me (I read it for a Book Club).

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I want to have lived in Athens in the late '70s.

A brief history (that is, the 1970s and '80s) of the Athens, GA, music scene that produced The B-52s, R.E.M., Pylon, The Side Effects, and others.

I've read most (decent) books about the history of R.E.M. so it was interesting to hear about the band and how they were "influenced" by Athens from a different perspective. Most books about R.E.M. mention The B-52s, Pylon, Love Tractor, sometimes The Side Effects, and most of the bands that this book mentions, but this book is able to go into detail about those bands and the crazy times that were happening.

[Todd Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an exceptional look at one musical microcosm in America. The author takes the time to focus on some key elements and personalities that made Athens in the late 1970s into a crucible of creative rock music. While I would have liked to see more insight into some of the lesser-known Athens bands (The Tone Tones, Love Tractor, Flat Duo Jets), and the band bios in the back desperately need updating in a future edition, I really enjoyed the author's take on this briefly monumental American music scene.

[Soscha · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Party Out of Bounds: The B-52's, R.E.M., and the Kids Who Rocked Athens, Georgia" is a reissue of the original 1991 release, published right at the tail end of the first Athens, GA-as-music-mecca scene. What makes volume sing is that author Rodger Lyle Brown was there, and the book reads like an insider tale of one of those legendary scenes that stopped being a scene once you’d heard about it. From the B-52’s to Pylon to R.E.M., it’s all here, in all the hilarity and poignancy of a spent youth that feels like yours whether it really was or not.

Highly recommended.

5 Stars

[Scott Manfredo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book last night and I really enjoyed it. Having grown up in northwest Georgia, a couple of hours from Athens, I have been a huge fan of these bands since 1982, although I wish some more attention had been paid to Love Tractor. There is a Tractor renaissance going on in my iTunes library after a twenty year hiatus, and of course this is bringing back Pylon et al. The book did a great job of giving the reader an intimate look, and I will surely read it again soon.

[JCA · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book in one day, and enjoyed it, for the most part. I've been friends with the members of Pylon for over 20 years and it was hard reading about their beginnings now that Randy Bewley has died. Well written and fans of R.E.M., Pylon and The B-52's will appreciate this book. Not as much info on Love Tractor (more friends) but I'd still recommend it.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're obsessed with the music scene in Athens during the late 70's and early 80's, this book is a must. Also if you're an R.E.M. or B52s die hard fan. A nonstop adventure of sex drugs and rocknroll!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read it because I live here. It was well-written and - I assume - gave a good feel for what was going on during those years as the music scene began. I feel like I understand my town a little better.