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The Deadbeat Club Edition, Part Two

The Deadbeat Club Edition, Part Two

How the two leading bands from Athens, Georgia transformed themselves from college-rockers in the ’80s to hitmakers by the ’90s

Hit Parade | Music History and Music Trivia · Slate Podcasts

July 13, 201854m 58s

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Show Notes

In the second part of our two-part episode about the B-52’s and R.E.M.—the bands that put Athens, Georgia on the map, and helped define new-wave rock in the early ’80s—we trace how they transformed themselves from hipsters to hitmakers. One band waited years to graduate from an indie label to the majors. The other almost quit after an AIDS-related tragedy, before their pop breakthrough. By the end of the ’80s, their hits—from “Orange Crush” to “Stand,” “Channel Z” to “Love Shack”—brought them squarely into the mainstream, just as “alternative rock” was coming to define a new sound for the ’90s. 

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