So I am watching a movie on Netflix Instant View called "Athens, Ga Inside and Out. It is chronicle of the music and art scene in Athens, Georgia between 1982 and 1986. I first saw this movie just before ( i think it had only recently been released) I moved to Athens. I vaguely recall hearing the B-52's first but knew nothing about the band. While writing my Master's Thesis, I won an REM Extended Play on the ECU student radio station and these were my first exposures to the Athens Music scene.
I decided I wanted to get a Ph.D. in Family Therapy so I packed everything I owned and rented a room in a house in Normaltown, a neighborhood on the west side of Athens. I move in June but did not start classes until mid-September. I think I saw about 35 bands during that summer as well as catching a few Dead shows. Very quickly I began to meet folks in various bands and even was guest listed by several, including WideSpread Panic before anyone had heard of them. One of the first people I met was William Orten Carlton, commonly known as Ort. I used to see him downtown the first summer I lived there and he would talk my ear off. He is the narrator of the film. Even though, once classes started I was working 3 jobs and studying 17 hours a day, I managed to get to shows and got to see most of the classic Athens bands. I knew some or everyone in the local bands; Flat Duo Jets, REM, B-52, the B.B.Q. Killers, Dreams So Real, Pylon, Love Tractor, The Squalls, Hillbilly Frankenstein, KilKenny Cats, and WSP. It was one of the greatest times in my life. I fell in love with Athens immediately and stayed that way until I had to move in 1993. I had to leave because there was not reason to stay. I celebrated my 30th birthday that first Summer and left after 7 years.
I decided I wanted to get a Ph.D. in Family Therapy so I packed everything I owned and rented a room in a house in Normaltown, a neighborhood on the west side of Athens. I move in June but did not start classes until mid-September. I think I saw about 35 bands during that summer as well as catching a few Dead shows. Very quickly I began to meet folks in various bands and even was guest listed by several, including WideSpread Panic before anyone had heard of them. One of the first people I met was William Orten Carlton, commonly known as Ort. I used to see him downtown the first summer I lived there and he would talk my ear off. He is the narrator of the film. Even though, once classes started I was working 3 jobs and studying 17 hours a day, I managed to get to shows and got to see most of the classic Athens bands. I knew some or everyone in the local bands; Flat Duo Jets, REM, B-52, the B.B.Q. Killers, Dreams So Real, Pylon, Love Tractor, The Squalls, Hillbilly Frankenstein, KilKenny Cats, and WSP. It was one of the greatest times in my life. I fell in love with Athens immediately and stayed that way until I had to move in 1993. I had to leave because there was not reason to stay. I celebrated my 30th birthday that first Summer and left after 7 years.I had so many great experiences during my years in Athens. I met and married my second wife, Deborah, and after we divorced, dated many great girls and made so many good friends. The intellectual climate suited me so well. The conversations on Friday afternoons in the Clinic office, great restaurants, great record stores, it was just an excellent climate for all kinds of folks to live. Not to say there weren't difficulties; the academic rigors,and being dirt poor, and picking up the NA fellowship and carrying it, nearly singlehandedly for many years was taxiing. One thing I experienced that I never had experienced before was an environment where I could be a smart was I wanted to be and be recognized for my intelligence.
Watching the movie, I got to see so many old friends, places and trip down memory lane.
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