Georgia Women of Alternative Rock (GWAR)

 

Apologies to Stinky, blog readers, and my fellow Georgians. Georgia Week was supposed to be more than what was posted here. Stinky contributed great compilations and graphics. I had big ideas but failed to follow through. Lost the plot. Mea culpa.

At some point there may be another Georgia Week. Meanwhile, here's the only set of songs I managed to complete (aside from the cover songs). 

Today's compilation starts off with Athens pioneers The B-52's, Pylon, Oh-OK, and the Bar B-Q Killers. It includes bands from the 90's like The Jody Grind, Insane Jane, Marcy, Magnapop, and Ultrababyfat, as well as an early song from Michelle Malone (pictured at left as Malodorous Ungerus).

There are a few metal bands (Jucifer, Kylesa, and Royal Thunder) and some current names you may know (Mattiel, the Coathangers). 

Buffi Aguero (of the Subsonics and Tiger! Tiger!), Anna Kramer (of Shantih Shantih), K. Michelle Dubois (Luigi, Ultrababyfat), Thayer Sarrano, Erica Strout (of the mighty Motherfucker) and Sienna Chandler of Monsoon are major musical talents deserving greater acclaim. 

Jucifer has a fascinating new album called Nazm, which their Bandcamp page describes as "Bedouin rock" and "heavy Chaoui". Stephanie from the Coathangers has a new project called NRCSSST with Dan Dixon (who also produced K. Michelle Dubois' newly released album, The Fever Returns.)

The Producers' Best and The Satellites' Rest

 

After a reader mentioned The Producers in a comment, Stinky resurrected one of his early homemade compilations: a selection of favorite songs from this successful Atlanta band.

If you had MTV back in its early days (or if you are a dedicated power pop and new wave fan) you may remember "She Sheila" and other infectious Producers songs like "What's He Got" and "What She Does To Me".

According to this article, The Producers made a fifth album in 2012. Discogs and Rate Your Music don't list it, so perhaps it was never released.

The Georgia Satellites also have a complex history that overlaps with The Brains, another Atlanta band on another major label during the same years (1980-82) when The Producers were enjoying their greatest popularity. Today we have Stinky's live versions of the Satellites' 1988 and 1989 albums. Down Underground has all the Brains you can eat.

Georgia Week: Cover Songs

Georgia artists performing cover songs (some originally by other Georgia artists) seems self-explanatory, but as usual I feel compelled to provide more than a few words of explanation. 

"Speedfreak Lullaby" is a song about the late Benjamin (of the bands Freedom Puff, Opal Foxx Quartet and Smoke). It was originally recorded by Amy Pike's first band, Greasetrap; it's performed here by Atlanta expatriate Kelly Hogan. 

In 1994, Michael Lorant of Big Fish Ensemble and a cast of Georgia musicians and singers recreated the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack. The finished product spanned two CD's and featured a different band on almost every track. Today's comp features Five Eight (with Lorant as Judas and Benjamin as the high priest) rocking out on "Damned For All Time".

Chris Lopez's first band Seersucker covers Athens/Atlanta legends Mercyland, and William Duvall's first band Neon Christ is covered by Atlanta's Car Vs. Driver. Deerhunter covers Pylon, and The Apples in Stereo cover fellow Elephant 6 band Neutral Milk Hotel. Magnapop is covered by REM, and REM in turn is covered by the Butthole Surfers (who lived in ATL and Athens for awhile).

This is a good time to mention that Oh-OK's recorded output (featuring Linda Hopper, later of Magnapop) has just been reissued on LP and CD by Happy Happy Birthday To Me, and you can also buy Magnapop's excellent 2019 album from HHBTM. 

Thanks to Beyond Failure for sharing wax, facts, and the photo of the Metroplex. Lots of good tunes and memories at Beyond Failure.

Georgia Week Day Two: Love Them Satellites!

 

The Georgia Satellites, like their fellow Atlantans the Black Crowes, reinvigorated Southern Rock by bringing it back to basics: loud, bluesy and defiantly unsophisticated (which is NOT the same thing as stupid). 

If you've spent any time in the South, you're familiar with the practice of allowing someone to assume that you're a dumb hick. It's an efficient way to dismiss self-important windbags, and it's always entertaining to watch someone make a fool of themselves by thinking they know all there is to know.

The Satellites' debut combined Dan Baird's original songs with a couple well-chosen covers. The Satellites drew from the same well as the Stones and the Faces, reclaiming the American blues and Chuck Berry riffs that the Brits repackaged and sold back to us during the 60's and 70's.

Stinky has repackaged the Satellites' three albums by selecting live performances of each song, as he did for his previous Homemade Live Albums. It's a great way to revisit old classics.

This one was released on the first day of 1986. The band scored a #2 hit with "Keep Your Hands To Yourself", a simple but clever song about an age-old romantic dilemma, with Baird's laconic swagger and Rick Richards' stiletto-sharp leads.

Georgia Week: Stevie and the Tombstones

The blog's been too quiet for too long, but Stinky and I have been working behind the scenes on Georgia Week. We discovered that we both lived in Atlanta around the same time, and share fond (if fuzzy) memories of local bands and musicians. One of our mutual favorites is The Tombstones, an Atlanta institution fronted by Stevie Tombstone, who still performs as Stevie T. (or did until the coronavirus put a stop to live music).

Back when I first started sparkin' with the woman who would become my wife, she introduced me to the 1988 mini-LP Preachin', Prayin', Guitar Playin' -- the Tombstones' only release during their lifetime. There's a posthumous CD called Twang From The Grave, a digital monument to the Tombstones. Stiv Bators was a Tombstones fan, and Stiv's version of "Nobody" appeared on his Last Race CD.

Georgia Week will feature artists new and old. It's a significant state in the history of popular music. Some of the first country music was recorded at Atlanta radio station WSB, including Georgia natives Fiddlin' John Carson and the Skillet Lickers. Rev. Thomas Dorsey pioneered gospel music after turning away from secular music (like another Georgia native, rock & roll founding father Little Richard). Ma Rainey, the Mother Of The Blues, began her career in Georgia. Ray Charles is widely considered the progenitor of soul music. Athens, GA played a central role in what is sometimes called college rock, and Atlanta is a mecca for hip hop. I could go on.

Georgia has been in the news frequently in the past few months, sometimes for  good reasons and other times not. I've lived more than half my life here, and have seen some musicians rise to international fame while others (often just as talented and deserving) have struggled to break out of the local scene. There will be some of both here in the next week or so.