The 40 Watt Club is a music venue in

Athens, Georgia Athens, officially Athens–Clarke County, is a consolidated city-county and college town in the U.S. state of Georgia. Athens lies about northeast of downtown Atlanta, and is a satellite city of the capital. The University of Georgia, the sta ...

. Along with

CBGB CBGB was a New York City music club opened in 1973 by Hilly Kristal in Manhattan's East Village. The club was previously a biker bar and before that was a dive bar. The letters ''CBGB'' were for '' Country'', '' BlueGrass'', and '' Blues'', Kri ...

, the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boul ...

, and selected others, it was instrumental in launching American punk rock and

new wave music New wave is a loosely defined music genre that encompasses pop-oriented styles from the late 1970s and the 1980s. It was originally used as a catch-all for the various styles of music that emerged after punk rock, including punk itself. La ...

. The 40 Watt Club was the primary performance space for numerous "Athens bands", including Pylon,

R.E.M. R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by drummer Bill Berry, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills, and lead vocalist Michael Stipe, who were students at the University of Georgia. One of the first alternative ...

Love Tractor Love Tractor (1980–current) is a band from Athens, Georgia, founded in spring 1980 by guitarists Mark Cline and Mike Richmond, and bassist Armistead Wellford, students at the University of Georgia. Like The B-52's, Pylon (band), Pylon and R.E. ...

Dreams So Real Dreams So Real were an American alternative rock band from Athens, Georgia, who gained national exposure in the late 1980s and early 1990s. They recorded three albums, including two releases on Arista Records. History The trio was led by songw ...

, Guadalcanal Diary,

The Primates The Primates were one of the original post-punk / rock bands to come out of Athens, Georgia in the mid 1980s. Their loud, fast in-your-face hedonistic style was reminiscent of West Coast bands X and The Minutemen, but peppered with a definite ...

Modern Skirts Modern Skirts was an alternative rock band based in Athens, GA. The band consisted of four members: Jay Gulley (guitar and vocals), JoJo Glidewell (guitar, piano, and vocals), Phillip Brantley (bass, guitar, and vocals) and John Q. Swint (drums). ...

, and others. Its

DIY "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

ethos and informality were instrumental in the fostering of punk rock and a "scene" in Athens. In more recent years, the club has been the home-base for such nationally renowned local bands as of Montreal,

Reptar Reptar is a fictional character from the American animated television series ''Rugrats''. It is a green '' T. rex'' (and sometimes appears in red-violet and lilac) with rounded, blue spike-like appendages on his back, which intentionally causes ...

Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as roommates at the University of North Alabama ...

, and The Whigs. The club's owner since 1987 has been Barrie Buck.

Background

The 40 Watt Club had its origins as

Curtis Crowe Curtis Hudgins Crowe is the drummer for the Athens, Georgia rock band Pylon. He is a native of Marietta, Georgia, and is the middle child of five children. Crowe moved to Athens to attend the University of Georgia art school. His sister Rhett C ...

's 171 College Avenue loft back in 1978. Bill Tabor and Crowe joked that it was a 40 Watt Club due to the single 40-

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James Wa ...

bulb which hung from the ceiling. Crowe's first party in his space, on October 31,Venue
- 40Watt.com featured his band Strictly American, a group of friends from

Marietta, Georgia Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...

, which included members of the future Guadalcanal Diary. Crowe and Tabor would hang out in his loft upstairs and listen to

Michael Lachowski Michael Scott Lachowski was the bass guitar player for Pylon, a band from Athens, Georgia. He was born in Norfolk, Virginia and attended the University of Georgia art school. He and his roommate Randy Bewley formed Pylon, recruiting Curtis Cro ...

and

Randy Bewley Randall Eugene Bewley (July 25, 1955 – February 25, 2009) was the guitarist for the Athens, Georgia, band Pylon. Born in Bradenton, Florida, United States. He lived in Sarasota, Florida, Washington, DC and near Atlanta, Georgia while growi ...

practice the same riff over and over again in the space directly below. Crowe eventually knocked on their practice space and asked if they could use a drummer and Pylon was born. During Pylon's subsequent tours of the Northeast, Crowe theorized that opening a real club on a shoestring budget was possible. He did so early the following year. In May 1980, Crowe and his partner Paul Scales moved the "club" a few doors south to a space above a sandwich shop at 101 College Avenue and renamed the club the "40 Watt East". It opened with Crowe still making last-minute additions to the bar and stage. The Side Effects played that first night and Pylon on the second. It was an instant smash with the local youth of Athens. The floors had to be reinforced with removable beams due to the intense dancing that took place. In April 1981, with new partner Steve Allen, Scales migrated the club to a larger space at 256 West Clayton Street. Amenities such as a stage and hot water were added, as was a second bathroom. True to the 40 Watt method it was assembled with found materials (including toilet and sink) and volunteer labor. Local artist and musician David Hannon Pierce created the first iteration of the club's famous logo, as well as all the updated variations still in use. Doug Hoechst bought the club from Allen and Scales and, in 1983, moved it to 382 East Broad Street and renamed it "40 Watt Club Uptown". The 40 Watt Uptown was large and professional, and it was a major stop for underground independent music acts in the 1980s. In 1987, when rents increased on the space, new owners Jared Bailey and Barrie Buck (then-wife of R.E.M. guitarist

Peter Buck Peter Lawrence Buck (born December 6, 1956) is an American musician and songwriter. He was a co-founder and the lead guitarist of the alternative rock band R.E.M. He also plays the banjo and mandolin on several R.E.M. songs. Throughout his car ...

), moved the club back to its West Clayton Street location. In early 1990, the Uptown Lounge, which had served as a competitor to the 40 Watt for much of the 1980s, was closed at its original location at 140 E. Washington St. Shortly before closing the Uptown, its owners reopened the

Georgia Theater Georgia Theatre is a live music venue and event space in Athens, Georgia. Many prominent national and local acts across all genres have performed at the Theatre, including rock, folk, country, indie, alternative, hip hop and electronic. The venue i ...

as a music venue, which became the largest venue in town. With the Georgia Theater taking over as the high-capacity venue and with the closure of the smaller Uptown, there was again a market for a small club that would focus on local acts. In 1991, the 40 Watt moved to its fifth and current location at 285 West Washington Street, the former Potter's House Thrift store building.

Locations

*171 College Avenue (1979–1980) *101 College Avenue, also known as "40 Watt East" (1980–1981) *256 West Clayton Street (1981–1983 and 1987–1991) *382 East Broad Street, also known as "40 Watt Uptown" (1983–1987) *285 West Washington Street (1991–present)

Legacy

During his show at the 40 Watt in October 2018, former Smiths guitarist

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous ...

said, "It's an interesting thing for me, as a British musician, and all those guys as British musicians, to come to this place and play for you guys.""Johnny Marr - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out • 40 Watt Club • Athens, GA • 10/13/18"
- YouTube, published on October 14, 2018

References

External links

The 40 Watt Club home page
{{Authority control 1979 establishments in Georgia (U.S. state) Music venues in Georgia (U.S. state) Buildings and structures in Athens, Georgia New wave music Punk rock venues Tourist attractions in Athens, Georgia Companies based in Athens, Georgia

Background

Locations

Legacy

References

Further reading

External links