Atlanta was an American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

group formed in 1982 in

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

, USA. It was composed of Brad Griffis (vocals, bass guitar), Bill Davidson (vocals, guitar), Tony Ingram (vocals, fiddle), Alan David (vocals, lead guitar), Allen Collay (vocals, keyboards), Bill Packard (vocals, keyboards), Jeff Baker (bass vocal, harmonica), Dick Stevens (bass), and John Holder (drums). Between 1983 and 1988, Atlanta recorded two albums for

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

and charted nine hit singles on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' country chart. Chart history included two Top 10 country hits in "

Atlanta Burned Again Last Night "Atlanta Burned Again Last Night" is a song recorded by American country music group Atlanta. It was released in May 1983 as their debut single and the first from their debut album ''Pictures''. The song reached No. 9 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot ...

" and "

Sweet Country Music "Sweet Country Music" is a song recorded by American country music group Atlanta (band), Atlanta. It was released in February 1984 as the third single from the band's first album, ''Pictures (Atlanta album), Pictures''. It was their highest chartin ...

". The latter was also the band's highest-charting single, peaking at #2 on Cashbox.

History

Atlanta was formed in 1982 by Brad Griffis (bass guitar), Bill Davidson (vocals, rhythm guitar), Tony Ingram (vocals,

fiddle A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, th ...

), Alan David (lead guitar), Allen Collay (keyboards), Bill Packard (keyboards), Jeff Baker (harmonica), Dick Stevens (bass), and John Holder (drums). Prior to the foundation, Ingram had recorded on

Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...

in the band Spurzz, and Stevens, Davidson, Griffis, and David had previously toured as a re-establishment of

The Vogues The Vogues are an American vocal rock and roll group from Turtle Creek, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. The original lineup consisted of Bill Burkette (lead baritone), Don Miller (baritone), Hugh Geyer (first tenor), and Chuck Blasko (seco ...

. The group was founded through the assistance of record producer Larry McBride, who had also launched the career of

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

. With nine members, Atlanta was the largest country music band at the time. "

" was the band's debut single, released in 1983 on the independent MDJ

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, which McBride owned. This recording spent seventeen weeks on the ''

'' country singles chart, peaking at #9. This single was one of the highest-charting debut singles by an independently signed country music act. After it came the #11 "

Dixie Dreaming "Dixie Dreaming" is a song written by John Gilbert and recorded by American country music group Atlanta. It was released in September 1983 through MDJ Records and later appeared on the band's MCA Records album ''Pictures''. The song reached number ...

", the band's second and final MDJ release. By early 1984,

assumed promotion of the band's singles and albums, releasing "

" early in the year. It became the band's highest-charting hit, reaching #5 on the Billboard country chart. MCA released the band's debut album ''Pictures'' in 1984. MCA also released the singles "Pictures" and "Wishful Drinkin'", the latter of which was included in the film ''

Ellie Ellie, or Elly, is a given name, usually feminine. The name stands on its own or can be a shortened form of any of the numerous female names beginning with the syllable El-, in particular Eleanor or Elizabeth and Elvira. It can also be a short fo ...

''. Atlanta released its self-titled second album for MCA in 1985. It included the singles "My Sweet-Eyed Georgia Girl" and "Why Not Tonight", both of which peaked outside the Country Top 40. The band later moved to the Southern Tracks label as Davidson and David left and David was replaced by Jody Worrell on guitar, and releasing "We Always Agree on Love" and "Sad Clichés". Allen Collay (born Allen Callais on January 1, 1943 in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

) died on February 16, 2010 at age 67.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Atlanta (Band) Country music groups from Georgia (U.S. state) Musical groups from Atlanta Musical groups established in 1983 Musical groups disestablished in 1988 MCA Records artists