Credit: Keith Bennett

Credit: Keith Bennett

The bright lights of Vegas and an ever-growing stack of recordings and kitschy merchandise is a far cry from their humble origins.

The band was formed in Athens in 1977 by New Jersey transplants Schneider and Pierson along with Athens locals Wilson, Keith Strickland and Ricky Wilson (who died in 1985). Read on as the band members themselves, as well as some of their cohorts, tell the tale.

Schneider: “Downtown was like a typical little small-town. You had the Greasy V, I mean the Varsity, and there were a few places where you could get meat and vegetable plates, and there was a record store, where I worked for a while. But it wasn’t corporate, it was local. We all had little jobs to survive. We had to, because we certainly weren’t making much money playing music.”

Wilson: “I worked at the Whirly-Q lunch counter at Kress (now the location of Urban Outfitters on Clayton Street). By the end of my shift, I’d have an apron full of tips and then we’d go out and party. That’s where I met Kate, at a Halloween party.”

Credit: Keith Bennett

Credit: Keith Bennett

Strickland (retired from touring in 2012): “The party scene was central to everything. But Cindy’s brother Ricky and I had been collaborating on music since we met in the ninth grade in Athens, just after my family moved back to town. We bonded over the music we loved, especially the experimental stuff like Captain Beefheart. That was really how it all started for us, but we just didn’t know it at that point. It was an organic process.”

Pierson: “Organic probably is the best description of how we became friends, how the band happened, and it’s how we wrote songs. Keith and Ricky came up with a lot of music, but the best way we worked was to just to get in a room, jam and see where it led us. That’s when the magic happened.”

Schneider: “Our first show, I wore a seersucker suit and a (tank top), and Kate and Cindy wore these handbag wigs. It all just sort of happened, it was like finding stuff in a thrift store. We had four songs and played them at a party on Milledge Avenue. Ricky and Keith had recorded some music on a reel-to-reel machine. At some point, it fell over. But it didn’t break, and we played those same four songs again. That was our first show, Valentine’s Day, 1977.”

Wilson: “That was a fun night. We didn’t know what to expect, but it was great. I met my future husband there (UGA student Keith Bennett, who conceived the band’s iconic logo for an art assignment). It’s all part of the ‘anything can happen there’ magic.”

Credit: Keith Bennett

Credit: Keith Bennett

Schneider: “I never embraced the ‘tacky little dance band’ or ‘camp’ or any of the labels that have been thrown around us over the years. We kinda got stuck with them. I’ve always thought of us as a surreal, new wave dance band. But we were tacky, so I guess it’s appropriate.”

After a series of well-received performances up and down the east coast — and an indie single issued by Danny Beard’s DB Recs in Atlanta — the B’s were urged by their management to relocate to New York in 1978.

Pierson: “I instantly fell in love with (Athens). It was wonderful. When we got the band going, I didn’t really want to leave. I had my goats and chickens and a place on a farm that I rented for $25 a month. It started out as $15 a month, actually!”

In the band’s absence, a host of other, equally unique Athens-based bands emerged on the scene. By the time the B’s full-length debut was issued in 1979 by Warner Brothers, the house party scene had blossomed and downtown venues were offering platforms for the nascent music scene the B’s inspired.

Credit: Keith Bennett

Credit: Keith Bennett

Strickland : “When we were leaving for New York in 1978, I took one last look around and I saw Randy Bewley and Michael Lachowski, (the founders) of what would later become Pylon, walking toward the rehearsal space with their guitars. The scene was already changing as we were leaving.”

Armistead Wellford of Love Tractor: “They created the lightning bolt that ignited us. The B’s inspired us to try to do something totally different and to be distinctive.”

Mike Mills of R.E.M.: “When we played our first show (in 1980), there was no competition to be the next big thing. We all just continued the sort of conceptual expression they represented, without trying to sound like anything other than ourselves.”

Vanessa Hay of Pylon: “When the B’s left town, the rest of us weren’t living in their shadow, we were living in their sunshine. They made it possible for bands to be heard outside of the clubs, and they stayed in touch with us. Kate is on a song on the new Pylon Reenactment Society album, and of course, she sang on ‘Shiny Happy People’ and ‘Me in Honey’ by R.E.M. The B’s helped us get our first show in New York and they continue to support the local scene.”

Athens remains a touchstone for the B-52s.

Schneider: “We are still proud to be known as an Athens band, and we might not have even existed without being in that little world of freaks and hippies down there. We were part of a very small and supportive community.”

Pierson: “Athens is like a magnet for us. We always come back to it, and it’s always fun when we finally get there. That feeling has never really changed for me, even though the town has certainly changed. But that same magical vibe is there. We felt it when we first started, and we still do.”

And now, as the band nears its 50-year mark, it returns to Athens where it all began to celebrate an ever-evolving journey that shows no sign of slowing down.

Strickland: “Everything changes. Athens has changed. We’ve changed. We lost Ricky (in 1985), but we live on through the music. I’m still writing music for myself, and the band sounds good. There’s no reason for them to stop now. I can’t wait to see the show, myself.”

Schneider: “People need us right now. I think maybe people need us more than ever, to sort of help everyone deal with the garbage we’re going through. So, let’s party!”

Quotes were edited and re-ordered for space and clarity.

CONCERT PREVIEW

The B-52s. With special guests of Montreal and DJ Cummerbund. 8 p.m. Dec. 14. $39.50-$249.50. Rock Lobsters vs. Blue Ridge Bobcats, 7 p.m. Dec. 6. $28 and up. Akins Ford Arena, Classic Center, 300 N. Thomas St., Athens. 706-208-0900, www.classiccenter.com