Our ancestors 

Most of us trace our musical origins to the B's, but, past the B's, everything, and I mean everything is due to The Fans, Pylon, and Vietnam.  The Fans had records on db (Danny Beard = db records).  Their single "True," in particular, is a fantastic distillation of half of what Athens would be (avail. on "Squares Blot Out the Sun," a db sampler).  Vietnam was never recorded.  The Fans split up, with Kevin Dunn remaining about the scene as a solo act (Kevin Dunn and the Tribe of Women were on db).  Alfredo Villar, the singer of The Fans, went back to his day job.  

The other thing is Pylon.  There just are    not     words for how important they were/are.  REM's favorite band is Pylon.  The B-52's favorite band is Pylon.  Everyone's favorite band was/is Pylon.

The other huge starting point is in Atlanta.  The Hampton Grease Band, despite being Atlantans, was a kick off to the whole idea that we could be weird and successful.  Although they claim that "Music to Eat" sold fewer albums than any in Columbia history (not true, as a Yoga instructional record undersold them), they looked successful to us because they had integrity and played and got to pay their bills that way.  In particular, although that band's career was very brief, Bruce Hampton never went away.  Both in The Late Bronze Age and Aquarium Rescue Unit later, as well as the various incarnations as Hampton B. Coles and Colonel Bruce Hampton, he was a magnet for musicians.  Furthermore, Glenn Philips, who played guitar with the Grease Band when he was 15 years old, stuck around and continued to gig.

I'm a stinkin' expert on Athens 1980 - 1986.  After that, I quit my band and wandered away to academia, but I was one of Them back then.