688 Club

Infobox Venue
name = 688 Club


image_caption = 688 Club logo
nickname =
location = 688 Spring Street
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
coordinates =
type = Nightclub
genre = New Wave/Alternative
broke_ground =
built =
opened = May 1980
renovated =
expanded =
closed = November 1986
demolished =
owner = Steve May
TonyEvans
Sheila Browning
former_names =
seating_type =
seating_capacity = 300
website = http://www.myspace.com/688clubThe 688 Club was a popular alternative music venue in Atlanta, Georgiacite news |work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=1993-02-28 |title=The city's small-club circuit has the amps turned up again, with live-music venues offering a supercharged, stompin' scene |page=N1 |quote= She refers to the long-defunct 688 Club, the popular early-'80s new-wave venue that was a keystone in Atlanta's alternative music scene.] , located at 688 Spring Street, near the intersection of Spring and 3rd Streets. The 688 Club opened in May 1980cite news |work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=1986-05-27 |title=Tuesday is Blues Day when it's after a holiday |page=B3 |first=Ron |last=Hudspeth |quote=The 688 Club celebrates it sixth birthday this week and may be losing its reputation as the place for tourists to spot punks in the flesh.] and closed in November 1986.cite news |work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |title=Georgia Power performed last act at 688 Club |date=1986-11-14 |quote=Financial problems have forced the closing of the 688 Club, a 6-year-old fixture of Atlanta's pop-music scene.] The club was operated by Steve May.cite news |work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=1991-10-04 |title=Night Beat |page=E4 |quote=Steve May, who guided the historic 688 Club during its short life (1980-86) [...] ] The club was co-owned by Tony Evanscite news |work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=1991-07-05 |title=Night Beat |page=C4 |quote=No real plan yet for a deserved benefit/memorial show here for the late Tony Evans, the genial Brit best known as a co-owner of the old 688 Club.] and John Wicker.cite news |work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=1986-07-10 |title=Little Five Points residents protesting recent skinhead violence |page=A22 |quote=The brutal beating of 688 Club part-owner John Wicker in the parking lot of the Spring Street club on December 16, 1985. Four skinheads have been charged.] Cathy Hendrix served as the club's music director.cite web |work=The Mercy Lounge |url=http://www.mercylounge.com/main.php?em781=188103_-2__0_~0~1523_-1_10_2007_0_0&content=calendar |title=Dash Rip Rock with Big Baby |date=2007-01-10] During its brief lifetime, the 688 played host to hundreds of punk, new wave, and alternative bands - many of whom would later become world famous.

During the early 1980s, the 688 Club was the primary place for up-and-coming bands from Atlanta and Athens, Georgia, to get noticed. Among the groups that regularly played there were R.E.M. and Pylon. The club spun-off an independent record label, 688 Recordscite news |work=The Advocate (Baton Rouge, La.) |date=1986-12-12 |title=Dash Songs |quote=The record was released by Atlanta's 688 Records, an offshoot from the 688 Club, one of the city's favorite new music nightspots.] , which survived for a time even after 688 Club had closed its doors.cite news |work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=1986-11-30 |title=Variety of albums by local groups and labels has been released recently |page=J2 |quote=Atlanta's 688 Club is apparently history, but the record label it spawned lives on independently.] Dash Rip Rock's self-titled debut LP was the first album released by 688 Records.

After 688 Club

The club re-opened as the "686 Club" on December 31, 1986 but was renamed "The Rollick" the next day.cite news |work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=1987-01-02 |title=New Year's Eve isn't what it used to be |page=C2 |first=Ron |last=Hudspeth |quote=The closed 688 Club, which reopened New Year's Eve as the 686 Club, has been renamed The Rollick by its new owners.] cite news |work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=1987-05-01 |title=Fan now a member of his favorite band |page=P10 |quote= [Robert] Warren, a journalism student at Georgia State University in the summer of '84, will be playing bass with the Fleshtones at The Rollick, which was the 688 Club when he first saw the band.] By 1990, the space was occupied by a club called "Weekends".cite news |work=Atlanta Journal-Constitution |date=1990-04-27 |title=Crawford takes unsentimental journey home |page=D4 |quote= The tribute to the 688 Club, which from 1980 until '86 occupied the Spring Street space now filled by Weekends, will feature Athens bands [...] |first=Russ |last=DeVault] The space was occupied by Outa Control Inc.cite web |url=http://www.restaurantguideatlanta.com/bars404.htm |work=Restaurant Guide Atlanta |title=Atlanta Bars & Lounges - Area Code 404] . Sometime thereafter, the original building demolished and a new structure, as of 2008, oddly houses a medical care facility.

List of performers

A partial list of bands and artists that appeared at the 688 Club between 1980 and 1986:

References

External links

* [http://www.myspace.com/688club 688 Club memorial at MySpace]