688 Club

688 Club

688 Club in 1984
Location	688 Spring Street Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Owner	Steve May Tony Evans John Wicker Sheila Browning Mike Hendry
Type	Nightclub
Genre(s)	New wave, alternative rock, post-punk
Capacity	300
Opened	May 1980
Closed	November 1986
Website
http://www.myspace.com/688club

The 688 Club was a popular alternative music venue in Atlanta, Georgia, located at 688 Spring Street, near the intersection of Spring and 3rd Streets. The 688 Club opened in May 1980 and closed in November 1986. The club was operated by Steve May. The club was co-owned by Tony Evans, John Wicker, and in its final years by Mike Hendry. Cathy Hendrix served as the club's music director. During its brief lifetime, the 688 played host to hundreds of punk rock, new wave and alternative rock 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 Records, which survived for a time even after 688 Club had closed its doors. 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. By 1990, the space was occupied by a club called "Weekends". The space was later occupied by Outa Control Inc. Sometime thereafter, the original building was extensively remodeled, and as of July 2012 houses a Concentra urgent care medical facility.

List of performers

688 Club logo

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

• 10,000 Maniacs
• 999
• 8 Eyed Spy (Lydia Lunch)
• The Accelerators
• The Agents
• Alex Chilton
• Angelust
• The Bangles
• The Basics
• Billy Idol
• The Black Crowes (as "Mr. Crowe's Garden")
• Black Flag
• Bo Diddley
• The BoDeans
• The Bongos
• Bouncy Loves (1980s band)
• The Brains
• Bush Tetras
• Butthole Surfers
• Cabaret Voltaire
• Chris Wood and the New Restraints
• The Church
• Circle Jerks
• The Creatures
• The Cretones
• Current Rage
• Dash Rip Rock
• Dead Kennedys
• Dieselfish
• D.N.A.
• Dream Syndicate
• Drivin' N' Cryin'
• Echo & the Bunnymen
• Einstürzende Neubauten
• The Exploited
• The Fall
• The Fans
• Fishbone
• The Fleshtones
• Flipper
• A Flock of Seagulls
• Gang of Four
• The Go-Go's
• The Golden Palominos
• Guadalcanal Diary
• The Gun Club
• Human Sexual Response
• Hüsker Dü
• Iggy Pop
• ISM
• Jason & the Scorchers
• The Jesus and Mary Chain
• Jim Carroll
• Joe "King" Carrasco
• John Cale
• Johnny Clegg and Savuka
• Jonathan Richman
• Kevin McFoy Dunn
• Late Bronze Age
• Let's Active
• Lipstick Stains
• LMNOP
• Love Tractor
• Lyres
• Marshall Crenshaw
• Meat Puppets
• The Method Actors
• Minutemen
• Mr. Crowe's Garden
• New Order
• The Nightporters
• Nixons Aids
• No Exit
• Now Explosion
• Oingo Boingo
• Pete Shelley
• Peter Tork
• Pineal Ventana
• The Plague
• The Plastics
• The Psychedelic Furs
• Public Image Ltd.
• Pylon
• Ramones
• Raves
• Raybeats
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• R.E.M.
• The Replacements
• The Residents
• Richard Hell and the Voidoids
• Robyn Hitchcock
• Rodney Crowell
• RuPaul
• Saccharine Trust
• Sam Hain
• Sheer Thursday
• The Side Effects
• Siouxsie and the Banshees
• The Smithereens
• Sonic Youth
• The Space Heaters
• Specimen
• Stan Ridgway
• The Stranglers
• The Swimming Pool Q's
• The Swinging Richards
• Timbuk 3
• Uncle Green
• The Vapors
• Vietnam
• Violent Femmes
• Wall of Voodoo
• Wee Wee Pole
• XTC

External links

• 688 Club memorial at MySpace