Hit Parade: The Deadbeat Club Edition, Part Two
b'In the second part of our two-part episode about the B-52\\u2019s and R.E.M.\\u2014the bands that put Athens, Georgia on the map, and helped define new-wave rock in the early \\u201980s\\u2014we trace how they transformed themselves from hipsters to hitmakers. One band waited years to graduate from an indie label to the majors. The other almost quit after an AIDS-related tragedy, before their pop breakthrough. By the end of the \\u201980s, their hits\\u2014from \\u201cOrange Crush\\u201d to \\u201cStand,\\u201d \\u201cChannel Z\\u201d to \\u201cLove Shack\\u201d\\u2014brought them squarely into the mainstream, just as \\u201calternative rock\\u201d was coming to define a new sound for the \\u201990s.\\xa0\\nEmail: hitparade@slate.com\\xa0\\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices'