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Artists Casper & the Cookies, Bunnygrunt, The High Water Marks, The Ethical Debating Society, The Lovely Eggs Albums Action Pants!, Polar, Classic Creeps Profiles | ||
Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records is an American independent record label based in Athens, Georgia. Its catalogue was originally heavily weighted towards twee indie pop music, with several of its bands being associated with or influenced by The Elephant 6 Recording Company. The label originally began as a compilation CD, Happy Happy Birthday To Me Volume 1, before it expanded into a 7" singles club, which released records by, among others, Of Montreal, Marshmallow Coast, The Essex Green, Great Lakes and Masters of the Hemisphere, while also releasing several tape and CD compilations. The singles club was noted for its individuality, with each individual record by an artist often being different. For example, each copy of The Essex Green's single came with a different original photograph on the sleeve, while Marshmallow Coast's were hand-drawn by school children. The label then began to release full-length CDs for the first time, the first of these being Birddog's A Sweet and Bitter Fancy. The label also continued to release 7"s, compilations and T-shirts, as well as a video compilation DVD, and a further singles club featuring Bunnygrunt, Casper and the Cookies, and Andy From Denver. There are currently over 150 releases on the label, and an even larger catalogue of distributed titles. Today, its catalogue has expanded to span several genres.
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Happy Happy Birthday To Me Records founder Mike Turner also founded the annual Athens Popfest, which routinely featured many of the bands on the label's roster, as well as many Elephant 6 artists, other Athens luminaries, and national artists. 2005's Popfest was headlined by bands including Pylon, Circulatory System and of Montreal. The 2006 Popfest featured headliners Deerhoof, The Apples in Stereo, The Mountain Goats and Circulatory System. The 2007 Popfest lineup included Daniel Johnston (backed by Athens band Casper and the Cookies) and Ted Leo. Athens Popfest 2007 is most remembered as the breakout performance for Jacksonville band Black Kids, resulting in a storm of blogs, interviews, and international magazine write-ups. Popfest 2008 was headlined by Roky Erickson, Elf Power and, in a rare and much anticipated performance, The Music Tapes. 2010 included Mission of Burma, The Wedding Present, and Apples in Stereo. 2011 featured Throwing Muses, Bob Mould, Oh OK, Olivia Tremor Control, Man or Astro-Man?, and the Dead Milkmen.