A FEW YEARS BEFORE THE CLUB OPENED I was working at our music shop in St. Augustine, ordering records, vinyl and cassettes. One day, a British guy came in and requested an album by synthpop act Landscape. When he came in to pick it up he’s like, “Oh my God, you really have to hear this.” We played it there in the store, and I thought that’s really catchy. I only heard it that one time.

Then I started going to a club called The Blighted Area and saw 10,000 Maniacs, Minutemen, and all these great bands there. It was a really tiny dive in Jacksonville Beach. I climbed The Blighted’s stairs many times and remember how soft the floors were on the second floor. It was there that I talked with bands and saw the potential of what live music could be. I thought there could be so much more than what was going on. That’s where the club idea started.

My Dad had looked at a few places but it just kind of dropped. Then one day, my Dad told me he found just the right spot. We looked at it and I was like, “Oh, my gosh, this is perfect. ”At that time it was a teen club and breakdancing place. There were mirror tiles everywhere and mirrors all along the wall.

We decided we were going to do it, and one night my mom, dad, Terri and I were throwing around ideas for club names. I remember thinking it was a bunch of really bad names. Exhausted, I said, “I’m going up to bed.” I went to sleep and then all of a sudden I woke up and said, “Einstein A Go- Go,” the title of a song from that Landscape album. I ran downstairs and they were still up. “Einstein A Go-Go. That’s the name, Einstein A Go-Go.” It took a minute and my mom says, “You know, it’s catchy.” And that’s how it started.

I like to say it woke me from a dream.

Tammie Faircloth