In early 1979, Crowe and his friend Bill Tabor sat and listened to Michael Lachowski and Randy Bewley play the same riff over and over in their practice space which was below his apartment in downtown Athens-the original 40 Watt Club-named for a single bulb on a wire that hung overhead. Crowe went downstairs and knocked on their door and offered his services as a drummer. He had played drums since he was a little boy and one of his dreams was to someday play in a band. The sound of the band came together after he joined and Vanessa Briscoe Hay came aboard as the vocalist. Pylon played several parties and caught the attention of the B-52's who helped them obtain a booking in New York City which was the major goal of the band at the time. After opening for the Gang of Four on their first two United States tour dates, Pylon was able to keep returning to play dates in the northeastern United States and began to record for DB Records in Atlanta, Georgia. They opened for the B-52's in Central Park, toured England in late 1980 and released their first album Gyrate.
Crowe came up with the idea, after seeing some of the clubs that existed in the Northeast, that it was possible to open your own club without too much effort or money, so with the help of his friend Paul Scales, the 40 Watt Club opened in downtown Athens above Yudy's Subs in what had been something called the "Crow's nest". The club proved to be very popular and the floor had to be reinforced with portable beams for all the heavy dancing taking place overhead.
Pylon recorded another album and two singles and broke up in 1983 after touring with U2 for a few of the dates on their first American tour. Pylon was becoming too much like a business for some of the members' tastes, so it was agreed to break up and they did.

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