The label began as a compilation album,
Happy Happy Birthday to Me Volume 1, before it expanded into a
7-inch singles club, which released records by
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-inch singles, 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 nearly 200 releases on the label, and an even larger catalog of distributed titles. Today, its catalog has expanded to span several genres. 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 the Apples in Stereo. 2011 featured
Throwing Muses,
Bob Mould,
Oh-OK,
the Olivia Tremor Control,
Man or Astro-man?, and
the Dead Milkmen. The festival's return in 2016 featured Deerhoof,
Love Tractor,
Ought,
Shopping, and Elf Power. Popfest 2017 was headlined by the Apples in Stereo,
ESG,
Lætitia Sadier, and
Superchunk. The 2018 event was headlined by
the Mummies, Man or Astro-man?,
Ex Hex,
Dean Wareham,
His Name Is Alive, and
Guided by Voices. ==Roster==