Artist of the Week 5/3/2011- R.E.M. 1982-1985

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From Slicing Up Eyeballs:

R.E.M. carefully avoids actual reunion as all 4 members play Peter Buck’s wedding


Photo via cartwhisperer

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The first footage to surface from Buck's wedding reception:

"Superman"

[Gaetzi]

Thanks for all these links, Kudzu!

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Marty Huntoon, who was evidently on the production team for R.E.M.'s Work tour in 1987 has uploaded several videos from that tour to YouTube. This is just one of them. Other clips include: "Exhuming McCarthy", "Finest Worksong", "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)", "Cuyahoga", "The One I Love", "Disturbance at the Heron House" and "Oddfellows Local 151". This is a direct link to Marty's channel.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

Someone just unearthed this show that was recorded at Coaster's in Edinburgh Scotland on June 25th, 1985 during the tour for Fables of the Reconstruction. What makes it especially unique is the inclusion of an untitled song, which you can listen to here. To download a copy of it (setlist below), click here. Unfortunately, the show is incomplete but it does include most of the songs listed below. The only one missing is "9-9" and "Feeling Gravitys Pull" is cut off. There's some memorabilia fron the concert posted here, including a poster, a ticket and a few photos.



Feeling Gravitys Pull
Harborcoat
Green Grow The Rushes
Laughing
Driver 8
So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)
Have You Ever Seen The Rain?
Can't Get There From Here
Maps And Legends
7 Chinese Bros.
Hyena
(Don't Go Back To) Rockville
Just A Touch
Auctioneer (Another Engine)
Old Man Kensey
Little America
Life And How To Live It
Pretty Persuasion

First Encore
Untitled
Talk About The Passion
See No Evil
Second Guessing

Second Encore
Theme From Two Steps Onward
Gardening At Night
9-9

[RMD]

Fantastic download Kudzu. Thanks for the heads up. This was the year I first caught REM and this recording brings back great memories.

[RMD]

9-9 is in fact there, tracked with Gardening. Great tape.

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9-9 is in fact there, tracked with Gardening. Great tape.

Thanks, I hadn't noticed that it was part of the same track.

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10 years ago yesterday, this happened at Walnut Creek in Raleigh. Prior to getting behind the kit for "Permanent Vacation" Bill also sang back up on "Radio Free Europe". Just as soon as the show was over I jumped in the car and drove over to the Cat's Cradle in Carrboro to catch the Truckers. That's the closest I ever came to seeing both bands on the same bill. They both played ACL Fest in September of that year but their shows were on separate days.

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Can Nuci's Space Save the R.E.M. Steeple?

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Photographer Laura Levine has just posted this excerpt from Just Like A Movie to YouTube, description below.

Excerpt from JUST LIKE A MOVIE (dir: Laura Levine, 1984)
(please read on......)
"Pale Blue Eyes" written by Lou Reed
Performed by Michael Stipe
Puddlefoot aka Jeremy Ayers
Guitar by Matthew Sweet
"Walter's Theme" written/performed by R.E.M.
Incidental accordion music by Michael Stipe
Edited by Matt Danowski and Laura Levine

Directed, filmed and recorded by Laura Levine on location in Athens, Georgia, 1983

© Laura Levine, all rights reserved
with love and respect to Lou Reed

An excerpt from photographer Laura Levine's unreleased underground Super-8 film, JUST LIKE A MOVIE (45 min.). Shot over a two week period in Athens, Georgia, in 1983, the film was an improvisational project involving a group of friends who shared a love of creativity for the sake of creativity (and fun). Levine felt it was important to document a place and a time that would not exist for very much longer.

Levine, twenty-five at the time and living in New York's Chinatown, packed a small bag that contained a vintage Nikon movie camera, sixty minutes' worth of black-and-white Super-8 film, a sixty minute cassette tape and her Sony Walkman, and flew down to Georgia. She planned to spend her time in Athens hanging out with her friends, doing some band photo shoots, and making a movie. Her only certainty about the movie was that it would be no longer than 60 minutes.

With the sad news about Lou Reed's passing last week, it seemed the right time to share this particular scene, of R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe singing "Pale Blue Eyes" by the railroad tracks. (The song itself was recorded earlier that day on a Walkman, with Matthew Sweet on guitar). Jeremy Ayers makes a magical appearance as Puddlefoot.

For more information on Levine's work, please visit http://www.lauralevine.com
https://www.facebook.com/groups/lauralevinegroup/
Contact: laura@lauralevine.com

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The only other clip to have surfaced from Just Like A Movie, at least that I'm aware of:

[Bill in CT]

This was last night at the 40 Watt Club.

[Tequila Cowboy]

^^^ damned cool. Thanks for posting that Bill.

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Buck was also joined by Patterson for "Roswell". Berry, Mills and Buck also sat in with Kevn Kinney for a few songs, I have no idea if any video of that has surfaced but Sloan recorded the entire show. That should be up on Southern Shelter any time now.

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Patterson and Buck doing "Roswell".


Photo by Lucy Kubo

[Howlinwolf]

One of my top 5 shows of the year - good to be back at the 40W..just amazing.

Sloan has both bands up on his site,,,,check it.

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REMhq.com is reporting that Buck is going to be touring with Alejandro Escovedo in February with details on dates to be announced soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a Triangle date. The last time Buck played here was with the Miracle 3 (Steve Wynn), the Baseball Project and the Minus Five in 2009. The only date announced so far is for Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee on February on Thursday, February 20th.

[Will]

REMhq.com is reporting that Buck is going to be touring with Alejandro Escovedo in February with details on dates to be announced soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a Triangle date. The last time Buck played here was with the Miracle 3 (Steve Wynn), the Baseball Project and the Minus Five in 2009. The only date announced so far is for Turner Hall Ballroom in Milwaukee on February on Thursday, February 20th.

They're at the Georgia Theatre Feb 28th and The Earl March 1st. I'm in for the Earl show. Loved Peter's set at the 40 Watt last week. That whole night was a blast. Looking around the room, I realized I was surrounded by people who had produced a good chunk of my record collection.

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Rare photo of R.E.M. with Jefferson Holt on drums. It's also unique as Buck is playing bass and Mills is playing guitar. Another factor would be that Buck is usually to Stipe's left and Mills to his right.


(l-r) Peter Buck, Michael Stipe, Jefferson Holt and Mike Mills
Photo by Bob Crisler, September 21, 1982

[oilpiers]

Just discovered this thread. I discovered R.E.M. based on Robert Hilburn of the LA Times review of Murmur. Before the internet, when radio had already sucked for at least a decade, it was hard to find good music, other than the Times or Rolling Stone. I was FUCKIN FLOORED! Byrds meet VU plain and simple to me at the time. Same age as TC, so similar event in a life. I then bought Chronic Town. In some ways I think those two releases are their best. Saw them in Santa Barbara for Reckoning, to a half empty movie theater in 1984. Stipe was a freak. Long blond curls, goofy affect, and he eye locked members of the crowd for 20 seconds or more, either making it a personal experience, or like my macho buddy Bruce, telling me he wanted to kick his ass for the "gay" stares. I got at least 2 of them that night, but the gay aspect was not my interpretation. Stipe also would sit on the stage front and swing his legs like a four year old at a playground, or just turn his back to the crowd for a song. Ironically Bruce's brother was extraordinarily flamboyant and died of aids in the mid 90's, and Bruce has been an advocate for gay rights for well over 20 years. Fables left me a little down. I did not really like Feeling Gravity's Pull, or Can't Get There From Here too much. Now, minus those songs, I think it is THE definitive R.E.M. album.Those melodies and harmonies man. Saw that show at the Arlington Theater in SB, where it was all backlit, and Stipe had his back to the crowd half the show. I loved Life's Rich Pageant, saw them for the third time at the Santa Barbara Bowl. I still had only 3 or 4 friends who even had ever heard of them. At that time, along with U2, who I fell in love with with Boy, they were my favorite bands that no one I knew seemed to know. I always thought there was a great parallel between those two bands. Not a great fan of Document, which the media felt was the breakout album. Green was such a piece of crap sellout I never really listened to the whole thing until maybe 10 years later. World Leader Pretend is the only song I really liked. The first time I heard Losing My Religion, I KNEW, it was their definitive single. I was so happy they made something that sounded like R.E.M. and not some fucking Green follow up turdclone. It literally gave me hope for a band I had given up on. I still love that song. The rest of the album is OK. Automatic For The People is a calculated masterpiece, reminiscent of Joshua Tree, and Born In The USA, in the fact that the critics loved it, it made them Superstars, but not nearly my favorite. Monster was made due to Mills insistance of no more mandolins, and giving him a chance to play a heavy rock star. What's The Frequency Kenneth was a song my son, 20 this week, and 2 at the time, would dance his ass off every time he heard it.The last real album to me was New Adventures in Hi Fi, which is really underrated. Saw them for the fourth and final time at Blockbuster pavilion. A 100 mile drive, with traffic, during the week. That was enough for me. No interest in the big arena or stadium shows.

R.E.M. is a band highly personal to me. They are one of the few bands I consider MY BAND. Where ever I go (with exception to band related events) no one I meet seems to know more about The Who, My Morning Jacket, Drive By Truckers, or R.E.M. I would like to put U2 into that category, for however much I loved them in the 80's when no one else gave a shit, but they bore the crap out of me now, except for Boy, Achtung Baby, and Unforgettable Fire. As for the debate on the vocals/lyrics, I appreciate the voice as an instrument. Lyrics only mean something to me if they need to be, like a great Dylan song, or DBT, where it is equal to the music. As for understanding Stipes vocals being a downside, I think not. It is just a progression of an artist, and that is not something that can legitimately be utilized as a negative, unless the vocals just plain suck.

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Can't say that I think of Green as a "sellout" especially since it includes tunes such as "You Are the Everything", "Hairshirt", "The Wrong Child" and "World Leader Pretend" which are the very definition of non-commercial. It's not as though every song sounded like "Stand". Those songs hearkened back to their past as well as helped lay the groundwork for what would come with Out of Time and Automatic For the People. Buck is the one that wanted to "lock the mandolins in a closet" following Out of Time. During that era he wrote in a fan club newsletter that he wanted the next album to be a rocker, "recorded straight to two track" but that isn't what transpired once they got in the studio, it was Automatic. Bill Berry also played a part in the direction they took with Monster as he wanted material they could rock out to onstage. In regards to swearing off stadium or arena shows, I love an intimate club concert as much as the next person but just because an artist has become successful enough to play to more people, I'm not suddenly going to stop going to see them. I'm reminded of the times I've seen Van Halen in concert, both with Dave. Though they were 30 years apart ('79 and '09) he had the crowd wrapped around his little pinkie, showing to me that there is indeed an art to commanding the attention of an arena full of people. Same for when I finally saw U2 in concert the same year.

[oilpiers]

Can't say that I think of Green as a "sellout" especially since it includes tunes such as "You Are the Everything", "Hairshirt", "The Wrong Child" and "World Leader Pretend" which are the very definition of non-commercial. It's not as though every song sounded like "Stand". Those songs hearkened back to their past as well as helped lay the groundwork for what would come with Out of Time and Automatic For the People. Buck is the one that wanted to "lock the mandolins in a closet" following Out of Time. During that era he wrote in a fan club newsletter that he wanted the next album to be a rocker, "recorded straight to two track" but that isn't what transpired once they got in the studio, it was Automatic. Bill Berry also played a part in the direction they took with Monster as he wanted material they could rock out to onstage. In regards to swearing off stadium or arena shows, I love an intimate club concert as much as the next person but just because an artist has become successful enough to play to more people, I'm not suddenly going to stop going to see them. I'm reminded of the times I've seen Van Halen in concert, both with Dave. Though they were 30 years apart ('79 and '09) he had the crowd wrapped around his little pinkie, showing to me that there is indeed an art to commanding the attention of an arena full of people. Same for when I finally saw U2 in concert the same year.

OK. When Green came out there were 3 songs on the radio. Pop Song 8?, Stand, And Orange Crush. I hated all 3 and after the big contract I lost all curiosity with it. I had friends who had bought it,(girls) who just fuckin loved it. One thought the band was Green and the album title was R.E.M., and thought it was their first album. I bought it years later just to pick something from Columbia music club. Sorry, still don't really like it, and it was made and marketed as a sell out, no matter what the other songs are. My mistake, I remember it was Buck who wanted to throw away the mandolins, but Mills was clearly hungry for some hard rock stardom. Just look at his hair and outfit from that tour. Plus comments he made at the time. As for large venues, I have seen my favorite bands of the past 5 years in nothing larger than 3000 seat venues. I already saw my older faves in arenas and stadiums. I don't do that anymore. I don't enjoy it. Simple as that. Is that all people do here is look for shit to either contradict, or try to prove someone wrong? I am a huge fucking R.E.M. fan, as I assume KG is, based on his Murmur inspired name, but the only comments about my thoughts are critiques on what I posted. That is no fun. This place is getting very touchy. It is like talking to my wife, and she corrects everything I say on bullshit technicalities.

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The "R.E.M. sold out with Green" discussion is an old one and perhaps even valid to some degree but personally, I never perceived it that way. If they "sold out" they did it when they signed that contract with I.R.S. back in the early 80's. Some folks may have wanted them to continue to churn out albums that sounded identical to Murmur, Reckoning and Fables and to stay on I.R.S. forever. Thankfully, they didn't. By the way, that's not me being "touchy", it's just me expressing my own opinion just as you've expressed yours. If they had truly wanted to sell out, it seems to me that Green would have been full of songs like "Stand" and that they would have toured behind Out of Time and Automatic For the People but they didn't. Their two biggest selling albums and they chose to stay home. Not exactly how I would define "selling out".

[oilpiers]

The "R.E.M. sold out with Green" discussion is an old one and perhaps even valid to some degree but personally, I never perceived it that way. If they "sold out" they did it when they signed that contract with I.R.S. back in the early 80's. Some folks may have wanted them to continue to churn out albums that sounded identical to Murmur, Reckoning and Fables and to stay on I.R.S. forever. Thankfully, they didn't. By the way, that's not me being "touchy", it's just me expressing my own opinion just as you've expressed yours. If they had truly wanted to sell out, it seems to me that Green would have been full of songs like "Stand" and that they would have toured behind Out of Time and Automatic For the People but they didn't. Their two biggest selling albums and they chose to stay home. Not exactly how I would define "selling out".

My point is in discussing my thoughts on R.E.M. which we both seem to hold in high esteem, the only comments you made are disagreements. Do you have any memories from the early tours that would compliment my observations? What about the positive comments I made about the music? These are rhetorical questions at this point.

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I'm obviously going to speak my mind if I disagree and I disagree that R.E.M. made a conscious decision to sell out with Green. As for Buck being the one that said he was going to "lock away the mandolins" after Out of Time, I was just attempting to set the record straight that it wasn't Mills that said that.

[oilpiers]

I'm obviously going to speak my mind if I disagree and I disagree that R.E.M. made a conscious decision to sell out with Green. As for Buck being the one that said he was going to "lock away the mandolins" after Out of Time, I was just attempting to set the record straight that it wasn't Mills that said that.

Fine. I get it. Not sure you do though. Anyone could go through any post ever made and find 15% or more they disagree with. And then continue to try to reinforce that point. It may very well be legit. But what is the point of doing that? I already admitted I made a "mistake" regarding Buck/Mills/and mandolins. Did Murmur not blow your mind? Was Chronic Town not the most mind kicking shit when it came out? Didn't Stipe fucking trip you out before he was a known entity? I guess some people just like to cherry pick the shit they disagree with and try to prove their point by repeating it.

[linkous]

I would say that I agree with nearly every word of Oilpliers first post on REM that he made yesterday. I won't get involved in his debate with KG, except to say they both have valid points, but I think I agree more with Oil (must say though that U2 lost me after the first few singles, I even thought Boy largely sucked! - I think I had an inbuilt Bono shit detector!)

Back to REM - for me the slippery slope started with Document and not Green - in fact my alarm bells started ringing even earlier with Lifes Rich Pageant. Although I loved all the songs on it I am not a great fan of the production - getting that big rock guy in to produce was a faux pas on a par with The Clash getting Sandy Pearlman to produce Give Em Enough Rope imo. I always thought how amazing it would have been if Brian Eno had produced REM from LRP onward for at least the next three albums, back when he was still an innovative, adventurous sonic engineer - not the cash cow "go to" guy he became in the last 20 odd years.
Document, Green and Out Of Time are not bad albums per se, they all contain songs that I still love but they're just not great REM albums imo. I didn't like the direction they were going in, but obviously I didn't want them just to remake Murmur and Reckoning over and over. This is where my Brian Eno theory kicks in - he might have taken them and pushed them into a more left field direction, similar to the the way he helped Talking Heads and Bowie to do this without the drop in record sales.

For my money, any band who gets bigger than the level DBT are at is in danger of losing my interest. That's a sweeping statement and I'm sure there will be bands who play stadiums that I still like, but I can't think of any of the top of my head (Radiohead - perhaps!). REM made the transition to larger arenas seamlessly, and were able to pull it off because the songs they were writing, and the albums they were releasing post Fables (especially LRP, Document and Green) were (mostly)tailor made for that environment. That's where I got off the bus.

[Kudzu Guillotine]

I'm obviously going to speak my mind if I disagree and I disagree that R.E.M. made a conscious decision to sell out with Green. As for Buck being the one that said he was going to "lock away the mandolins" after Out of Time, I was just attempting to set the record straight that it wasn't Mills that said that.

Fine. I get it. Not sure you do though. Anyone could go through any post ever made and find 15% or more they disagree with. And then continue to try to reinforce that point. It may very well be legit. But what is the point of doing that? I already admitted I made a "mistake" regarding Buck/Mills/and mandolins. Did Murmur not blow your mind? Was Chronic Town not the most mind kicking shit when it came out? Didn't Stipe fucking trip you out before he was a known entity? I guess some people just like to cherry pick the shit they disagree with and try to prove their point by repeating it.

Who is it that was being "touchy" again?

I didn't realize you were expecting my assessment of R.E.M.'s career or my thoughts on specific albums. To that end, this is ground well covered in this thread as well as on the board in general but I became a fan the moment I heard "Laughing" on WQDR in Raleigh in '83 and remained a fan up until the very end in 2011. Throughout the course of those 28 years there were a lots of ups and downs but my fandom only seriously wavered a handful of times, including when Bill left. I was never once put off by them signing that contract with WB in the late 80's or with the music they made directly afterwards. In fact, I was happy for them and glad to see them reaping the rewards of touring and recording relentlessly for 10 years. What they may have lacked on an inspirational level once losing Bill they more than made up for by continuing to be one of the very best live bands out there. Speaking just for myself, I've never understood the mentality behind fans that jump ship when one of their favorite artists becomes the least bit successful either by having a hit single, playing larger venues or by signing a major label contract but for whatever reason, I stayed a fan throughout R.E.M.'s career. That doesn't mean I think they were infallible. They certainly made their fair share of poor choices as well as songs and albums I may not be so fond of but in the end, to quote Mike Mills, they did it their way, including how they chose to part ways. Most bands meet their demise due to the death of a band mate or some sort of inner band strife. R.E.M. parted as friends and left their fans wanting more. They very well could have gone on some sort of never ending, big money reunion tour a la the Eagles but they didn't.

[Tequila Cowboy]

As Kudzu says so much of this is well covered ground here but I will address one thing, stadium shows. i only saw R.E.M. once in a stadium on the Green tour and it was not a good experience. To backtrack I had seen them a couple of dozen times from late 1982 to mid 1985 from clubs to theaters and never saw a bad show. They were an amazing live band, but I thought something was lost in the cavernous spaces of Chicago's Rosemont Horizon. I just music translated very well to that, now maybe the later music did but I gave up with Out of Time, a record I really and truly dislike. I don't know how much of that is the band's fault and how much is my personal bias. The only band I ever truly enjoyed in huge barns was The Grateful Dead and I do have to admit that The Rolling Stones pulled it off occasionally, but beyond that I like my music in smaller venues. For some of those big shows, if I like the music, I find them more enjoyable as concert videos on my TV screen. In times past I blamed that on bands like R.E.M. but I no longer begrudge artists making money and I get why they would want to play the barns and sheds, they are just not for me.

edit:

the exception is sitting in the first or second row. That's still an experience but for most acts today that costs several hundred dollars.