ALBUMS: Murmur (1983) Reckoning (1984); Fables of the Reconstruction (1985); Life’s Rich Pageant (1986); Document (1987).
MVC RATINGS: Murmur 5.0/$$$$$; Reckoning 4.5/$$$$; Fables 4.0/$$$$: Life’s Rich Pageant 4.5/$$$$$; Document 4.5/$$$$$.
I almost slid by the ‘R’ alphabetical category without writing up one of my all time favorite bands.
I have well over half of the dozen or so albums, split between vinyl and digital. I have listed my vinyl R.E.M. records above. I have a few R.E.M. stories so I’m going to approach this a little unconventionally with some list boxes.
I’ll have a list of my personal connections to R.E.M. Don’t get too excited, they aren’t that big a deal, just stories you can tell your grandchildren. I’m also going to look at a Rolling Stone magazine reader’s poll listing their favorite songs. Then I will offer up an alternative list.
First, connections. I grew, for the most part, in Athens, Ga., where the band famously began. I bought many of the albums I have used in this countdown from Wuxtry Records.
Guitarist Peter Buck before R.E.M. worked at the little store which, at that time, was the definition of ‘little corner store.’ You had to inhale deeply to pass someone on it’s one aisle. They have since expanded to a larger domain next door. Still in business after all these years.
In the mid-1990s I was shopping all alone except for the clerk behind counter and in walks Peter Buck. I wasn’t 100 percent sure it was him until he invited me to buy ‘Drivin’ and Cryin’ frontman Kevin Kinney’s new album. “I produced it,” Buck said. So that ended the debate in my mind about who he was. I had a Los Lobos CD in my hand and told him I was going to get that. ‘I already have the Kevin Kinney one.”
I’m not sure he believed me. He left shortly thereafter and I remember kicking myself for not at least buying another copy and getting him to sign it.
But I’ve never been much of an autograph go-getter.
Onward with connections. I stayed in the same dorm as Mike Mills (or was it Bill Berry?) Anyway it was called Reed Hall and it was right up against the football stadium. Saturday was game day and at Reed students would usually roll out a keg of beer. Having lived in Athens for years, I knew all the secrets. There was a train track from which you could perch and see the game — and for free, as most of us were college student broke.
Every now and then a train would come at slow slow speed and folks would scramble. The stadium has since been rebuilt and closed that open sight-way to the game.
One more connection. My wife, Catherine, and I met some friends downtown at what used to be Abbott’s but currently and still is, I believe, called the Globe. We had a big corner table with bench seats and chairs. We had about six or seven people in our party. Michael Stipe comes in with some folks and he asked Catherine if the table would be available soon. She ended up chatting with him for 15 minutes or so, explaining this was a reunion of sorts and wouldn’t be moving soon.
And if you see my brother, David, ask him about opening for R.E.M. He’ll pull out a tattered newpaper clip of an advertisement from the bar/band venue, Tyrone’s. At the top of the ad is an advertisement for R.E.M. live on Saturday. Below the ad is another one for Southbound, a garage cover band featuring my brother on drums.
My brother will tell you this while showing the clip quickly and say, yeah we were opening act. But if you ask to see it, you might catch the fact that his thumb was over ‘Live Friday’ for Southbound not Saturday . Well, they did technically open for them —24 hours earlier.
Now let’s move on to the lists. First is the five top songs as selected by Rolling Stone magazine’s readers:
- Losing My Religion
- Nightswimming
- Everybody Hurts (Sometimes)
- Man on the Moon
- It’s the End of the World as We Know it (And I feel fine)
As suited to the alternative rock pioneers I’m going to give you an Alternative List of my top five R.E.M. songs that are not in the Top 5 by readers.
- Orange Crush
- E-bow the Letter
- Fall on Me
- Radio Free Europe
- The Great Beyond
Honorable Mentions: The One I Love, You Can’t Get There From Here, Walk Unafraid
I could go on. And on.