Recently, I just bought a double-CD of REM's "best of the IRS sessions," meaning the label IRS under which their early albums were released. It was a purchase in one of the many great CD/Vinyl shops in Brussels that I have come to respect. Since I have been spending more time in Brussels over the past few months than I have since living in Belgium, I am finding some very good specialty shops, primarily for music. If there is one very positive thing I can say about Brussels, you can find anything when it comes to music amongst the four shops or so that I know of there.
As such, I have been trying to convince my Irish friend that REM is not merely a commercially successful band as they have become, but they were seriously cutting edge for many, many years. Success may have blindsided them, but arguably they are one of the most influential American bands of all time. No, they are. Period.
I remember getting my first taste of REM from a cassette that my sister gave me that her friend Steve from Rice University had given me in 1983/4, just when Murmur came out, which was also when U2's War came out. On the A-side of that Memorex cassette (which I still have and cherish) was War, and the B-side was Murmur from a band nobody had heard of, especially in Amarillo, Texas.
I actually cannot believe that that cassette is still playable as I played the living hell out of it, over and over and over on my grey and black Walkman II. It is amazing that it is still in one celluloid band. That single cassette probably sent me into the world of "alternative" music at the same time keeping me rooted in the classic. From then on, I listened to anything and everything, from Bauhaus to George Strait. In addition, I had my dad's old LP's ranging from Marty Robbins to Captain Beefheart.
There was not much I did not try out with regards to music styles. Having recently also been watching "the making of..." with respect to classic albums, I have learned more about The Doors, RUSH, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Frank Zappa, Simply Red, and on and on. to the point I think my real calling was a radio DJ...
What stands out is that REM does stand on the shoulders of giants, despite leaving him cold as Michael Stipe sings in this video, "King of Birds," perhaps one of my favorite REM songs. But, kudos to them, they stood on the shoulders, then jumped off, forging a consciousness of their own in the smithy of their Georgian souls.
I am again listening to the origins of REM non-stop right now, and wanted to share an early song, way before (at least metaphorically) "Losing My Religion" jettisoned them to being the giants on whose shoulders others would stand.
As such, I have been trying to convince my Irish friend that REM is not merely a commercially successful band as they have become, but they were seriously cutting edge for many, many years. Success may have blindsided them, but arguably they are one of the most influential American bands of all time. No, they are. Period.
I remember getting my first taste of REM from a cassette that my sister gave me that her friend Steve from Rice University had given me in 1983/4, just when Murmur came out, which was also when U2's War came out. On the A-side of that Memorex cassette (which I still have and cherish) was War, and the B-side was Murmur from a band nobody had heard of, especially in Amarillo, Texas.
I actually cannot believe that that cassette is still playable as I played the living hell out of it, over and over and over on my grey and black Walkman II. It is amazing that it is still in one celluloid band. That single cassette probably sent me into the world of "alternative" music at the same time keeping me rooted in the classic. From then on, I listened to anything and everything, from Bauhaus to George Strait. In addition, I had my dad's old LP's ranging from Marty Robbins to Captain Beefheart.
There was not much I did not try out with regards to music styles. Having recently also been watching "the making of..." with respect to classic albums, I have learned more about The Doors, RUSH, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Frank Zappa, Simply Red, and on and on. to the point I think my real calling was a radio DJ...
What stands out is that REM does stand on the shoulders of giants, despite leaving him cold as Michael Stipe sings in this video, "King of Birds," perhaps one of my favorite REM songs. But, kudos to them, they stood on the shoulders, then jumped off, forging a consciousness of their own in the smithy of their Georgian souls.
I am again listening to the origins of REM non-stop right now, and wanted to share an early song, way before (at least metaphorically) "Losing My Religion" jettisoned them to being the giants on whose shoulders others would stand.
