===================================================================== R.E.M. - Usenet rec.music.rem FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS LIST Revised 1 Aug 1996 Maintained by Ron Henry (rgh3@cornell.edu) ===================================================================== Contents: Contents, Changes and Additions Part 1. About The Newsgroup, and How to Get its Documents Part 2. Some Very Basic Information About The Band Part 3. FAQ Index by Subject Part 4. The FAQ Proper: Questions That You Don't Need to Ask A. General Questions B. Album Covers, Liner Notes, and Other Packaging Questions C. Those Darn Lyrics; and Other Music Questions D. Questions on R.E.M.'s Live Performaces Part 5. Those Evil "Favorite Song" Polls Part 6. Where To Get More Information about R.E.M. (Books) Part 7. R.E.M. on Video Part 8. Resources Available on the Internet Part 9. A Primer on R.E.M. Bootlegs ===================================================================== == Part 1. About The Newsgroup, and How to Get its Documents An R.E.M. Internet e-mail list first began in Feb. 1990 as a part of Project Athena at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In July of 1993, it moved to Lynchburg College in Virginia; then, due to the ever-increasing volume of Internet interest in the band, and the resulting unmanagability of the volume of postings to the list, the Murmur list was discontinued and replaced by a Usenet newsgroup. On March 28, 1994, "rec.music.rem" was created, after winning a landslide voter approval (789 to 241). Consequently, the Murmur e-mail list is no longer available. * The most recently updated version of the full FAQ can be obtained by: - WWW browser to the URL ; - mailing the command SENDME FAQ to the server at ; - emailing me, Ron Henry, at rgh3@cornell.edu and requesting it; - it is posted occasionally to Usenet newsgroups rec.music.rem, rec.answers, and news.answers. * Lyrics to all of R.E.M.'s albums can be gotten via the Web at the URL . These files are the consensus lyrics worked out by members of the Murmur mailing list and rec.music.rem over the years. You may not agree with them -- bear in mind much of this is still a matter of interpretation. * Several specialized supplements to the regular FAQ document have been prepared and are also housed on the R.E.M. Page at www.svs.com/rem (as well as available from me, Ron Henry, rgh3@cornell.edu): - Collected posts and responses to Michael Stipe's online sessions last August (this document also available from the "Fables" server, send a 1-line email message SENDME STIPEY to FABLES@LYNCHBURG.EDU); - "Real People in R.E.M. Songs" list, compiled by Gary Nabors, author of the R.E.M. book _Remnants_; - R.E.M. Monster World Tour Setlists statistics, compiled by Martin Hoyt; - List of REM videos with directors and brief descriptions; - Multi-part index to Gray's R.E.M. reference book _It Crawled from the South_ (1st ed.), compiled by Cindy Donlin; - The Band Members' Illness FAQ, which summarizes Bill Berry, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe's surgeries during the World Tour 95; - "Lame Postings to the Newsgroup and How to Cope" article to help readers face the insanity that is Usenet. * NOTE to Macintosh and Windows users with fancy screen fonts -- the FAQ document looks best when viewed with a *non*-proportional screen font like "Courier," which preserves non-tab ASCII paragraph indentions, table-columns, and pseudo-centering. Someday I will get hip and put this on a spiffy web page of its own. * To comment on or make a suggestion for the FAQ-lists, send email to me . Enjoy rec.music.rem! ===================================================================== = Part 2. Some Very Basic Information About The Band R.E.M. The actual band members are Bill Berry (percussion, backing vocals), Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass, keyboards, and vocals) and Michael Stipe (vocals). Other folks of note are Bertis Downs IV (the band's lawyer), and Scott Litt (producer of their albums since Document). __________________________________________________________________ R.E.M. album Released Common abbrev. __________________________________________________________________ Chronic Town (EP) 1982 Murmur 1983 Reckoning 1984 Fables of the Reconstruction 1985 FotR Lifes Rich Pageant 1986 LRP Dead Letter Office (B-sides) 1987 DLO Document 1987 Green 1988 Out Of Time 1991 OOT Automatic For The People 1992 AFTP Monster 1994 New Adventures in Hi-Fi [1996 sched.] Compilations: Eponymous 1988 (I.R.S. Greatest Hits) The Best Of R.E.M. 1991 (European Greatest Hits) In addition, European reissues of albums through Document, which include bonus live and b-side tracks, have appeared from I.R.S. See the discography for a more complete description of all the official releases. ================================================================== Part 3. FAQ: An Index of Subjects This alphabetical listing of the topics covered in FAQ questions is designed to make it easier for you to zero right in on the answer of your particular question. If you just want to wander through FAQ and its answers randomly, proceed to Part 4, the FAQ Proper. "11" B8 "After Hours, The" D4 AIDS rumor A8 Amos, Tori C16 _Automatic for the People_ origin of name A10 Berry, Bill B10 Bingo Hand Job D1 Buck, Peter Buck, Rob (10,000 Maniacs) A13 Burns, Robert C11 "Can't Get There from Here" C7 Caroline (woman in videos) A14 Charles, Ray C7 _Chronic Town_ cover B9 Clift, Montgomery C9 Cohen, Leonard C15 Countdown myth B4 "Country Feedback" C17 covers (released) D10 _Document_ cover art B12 "(Don't Go Back to) Rockville" C18 Earpiece monitor D9 "Eleventh Untitled Song" B8 Email addresses A6 EST C17 "Exhuming McCarthy" C10 _Fables of the Reconstruction_ cover art B11 quality A5 Fan Club A1 Finster, Howard B5 "First We Take Manhattan" C15 Flame wars A5 Fours and "R"s on _Green_ B3 "Future's 40 (String of Pearls)" D3 Gang of Four D5 Grasso, Carl B13 _Green_ 4's and R's on liner B3 last track name B8 "Green Grow the Rushes" C11 "Harpers" D6 Hersh, Kristen C14 Hindu Love Gods A9 Holsapple, Peter D2 Hugo Largo D6 Inaugural ball performance D7 "It Might Hurt a Little Bit" C16 Kaufman, Andy C20 Krazy Kat A15 _Lifes Rich Pageant_ cover art B7,B10 track numbering B7 Linklater, Richard C5 "Love Is All Around" D8 Lyrics, meaningless C2 "Man on the Moon" C20 McCarthy, Joseph C10 Meaning of band name A4 Merchant, Natalie C13 Mills, Mike suits A11 vocals on MTV Unplugged D8 _Monster_ liner notes B1 "Monty Got a Raw Deal" C9 Naming of album sides New Years' Eve breakup A7 Newsletters A3 Numbering countdown myth B4 Nudie suits (Mills) A11 "One" D7 Pavement (band) A12 "Photograph" C13 Rather, Dan C6 R.E.M. breaking up on New Years' A7 covers D10 email addresses A6 origin of of name A4 _Reckoning_ cover art B5 tribute song A12 untitled musical snippet C12 _Reconstruction of the Fables_ B11 Rockville, MD C18 Scheaffer, Ken C6 "Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight" C3 "Sitting Still" C1 Spitting Gargoyle of Notre Dame B9 "Star 69" C19 Stipe, J. Michael AIDS rumor A8 earpiece monitor D9 first name A2 friend Caroline in videos A14 side projects C14,C16,D3,D6 Straw, Syd D3 "Superman" intro sounds C4 not listed on LRP B7 "Superwoman" B7 Tatoo A15 _TourFilm_ unidentified music D3,D4,D5,D6 Troggs D8 U2 D7 "Untitled" B8 Velvet Underground D4 "Voice of Harold" C8 "We Live As We Dream, Alone" D5 Welch, Joseph C10 "What's the Freq. Kenneth?" lyrics C5,C6 single cover B2 "Your Ghost" C14 ===================================================================== = Part 4. The FAQ Proper: Questions That You Don't Need to Ask (and Their Answers!) A. GENERAL QUESTIONS o A1. "How do I join the fan club? Is it worth it?" Send $10 if you're in North America ($12 elsewhere) to: R.E.M. Fan Club, PO Box 8032, Athens, GA 30603. You will have to renew every year. For the $10, you get a few postcards/newsletters, some random promo stuff when a new record comes out (usually a poster, some buttons, photos, things of that nature) and a holiday package containing the ever-famous Christmas fan club single, and other random goodies. o A2. "What does the 'J' in J. M. Stipe stand for?" John. Nobody knows why he dropped the name but still uses the initial. Much biographical information on the band members' full names, birthdays, home towns, childhoods, and educational backgrounds is covered in detail in the book _It Crawled from the South_ by Marcus Gray. o A3. "Are there any R.E.M. fan newsletters I can subscribe to?" Here is a quick list of a few currently-published R.E.M. fanzines, in no particular order: _394 Oconee_ c/o Pattie Klienke P.O. Box 304, Union City, NJ. 07087-9998 (Single issue: US $3, UK & Europe $5 US) _Country Feedback_ RR1 North Road Jefferson, NH 03583, USA (Single issue: US $3, UK & Europe 5 US dollars; Payable to Country Feedback) _Chronic Town_ 27 Oriel Drive, Old Road Liverpool, L10 3JL, England (Single issue: UK 2 pounds, Europe 2.50 pounds, Australia 3 pounds, US 5 pounds (no US checks!)) _Murmur_ c/o Stephen Rennicks Church Rd, Ardbraccan, Navan Co.Meath, Ireland (Single issue: UK 1.80 pounds, US 6 pounds; Payable to Stephen Rennicks) o A4. "Doesn't R.E.M. stand for 'rapid eye movement'?" In the scientific field of sleep research, the acronym r.e.m. indeed stands for "rapid eye movement," and refers to the stage of sleep in which, among other things, dreaming occurs. But, in the case of the band, no, it doesn't. The story related by Peter Buck on the band's early 1983 David Letterman _Late Night_ appearance is that they picked it out of the dictionary (not all dictionaries include scientific terms like "r.e.m.," so don't be disappointed if you don't find it) and they liked it because it was so ambiguous. From _It Crawled from the South_: "'We sat up one night,' says Michael, 'and we just got completely drunk and rolled around the floor. We had all this chalk, and we took every name anyone could think of and we wrote it on the wall in the living room. When morning rolled around, we pointed and erased, and it was between R.E.M. and Negro Eyes, and we thought *that* probably wouldn't go over too well outside our immediate circle of friends!'" (p. 24) o A5. "I think that Fables of the Reconstruction sucks/rules." "I think [song x] is terrible/great." "I hate/love [album y]." "Yeah, well you're a [insult z]!" Fables rules/sucks: an old, tired flame war. Some people are going to hate any given work, while other people will love it, and many remain indifferent. Frankly, *any* simplistic opinion about a song, album or video which does not elaborate further in support of the opinion, wastes group readers' collective time and bandwidth, and should be discouraged (in other words, should *not* be replied to by other group members!) Mindless knee-jerk proclamations serve only to start tiresome battles that annoy everyone. (Note that some people even to this day include in their .sig "Fables rules!" as a defiant and facetious homage to the FotR flame war.) o A6. "Do R.E.M. members ever read the newsgroup, and do they have email addresses? I want to send them a message if they have an email address!" During August, 1994, Michael Stipe did in fact post comments, and answered fans' questions, via an America On Line account named "stipey@aol.com". After much confusion and controversy regarding the authenticity of these postings, his identity was confirmed by news reports and third party sources. For those interested, the complete text of Stipe's net postings, which have been annotated with the actual questions asked by fans, is available (send a request to me, rgh3@cornell.edu). Bill and Mari Berry have also posted from a Prodigy account, and Peter Buck appeared on an online Q & A session on AOL. More recently Stipe has posted the lyrics to "Tongue" directly to rec.music.rem, wished Happy Holidays to the group, responded sarcastically to a post commenting on his sexuality, and thanked a poster for defending the band from another article claiming they had sold out. TO THE MORE BRAZEN AMONG US: Stipe has also said he deletes ALL email sent to his AOL account due to the excessive volume, so don't bother trying to send him a message there -- he won't see it! o A7. "Someone told me that R.E.M. is going to break up on New Year's Eve, 1999. Is that true?" Peter Buck said this as an off-the-cuff joke during an interview (mainly in connection with it being a great excuse for a huge party), but they have all repeatedly said since then that long as R.E.M. keeps making good music together, they will stay together -- whether that doesn't last until 1999, or goes beyond. Note that magazine writers who can't think of anything else to say about the band will often trot this factoid out and rehash it. o A8. "A friend told me that Michael Stipe is HIV positive! Is this true? Has anyone else heard this?" Yes, we heard. In fact, we hear this every few months or so when a new reader decides to share this so-called "fact" with us. There is absolutely nothing to substantiate such a rumor and questions and comments such are considered by some newsgroup readers to be in poor taste. In some recent interviews Stipe has mentioned how upsetting and cruel he found this rumor to be, and that he feels he is now in the best shape of his life. o A9. "Who are/were the Hindu Love Gods?" R.E.M. (without Michael Stipe) collaborated on a side project with the singer Warren Zevon. (Note that the lineup also played on Zevon's own album _Sentimental Hygiene_. The HLG album includes covers of many blues standards as well as Prince's "Raspberry Beret.") o A10. "Where does the title 'Automatic for the People' come from?" The band borrowed this slogan from a sign in Weaver D's Delicious Fine Foods, a popular home-cooking restaurant in Athens, Ga., which, incidentally, sells T-shirts, hats, and other such merchandise including the slogan (address 1016 E. Broad St., Athens GA, 30601). The phrase means that people at the restaurant "automatically" get what they want (as in: "Do I get fried potatoes with my chicken?"; "Automatic!"). o A11. "So, what's the story with those funky suits Mike Mills wore during the Monster World Tour?" Actually, the outfits Mike has been wearing are known as "Nudie" suits, after the late tailor Nudie who designed many such outfits for country stars of the 1960's/70's. Nudie suits became hip with the rock crowd through their being worn by the band that's been credited with initiating the music called country-rock, the Flying Burrito Brothers (including the legendary Gram Parsons.) It's been mentioned in an interview with the band that the one Mike wears in the "Kenneth" video was in fact once owned by Parsons. o A12. "There's this kind of wacky song whose lyrics talk about all the songs on _Reckoning_ and about the guys in R.E.M. -- what is that?" The band Pavement recorded a song for the compilation CD _No Alternative_ called, "The Unseen Power of the Picket Fence," which is a tribute of sorts to R.E.M., their album _Reckoning_, and the defense of Atlanta against General Sherman's march to the sea in the Civil War. o A13. "Is Peter Buck related to Rob Buck of the 10,000 Maniacs?" No. There was, however, an amusing story in Musician magazine about Peter being so drunk during the Work Tour that in a hotel, he found the room assigned to "Buck" and got in the bed that Rob Buck was already occupying. o A14. "Who is that woman prominent in both the 'One I Love' and 'Pop Song 89' videos?" An old friend of Stipe's named Caroline. According to Marcus Gray, "Auctioneer (Another Engine)" was written with her in mind, and Stipe used to tell anecdotes about her between songs during the "Reconstruc- tion" tour. o A15. "What is the tatoo under Michael Stipe's right upper arm that was visible on the 1995 Letterman show appearance?" It is a tattoo of Ignatz Mouse and Krazy Kat, who are the main characters in the comic "Krazy Kat" by George Harriman, drawn from the 1920s-1940s. If you don't know who/what these are, and like interesting comics, make a beeline to a library or good bookstore and find a compilation of old Krazy Kats. They are a incredible mix of quite hilarious and totally surreal (reality-bending) material. Berke Breathed's "Outland" (and parts of "Bloom County" before it) are the closest contemporary comparison to the style and attitude. There's a web page at which explains the comic better than I have -- I suggest surfing over there if you're interested. B. ALBUM COVERS, NOTES, AND OTHER PACKAGING QUESTIONS o B1. "What are those phrases inside the liner notes for 'Monster'?" Possible alternate names, and working titles, both for the album itself and various tracks from the album. In interviews the band has described its process of naming albums this way: they tape a big sheet of paper up on the studio wall and then variously they write down random ideas when they occur to them. One might speculate that at least some of this list is derived from that process. o B2. "What are the strange symbols on the cover of CD-single for 'What's the Frequency, Kenneth?'" The packaging for the CD single for "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?" the first single off "Monster," displays some interesting features that newsgroup members have already remarked upon. Each letter of the title is surrounded by a circle. A dot at the upper right corner of each circle contains the rank of the frequency (e.g., "E" the most common letter in English, equals 1) of that letter's occurrence in the English language. Also, found below each title letter, appears the Morse Code (in dots and dashes) for that letter. Notched into the circle around the letter are the semaphore positions (hand-held flags at various angles) of that letter. (See Section C below for info on the "Kenneth" lyrics.) o B3. "Why is there a '4' superimposed over the 'R' on the Green album?" The story told in interviews is that *someone* (most likely Michael Stipe) was typing the name of the album and hit the '4' key instead of the 'R' (note their proximity on the "qwerty" keyboard). Somebody (again, most likely Michael Stipe) thought it was a neat idea and carried it on to the packaging as a faint transparent "4" over the "R" in both "GREEN" and "REM" on the CD notes. Note that some later pressings (notably CD club versions) may not have this feature. Some newsgroup readers have remarked upon the fact that the _Lifes Rich Pageant_ disc has "OR" in place of "04" in the track listing. When remarking on oddities in R.E.M. packaging and publicity, always bear in mind the band's eccentric creative bent. (See also the answer to the next question.) o B4. "There's a '5' on Document and a '4' on Green, and wait, there's a '10' on Chronic Town, and a '9' on Murmur and an '8' on Fables, and a '7' on Reckoning! Is this some kind of countdown?" This is an urban legend which even the band are weary of denying. The topic has also been the subject of many flame wars, and most newsgroup members don't want to hear any more about it. On AOL in August 1994, Stipe said this about the so-called countdown theory: "the countdown is a silly coincidence. i swear it. pb [Peter Buck] sez were going into neg.#;s next, so there. i did put the #7 on each record for a while but started getting strange mail in volumes about it and so we quit. no reason for 7, it was just a cool typo thing [like typefaces on fables]." o B5. "Who painted the cover art for _Reckoning_?" The folk or "naive" artist (the term art critics use), Rev. Howard Finster, is a friend of Michael Stipe who painted the intricate snake design for the band. (Presumably Stipe added the song titles.) Rev. Finster also appears in the video for "Radio Free Europe" (at the end, when they tumble the little figure down the wooden ramp; note it was filmed at his home). Also, Michael Stipe has dedicated the song "Maps and Legends" on FotR to Finster when playing it live. (Some may want to note that Finster later was asked to do the cover of the Talking Heads album _Little Creatures_, too.) o B6. "My copy of the Green LP has names for each side. Are the sides named on other albums?" Almost every R.E.M. album bears creatively-named sides. Here's a list: Chronic Town Chronic Town / Poster Torn Murmur (side 1 / side 2) Reckoning L / R Fables A Side / Another Side Lifes Rich Pageant Dinner / Supper Document Page / Leaf Dead Letter Office Post Side / Script Side Eponymous Early / Late Green Air / Metal Out Of Time Time Side / Memory Side The Best of R.E.M. (UK) Us / Them Automatic For The People Drive Side / Ride Side Monster C / D o B7. "Why is the actual song order on _Lifes Rich Pageant_ different from that listed on the back cover? And do some copies actually list the song 'Superman' as 'Superwoman'?" Reportedly, the song order on _LRP_ was changed at the last minute, too late for the cover art to be changed. While it's anybody's guess why this was not subsequently corrected for later domestic vinyl and CD pressings, it *has* been corrected for many foreign and record club versions. Bear in mind that the off-beat creativity of the mixed-up list, and the cryptic "lyrics clues," is typical of the band. Note also that some European issues of LRP have the proper track order, but list "Superman" as "Superwoman." Hmm. On a related note, the song "When I was Young" is listed on the sleeve of _Fables of the Reconstruction_, but was dropped at the last minute, destined to reappear later in quite revised form, on _LRP_, as "I Believe." o B8. "What is the name of that last song on _Green_?" The instrumental version, on the CD-single for "Stand," is called "The Eleventh Untitled Song (Instrumental)." One can therefore infer that it's simply called "Eleventh Untitled Song." Reportedly, however, some of this cut's lyrics were included in a Fan Club mailing under the title, "So Awake Volunteer," so some people consider that to be its intended title. Recently, an industrious group reader posted that while browsing the Library of Congress, he discovered that the song is copyright-registered under the title of "11." o B9. "What is that on the front cover of 'Chronic Town'?" The Spitting Gargoyle of Notre Dame Cathedral, in Paris. o B10. "Whose half-face is on Lifes Rich Pageant?" Bill Berry's. Gruesome makeup and photography courtesy Stipe. o B11. "The spine title of my copy of _Fables_ is _Reconstruction of the Fables_, not the other way around! Do I have a limited ed. or something? Alas, no. It's neither a misprint, nor rare, and the "two" titles indeed refer to one and the same album. The "real" title of the album is circular, you might say ("Fables of the Reconstruction of the Fables of the Reconstruction of ... [ad nauseam]"). You'll notice that on one side of the CD booklet, it says "Fables of the" and on the other side it says "Reconstruction of the." You can flip the booklet and use either cover you wish. The spine of the CD says "Reconstruction of the Fables," whereas the face of the disc itself says "Fables of the Reconstruction," but with "Reconstruction" printed upside-down, and "of the" printed vertically, it can be read either way. (However, note that the newer European reissue discs just have "Fables of the Reconstruction") Anyway, it's a play on words, like much of Stipe's genius. Does it mean "tales about the post-Civil War period in American history," or does it mean "putting back together those tales of old in our own weird way"...? It all depends on which way you show the cover. o B12. "Who is that on the cover of Document?" Michael Stipe, hiding behind a camera. Note there are several images superimposed over each other at different angles. The car is a black Checker Marathon (the kind of car most cabs used to be) which Michael used to drive. o B13. "On the _Reckoning_ liner, it says 'Help Carl Grasso.' Who was he?" Carl Grasso was reportedly the art director (or product manager) for IRS back then; supposedly the band used to drive him nuts with what they would and wouldn't allow on the album covers. Note that he is also credited for album design on _Murmur_. C. THOSE DARN LYRICS; AND OTHER MUSIC-RELATED QUESTIONS o C1. "What are the words to the chorus of 'Sitting Still?'" A few years ago, Michael Stipe claimed in a Rolling Stone interview that the chorus begins "Up to par, Katie bars the kitchen door but not me in." Careful listening, however, leaves some listeners dubious about "door" at least. Check the lyrics file for the best guesses of long- time newsgroup readers, but let's face it -- even he doesn't know! In an AOL posting he made regarding this song Stipe said, "Sit. still -- come on now, that is an embarrassing collection of vowels that i strung together some 400 yrs ago! Basically nonsense... 'Katie bar the kitchen door' is a southern term that meant you better watch out." o C2. "How exactly do you people think Michael Stipe could have written lyrics for some songs on Murmur, Reckoning, etc. without having specific words in mind? He is often quoted as saying 'the earlier songs don't have lyrics _per se_.' How does he do that? Seems ridiculous, but at the same time... witty." Chris Piuma suggested, on r.m.r: "Take a song that you like but can remember only a few lines to. Now, while not listening to it, sing it. Most people either sing 'la la la doo doo doo' or they start making up nonsense words. (Don't sing 'something-something.') Now record yourself doing this. Write down what you sang. It will probably come out as more or less meaningless stuff that revolves around that line you did know. OK, now take your lyrics and edit them so that they fit the song (syllable-wise) and so that the words make sense and the sentences make an odd sense but the paragraphs make no sense. Then, when you sing the words, distort them into sounds which might seem like completly different words. Use this process as an editing tool." "Voila! You soon have a lyric that isn't a lyric per se." No one is saying this exactly how Stipe created his early lyrics (or versions one hears on live tapes from early shows), but it's an example of how this sort of thing could evolve. (Note that this speculation does not extend to lyrics for Document and beyond, whose enunciation on the album and denotative meaning are obviously more clear and deliberate.) R.E.M. lyrics (or at least our collective best guesses) are available via WWW at , , or from the infamous lyrics archives at cs.uwp.edu (or its mirror sites). o C3. "What the heck is the chorus of 'The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight'?" Well, it's *not* "Call me in Jamaica," or even "Only in Chalawaika." The chorus is "Call when you try to wake her up, call when you try to wake her." (Stipe's alternate version related on AOL was "Call me if you try to wake her up.") o C4. "What is that weird sound/voice at the beginning of 'Superman'?" It's reputed to be the sound that occurs when you pull the string on a certain talking Japanese Godzilla doll. (Translated: "This is a special news report. Godzilla has been sighted in Tokyo Bay. The attack on it by the Self-Defense Force has been useless. He is heading towards the city. Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh....") o C5. "What do the lyrics to 'What's the Frequency, Kenneth?' mean?" Stipe was quoted in several interviews at the time of _Monster_'s release as saying it is written from the perspective of a person who's getting older trying to understand current youth culture. Note that the lyric (printed inside) contains a quote from Richard Linklater, director of the film _Slacker_: "Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy" -- a rebuttal of sorts to those of older generations who would claim that Generation Xers, or "slackers," are merely spoiled, lazy brats. (This line of argument would say that "slackers" have *chosen* to exclude themselves from mainstream society as a protest against its empty values.) It has also been noted that the "shirt of violent green" mentioned in the lyric may by a reference to a Spider Robinson short story entitled "Lady Slings the Booze," which also makes use of the phrase "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" o C6. "What is the connection between 'WTF,K?' and Dan Rather?" The title of the song itself, it needs to be explained, refers indirectly to the incident in Oct. 1986 in which Dan Rather, anchor for C.B.S.'s network news broadcast, was attacked by two unknown men in the street in New York City wearing suits and sunglasses. The men kept asking Rather "What is the frequency?" and called him "Kenneth" while they shoved and accosted him; to date the incident has never been explained completely (though some have theorized that "Kenneth" might be Ken Schafer, an electronics expert with whom Rather had worked in connection with Soviet TV broadcasts). Since the incident, "What's the frequency?" and calling a clueless person a "kenneth" have become a trendy youth culture catch-phrases (which is probably, why Stipe wanted to use it, rather than an interest in Rather). Please note that the supposed reference to Rather and CBS news in the "Ignoreland" lyric was incorrect, so there is *no* tie-in that we know of between the two songs regarding the newsanchor. Mr. Rather, meanwhile, has taken the "tribute" in good spirits and has been quoted as saying he has always liked R.E.M., that he owns the _Monster_ CD, and suggested jokingly that the band's name really stands for "Rather's Excellent Musicians," before proceeding to sing the chorus of "It's the End of the World As We Know It," during his recent Letterman appearance! Also note in passing that the album _Lolita Nation_ by Game Theory, released in 1987 and produced by Mitch Easter (there's another R.E.M. connection) contains a similarly titled song: "Kenneth -- What's the Frequency?"; WTF,K? is not a cover of that, of course -- the resemblance pretty much stops at the title. Other newsgroup readers here have noted that the phrase may also have popped up in the movie "The Conversation" and in Dan Clowes' comic "Eightball". o C7. "Who is Michael Stipe referring to in the song 'Can't Get There from Here,' in the lines, 'Brother Ray can sing my song,' and the last line, 'Thank you, Ray'?" In _It Crawled..._ Bill Berry and Peter Buck are quoted discussing this song, which they refer to as a "jazz ballad." Bill says, "We wanted to get an Otis [Redding] sound on that one," and Peter elaborates, "It's like a tongue-in-cheek tribute to Ray Charles and James Brown and all the great Georgia music giants." Given these quotes, a probable answer is "Ray Charles." (Remember too that Michael Stipe often cites, among his musical influences, singers whose records were in his parents' record collection when he was young, like Elvis, Henry Mancini, and possibly Ray Charles.) o C8. "Where did Stipe get the words in 'Voice of Harold' (from _Dead Letter Office_)?" Stipe used the liner notes to a gospel album in the studio during the recording of _Reckoning_ with the same backing music track as "Seven Chinese Brothers." See the .gif files of the front and back covers of the album on the WWW Home Page for more information about the text of the album (there is also a text trascription for those without graphics). This graphic file and transcribed text were obtained from a photocopy of the actual album still in the possession of Reflection Studios where the song was recorded. If you are familiar with the lyrics, you can now see that Stipe didn't sing the entire text, and what he did sing wasn't always in sequence. o C9. "Who is 'Monty' in 'Monty Got a Raw Deal' on _AfTP_?" Montgomery Clift, actor. He was considered to be one of the most handsome movie stars ever in Hollywood at his prime, though he lost much of those looks in a car accident His films included "Raintree County," "A Place in the Sun," and "The Misfits." He died fairly young due to depression and alcohol abuse. A biography of Clift, written by Robert Laguardia, was published in 1977. Answers to questions about other real people mentioned in R.E.M. lyrics can be found in the document, "Real People Mentioned in REM Songs, v.1.1 2/26/95" researched by Gary Nabors and recently posted to the group (email rgh3@cornell.edu for a copy if you missed it). o C10. "Who speaks during the break in 'Exhuming McCarthy'?" From Marcus Gray's _It Crawled From The South_: "...the spoken-word middle eight, lifted from a McCarthy documentary the band watched during the album's mixing stage. The film, _Point of Order_, takes as its climax a key moment during the televised army-McCarthy hearings of 1954 (the Senator was engaged in trying to root out subversives in the armed forces). "On June 9th, McCarthy repeatedly tried to ruin, by associating him with a left wing group, a young law associate of the Army counsel Joseph N. Welch. The associate was not involved in the hearings, and Welch replied to McCarthy's irrelevant and spiteful harangues thus: 'Let us not assassinate this lad further, Senator. You have done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir? At long last, have you no sense of decency?'" o C11. "What does the title of 'Green Grow the Rushes' refer to?" It may refer to the poem, "Green Grow The Rashes," by the Scottish poet Robert Burns (1759-1796), whose opening verse reads, Green grow the rashes, O; Green grow the rashes, O; The sweetest hours that e'er I spend, Are spent among the lasses, O! It has been noted that Burns' was but one of many variations of a then-popular lyric by this name, many of them bawdy, and most sung by workers or soldiers to while away the hours. A historically- unconfirmed story says that immigrants to the New World from the British Isles were especially fond of the song (their "finest worksong"?), and to the Spanish born population the Anglo- Americans who sang this work song became known as "greengrows" (later shortened to "gringos"). Since Stipe has been quoted as saying the song concerns American exploitation of migrant (Mexican) workers by U.S. corporations, one might speculate he had some or all of these possibilities in mind. o C12. "What is the snippet of music heard on some versions of Reckoning, but which is not on current CD recordings of the album?" The snippet in question is at the end, after "Little America" on early versions of the LP pressing of Reckoning. This is not referring to the intro to "Rockville", but instead a somewhat abstract sequence which fades in, lasts about ten seconds, then fades out, and it has vocals with no discernable lyrics. Mitch Easter called this studio outtake "found art", and it was drawn out and edited by Mitch and Don Dixon at Reflection Studios. (For those who have the R.E.M. _Succumbs_ video collection, it plays during the clip before "Left of Reckoning" that depicts a person trying to walk through a hurricane rain storm.) o C13. "What is that song 'Photograph' that Michael Stipe sings, and why wasn't it on an R.E.M. album?" The compilation "Born to Choose" CD features, among other things, the track "Photograph," co-written and performed by R.E.M. and Natalie Merchant. The album was put together to raise funds for the non-profit organization NARAL (the National Abortion Rights Action League). o C14. "What is that song where Michael Stipe sings 'You were in my dream'?" Stipe sang background vocals for the song, "Your Ghost," which appears on the recent solo album _Hips & Makers_ (Sire/4AD) by Throwing Muses' lead vocalist Kristin Hersh. o C15. "What is the R.E.M. song with the line 'First we take Manhattan, then we take Berlin...'?" This is a cover of the Leonard Cohen song "First We Take Manhattan," which first appeared on the Cohen tribute album _I'm Your Fan_ and later appeared as a b-side on a single for "Drive" (see the disco- graphy for more details about releases). o C16. "Has Michael Stipe done a duet with Tori Amos?" Amos was quoted as saying, '...we're talking about doing a duet for a film called 'Don Juan de Marco and the Centerfold.'" (Rolling Stone #691, p. 20). News reports indicated, first, that the song (entitled "It Might Hurt a Little Bit") was not included because Ms. Amos was unhappy with some of the other cuts on the album, and then that it wasn't included because the producers of the movie had dropped it in favor of a more marketable Bryan Adams song. Later, it was reported that that the cut would appear on a soundtrack album for a new film called "Empire Records" sometime late in July (but it did not), and then that it would be on the soundtrack for the Winona Ryder film "How to Make an American Quilt" (which it was not). As of this writing, sometime after the release of Amos' _Boys for Pele_ album, it is still not clear if the song will be released (one might do well to keep an eye out for it on the many Tori Amos b-sides and EP releases). o C17. "In 'Country Feedback," what is 'Est' in the line, 'Self help, self pain, EST, psychics, fuck all'? Are they referring to electro-shock therapy?" No. Electro-Shock Therapy, usually called Electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) is not pronounced like a word, but is pronounced as separate letters ("E-C-T" rather than "est"). The Est in "Country Feedback" is probably the self-assertiveness encounter therapy called EST, which stood for "Erhard Sensitivity Training". A man, Werner Erhard, in the seventies, concocted weekend "self-improvement" seminars to make people "tougher" and more "responsible." He made tons of money by locking large groups of future yuppies in Holiday Inn convention rooms, yelling at them a lot, and refusing to let them leave, even to go to the bathroom. o C18. "Where is Rockville, in '(Don't Go Back to) Rockville'?" From the book _Remarks, The Story of R.E.M._ by Tony Fletcher: "Mike Mills too was improving [his songwriting]. He wrote a plea to ... a new girl in Athens who had been making a big impact on all the boys, begging her not to spend the summer of '80 in Maryland. 'Don't Go Back To Rockville', with its memorable chorus and frantic pacing, became an instant live favorite." o C19. "What does the term 'Star 69' refer to, in the song of that name on _Monster_?" For those who don't have the service in their area, many phone companies now offer a service that allows one to dial directly back to the number from which your most recent incoming caller dialed. The sequence of buttons to activate this service is "* - 6 - 9", and some of the phone companies offering the service just call it "Star 69," while others just refer to it as "Last Number Callback" or something similar. It presumably was developed to allow people to more easily track down the perpetrators of prank, obscene, telemarketing, and other types of harassing calls, as well as to allow you to recontact someone who has called you, whose number you don't have, and from whom you might have accidentally been disconnected. o C20. "Who was Andy Kaufman and why does Michael Stipe sing about him in 'Man on the Moon'?" Andy Kaufman was a celebrated conceptual comedian from the 1970's who, while most popularly known for his role on the sitcom "Taxi," also became well-known in his stand-up comedy routines for a performance-art style of character creation, audience manipulation, and general strangeness. His act was as much an indirect commentary on the act of performing itself (which would obviously interest Michael Stipe) and perhaps even the act of believing in something, or reality, itself (which seems to be what 'MotM' is largely about). More information on Kaufman can be found on the web at URL . D. QUESTIONS ON R.E.M.'s LIVE PERFORMANCES o D1. "What is all this talk about Bingo Hand Job? Who are they?" Bingo Hand Job was the name that R.E.M. went under when they played two "secret" gigs at a club called The Borderline around the time of the release of Out Of Time. There are a few tapes of the shows floating around, and since everyone wants a copy, Bingo Hand Job gets brought up a lot. o D2. "Who is Peter Holsapple -- is/was he a member of R.E.M.?" Peter Holsapple was the unofficial "fifth member" of the band during the Green tour and the promotional tour for Out Of Time. At last report, Peter was in The Continental Drifters, along with ex-Bangle Vicki Peterson and singer Susan Cowsill. Peter, Vicki, and Susan opened the Go-Go's shows in L.A., with two others, billed as "Psycho Sisters." He was also a member of the band the dB's. o D3. "What is the name of that song in _Tourfilm_ that goes 'Hey man I'm making moves, and I am so much stronger than you...'?" Michael is singing the first verse of "Future 40's (String of Pearls)". It was a duet that Michael sang with Syd Straw (ex-Golden Palominos) on her solo album _Surprise_. o D4. "What about the one that goes 'If we close the door, the night could last forever...'?" That's "The After Hours", a Velvet Underground original. o D5. "What about the other one that goes 'We live as we dream alone, To break the spell, we mix with the others...'" Originally by the Gang of Four, that is "We Live As We Dream, Alone." o D6. "And what about the acapella thing JMS sings that begins, 'Evenin' a-comin' soon....' done before 'I Believe' in some shows?" That is the beginning of "Harpers" by Hugo Largo, from their album _Drum_, which Stipe both produced and performed on. o D7. "I heard this version of U2's song 'One' with Michael Stipe singing. What was that all about?" Michael Stipe and Mike Mills, along with U2's Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr., appeared at the Inaugural Festivities in January, 1993 under the name Automatic Baby, performing U2's "One". Michael Stipe also performed that evening with the 10,000 Maniacs on the numbers "Candy Everybody Wants" and "To Sir With Love." o D8. "And what about that song on 'MTV Unplugged' which Mike Mills sings, that goes, 'Love is all around us...'?" It is a cover of the Troggs' song, "Love Is All Around." Note that the group Wet Wet Wet recently did a cover of the tune as well. It can be found on the CD single: Radio Song (Tower Of Luv Bug Mix)/Love Is All Around (Live Acoustic)/Belong (Live) [Warner Brothers 9-40229-2 (CD) November 1991 (US)], as well as bootleg recordings of the MTV Unplugged appearance. o D9. "What is that thing in Michael Stipe's ear, a hearing aid -- is he going deaf or something?" Stipe, like many other performers, wears an earpiece monitor when the band performs live on stage. It is an earphone connected to the mixing board, and allows him to hear himself singing, and is analogous to the small angled loudspeakers you see on stage in front of the other musicians. In a large amphitheater filled with very loud noise, one can well imagine how easy it would be for the singer to get drowned out and not be able to hear him or herself, and this earpiece monitor helps prevent that. o D10. "So what *are* all the songs by other artists which R.E.M. has recorded?" On _official_ releases, the following songs have been covered. Song Original Artist _____________________________________________________________ (All I Have To Do Is) Dream Everly Brothers Academy Fight Song Mission of Burma After Hours Velvet Underground Arms of Love Robin Hitchcock Baby, Baby The Vibrators Christmas Time is Here The Vince Guaraldi Trio Crazy Pylon Dark Globe Syd Barrett Deck the Halls (traditional) Femme Fatale Velvet Underground First We Take Manhattan Leonard Cohen Funtime Iggy Pop (co-written w/ David Bowie) (Ghost) Reindeer in the Sky The Outlaws, (orig. "Ghost Riders...") Ghostrider Suicide Good King Wenceslas (traditional) I Walked With a Zombie Roky Erikson King of the Road Roger Miller Last Date Floyd Cramer Love is All Around The Troggs Moon River Jerry Butler Pale Blue Eyes Velvet Underground Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (Tchaikovsky, orig. "March of...") See No Evil Television Sex Bomb Flipper Silver Bells (writer Jay Livingston/Ray Evans) Skin Tight Ohio Players Strange Wire Summertime (writer Gershwin) Superman The Clique The Lion Sleeps Tonight (trad.; made popular by The Weavers) There She Goes Again Velvet Underground Tighten Up Archie Bell and the Drells Tom's Diner Susanne Vega Toyland (writer Glen MacDonough & Victor Herbert) Toys in the Attic Aerosmith Where's Captain Kirk? Athletico Spizz Of course, those with recordings of R.E.M.'s live shows know that the band has performed covers of even more songs than this; browsing the Bootleg Discography will give you an idea of some of these (see Net Resources to find out how to obtain this file). ===================================================================== = Part 5. Those Evil "Favorite Song" Posts.... Poll-type threads come up every so often, mostly initiated by new subscribers who want instant feedback on their own opinions about albums and songs. Before asking a general question like: o "What's everyone's favorite song/album?" PLEASE be aware that asking everyone on the group to post what their favorite song, or album, or favorite five songs, or favorite two albums, or favorite combination of video and song, or favorite song R.E.M. has covered, etc., etc., is considered poor netiquette. Hundreds to thousands of people read this newsgroup every day, and we don't want a post from each and every one of them! Besides the fact that the posts will get incredibly boring after about the tenth respondent, no one can remember what everyone has said, and in the end it's rather pointless. If for some reason you just HAVE to know what the entire group's consensus is on something, be a good net-citizen and please ask people to email to YOU all responses, and then YOU compile the results into a single, neat informational post that will actually mean something to everyone. For example: Eric Misiano recently posted the following poll results from responses he received from a post asking for favorite song and album. BEST SONG (Top 20) RANK TITLE TOTAL ---------------------------------------------- 1. Find the River 317 2. Nightswimming 270 3. I Believe 267 4. Losing My Religion 243 5. So. Central Rain 212 6. Country Feedback 187 7. It's the End of the World 185 8. Perfect Circle 172 9. Fall on Me 162 World Leader Pretend 162 11. These Days 125 12. Driver 8 114 13. Radio Free Europe 107 14. Man on the Moon 95 15. Half a World Away 82 You Are the Everything 82 17. Low 80 Swan Swan H 80 19. The One I Love 79 20. Life & How to Live It 75 Orange Crush 75 Wolves, Lower 75 ----------------------------------------------- BEST ALBUM RANK TITLE TOTAL ------------------------------------------------ 1. Lifes Rich Pageant 825 2. Automatic For the People 754 3. Fables of the Reconstruction 356 4. Murmur 387 5. Document 423 6. Out of Time 683 7. Reckoning 329 8. Monster 196 9. Green 398 10. Chronic Town 200 11. Dead Letter Office 49 ------------------------------------------------- If you have any questions about this poll, please contact Eric directly via email at emisiano@diamond.tufts.edu. ===================================================================== === Part 6. Where To Get More Information about R.E.M. (Books) Several books have been published about R.E.M. The best of them are listed below, with a brief description and some bibliographical information. If your local bookstore does not carry a title you want, you should ask them to special order it, and provide them with the publisher and ISBN information included below. REMnants - The R.E.M. Collector's Handbook and Price Guide, by Gary Nabors. A list of over 1200 collectible R.E.M. items fully described and valued, plus a 29 page interview with Peter. A must for the die-hard R.E.M. collector. (Eclipse Publishers, 261 pages, ISBN 0963624148.) It Crawled From The South: An R.E.M. Companion, by Marcus Gray This is THE book for the hardcore fan. Some might even go so far as to say to read this *and* REMnants cover to cover before posting to rec.music.rem! This book is considerably more in-depth than REMarks. Note that the second edition is not due to come out for at least another year and a half. (DaCapo Books, 1993, ISBN 0306805006.) REMarks: The Story of R.E.M., by Tony Fletcher. Second ed. of the first bio to appear. A pretty complete compilation of all the well-known info about the band, with lots of pretty pictures. Probably the best bio for the casual fan. (London : Omnibus, 1993. 159 p. ISBN 0711932212 (pbk), 0711932212 (cloth).) R.E.M.: Behind the Mask, by Jim Greer. A pretty hardcover coffee table book written by a writer from SPIN. The author pretty much re-wrote REMarks, replacing fact with his own opinions. (Little Brown, 1992, ISBN 0316327301.) Party Out Of Bounds, by Rodger Lyle Brown. A book about the early (and mostly pre-REM) Athens music scene. Marcus Gray (author of It Crawled From the South) called it "entertaining." (Out of Print as of this writing.) R.E.M. File Under Water, by John Story. An update of "A Few Chords and A Cloud of Dust", a complete discography, bootleg list, etc published a while back by Total Recall Productions. (Imaginary Books, ISBN 1-897787-00-6) Talk About the Passion, by Denise Sullivan. Interviews with various folks about the band over the years. (Charles F. Miller Books, 1994, ISBN 0-88733-184-X.) REM: The "Rolling Stone" Files: The Ultimate Compendium of Interviews, Articles, Facts & Opinions from the Files "Rolling Stone". (Hyperion/ Little Brown, 1995, 320p., ISBN 0786880546, $14.95 retail price) There have also been some cheap biographies of the band put out by various publishers to be sold in music stores that all rehash material from the primary sources listed above. ===================================================================== = Part 7. R.E.M. On Video Almost all R.E.M. videos are available on the full-length video releases. These are: R.E.M. Succumbs (Murmur through Lifes Rich Pageant) Pop Screen (Document and Green) Tourfilm (Green World Tour) This Film is On (Out Of Time) Parallel (Automatic for the People and Monster) All these videocassetes/videodiscs are in print and can probably be found in your local hip music video emporium even as you read this. Many stores will also be willing to special order a title for you if they do not have it in stock, so don't be shy about asking. The four older videos not on these compilations are "Wolves, Lower," "(All I've Got To Do Is) Dream" and "Swan Swan H" from the "Athens, Ga, Inside/Out" soundtrack (all scenes from the film, which is available on video), and the MTV version of "Radio Free Europe" (music is the same, but this version of the clip contains snippets of live footage interspersed with the regular video.) Since the release of _Parallel_ on 5/30/95, the band has put out a video for the song "Tongue"; it is not known if this will be included on some future compilation or not. Other R.E.M. related videotapes are: the previously-mentioned _Athens, GA - Inside/Out_ documentary on the Athens, GA music scene, and _Arena Brains_ a short film by Robert Longo featuring Michael Stipe's acting debut (!). More recent documentaries of the band during the Monster World Tour are _Rough Cut_, which has been shown on MTV and PBS, and the forthcoming _Roadmovie_, set to be released about the same time as _New Adventures in Hi-Fi_. ===================================================================== === Part 8. Resources Available On the Internet 1. Listed by Access Method: Usenet - What rec.music.rem is on. Other newsgroups that might be of interest to r.m.r regulars include: alt.music.alternative (very busy group, be forewarned!); alt.music.alternative.female (for all the R.E.M. fans also fans of Indigo Girls and 10,000 Maniacs' Natalie Merchant); alt.guitar.tab or rec.music.makers.* (several groups where you might find R.E.M.'s music worked out by others). - Non-rec.music.rem Usenet resources. Brian Edmonds' "ALT.MUSIC GROUP" posting describes how to find Usenet groups and mailing lists for other musical groups. To get his list of newsgroup "alt" group names and descriptions: o http://www.cs.ubc.ca/spider/edmonds/usenet/alt-music.html o http://server.berkeley.edu/~ayukawa/lomml.html Indiana University also maintains a searchable archive of over 9000 mailing lists. It is accessible on the web at: o http://scwww.ucs.indiana.edu/mlarchive/ (Excerpted from: The alt.music Group List.) Email mailing list (reflector or digest) With the demise of the MURMUR list, there currently exists no general email forum to which you can subscribe to discuss R.E.M. The previous mailing list organizer may be able to provide a list of former subscribers to Murmur should someone really be interested in picking the job up. There are, however, a couple of lists dedicated to individual members of the band, and for info on them you should check out the following sites: Mike Mills (OIC3MH) Michael Stipe (Mumbles Lovers Anonymous) WWW - R.E.M. Home Page Use a World Wide Web browser (Netscape, MS Exploreer, Mosaic, Lynx, etc.) to access this site. Includes an assortment of R.E.M. material and hypertext links to other resources. Maintained by Jason Zimberoff (zim@svs.com). - Kipp Teague's Lyrics Site . Allows one to choose albums and songs to view various lyrics, very nicely set up. Same text as the Fables email lyrics archive, which Kipp also maintains. - Some other WWW sites as of this writing are: (Record label's _Monster_ promotional site. Semi-useful at best.) (Chords and tabs.) (.gifs and lyrics.) (Bootleg info.) (Concert reviews.) (On-line magazine "Addicted to Noise" which had a major article on R.E.M. in issue 1.02 and has had a number of other minor articles and news items since.) (Go here to find all the best in R.E.M. links.) File Server - fables@lynchburg.edu Send the command "LIST" to "fables@lynchburg.edu" for a list of all files, including lyrics, magazine and newspaper articles and more, available via E-mail from the fables file server. See also Kipp's interactive Web site (under WWW, above) which accesses these same lyrics. 2. Listed by Particular Item Lyrics: Kipp Teague periodically posts the current versions of the group's collaborative lyrics files. Those who use a Web browser will want to access these lyrics through . The R.E.M. Home Page also provides access to the most recent versions of the lyrics as well, through the URL . The Great Bootleg List: The bootleg discography is maintained by Jason Zimberloff at . A version with inline images of the boot cover art is at . The text version was last revised on 10/95 and is maintained by David DeWolfe . Chords / Guitar Tablature files: Chris Bray has set up his own R.E.M. WWW site for lyrics with guitar chords, at . If you are at all interested in learning how to play R.E.M. songs on the guitar, this is THE place for you to visit. Discography: Get this from the R.E.M. Home Page at . Maintained by Gary Huested . Pictures (.GIF and .JPEG graphics files) Can be found through the R.E.M. WWW Home Page, or by anon FTP at cs.uwp.edu:pub/music/artists/r/rem/pictures. NOTE: There may be other REM related files at svs.com or cs.uwp.edu not mentioned here. There are also new Web sites with links to R.E.M. materials cropping up all the time. Scout around! ===================================================================== === Part 9. A Primer on R.E.M. Bootlegs Bootlegged recordings of R.E.M. concerts, and early demo versions of songs from their albums, are widely available; comparisons have been made between R.E.M. fandom and Deadheads on the basis of their shared appetite for live recordings of their respective favorite band. Remember that these recordings are, strictly speaking, illegal, and are therefore not available in retail record outlets. So if you want to get hold of some, here are some ways to go about it: 1. Go look in USED record and CD stores. Some used stores won't deal in boots, but many others do. If you live in or near a big city (they tend to be harder to find in small-town used stores), take a field trip and dig, dig, dig. Many older bootlegs are only on vinyl, but there are a lot of new ones on CD. Some stores also sell multiple-generation taped copies of random shows, which don't sound as good, but are much cheaper. 2. Go to record shows. Many dealers will sell recordings of questionable legality and origin. You pay your money and you take your chances! 3. Mail order. _Goldmine_ magazine as extensive advertisements from people who deal in bootlegs. You may want to ask other group readers about particular dealers before sending off your money, since many of them aren't too reliable. From some people's experience, Midnight Records (out of NYC) is a legitimate record store that has a very good mail order department, as is Minus Zero Records at 2 Blenheim Crescent in London. They both are reputed to have great selections selection. 4. Trade. If you see someone talking about a boot they have that interests you, ask that person politely if they are willing to trade. Some people will send you a copy in exchange for cash to cover postage and the cassette, while others will only want to exchange for some other recording of something that they want (in which case, if you don't have what they're looking for, they won't be interested in trading with you). But this person-to-person trading is probably the best way to acquire boots since you're dealing with a private individual instead of a store or company of questionable morals. Make sure you come to a solid agreement before you send off tapes or cash! Many flame wars get started over a misunderstanding about terms or time frame for getting the recordings done and mailed back (some people will get it done in a week, others may take a couple months). You may find that if offer some bootleg or compilation tape of rare songs to the entire net, you will be SWAMPED with requests for it. Be aware of this, if you don't get a kick out of making dozens and dozens of copies of a single tape -- remember, many THOUSANDS of people read rec. music.rem each day. Sometimes people will offer to make a finite number of copies for the first N people who reply, or will ask for a particular type of recording in trade, to reduce the number of responses. In Summary Bear in mind that buying bootlegs is usually expensive. Vinyl boots used to go for least US $10 per LP disk, and now, in "vintage record" shops, may cost more than twice that. CD boots run about US $20-30 per disc. However, making the investment of buying a good quality CD boot means you can tape and trade copies of it for other things, and your collection can therefore grow pretty quickly. Because the sound quality of bootlegs varies widely, if you are considering buying or ordering a bootleg, watch the list for discussions on which ones you want, or ask about the sound quality (it would appear that most of the common boots are owned by at least a few readers) before shelling out the cash. The Great Bootleg Discography (see the "Net Resources" section of the FAQ for info on how to get this) has descriptions, ratings, and setlists for just about every bootleg that has been released on LP and CD. Boots taken from radio broadcasts of concerts are usually good quality soundboard recordings, though are often very widely available under multiple titles -- so be careful you don't inadvertently duplicate a show you already own. Audience recordings, meanwhile, are generally of grab-bag quality and often aren't really worth the effort unless the sound turned out okay, the people around the person making the recording kept their mouths shut (yeah, sure, you wanted a tape of Joe Shmoe's drunk buddy singing along at the top of his lungs to "Losing My Religion"!) or if the show itself was particularly significant (like the pre-Murmur shows, most notably _So Much Younger Then_). ===================================================================== = Finally, A Word About Posting Scurrilous Rumors Don't expect anyone to believe a rumor you've heard unless you can back it up with concrete evidence. "My best friend said so," is NOT enough. If you hear something that you'd like to try to confirm, please specify that it is a rumor and not a fact, and take your chances (in other words, you might still get flamed). But bear in mind nearly all gossip about a celebrity (especially about Michael Stipe, who in R.E.M. seems to be the rumor magnet) is only innuendo. ===================================================================== = Acknowledgments This file is not the sole product of the current author/maintainer, Ron Henry (rgh3@cornell.edu); much of it is a collaborative effort by many diligent and creative folks who respect R.E.M. Many thanks to the numerous newsgroup and mailing list members past and present who have offered information, corrections and criticism to the contents of this FAQ (you may or may not know who you are! ;) Special thanks go to Kipp Teague, a long-time maintainer of this document, and to Valerie Ohm, original list manager at M.I.T. and original author of some of this text. Permission is given to quote and reproduce this text provided that you credit the source ("R.E.M. and rec.music.rem FAQ" with date) and provided that you *do not make any attempt to pass off the text as your own work.* Not only will that piss people off, but it's really bad karma (you'll be coming back as a cockroach that meets its end in my Roach Motel, perhaps). Further suggestions are always welcome (email to rgh3@cornell.edu). Keep those virtual cards and letters coming! ===================================================================== == --=====================_839639769==_ Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" --- Ron Henry / rgh3@cornell.edu --=====================_839639769==_--