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Part 2. Some Basic Information About The Band R.E.M.

Since late 1997, the band members are Peter Buck (guitar and other stringed instruments), Mike Mills (bass, keyboards, and vocals) and Michael Stipe (vocals). Until late 1997, the band included Bill Berry (percussion, backing vocals). Other folks of note have included Bertis Downs IV (the band's lawyer), and Scott Litt (producer of their albums from Document to New Adventures). Prior to 1996 the band's manager was Jefferson Holt.

Albums to date:

Compilations and Original Soundtracks:

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.

Release dates and chart positions of R.E.M.'s albums and singles.

Part 3. The FAQ Proper

A. GENERAL QUESTIONS

o A1. "How do I join the official fan club? Is it worth it?"

Write to: R.E.M., PO Box 8032, Athens, GA 30603. The yearly cost is US$10; $12 if joining from overseas. It's probably best to pay with an International Money Order or bank check from overseas; you take your chances sending cash through the mail, unless it is carefully disguised within the envelope. You have to actively renew every year. For more information, see the band's web site.

o A2. "What does the 'J' in J. M. Stipe stand for?"

John. It's never been explained in interviews why he goes by his middle name; likely, he just prefers the name Michael to John.

Much biographical information on the band members' full names, birthdays, home towns, childhood, and educational backgrounds is covered in detail in the book It Crawled from the South by Marcus Gray.

o A3. "Who writes the songs in R.E.M?"

It's a general rule that Mills and Buck compose the majority of the instrumental parts for R.E.M. songs, and that Stipe writes almost all of the lyrics and develops most of the melodies for the lyrics — however, like any rule, there are plenty of exceptions to this one.

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 necessarily. The story related by Peter Buck on the band's early 1983 Late Night with David Letterman 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!" or "I think ["Stand," "Shiny Happy People", etc.] is terrible/great!" or "I hate/love [Monster, Out of Time, Murmur, etc.]!!!!!"

"Fables rules/sucks" is an old, tired flame war from the mailing list days. Remember, some people are going to hate a particular work, while other people will love it, and still others remain indifferent.  It's a good example of a non-topic that dragged on and on and never really did anything but piss people off.

Frankly, any simplistic opinion about a song, album or video that does not elaborate in support of its stated 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.

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 posted comments, and answered fans' questions, via an America On Line account "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, see the complete text of Stipe's net postings. Also, Bill and Mari Berry have posted from a Prodigy account, and Peter Buck appeared on an on-line Q & A session on AOL. (The FAQ site does not have transcripts of those materials, however.

In late 1995 Stipe posted the lyrics to "Tongue" directly to rec.music.rem using the AOL account, wished Happy Holidays to the group, responded sarcastically to a post commenting on his sexuality, and thanked a poster for defending the band from an accusation that the band had sold out. Most recently, Stipe was on-line again in Nov. 1996 on the AOL Webstock forum.

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. "Is Michael Stipe gay?"

Stipe maintains that he dislikes labels such as "heterosexual," "homosexual," "gay," or "bisexual".  In Q magazine, Stipe said, "Am I queer? Absolutely. I have enjoyed sex with men and women throughout my life."  Please be aware that asking about Michael Stipe's sexuality on rec.music.rem is possibly going to anger people tired of prurient questions about band members' personal lives.

o A8. "A friend told me that Michael Stipe is HIV positive! Is this true? Has anyone else heard this?"

No. There is nothing to substantiate this rumor, and comments suggesting that Stipe's thinness is due to HIV are considered offensive by many newsgroup regulars.

o A9. "Who 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."

Opinions about the project vary greatly: some saw it as a mediocre knock-off of some blues standards that should not have been released, others as a fun romp for the instrumental 3/4 of R.E.M.  Note that the album is out of print, as of 2001.

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 featuring 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 was 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.)

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 getting drunk one night of the Work Tour (during which the Maniacs opened); when he stumbled back to his hotel and found a room assigned to "Buck," he got into the bed 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 (and her tattoos) between songs during the Reconstruction Tour. Gray does not provide her last name, probably to protect her privacy.

o A15. "What is the tattoo 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 Herriman, 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 http://www.krazy.com/coconino.htm which explains the comic better than I have -- I suggest surfing over there if you're interested.

o A16. "Did Michael Stipe work on a project with Kurt Cobain before Cobain's death? Do R.E.M. own one of Cobain's guitars? Is the song 'Let Me In' on _Monster_ about Kurt?"

While many people would have looked forward to such a project and have hoped something had been accomplished before the Nirvana singer's untimely suicide, according to Stipe they had only traded correspondence about such a project and nothing was composed or recorded. One of the ironic tragedies of Cobain's final months was his expression of admiration for the way R.E.M. had handled their superstardom, though, as Stipe pointed out, they were lucky it took years for them to reach the point and learn to adapt to the strain of the media spotlight. In Rolling Stone, Cobain said: "I know we're gonna put out one more record, at least, and I have a pretty good idea what it's going to sound like: pretty ethereal, acoustic, like R.E.M.'s last album [Automatic for the People]. If I could write just a couple of songs as good as what they've written... I don't know how that band does what they do. God, they're the greatest. They've dealt with their success like saints, and they keep delivering great music." (Jan. 27,1994.)

After Cobain's death, Courtney Love gave R.E.M. one of Kurt's guitars, which they used when recording the song "Let Me In" — the lyrics to which are about Kurt. Kurt had Fender make him a custom guitar, a combination of a Mustang and a Jaguar. He got this for the final Nirvana tour of late 93/early 94. He used it only a few times, as he was never satisfied with it. It was left-handed, sonic blue, with a pearloid pick guard. Kurt never smashed it, and rarely even played it. Since Mike Mills (who plays the guitar part on "Let Me In") is right-handed, they had to string the guitar righty. The guitar looks odd upside-down, but it didn't really look very good right-side-up, either (Kurt's original conception on the guitar was a lot better).   (Thanks to Chris Lawrence for this paragraph.)

o A17. "I have seen Mike Mills' name recently as an artist and as member of other bands besides R.E.M."

The Mike Mills in Butter 08 is not Michael Edward Mills from R.E.M., but a graphic artist who has done work with bands like Smashing Pumpkins and They Might Be Giants. According to a rec.music.rem reader he does not remotely look like the Mike Mills in R.E.M., for whatever that's worth. 

o A18. "Who is Patti Smith, who sings on 'E-bow' and is in the video for that song?"

The background singer on the song "E-bow the Letter", Patti Smith, is an important figure from the late 70's punk/new wave scene in New York whose albums (especially Horses and Easter) are considered by many people essential milestones in the development of American rock music. She has also published several books of Beat-influenced poetry over the years. Her influence on the members of R.E.M., especially Michael Stipe and Peter Buck, has long been noted in interviews with the band.

o A19. "Why isn't long-time manager Jefferson Holt mentioned in the New Adventures in Hi-Fi credits?"

A recent press release from the band announced that Holt had left his position of manager. No further details about the split were confirmed by R.E.M./Athens Ltd., and much speculation on why and what happened remains rumor. In fact it has been reported that one of the terms of the dissolution is that none of the parties make public comment, so don't expect any further details.

o A20. "Is the song 'The Wake Up Bomb' about the band Oasis?"

Not according to R.E.M. Peter Buck said in an interview in 1995 that Stipe wrote the lyrics about the Glam Rock period of the 1970's (characterized by bands like T-Rex, Mott the Hoople, the NY Dolls, and David Bowie) after visiting a club in NY with a Glam Rock theme decor, and that the supposed Oasis references are being read into the song and not intended.

o A21. "Who is 'Tarsem', the director of the video for 'Losing My Religion'?  Where did they get the images used in the video?"

Alt.culture says:

Tarsem (b. Tarsem Dhandwar Singh, 1962) Indian director whose dreamlike, quasi-religious video for R.E.M.'s 1991 single "Losing My Religion" brought the influence of Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky and Italian painter Caravaggio to MTV. The station rewarded him with six Video Music Awards. Tarsem, a Harvard MBA dropout, chiefly earns his living filming advertisements for clients like Smirnoff, Anne Klein, and Lee and Levi's jeans; one of his few post-R.E.M. pop promos was Deep Forest's world-music-tinged "Sweet Lullaby" (1993), filmed on several continents inside of one month.

Among other sources, Tarsem and Stipe used imagery from the Italian artist Carvaggio, from Soviet Social Realist style posters, from Hindu mythology, and from the Gabriel Garcia Marquez short story "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings."

o A22. "Why did Bill Berry leave R.E.M.?  Will he ever re-join the band? Do the rest of R.E.M. resent his quitting? Is he depressed?"

It really remains only R.E.M.'s business why Berry left the band.

His public statements indicate that he was simply tired of the high-stress, high-profile life of a rock star, and wanted to retire to his farm in rural Georgia. It's not expected that Berry will ever re-join the band, or play with them again. The other members of R.E.M. have been very supportive of Berry's decision, despite their initial shock. The state of Berry's mental health, before and after his retirement from R.E.M., is really his own business.

For comments from the band at the time of Berry's departure, read the transcript of this interview from online music journal Addicted to Noise.

o A23 "Isn't the song 'At My Most Beautiful' an homage to someone or some old band?   Are the harmonic styles of some of the songs on _Reveal_ influenced by this band, too?"

Yes. The band composed "At My Most Beautiful" as a tribute to the Beach Boys, and specifically to Brian Wilson, their leader and main songwriter. Mike Mills and Peter Buck have expressed their admiration for Wilson and the Beach Boys many times in interviews. Their interest in The Beach Boys' music continues to be particularly evident on the album _Reveal_, as well.   Note that Buck recently wrote the introduction to a biography of Dennis Wilson titled _Dumb Angel: the Life and Music of Dennis Wilson_, by Adam Webb.

B. ALBUM COVERS, NOTES, AND OTHER PACKAGING QUESTIONS

o B1. "What are all 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 some of their 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 cover?"

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, and by "numbering" the fourth song ("Stand") with an "R". Some later pressings (notably CD club versions) may not have the "4"s on the cover.

Some newsgroup readers have connected this to the fact that Lifes Rich Pageant has "OR" in place of "04" in the track listing. Generally, when remarking on oddities in R.E.M. packaging and publicity, 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 "naïve" artist (the term art critics use) Rev. Howard Finster, a friend of Michael Stipe, painted the intricate snake design used as the Reckoning cover art. (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:

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."

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" or "Untitled".

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", its track number.

o B9. "What is that thing on the front cover of the Chronic Town EP?"

It's a "spitting gargoyle" located on the front of the Notre Dame Cathedral, high above Paris. For another view of the gargoyle (also called a "chimère in French), scanned from a postcard I got in Paris, see here. For information about the Notre Dame gargoyles and an even larger scanned image of the same postcard I linked to above, see here.

o B10. "Whose half-face is on Lifes Rich Pageant?"

Bill Berry's. Gruesome makeup and photography courtesy Michael Stipe. The spliced-together photos constitute a visual pun ("buffalo bill").

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 the band's genius. Does it mean "tales about the post-Civil War period in Southern 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, immortalized, in a non-referential sort of way, in the line from the LRP song "I Believe": "Example is the Checker to the key".

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. Grasso was also credited for album design on Murmur.

o B14. "Is the Chronic Town EP available separately?"

As a regular U.S. release, it is only available as part of the Dead Letter Office compilation album. However, there are reportedly a number of limited edition box sets that include CT on a separate disk within the entire multi-album package. An example of this is the UK set called The Originals released in 1995 with CT, Murmur, and Reckoning each on a separate disc with new packaging.

o B15. "Why wasn't the song 'Revolution' on New Adventures in Hi-Fi, like the other new songs they were performing live on the Monster World tour?"

The choice of whether to include a song on an album is a creative decision that only the band itself can really comment on, but recall that `Revolution' really dates back to the time of Monster's release (some of the "possible song names" on the album notes of Monster refer to versions of "Revolution", so it really should be considered an outtake of that album.)

Besides, most of the song's many political references (O.J., Ollie North, etc.) had become outdated by the time of the release of NAIHF, and this is also a likely reason for the song not having been included.

o B16. "I thought there was a R.E.M. song called 'Sponge' that was on the radio in 1995. I don't see it on New Adventures."

The song "Sponge" recorded by R.E.M. is actually a composition by Georgia singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt, and R.E.M's cover of the tune is included on the compilation record Sweet Relief II along with other Chesnutt songs performed by various bands. The proceeds of the album go to a charity fund that assists musicians with medical expenses (Chesnutt himself is a paraplegic). The song "Sponge" comes from his album West of Rome (which Stipe produced) and he did an interesting (if loose) "cover" of R.E.M.'s "It's the End of the World..." for the Surprise Your Pig R.E.M. tribute album.

o B17.  "The notes indicate that a poster is included with the limited edition of Up. Where the heck is mine?"

If the pages of the limited edition booklet are removed and assembled together, the pieces of the picture on the back form a poster of Stipe at the Tibet Freedom Concert.There is no word yet on whether this image is available as a regular poster that does not involve destroying one's limited edition to create.

o B18. "What are those cartoon hands in the Up liner notes?"

The are reportedly from the how-to-draw book, "Animation: Learn How to Draw Animated Cartoons," by Preston Blair.

o B19. "How do you say the name of the song '9-9'?"

It has been pointed out on Rec.music.rem that there are photos of set lists (in ICFTS among other places) where it's written as "9->9", which really suggests that it should be read "Nine to Nine". Also, R.M.R. regular Chris Piuma insists you can hear Stipe actually sing the words "nine to nine" in the background toward the end of the chaotic bridge section.

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 bar the kitchen door but not me in." Careful listening, however, leaves some listeners dubious about "door" at least. In the album version of the song, it sounds more like "signs" (which makes a certain amount of sense given the song was reportedly inspired by Stipe's sister's teaching deaf children.)

In an AOL posting 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.

The second line of the chorus has been confirmed by a friend of the band as being, "Setting trap for love, making a waste of time, sitting still" which careful listening confirms.  In this author's opinion, therefore, the entire chorus is, "Up to par Katie bars the kitchen signs but not me in, setting trap for love making a waste of time, sitting still."  You may, however, hear it differently.

For those wondering about the origin of the common phrase "Katie bar the door",

Hiller Zobel was first to cite the courage of Katherine Douglas as the source of this phrase. Douglas vainly attempted to protect James I of Scotland from assassins by bolting a door with her arm. John H. Finley's The Book of Knowledge (1912) tells the story on page 240 of volume one.
              — "Chapter and Verse," Harvard Magazine, Sept/Oct, 1997, p. 25

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. 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 completely 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 Kipp Teague's Retroweb site.

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. Aaaaaaaaagh....") 

No, we don't know where you can get one.

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 older generations who would claim Generation Xers, or "slackers," are merely spoiled, lazy brats. (This line of argument is that "slackers" have chosen to exclude themselves from mainstream society as a protest against its empty values.)

o C6. "What is the connection between 'WTF,K?' and Dan Rather?"

The title of the song itself refers indirectly to an incident in October 1986 in which Dan Rather, anchor for CBS'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 Scheafer, 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).

In 1998, a man was arrested in conjunction with the incident and identified by Rather as his attacker. Reportedly, he was a mentally-disturbed individual who had fantasized many conspiracy theories about the media being against him, and was also responsible for the murder of a CBS technician.

Please note that the supposed reference to Rather and CBS news in the "Ignoreland" lyric was incorrect — there is no tie-in that we know of between the two songs regarding the news anchor. 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 a David Letterman appearance. Also, before the band's 1995 appearance at New York's Madison Square Garden, Rather joined them onstage during a sound check for a quick rendition of WtFK?

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 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 actual text (there is also a text transcription 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.1.2" researched by Gary Nabors.

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.

Rec.music.rem reader <ihooker@inforamp.net suggested another song of the title might be alluded to. The folk song called "Green Grow the Rushes, O" completely unconnected to the Burns lyric, is very, very old; it was first written down in Hebrew in the 16th Century and is probably much older. There are many versions and it is a popular Christmas Carol and harvest song.

I'll sing you one, O
Green grow the rushes, O
What is your one, O
One is one and all alone and evermore shall be so.

Whichever traditional song Stipe is alluding to, the premise that it was identified with Anglo-American colonists is probably still valid.

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?"

People often ask about the fragment of song that appears after "Little America" on early versions of the LP pressing of Reckoning; this is not referring to the intro to "Rockville".  This somewhat abstract sequence fades in, lasts about ten seconds, then fades out, and has vocals with indecipherable lyrics. Mitch Easter (producer) 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, and is repeated at the very end of the "LoR" footage.)  The recent "gold CD" re-issue of Reckoning restored this clip to the album proper.

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 Pro-Choice 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 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 discography for more details about releases).  It was originally on Cohen's album I'm Your Man.

Note that Stipe has also been influenced by Cohen when writing the song "King of Comedy" -- which he called "disco-ripping on L. Cohen" -- and on Up's "Hope", where he co-credited Cohen for the song because of the similarity of the melody to Cohen's "Suzanne."

o C16. "Has Michael Stipe done a duet with Tori Amos?"

Tori Amos was quoted as saying that she and Stipe were "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 1995 (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 the release of Amos' Boys for Pele album, it was still not clear if the song would be released (one might do well to keep an eye out for it on the many Tori Amos b-sides and EP releases).

In 1997, rec.music.rem regular <rfox@ultranet.ca reported the following information from Tori Amos on the single: "She told me the record companies are `fighting over it,' and she seemed pretty down about the possibility of anything happening with this song."

Note also that Tori Amos covered R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion"; the cut appeared on the soundtrack for the movie Higher Learning.

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", invented by self-help guru Werner Erhard in the seventies.

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."

The original version of "Rockville" had a harder rock sound; the band worked up the country and western style as a joke for friend and band lawyer Bertis Downs. This new version was so successful they recorded it that way.

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 reconnect someone who has called you, whose number you don't have, or 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 infamous through 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).

The line "Mr Fred Blassie and the breakfast mess" refers to Kaufman's odd short film "My Breakfast with Blassie", which chronicled a strange and confused breakfast meeting between Kaufman and his wrestling "manager", "Classy" Freddy Blassie.

More information on Kaufman can be found on the web here.

In 1999, R.E.M. wrote the song "The Great Beyond" for the soundtrack of the biographical film about Kaufman called Man on the Moon, and Mike Mills and Peter Buck wrote the score.

o C21. "What is an e-bow, from 'E-bow the Letter'?"

A hand-held electronic gadget that—when held over the strings of an electric guitar—produces a characteristic sustained tone (yes, it is used by Peter Buck on the track). [For more information surf to www.ebow.com.]

o C22. "What is that being said before 'Be Mine'?"

It sounds like someone saying, perhaps on a CB radio, "...Uh, speed zone up here, too." Mike Mills mentioned in an interview that he recorded a demo version of the song on the tour bus, which later appeared on the German CD-single for "How the West Was Won...", so perhaps the clip is meant to allude to this trivia.

o C23. "Is the song 'Losing My Religion' about not believing in God?"

No. The phrase "losing my religion" is a southern term meaning that the person referred to is at the end of their rope, or about to give up on something, often over matters of romance. In this case, according to Stipe in several interviews, what the narrator of the song is giving up on is his or her obsessive love. Stipe also mentioned that he wrote the song with the Police hit single "Every Breath You Take" in mind.

o C24. "What is the story behind Fables's 'Life and How to Live It'?"

Michael Stipe has told the story many times of an eccentric man who had divided his house into two separate apartments so that he could live in the half that suited him best at any given time. It was discovered on this man's death that he had written a book called Life, How to Live; every copy of the book that had been printed was stashed away in a closet in the man's house. Occasionally someone from the newsgroup stumbles across a copy of the book in a used book store. It is reported to be bizarre and distressingly racist, so be forewarned.

o C25.  "What does the word 'Cuyahoga' mean -- is it a Spanish word?"

The word "Cuyahoga" -- after which the river that flows through modern-day Cleveland, Ohio, and the county in which Cleveland located, are named -- is said to be derived by early European explorers from the Native American name "Cahokia", a large village actually located some distance away to the west. This native culture was known for extensive trading all over the Midwest and Northeast, and particularly for building very large, spectacular earthwork burial mounds that, when seen from above, form specific shapes and complex designs. The settlement of the Midwest by Europeans destroyed this "Moundbuilder" culture by the mid-1700s.

The Cuyahoga River itself became a symbol of water pollution in the 1970's when oil slicks on the river's surface caught fire. The burning river captured the attention of the nation and became a rallying point for passage of the Clean Water Act environmental legislation.

o C26.  "Is the song "Fireplace" about a woman leader from the 1800's or something, some Puritan or Amish person?"

Stipe has said that the lyrics to "Fireplace" are taken (probably loosely; I've never found the exact source) from a speech by Mother Ann Lee of the puritan agrarian sect The Shakers. A quick info-burst on Shakers.

In light of this, it could be argued that the lyrics of the song "Fireplace" gesture toward clearing out everything unnecessary from life to make room for a true expression of the spirit -- forming a connection between how the Shakers clear everything out for religious dancing and revelation, with how young people gather in cleared-out clubs to dance to rock music.

o C27. "What does the title '7 Chinese Bros.' refer to?"

An ancient Chinese folktale about a group of brothers who are tested by an evil emperor has formed the basis of several children's books, titled either "The Seven Chinese Brothers" or "The Five Chinese Brothers."  In all versions of the story, each brother has an extraordinary ability -- such as being able to stretch very tall, to hold his breath a long time, or to swallow the ocean. How this story relates to the odd relationship implied in the song's impressionistic lyrics is for you, the listener at home, to decide.

o C28. "What non-R.E.M. work has Michael Stipe done?"

An incomplete list of Stipe's appearances outside R.E.M. can be found as the track list to the bootleg "Not Field Recordings": Arms of Love (Solo), Guilty by Association (with Vic Chesnutt), Your  Ghost (with Kristin Hersh), Full Moon (with Annie Ross and the Low Note  Quintet), To Sir With Love (with 10000 Maniacs), Trout (with Neneh  Cherry), Alive And Living Now (with The Golden Palominos), Kid Fears  (with the Indigo Girls), Future 40´s (with Syd Straw), Little April  Showers (with Nathalie Merchant, Mark Bringham and the Roches), A   Campfire Song (with 10000 Maniacs), Boy (Go) (with The Golden  Palominos), Clustering Train (with The Golden Palominos), Omaha (with  The Golden Palominos), Hot Nights in Georgia (with Jason and the  Scorchers), Treason (with Tanzplagen), Meeting (with Tanzplagen).

o C29. "I'd like to see sheet music for the piano part in 'Nightswimming'?"

This graphic file contains a very good approximation, according to many newsgroup members.

A web site featuring transcriptions of a number of R.E.M. songs' piano parts, including Nightswimming and Perfect Circle, can be found at http://www.perfectcircle.i-p.com .

Of course, much of R.E.M.'s music can be purchased as in book form at many CD and music supply stores.  However, rec.music.rem regular Chris Lawrence cautions fans to be aware that, with the commercially-available sheet music books, "one is guitar/piano/vocal, of which [the piano part] is basically a cross between the bass line and vocal melody printed as notation with just guitar chords (some of which aren't even right... you'd think they could check the other book they published) printed above the notation. That's the useless one. The guitar tablature one is the worthwhile one."

D. QUESTIONS ON R.E.M.'s LIVE PERFORMANCES

o D1. "What is all this talk about Bingo Hand Job? Who were they?"

Bingo Hand Job was the name that R.E.M. went under when they played two "secret" gigs at a London club called The Borderline around the time of the release of Out Of Time. There are many bootlegs of the show.

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 also opened 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 co-wrote and sang with Syd Straw on her solo album Surprise.

o D4. "What about the one that goes 'If we close the door, the night could last forever...'?"

"The After Hours", by the Velvet Underground.

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, "We Live As We Dream, Alone."

o D6. "And what about the a capella thing JMS sings that begins, 'Evenin' a-comin' soon....' done before 'I Believe' in some shows?"

That is the beginning of "Harpers," co-written by Stipe and Hugo Largo's Mimi Goese, from that band's album Drum, which Stipe both produced and performed on.

o D7. "I heard a version of U2's song 'One' with Michael Stipe singing. What was that?"

Michael Stipe and Mike Mills, along with U2's Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen, Jr., appeared at the Clinton 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." It has appeared on a limited edition promotional CD "Just Passing Through" put out by Washington DC radio station WHFS, as well as an Island Records compilation CD, Amazing Grace.

o D8. "And what about that song on 'MTV Unplugged' which Mike Mills sings, that goes, 'Love is all around us...'?  Also — is the R.E.M. show from 'MTV Unplugged' available on CD?"

It is a cover of the Troggs' song, "Love Is All Around." (Note the group Wet Wet Wet recently did a cover of the tune as well, rather different in style.) 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)], on the soundtrack for the film I Shot Andy Warhol, as well as bootleg recordings of the MTV Unplugged appearance.

R.E.M.'s "Unplugged" show was never officially released, though there are several bootleg versions of it available.

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:

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, a range that includes tunes as diverse as Fleetwood Mac's "Tusk" and the Mamas and the Papas' "California Dreaming"; an amazing resource for finding nearly every song the band has ever performed is "Reconstruction of the Pop Songs", located at: http://home.c2i.net/meatscience/popsongs.htm .

o D11. "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; "favorite" posts will get incredibly boring after about the third respondent. No one can remember what everyone has said, and in the end it's really pointless.

o D12. "I heard a version of the Suzanne Vega song 'Tom's Diner' with Michael Stipe singing. Where can I find it?"

During the show R.E.M. performed under the name "Bingo Hand Job" in 1991 at the Borderline Club in London, members of R.E.M., along with several other artists, played an impromptu cover of the song. It was later included on a collection of covers of the song, called "Tom's Album" (A&M Records 75201 5363 2). There are a few great versions of the song on the compilation, but lot of filler. Newsgroup regular Jim McVey's favorite is "Jeannie's Diner" -- a brief synopsis of "I Dream of Jeannie" done to the DNA version of "Tom's Diner". The Bingo Hand Job version is called "Tom's ?"

o D13. "Who did the original of 'Only In America' that rem covered on their 1996 Christmas single? Is it from a musical?"

R.m.r's Gary Huested says: "For those of you who listened to the REM Radio Hour, you'll remember Peter telling the story behind the original release of Only in America (the man knows his rock n roll!). To fill in the gaps, the song was written by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil and the legendary song writing/producing team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller (who wrote classics for the Coasters, the Drifters, and Elvis among others). This song was for the Drifters. Indeed, the record was recorded by the Drifters in April 1963 (unreleased in the US; the only place I've heard it is on Rhino's great Drifters Box), but was pulled by Atlantic for the reasons Peter gives in the show. The original Drifters vocals were wiped from the track and replaced by ones from Jay and the Americans and released in July, 1963."

o D14.  "Is the song 'Happiness', that Michael Stipe did for the movie of the same name, available?"

In an interview on Amazon.com, Todd Solodnz, the film's director, said there were some tie-ups in releasing the soundtrack due to problems with rights -- so it might never be released officially. Stipe sings the song with Rain Phoenix (sister of River) and was written by Eytan Mirsky. 

o D15. "Why does Peter Buck keep an assortment of small plastic dinosaurs on his amplifier during R.E.M.'s shows?"

When someone asked Peter why all the dinosaurs. He laughed and said "they've always been there — always will."

Part 4. 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 pp., ISBN 0963624148.)

It Crawled From The South: An R.E.M. Companion, by Marcus Gray. First ed: Paperback, 349 pages, $16.95, Da Capo Press Publication, April 1993, ISBN: 0306805006. (The Second expanded ed.: Da Capo Press, expected publication date: March 1997, ISBN: 0306807513.)  This remains the book for the serious fan to study. Some might even go so far as to say one should read this and REMnants cover to cover before posting to rec.music.rem! This book is considerably more in-depth than REMarks.

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)

R.E.M. Inside-Out, by Craig Rosen. (Thunder's Mouth Press, 1997. 176 pp, ISBN 1560251778.) Offers insights into the writing and background of every song, as well as a new interview with Peter Buck.

The R.E.M. Companion, by John Platt (ed.), Clinton Heylin. (Shirmer Books, 1998, 272 pp., ISBN 0028649354.) Contains many articles about the band from over the years 1983-1998, illustrated with many photographs.

The Da Capo Book of Rock & Roll Writing, by Clinton Heylin (Editor). (DaCapo Press, 2000, paperback, 704 pages, ISBN: 0306809206.) Contains 5 pages of a Spin magazine interview with Mike Mills titled "Our Town" about Athens, GA.

Murmur : R.E.M. (Classic Rock Albums series) by John A. Platt. Paperback - 164 pages (November 1999) Idg/MacMillian; ISBN: 002865062X. About the band's first album.

There have also been some cheap "CD-size" 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 5.  R.E.M. On Video

Nearly all videos created for R.E.M. songs are available on one of several full-length video compilation releases. These are:

• R.E.M. Succumbs (videos for Murmur through Lifes Rich Pageant)
• Pop Screen (videos for Document and Green)
• This Film is On (videos for Out Of Time)
• Parallel (videos for Automatic for the People and Monster)
  Note: Parallel was released with two versions: "A" and "D". (The "A" version cuts explicit nudity from the "Nightswimming" video that is present in the "D" version.)

Videos from albums since Monster have not yet been collected.

All these video recordings are in print and can probably be found in your local hip music video emporium even as you read this.  Most stores should be willing to special order a title for you if they do not have it in stock, so don't be shy about asking.

Four older videos are not on these compilations: "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.)

After the release of Parallel in 1995, the band put out a video for the song "Tongue"; it is not known if this will be included on a future compilation.

Other R.E.M. related videotapes include the previously-mentioned Athens, GA—Inside/Out documentary on the Athens, GA music scene, and Arena Brains, a short film by Robert Longo (who also directed the video for "The One I Love" and the film Johnny Mnemonic) -- featuring Michael Stipe's acting debut. Stipe has also appeared on the television series "The Adventures of Pete and Pete" (Nickleodeon); in the film Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day; in several documentaries including Anthem, Meeting People is Easy, and We Know Where You Live; provided a character voice in the children's holiday cartoon, Olive, the Other Raindeer.

Part 6. Resources Available On the Internet

Web

R.E.M. HQ
The band runs an official site that includes information about the Fan Club, the latest news, a discography, streaming videos, and a store where you can buy band memorabilia.

Murmurs.com
Detailed, day-to-day news about the band, including interviews with people connected to the band, links to other resources, and a chat room.

R.E.M. Lyrics
Allows one to choose albums and songs to view various lyrics, very nicely set up. Based on the same text as the old Fables email lyrics archive.

Lyric Annotations FAQ
A compendium of answers to various obscure references and allusions in R.E.M. lyrics. Some other long-term web sites as of this writing are:

R.E.M. Collector's Guide
Includes a comprehensive discography, bootleg information, and hypertext links to other resources.

Official Warner Bros. site
The site maintained by the band's record company.

Chris Bray's site for chords and tabs
For folks who want to learn how to play R.E.M. songs on the guitar, this site is a must.

Bootleg info
Lists of bootlegs of live R.E.M. shows and rarity collections. Includes photos of album covers, a very handy feature.

Setlists
A comprehensive site listing nearly all setlists for R.E.M. live shows throughout their career. A great resource.

If you maintain a serious R.E.M.-related web site and would like your URL listed here in the FAQ, email me and I'll be happy to consider it.  Note there are a great number of sites that come and go as people lose interest in the web and the band.

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!); lt.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).

There is also an R.E.M. discussion group called alt.music.rem but not all news servers carry it.

Email discussion lists

There are several email lists dedicated to individual members of the band, and for info on them you should check out the following sites:

• Mike Mills (OICM3H)
• Michael Stipe (MLA = Mumbles Lovers Anonymous)
• Peter Buck (BUCKHEADS)
• The whole band (REMarks)

All have a digest option and can be subscribed to by sending email to majordomo@athens.net with the command syntax (where "listname" is the name in parentheses above, and "username@domain.name" is your email address:

subscribe listname username@domain.name

or, for the digest version,

subscribe listname-digest username@domain.name

Part 7.  A Primer on R.E.M. Bootlegs/Live Tapes

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, the following section tells a few ways to go about it.

1. Net trading resources: plenty of folks online love to trade tapes and CD-Rs of live shows. This site lists some of the more common venues for making contacts for trading: http://www.geocities.com/~mrsmouse/traders.html . 

2. Go look in used record and CD stores. Some used stores won't deal in boots, but many do. If you live in or near a big city (bootlegs tend to be harder to find in small-town used stores), take a field trip and dig, dig, dig. Finding good bootlegs will probably be a lot of work and take a fair amount of time. Patience, dedication, and lots of extra cash are required.

Some older bootlegs are only on vinyl, but most new ones are on CD. Some stores also sell multiple-generation taped copies of random shows, which don't sound as good, but are certainly much cheaper.

3. Go to record shows. While many dealers will sell recordings of questionable legality and origin, you can also find things at record shows not available elsewhere. You pay your money and you take your chances!

4. Mail order. Goldmine magazine has 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 some 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 bootleg selections. Sometimes web auction sites such as Ebay and Amazon have bootlegs for sale as well. (Consult the sites for information on how to register and bid for items.)

Some folks (but not all) will send you a copy of their bootleg in exchange for enough cash to cover both return postage and the cassette, some will also want to be compensated for the time they will spend taping for you, and still others will only want to exchange with you for some rare recording that they are looking for (in which case, if you don't have what they're looking for, they won't be interested in trading with you).

This kind of person-to-person trading is a great way to acquire boots since you're dealing with a private individual instead of a store, or bootleg company of questionable morals -- sometimes you can not only get a cool R.E.M. recording, but make a friend as well.

However: Make sure you come to a solid agreement before you send off tapes or cash! This cannot be stressed enough. Many flame wars have gotten started over a misunderstanding about terms and the time-frame for getting the recordings done and mailed back (some people will get it done in a week, others may take months; everyone has differing priorities). Please try to contact the person by phone or email before posting to Rec.music.rem that they are dishonest... people are sometimes busy, and sometimes honestly forget commitments. It's real ugly when people start making accusations in public about other Rec.music.rem contributors' honesty (or lack thereof).

You may find that if you 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 want to get committed to 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 certain number of copies for the first `N' number of people who reply, or will ask for a particular type of recording in trade, in order to reduce the number of responses.

In Summary

Bear in mind that buying new bootlegs is 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 an investment in buying an excellent quality CD boot means you can easily tape and trade copies of it for other things, and your collection of tapes can therefore grow quickly.

Because the sound quality of bootlegs varies widely, if you are considering buying or ordering a bootleg, consult the bootleg discography first, watch the newsgroup for discussions on titles you are interested in, or post a question 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. If you are buying a bootleg in a used CD shop, ask the clerk if they will play a couple cuts for you before you buy.

The "Great Bootleg Discography" (see http://www.svs.com/rem/bootdiscog.html ) 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 from different bootleg outfits — so be careful you don't inadvertently duplicate a show you already own.

Audience recordings, meanwhile, are generally of mediocre quality and may not be worth the effort unless the sound turned out surprisingly well and the people in the rows around the person making the recording kept their mouths shut (yeah, sure, you wanted a tape of Joe Shmoe's drunk buddy in the next seat singing along out of key at the top of his lungs to "Losing My Religion", or somebody's airhead date saying "Ohmigod, the singer is like tot'ly bald!"), or if the show itself was particularly significant (a show you attended, for example, or something cool like the pre-Murmur performances, 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 without real evidence.

Part 8. 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.

"7 Chinese Bros." C27
"9-9", B19
"11" [song on Green] B8
"After Hours, The" D4
AIDS rumor A8
Amos, Tori C16
"At My Most Beautiful", A23
Automatic Baby, D7
Automatic for the People, origin of name A10

"Be Mine" C22
Beach Boys, A23
Berry, Bill A22, B10
Bingo Hand Job D1
Buck, Peter
     and Buck, Rob (10,000 Maniacs) A13
Burns, Robert C11

"Can't Get There from Here" C7
Caroline (woman in videos) A14
Charles, Ray C7
Chesnutt, Vic B16
Chronic Town
     cover B9
     available separately B14
Clift, Montgomery C9
Cobain, Kurt A16
Cohen, Leonard C15
Countdown myth B4
"Country Feedback" C17
Covers versions(released) D10
"Cuyahoga", C25

Dinosaurs on monitor D15
Document cover art B12
"(Don't Go Back to) Rockville" C18

Earpiece monitor D9
E-bow C21
"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
"Fireplace", C26
"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

"Happiness" D14
"Harpers" D6
Hersh, Kristen C14
Hindu Love Gods A9
Holsapple, Peter D2
Holt, Jefferson A19
Hugo Largo D6

Inaugural ball performance D7
"It Might Hurt a Little Bit" C16

Kaufman, Andy C20
Krazy Kat A15

Lee, Mother Ann, C26
Life and How to Live It, C24
Lifes Rich Pageant
     cover art B7,B10
     track numbering B7
Linklater, Richard C5
"Losing My Religion", C23
"Losing My Religion" director and video imagery, A21
"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
     in band Butter08 A17
Monster
     liner notes B1
"Monty Got a Raw Deal" C9

Naming of album sides B6
"Neverland" D2
"Nightswimming" sheet music C29
"Nine to Nine" B19
Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, B9
Numbering countdown myth B4
Nudie suits (Mills) A11

Oasis (the band) A20
"One" D7
"Only in America" cover, D13

Pavement (band) A12
"Photograph" C13

Rather, Dan C6
R.E.M.
     covers D10
     email addresses A6
     origin of name A4

Reckoning
     cover art B5
     tribute song A12
     untitled musical snippet C12
Reconstruction of the Fables B11
"Revolution" (song) B15
Rockville, MD C18

Scheaffer, Ken C6
"Seven Chinese Brothers" C27
Side names B6
"Sidewinder Sleeps Tonight" C3
"Sitting Still" C1
Smith, Patti A18
Songwriting credits A3
Spitting Gargoyle of Notre Dame B9
"Sponge" B16
"Star 69" C19
Stipe, Michael
     AIDS rumor A8
     earpiece monitor D9
     first name A2
     friend Caroline in videos A14
     sexuality A7
     side projects C28,
        also, see C14,C16,D3,D6
Straw, Syd D3
"Superman"
     intro sounds C4
     not listed on LRP B7
"Superwoman" B7

Tarsem, A21
Tatoo A15
Tom's Diner, D12
TourFilm
     unidentified music D3,D4,D5,D6
Troggs D8

U2 D7
"Untitled" B8

Velvet Underground D4
"Voice of Harold" C8

"Your Ghost" C14

Return to Contents.

What's new?

— as of 16 Oct 2001
• Added link to B9 to an image of the "Spitting Gargoyle" (chimère) from Notre Dame in Paris.