r/rem

This is a series of posts where we vote on a song to add to a "Best of" compilation.

Votes from day 1; Leave, These Days, Sitting Still, Airportman, Cuyahoga, Harborcoat, Radio Free Europe and Laughing all got 1 vote. Driver 8 and Begin the Begin, with 2. Gardening at Night is the winner with 4 votes!

1. Gardening at Night

2 - 15 TBD

Now we will vote on the second track for the comp! Comment your vote below!

Inspired by a similar thing ongoing in the incubus subreddit, let's build our own "Best of R.E.M." compilation. Each day we will vote on a song to add to the compilation! Let's see what we determine would be a great track list. I think 15 songs will be a good length!

Comment with the song you think would be a good opener for a compilation! The most commented one will be chose

In the early 1980s, mainstream commercial radio was completely dominated by corporate arena rock, disco holdovers, and slick synth-pop. If you were an underground guitar band playing jangle-pop with mumbled vocals, commercial program directors wouldn't give you the time of day.

Instead of waiting for a major label buyout, R.E.M. (out of Athens, Georgia) bypassed commercial radio entirely and built a massive nationwide fanbase through a brand-new engine: student-run college radio.

Here is how R.E.M. and college radio created a mutualistic relationship that redefined American rock music:

• The Grassroots College Circuit: In the early '80s, non-commercial college stations were popping up across North America, run by student DJs who had complete freedom over what they played. R.E.M. relentlessly toured college towns in an old blue van, specifically stopping by campus stations in every town to hand-deliver vinyl records, do live interviews, and play acoustic sets.
• Treating Student DJs Like A-Listers: Major labels treated college radio like an afterthought, but R.E.M. treated student DJs with the same respect as major music journalists. Band members like Peter Buck and Mike Mills would spend hours hanging out in station lobbies, trading obscure record recommendations with 19-year-old college station managers.
• Dominating the CMJ Charts: When R.E.M. released their debut EP Chronic Town (1982) and full-length album Murmur (1983), college stations added them to heavy rotation. They routinely topped the College Media Journal (CMJ) charts, proving there was a massive, untapped demographic of young listeners hungry for non-corporate music.
• The "College Rock" Phenomenon: R.E.M.’s college radio takeover was so impactful that music executives and magazines literally coined a new genre name for it: "College Rock." This subgenre served as the direct precursor to what the world would call "Alternative Rock" in the 1990s.
• Toppling Thriller: Fueled by the groundswell of college radio buzz and non-stop touring, Rolling Stone named R.E.M.'s Murmur the Best Album of 1983—beating out Michael Jackson’s Thriller and The Police’s Synchronicity.

By the time commercial radio finally gave in and played "The One I Love" in 1987, R.E.M. was already selling out arenas—all without ever playing the traditional radio industry game.

I assume its another DSS One Step thats being teased. I for one cannot wait especially with how well done The Chronic Town/Murmur DSS release was.

hopefully we see it later this year.

Was listening to my copy of Singles Collected earlier and it got me thinking - what's my ULTIMATE b-side (or non album track) from Our Guys 🤔

Personally, I'm torn between Crazy and Bandwagon

Any of you fine people have a perfect pick?

I kind of knew the name from Automatic from my older sister but I was too young to really be into it as I was 8. But when what's the frequency Kenneth came out it was literally life changing and I adored monster. I remember my friend had a copy of it with dead letter office on the other side and used to go round his every night to listen to it. I was all in for the band and alternative rock after that

Can't believe I didn't realize it was exactly 40 years until seeing a post here just now! We put up our old 2022 episode on LRP on Youtube and found a ton of cool photos to go with it. Cheers.

So over the past few weeks, I’ve listened to 4 of their album in full, (OoT, Document, AFTP, Monster) and I am confident nothing is gonna touch Texarkana. It’s a very rare occasion for me to find a song that touches my soul in such a way, but wow this song puts it in a chokehold. Of the 26 years I’ve been on this planet, only about half a dozen songs have had that effect.

So yeah, I fuckin’ love this song, and that’s all I have to say about that.

The footage is a little variable but the audio is good. This would be the last time and in some cases only time some of these songs would be played live. It's interesting the murmur songs sound more like the record than when they were played early 80s