Obvious bias as R.E.M. is and always will be my favorite band, but are you kidding me? This is SO ahead of its time. Early 80's music was eclectic sure, but nobody was doing anything like this. There's no way I could pick a favorite song because I love virtually all of them, but this is timeless stuff. A thousand thank yous for posting this, I had no idea it even existed. You made my day.
It was a long, long road they hauled. Thanks REM for always being such a great band, but especially an important part of most of my life. All the best for Peter, Mike, Michael and Bill.
@TheMichaelJB Little true anecdore: I found Chronic Town on cassette tape in a gas station convenience store somewhere in the south while on a road trip in my senior year of college ('94, I think) and picked it up, not even knowing what it was ("Whoa, an R.E.M. I haven't heard of"). It's remarkable how well it holds up now. Even more remarkable that it was there in the spinner display by the cash register - quite a few copies of it!
Damn!!! This is without a doubt, one of their best. What a fantastic sound! If you could take the coolness from this song and convert it to fuel, you could run every car in America for 30 years. Viva R.E.M.!!!
Wow i love this song,...So many memories! It reminds me of living in the Middle TN/Nashville area in the 80s while in high school. The alternative music scene was at it's prime back then. I miss that time in my life so much,...
Thanks so much for posting. I saw REM a long time ago - at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City in late 1981. They opened for Gang of Four and some other band. I was in high school. Spoke with them after the show - really great, friendly guys. I remember thinking their name was strange - REM! I bought Chronic Town a few months later. Then I saw them at the Ritz in New York, in the spring of '83. Later that year they played the Letterman show. Lucky to have been a New Yorker then.
@Noeladishi LOL! Believe me, back then it was no big deal. They were just another one of the thousands of bands that came through NY in the early 80's. But REM, like all great bands, had special something about them that made them stand out when they played, and you remembered them for it (aside from their crazy name!)
@marcoamedrano Between 1977 and 1985, NYC was the best music venue in the whole world. The Ritz, the Roseland Ballroom, CBGB's of courses - and so many small clubs like Darinka.
You WERE lucky to have been a NYer and young and appreciative of the music.. All you had to do is pick up a copy of the Village Voice and a @0 dollar bill and you had your fun. Of course you could also run into some trouble.
@lithead Can't agree with you more. It was an incredible time, especially when comparing it to what has come afterward. Sounds like you were around at that time as well. If one wanted danger, all you had to do was wander into the East Village at the A7 club or the Pyramid, or the Jane West Hotel by the Hudson River, where customers were frisked to remove their guns and knives. The acts: The UK Subs, US Chaos, Misfits, Gang of Four, all the hardcore punk bands.
Is anyone freaked out by seeing a young Mike Mills looking barely old enough to drink in this video?
I love REM. I can't explain it. There's an authenticity about them that sounds more sincere than ninety percent of what's on the radio. Thanks for posting.
I remember back when REM was putting out this early stuff, the British pop press would always comment on Stipe's physical attractiveness. The word "cherubic" was used a lot, along with lots of comments about his lips.
Thanks!!! An absolute favorite. I was at a show on the Murmur tour and when they walked out, I was shouting for this song, and they played it, first. What a great band, it was a great night, I was with a great girl, everything was perfect. Why couldn't it stay that way forvever?
R.E.M. is one of the few bands that have produced a great first album. Chronic Town is indeed a magnificent album. In general, though, their discography is somewhat special. I really like these guys, shame I haven't seen them live. Great vid man, thanks for the upload!
@greenlittlewolf .... you know , I miss Bill as well .... recently I saw REM on Austin City Limits ... a fantastic show ... i only knew like two songs but i was enthralled the whole show ... regardless , as good as they still are , i missed Bill immensely and I think they would be better if he were still playing drums ... he has this really light , but driving sort of feel ... it seems like anyone else who plays REM songs turns it too heavy
@sweetfly66 Bill is inside the music, just completely having total fun using his body to drive it forward.
But they *all* look like they are having the most intense pleasure making this music together. It's the sound, too - the chiming guitar, the driving bass, the harmonies, and the miasma of feelings that this evokes. The lyrics are unintelligible, except as phrases and words that float up out of the swirl. The words in this song are vaguely sinister, somewhat scary, and intensely personal.
I started listening to REM w/ "Losing my Religion" (Out of Time) like many others, but over time my appreciation has dwindled to just two albums, "Automatic for the People" and "Chronic Town".
@MrBroadwaystreet The entire album is fantastic! Listen to it with headphones when you are feeling trippy. It is a whole journey to the edge of the galaxy.
The altered sound of the billiard balls hitting each other at the beginning of "Radio Free Europe" - they'll reverberate in my skull forever.
"Life and How to Live it" is a great song, but to me, anything from Chronic Town, Murmur, or Reckoning could do as their best. They were flawless to that point.
Although in 1982 there was no 120 Min. program - I believe that started in '86, so although MTV was once cool and showed this, it wasn't current. A few thoughts ... funny how REM was at their best before few people in Athens even knew who they were (in my ever so humble opinion). Wolves is better than Radio Free Europe, and with Green they sold out - got too pop friendly. Also, Stipe only looks good here. Seriously, I mean, never again! Videowise, slo-mo doesn't work on a song like this.
I have to disagree with your opinions... Automatic for the People is an amazing album. Their IRS work is the most consistant but they have done some good work for Warner.
Are you sure? Who came first? I think the Smiths copied R.E.M. If you like them, check out the Neats. They opened for R.E.M. when I saw them on the Murmur tour.
@MrBroadwaystreet i think you're right, i think the smiths started in 1983 after murmur was released already. actually, now that i think of it, they were very different in many ways, especially lyrically. but i just mean they were probably each country's major alternative 4-some.
@khasperg They had some things in common, sure, and they were different. There were other bands sort of like R.E.M. & the Smiths. Before 'alternative' but after 'punk.' People didn't know what to call it at first. I remember going to a 'folk rock' show put on by MTV, an amazing lineup; Ritchie Havens, John Sebastian, Roger Mcguin, Colin Youngblood and R.E.M. was the headliner. People were also talking about 'college rock' and college radio first played both of those bands.
@MrBroadwaystreet I'd forgotten about the "folk rock" moniker but it fits. What I remember is that bands like early REM and the Smiths and several others were said to have a mid-60s sound influenced by the jangly guitar of the Byrds, and they definitely seemed to be an extension of the various 60s-revival bands proliferating in the late 70s/early 80s. I recall REM citing Moby Grape as an influence on their early sound, for instance, and I hear Roky Erikson in some of Stipe's vocals.
I'm with you. There were many 60s influenced bands in the early 80s post punk years. The Fleshtones, The Neats, Salem 66, The Rain Parade, to name a few. I liked 'em all.
que bueno! viva cerca athens cuando era mas joven y mi padre y tenia cada "record" del REM... esta musica es interesante, brillante, y el magnific-isimo del los 80s y 90s.
...sing phonetically along with Michael....
designermite 3 weeks ago
...sign phonetically along with Michael....
designermite 3 weeks ago
Is this available on c.d. yet? Anyone?
haastaboozia 1 month ago
Obvious bias as R.E.M. is and always will be my favorite band, but are you kidding me? This is SO ahead of its time. Early 80's music was eclectic sure, but nobody was doing anything like this. There's no way I could pick a favorite song because I love virtually all of them, but this is timeless stuff. A thousand thank yous for posting this, I had no idea it even existed. You made my day.
clyell 3 months ago
Fan - freakin' - tastic!!!!!!! it does NOT get any better!!!
maxon1264 3 months ago in playlist More videos from StephenQdoo
Amazing band.
deweypug 3 months ago
Michael Stipe - a beat poet set to music.
Ducksoup67 4 months ago 3
0 dislikes - good work YT community!
Ducksoup67 4 months ago
Awesome! Get those wolves out and the house in order!
TheCarly247 4 months ago
Like the "stop-motion" effect and the placement of one of the cameras, makes you feel like you're almost on stage with them.
mojav26 4 months ago
It was a long, long road they hauled. Thanks REM for always being such a great band, but especially an important part of most of my life. All the best for Peter, Mike, Michael and Bill.
marcoamedrano 5 months ago 2
Funny how music topping the charts at the time wasn't even relevant by the 90's. This is timeless.
EAB311 6 months ago
This is my favorite R.E.M. song. I loved this EP.
Criticalizzy 6 months ago
What shocks me is how ahead of their time they were. Do you know what Top 40 was back in 1982? Absolute crap.
cbeatty551 6 months ago in playlist Alternative 2
Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....I miss the old R.E.M.
haastaboozia 7 months ago
Geez, is this availble on C.D. yet? (Yes, I looked on Amazon. Haven't found it) HELP!
haastaboozia 8 months ago
@haastaboozia Dead Letter Office contains tbe entire Chronic Town ep.
TheMichaelJB 4 months ago
@TheMichaelJB Little true anecdore: I found Chronic Town on cassette tape in a gas station convenience store somewhere in the south while on a road trip in my senior year of college ('94, I think) and picked it up, not even knowing what it was ("Whoa, an R.E.M. I haven't heard of"). It's remarkable how well it holds up now. Even more remarkable that it was there in the spinner display by the cash register - quite a few copies of it!
yohei72 4 months ago 4
stipe looks just like michael hutchence ala 1982/3
larrymyclown 9 months ago
Did this video ever make it onto early MTV or 120 Minutes? It's a bit suprising that they made a video already on their EP album.
GAdawgsfan93 9 months ago
R.E.M. at their best!!!
TheRedScareIsAlive 10 months ago
so when did mike mills get the long blond hair? and did he dye it?
ricflairfan5 10 months ago
I Love REM
RTEVEREST 10 months ago
Damn!!! This is without a doubt, one of their best. What a fantastic sound! If you could take the coolness from this song and convert it to fuel, you could run every car in America for 30 years. Viva R.E.M.!!!
robken0174 10 months ago
Old REM is the best.
avin1973 11 months ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Suspicion yourself, suspicion yourself don't get caught...
SO great. Thank you for posting this.
natch15 1 year ago
Suspicion yourself, suspicion yourself don't get caught...
SO great. Thank you for posting this.
natch15 1 year ago
SO great. Thank you for posting this.
natch15 1 year ago
Heaven help me, I can't stop watching this. It's 18 years since I first heard it and it's just as transfixing as ever.
Michael Stipe sings like he's receiving God.
lithead 1 year ago 3
Wow i love this song,...So many memories! It reminds me of living in the Middle TN/Nashville area in the 80s while in high school. The alternative music scene was at it's prime back then. I miss that time in my life so much,...
sunflowernoo 1 year ago
Thanks so much for posting. I saw REM a long time ago - at the Roseland Ballroom in New York City in late 1981. They opened for Gang of Four and some other band. I was in high school. Spoke with them after the show - really great, friendly guys. I remember thinking their name was strange - REM! I bought Chronic Town a few months later. Then I saw them at the Ritz in New York, in the spring of '83. Later that year they played the Letterman show. Lucky to have been a New Yorker then.
marcoamedrano 1 year ago 4
@marcoamedrano I was lucky to be an Athenian then! ;-) Such a great time.
jehouse 1 year ago
@jehouse Athenian? We'll then you were VERY lucky then! Ha!
marcoamedrano 1 year ago
@marcoamedrano I envy you!
Noeladishi 1 year ago
@Noeladishi LOL! Believe me, back then it was no big deal. They were just another one of the thousands of bands that came through NY in the early 80's. But REM, like all great bands, had special something about them that made them stand out when they played, and you remembered them for it (aside from their crazy name!)
marcoamedrano 1 year ago
@marcoamedrano Between 1977 and 1985, NYC was the best music venue in the whole world. The Ritz, the Roseland Ballroom, CBGB's of courses - and so many small clubs like Darinka.
You WERE lucky to have been a NYer and young and appreciative of the music.. All you had to do is pick up a copy of the Village Voice and a @0 dollar bill and you had your fun. Of course you could also run into some trouble.
Scorses's "After Hours" captured it perfectly.
lithead 1 year ago
Comment removed
marcoamedrano 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
@lithead Can't agree with you more. It was an incredible time, especially when comparing it to what has come afterward. Sounds like you were around at that time as well. If one wanted danger, all you had to do was wander into the East Village at the A7 club or the Pyramid, or the Jane West Hotel by the Hudson River, where customers were frisked to remove their guns and knives. The acts: The UK Subs, US Chaos, Misfits, Gang of Four, all the hardcore punk bands.
marcoamedrano 1 year ago
This is so great!!!!
VacLateralus 1 year ago
House in order...
randomeddie 1 year ago
Mike Mills looks like Lonnie in this. HAHAHAHAHA! :-D
bfdhvcnvvbjdn 1 year ago
Is anyone freaked out by seeing a young Mike Mills looking barely old enough to drink in this video?
I love REM. I can't explain it. There's an authenticity about them that sounds more sincere than ninety percent of what's on the radio. Thanks for posting.
spazola789 1 year ago 3
@spazola789
Well, he was already 25 or 26 years old when this song was released on their first EP.
degree7 1 year ago
I remember back when REM was putting out this early stuff, the British pop press would always comment on Stipe's physical attractiveness. The word "cherubic" was used a lot, along with lots of comments about his lips.
colibri1 1 year ago 2
Thanks!!! An absolute favorite. I was at a show on the Murmur tour and when they walked out, I was shouting for this song, and they played it, first. What a great band, it was a great night, I was with a great girl, everything was perfect. Why couldn't it stay that way forvever?
MrBroadwaystreet 1 year ago 2
@MrBroadwaystreet Unfortunately that's the way the Universe set it up. Time trumps all. We just have to learn to deal.
lithead 1 year ago
R.E.M. is one of the few bands that have produced a great first album. Chronic Town is indeed a magnificent album. In general, though, their discography is somewhat special. I really like these guys, shame I haven't seen them live. Great vid man, thanks for the upload!
124Brainiac 1 year ago
I miss my baby REM.
jehouse 1 year ago
Wow, they were so young back then.
ruphia 1 year ago
old old rem, I love it.
JuxboxBob 1 year ago 3
OMG what a beauty!
Michael is a nature miracle!!!!!
SguardoInnocente 1 year ago 12
suspicion your ponyo
gabrielapetrie 1 year ago
he does not ever tell ponyo to save the world. the whole movie he is mad at her cuz she screwed things up
xacto17 1 year ago
Yeah Mike Mills with no glasses and such short hair is the weirdest part.
ChristopherMcEneaney 1 year ago 2
No kidding, you don't see Mike without his glasses ever. He is friendly. All R.E.M. were friendly to me. The greatest band ever in my book.
MrBroadwaystreet 1 year ago
Wow, back in the era when Stipe actually had hair...
veridical1 1 year ago 3
mike mills looks really different to himself nowadays
StegoOnVenus 1 year ago 2
I love the old R.E.M.
I love when I see Bill Berry playing (I miss Bill, is great to see them together)
And this song is just awesome.
The house should be always in order as long as REM keep doing fantastic music
greenlittlewolf 2 years ago 21
@greenlittlewolf .... you know , I miss Bill as well .... recently I saw REM on Austin City Limits ... a fantastic show ... i only knew like two songs but i was enthralled the whole show ... regardless , as good as they still are , i missed Bill immensely and I think they would be better if he were still playing drums ... he has this really light , but driving sort of feel ... it seems like anyone else who plays REM songs turns it too heavy
sweetfly66 1 year ago 2
@sweetfly66 Bill is inside the music, just completely having total fun using his body to drive it forward.
But they *all* look like they are having the most intense pleasure making this music together. It's the sound, too - the chiming guitar, the driving bass, the harmonies, and the miasma of feelings that this evokes. The lyrics are unintelligible, except as phrases and words that float up out of the swirl. The words in this song are vaguely sinister, somewhat scary, and intensely personal.
lithead 1 year ago
@lithead ... you should be a music critic ... you sound just like the people who write for rolling stone or whatever
sweetfly66 1 year ago
@sweetfly66 If that's meant as a good thing, I sincerely thank you.
lithead 1 year ago
thank you for posting, R.E.M's first music video back in 82. amazing, thanks again.
ruffino82 2 years ago 2
I started listening to REM w/ "Losing my Religion" (Out of Time) like many others, but over time my appreciation has dwindled to just two albums, "Automatic for the People" and "Chronic Town".
gabrielapetrie 2 years ago 2
@gabriel.....no Murmur?!?!
AFBrat77 2 years ago
*shrug*
gabrielapetrie 2 years ago
how could automatic for the people make you lose appreciation? the album is legend!
StegoOnVenus 1 year ago
you must have misread my comment. please reread it.
gabrielapetrie 1 year ago
you may have missed my opinion, please realise the views of someone else
StegoOnVenus 1 year ago
that... just does not even make sense. not in the context, and not even in and of itself.
gabrielapetrie 1 year ago
Really?! You must admit, Murmur is great. 9-9 is an amazing song.
MrBroadwaystreet 1 year ago
@MrBroadwaystreet The entire album is fantastic! Listen to it with headphones when you are feeling trippy. It is a whole journey to the edge of the galaxy.
The altered sound of the billiard balls hitting each other at the beginning of "Radio Free Europe" - they'll reverberate in my skull forever.
lithead 1 year ago
Comment removed
nowicanseeporns 2 years ago 2
@nowicanseeporns Michael looks lovely in this video! 3:49 ^_^
rhapsodier78 1 year ago 2
this and 'life and how to live it' are REM's best.
digitalsidewalk 2 years ago
"Life and How to Live it" is a great song, but to me, anything from Chronic Town, Murmur, or Reckoning could do as their best. They were flawless to that point.
AFBrat77 2 years ago
Thanks for uploading it, I only have watched this video here, on REM's webpage and in "When the light is mine...", and it's nice to watch it again :)
DSLRmusic 2 years ago
Def top quality, thanks for posting! I remember watching this on 120 minutes...
therewillbefink 2 years ago
Although in 1982 there was no 120 Min. program - I believe that started in '86, so although MTV was once cool and showed this, it wasn't current. A few thoughts ... funny how REM was at their best before few people in Athens even knew who they were (in my ever so humble opinion). Wolves is better than Radio Free Europe, and with Green they sold out - got too pop friendly. Also, Stipe only looks good here. Seriously, I mean, never again! Videowise, slo-mo doesn't work on a song like this.
Nominay 2 years ago
I have to disagree with your opinions... Automatic for the People is an amazing album. Their IRS work is the most consistant but they have done some good work for Warner.
tsaok123 2 years ago 2
This is the best quality REM video on YouTube ever ! For sure.
I´ve been looking for this song for a long time. Thank You to find it and post it here.
Thanks a lot !!!
jomach 2 years ago
m stipe at age 22...wow, they were a great band, america's answer to the smiths.
khasperg 2 years ago 2
Big time!!!!
Phishean 2 years ago
Are you sure? Who came first? I think the Smiths copied R.E.M. If you like them, check out the Neats. They opened for R.E.M. when I saw them on the Murmur tour.
MrBroadwaystreet 1 year ago
@MrBroadwaystreet i think you're right, i think the smiths started in 1983 after murmur was released already. actually, now that i think of it, they were very different in many ways, especially lyrically. but i just mean they were probably each country's major alternative 4-some.
khasperg 1 year ago
@khasperg They had some things in common, sure, and they were different. There were other bands sort of like R.E.M. & the Smiths. Before 'alternative' but after 'punk.' People didn't know what to call it at first. I remember going to a 'folk rock' show put on by MTV, an amazing lineup; Ritchie Havens, John Sebastian, Roger Mcguin, Colin Youngblood and R.E.M. was the headliner. People were also talking about 'college rock' and college radio first played both of those bands.
MrBroadwaystreet 1 year ago 2
@MrBroadwaystreet I'd forgotten about the "folk rock" moniker but it fits. What I remember is that bands like early REM and the Smiths and several others were said to have a mid-60s sound influenced by the jangly guitar of the Byrds, and they definitely seemed to be an extension of the various 60s-revival bands proliferating in the late 70s/early 80s. I recall REM citing Moby Grape as an influence on their early sound, for instance, and I hear Roky Erikson in some of Stipe's vocals.
colibri1 1 year ago 2
I'm with you. There were many 60s influenced bands in the early 80s post punk years. The Fleshtones, The Neats, Salem 66, The Rain Parade, to name a few. I liked 'em all.
MrBroadwaystreet 1 year ago
man, this should really be old... I mean, Michael Stipe HAD HAIR!!!
j/k, cool song ^^
flyingvkusanagi 2 years ago 2
Bill Berry's eyebrows were magnificent
777skoal 2 years ago 3
@777skoal The ONLY eyebrow, you mean. He's got one looong eyebrow hehehe xD
Anyway they look amazing!
rhapsodier78 1 year ago 2
Bravo!!!...as coalminingpolak said: STOP deleting this video!!!
Tuve la suerte de verlos en Lima el14 de noviembre pasado...simplemente geniales.
Saludos
newsolomon 2 years ago 2
que bueno! viva cerca athens cuando era mas joven y mi padre y tenia cada "record" del REM... esta musica es interesante, brillante, y el magnific-isimo del los 80s y 90s.
tripnixon 2 years ago 2
Dear Youtube,
Stop senselessly deleting this.
Great song, good video quality - thanks!
CoalMiningPolak 2 years ago
i looped this song soooooo many times as a kid, adult, etc.
tripnixon 2 years ago 3
Thanks for posting! This one one of my favorite R.E.M. songs!
samara76 2 years ago 3
Awesome! Nice to have this back up on youtube.
WickedWings07 2 years ago 2