Lou Gramm's "Midnight Blue" by R.E.M.

Man, I gotta tell ya, it took me a lot of work to track this one down.

I think I read about this in Rolling Stone, oh, about 20 years ago (wow, I feel old). R.E.M. had taken to covering "Midnight Blue," by Foreigner's Lou Gramm, in concert. While it seems like an odd choice, Michael Stipe pointed out, quite correctly, that it was a terrific song.

I looked for it for years, and finally, through the magic of the Internet, I found it through an R.E.M. web ring.

This performance is from a November 5, 1987, performance at the Circle Pavilion at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Yeah, it doesn't sound all that great, but I'm happy to have it at all.

It also interpolates bits of "Heartbreak Beat" by the Psychedelic Furs and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" by U2. I bet it was a blast live.

http://ondeafears.com/

Category:

Music

Tags:

• R.E.M.
• REM
• Midnight
• Blue
• Lou
• Gramm
• Foreigner

[Rauoul]

I can't believe someone found this, from the UIC concert during the Document Tour. I remember when they started the riff thinking, cool, REM covering a great Lou Gramm tune. My ex-wife, my late brother and I had a great time at that concert. RIP brother. . remember you dancing around to the tunes that night. . . Greg Thayer 1970-2007.

[ondeafearsblog]

Sorry to hear about the too-young death of your brother. Glad I was able to conjure up some happy memories.

[barques95]

The crowd was doing a collective "WTF?!"

[85vikings]

I searched this thinking no way. Thanks for downloading, saw it live in Davenport Iowa Halloween 1987

[SpammerOvTheGods]

I've got a boot from LA on the LRP tour that has this as well; need to convert that vinyl to zeros and ones...anyway, thanks!

#@!

[wildcatter63]

Damn, thought I knew all the REM oddities... (Was at Ft Garbage Ga in '84... Weekend escapes to the 40 Watt Club... need I say more?) BRAVO for finding this....

[theding101]

Collective 'WTF?' sums it up. Cameron Colisseum (Duke U) in '87 - they played this and I've cranked up Foreighner's version ever since. Remeber the Heartbreak Beat splice in as well. They also used a line from 'Red Rain' in a song as well....

[kouzie]

I was at this show and this song was a total blast. Actually, the entire show was pretty amazing and possibly the best of the entire `87 tour.

[quack10]

How about the the Psychadelic Furs "Heartbreak Beat" towards at the end? Nice.

[jerzeytarzan]

Saw him do this. It pissed off a lot of my hard core REM friends but I loved it. I love REM and I love this song. And I hate false prentention.

[scottymacIII]

@Rauoul I've told this story over the years, saw this tour in knoxville, tn @ UT and tho we all mad fun of lou grahm(saw foreigner in 79 in knoxville with head east ) i think 10,000 maniacs opened, the entire show ROCKED, especially this song, it was 1 of 2 encores.", sharpenin stones walkin on coals, to improve your business......." im glad u have some good memories of hangin with your brother, me & my bro cant be in same room with each other more than 5 min, and we're in our 40's

[cc92103]

I first heard Gramm's Midnight Blue just a couple of months ago, and have a strong liking for it. Glad to see Mr. Stipe felt the same way. I could listen to Stipe singing Orange Crush and Midnight Blue all day long.

[leicestergirl63]

Interesting cover of Midnight Blue but nobody could sing it like Lou Gramm. It was the perfect song for him and it still makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand up whenever I hear it. Michael Stipe just didn't cut it here.