When this aired I was in South Korea serving in the US Army. I had been a DJ in college before joining and was into all kinds of music. I had read the Rolling Stone review of "Murmur" and bought the album at the PX. I may have been the first person to play REM in South Korea! I forced alot of my friends to hear REM and made them alot of fans.
I read the same Rolling Stone review and went out and bought that first album, too. I had started collecting music about 1980, and at the time it was just another album to add to my growing collection. 44 years and thousands of LPs/CDs later they're still one of my favorite bands.
Mike Mills is the one who provides the drive and the hooks in both these songs....If there was any question of how important a bass player is in a band, this is the proof.
They were basically the starters and popularized "college rock" aka today known as alternative music so bands like Nirvana, Radiohead, pearl jam, and other alternative bands Really loved REM. @@bamadave83
It's hard for people to appreciate how radical this sound was in 1983. Where are the cold droning synths, the morgue vocals, the electronic drums, the hairspray? What a lifeline they were at that time. I've never fully recovered from Murmur.
Yup, was so radical that you would have had to go all the way back to 1973, 1963, or 1953 to hear the same thing, only better. Anyway, wasn't bad for a group of kids, until they graduated, became accountants and Michael Stipe cut his hair ;)
Man I'd give my left nut for a Rickenbacker bass, but a little wasted here with no effects. Cliff Burton showed the world how a Rick bass should be played.
Agreed. I like their middle-era stuff as well (they got weaker in their later years IMHO) but there was just something about this early lo-fi era that's awesome. I like that the post-punk vibe is still front forward.
It's for T.V. I think this is live so there is some heavy, and I mean heavy compression on each instrument. Not taking anything away from them, they bring it live and sound great. But there are guard rails in place to minimize a botched performance.
Most of the music greats performed on Letterman Paul shaffer's band is the greatest late-night house band ever. This performance is quite good, but there's so many!
As good as REM was here can we also appreciate how good Letterman was at finding and putting on acts like this over the years? He is a music fan and allowed a lot of us to get exposed to music like this before the days of the internet.
Early on Stipe was very socially awkward and shy and often tried to avoid doing interviews or talking to the press. Mills and Buck did a lot of the talking. Stipe did get better with his shyness and public speaking as he got older.
@@shelleyinthecity I'm 5 years older than Stipe--I had forgotten how beautiful and shy he was, OMG, but sounded so great! We lived in Atlanta, not far from Athens, GA, at that time, and I was happy to see the Athens bands coming out. We had just moved back south, having lived in Boston for 7 years, and I already loved the B52s. Look how generous the boys are, naming other unknown Athens bands! Sweethearts!
I am a boomer and Murmur and Reckoning came out while I was in law school. One of my favorite bands of all time. Every so often I just have to put them on and melt into the music.
1983 I was 14 years old and while my friends were listening to Van Halen & Rush I found R.E.M. A completely different sound that instantly reshaped my musical mind.
I just saw your comment. Mine is the same. When I found REM (at 18) I had grown tired of songs about girls & ,drinking,. I also began listening to U2 & The Alarm....
I think the great musicianship of Mills, Buck & Berry is a lot of what separated them from their peers like the Replacements & Husker Du, etc. Those other bands had good songs but the musical parts weren't distinctive the way R.E.M.'s were.
@@RCAvhstape Berry's harmonies are overlooked too. Those three really locked in. I loved when they would sing those different parts over each other, whatever that is called, it isn't in round... but like on "Fall On Me" "Don't Fall on Me" sung by Michael with "What is it up in the air for... If it's there for long... it's over, it's over me" sung by Mills and "It's gonna fall" repeatedly sung by Berry. A masterpiece for what was just considered a "college rock" band at the time.
I worked for a band that opened for them a few times in Berkeley, a couple years before this. they drew a huge crowd and I never really cottoned to it but they were obviously going places. It seems like they got better.
I'm an old man now but I remember at 15 my family moving to some place where I knew no one in 1986...new school and living in a trailer on a dirt lot cuz we were building a house to live in. So lonely and down but I used to listen to REM in our car and it took me up and away from my circumstances and made me happy for a change. Seven Chinese brothers was a big song for me. I was really into U2 at the time as well.
Imagine having the chance to play two songs from your first album on your TV debut. You then decide to drop a new song, that nobody has heard, and that song is So. Central Rain. If I had a time machine, going to see R.E.M. in this era would be top of my list.
I always enjoy listening to interviews with Mike Mills. He's such an interesting, enthusiastic, intelligent and charismatic person with no ego, no arrogance and no rock star swagger. You could meet him in a bar and not realise that he was a member of one of the most success bands of all time. He's always very generous and respectful to the interviewer even if they're poor with lazy cliched questions. I could listen to him all day.
So. Central Rain is not only one of my favorite REM songs, it’s one of my all time favorite songs, period. Amazing to hear it before they even picked a name for it, and even more amazing that they were able to play a song that wasn’t even released yet on national television.
Stipe wrote this when REM was touring. They were in LA and there was torrential rainfall across the South and they were unable to get through to people back home due to downed phone lines. Of course the song is about more than that, but that was the origin moment. Three months from conception to Letterman.
I always loved how shy and reserved Stipe was. You expect a front man to be dominant and ro be the speaker of the band. Instead, he's off sitting quietly near the drums while Peter and Mike talk to Dave.. It was interesting to watch him evolve over the years.
Good song, but for me it was "The One I Love". That song based in Em and with the guitar hook and thundering power chords by Peter Buck in the choruses made me, like you, a lifelong fan. Their "Out Of Time" album is still one of the greatest albums ever, and that contains neither of the two songs you and I love. Amazing. Even Mike Mills "Texarkana" is way the hell up there in my favourite R.E.M. songs. No, I don't like talking about R.E.M.
10 years ahead of their time. This was a precursor to the 90s scene (minus the flannel), from Nirvana (who were big REM fans and friends with them) to Lisa Loeb, etc.
I saw this when it first aired, it made me an instant R.E.M. fan. Letterman really had some great bands on, and he showed respect. I don’t know if it was Paul Schaffer or someone else on the show, but they obviously had a strong connection with what was happening in music.
What a thing! To see this all these years later: I watched this performance on the very night it first showed. I always tried to stay up late for "viewer mail" on Thursdays. And here was this band. I bought the Murmur record that weekend and was a fan ever after. So cool to see again. What a World!
In 1983, I was 17 and already a huge R.E.M. fan. I recorded this on my VCR the night it was on and watched it hundreds of times back then. For them to follow up Radio Free Europe with a new (and brilliant) song, "So. Central Rain," on their network TV debut was a bold move worthy of Dylan or the Beatles.
I was much younger in 83. I remember 84 being a monumental year for music. I chuckled when I seen your message about taping with the VCR and rewatching it. I found REM way later. I was very on Twisted Sister, Prince's Purple Rain and of course Van Halen 1984. Those three kept me busy.
I'm a bass player and have been for more years than I care to mention. I saw a thing a thing about the bass line for "Good Vibrations" being possibly the best bass line ever ( I don't know why we pursue this " best ever " stuff anyway )...I mean it's a cool bass line for sure...but what Mike Mills is doing on these two songs here , is absolutely stellar !!! His lines are intricate , harmonic , punchy , and move these songs along in just the right way. Are these the "best bass lines ever" ??? Who's to say...all I know , is I love listening to what Mike Mills does in pretty much all of REM's songs ...My bass playing has gotten more creative by listening to this guy and I am happier with my playing because of discovering REM and Mike Mills especially...Thank you Mike !!!
So cool that they just play this brand new song without even having named it yet, in their first ever live television performance. And that it turns out to be a classic.
amazing what a good singer, 2 guys on guitar and a drummer can do. It's a shame kids these days have no idea what creativity and passion really is when it comes to music.
This is the beginning. By the time this band called it quits they had developed the finest, most intellectually engaging catalogue of music in the history of American pop/rock music! Won't be equalled, certainly not in my lifetime.
Primitive production. No light show. Simple stage. What you see is what you get. I love that you can hear the hum of the amps when dave did the mid set interview.
Total perfection. You couldn't have wanted a National TV debut to have gone better. Very interesting that Michael didn't talk to Dave between songs. Also ballsy to play a new song and not push the new album. Reminds me of when the Tragically Hip only played new stuff on SNL, when they could've easily made thousands of fans by playing a couple of the older bar tunes.
Wow, this is one absolutely perfect example of me being a tiny little kid and really hearing a bass line worth hearing! Damn, it was almost 40 years ago and I still vaguely remember it :)
I was 13 years old in 1983. Missed this performance but discovered them a few years later. Their 1983-1988 catalog was the soundtrack of my college years even though I was a few years behind. A top five American band of all time in my opinion.
The music industry isn't about bands anymore, isn't about albums, isn't about being organic and cares mostly about a formula that isn't about being original. It's sad but I am glad I (and i assume you as well) lived and loved music during a time of some great creativity.
Man, so glad I found this! What a time capsule…I remember they first caught my ear in the early 80’s and one of my favorite bands ever since. What a privilege to be able to see this. Young Lions and Nailin’ it, man!
I had the good fortune to be working in a club they came and played in one weekend...first gig they played outside of Georgia. They rocked the house and owned it. Next day everywhere you went someone was singing 'Don't...go back..to Rock-ville!'
What a performance. And what an interview! Always great to see Letterman drop the act and talk genuinely to artists he appreciates. And these guys were just breaking through!
Man it's crazy how many times I've watched this since I found it a few weeks ago.... Mills and Buck are synergistic musical magicians... And Stipe being so shy yet confident at the same time... R.E.M. were so far ahead of their time.
I was 1 in 1983. Crazy. My Mom used to have MTV on all day. I remember the video for Losing My Religion. I must have watched that video a couple hundred times as a kid. The CD single for Drive was one of the first CDs I ever bought on my own.
Came home that night, flicked on the TV and this happened. I remember it so clearly. I’d never heard of R.E.M. and was instantly hooked on their sound and Stipe’s voice. What a band!
this is true i was crashing on the couch at the time! I also remember it very clearly. Orange brown and yellow hand knit blanket and coors light in the fridge. I loved it there. thank you. Hope you're well paul.
Dadgumit, I miss those old days! Two amazing performances by one of my all time favorite bands. Friends and I were obsessed with REM back in the mid 80s. I still consider Reckoning, one of my 3 favorite albums of all; along with London Calling and Abbey Road. Greatness.
I remember watching this live and wondering if I'd ever hear that awesome unnamed song again. Radio Free was already an underground hit that I loved, but that second song blew me away. The jangly Rickenbacker and up beat bass mixed with the melancholy sound of Michael Stipe's vocals were a perfect sweet and sour for my ears and mind. When I finally heard it again I was thrilled! An entirely new sound, and I loved it. And I still can only figure out two words in the lyrics.
I remember it. The show changed that day and started reaching out to a younger country. It was cool. I have been wanting to watch this again for a long long time. Thanks.
I was fortunate to catch REM in St. Petersburg FL on their Lifes Rich Pageant tour. Mitch Easter opened for them, and Roger McGuinn sat in for a couple of tunes with Stipe and company. They played a few songs that appeared on Document a year later. They were making their set list on the fly, and it was sublime. They closed with a subdued version of “So. Central Rain.” The highlight of the show for me was when Mills belted out “Superman.”
These guys had me from “Radio Free Europe.” Great interviews with the band and with Mike Mills have become available. Rick Beato’s time with Mike Mills is especially good.
Man, they were so amazing back in those IRS years. Those first 5 albums plus Chronic Town EP are still regularly played for me. They just seemed like a bunch of chill small-town guys playing their own brand of rock. Right at the crossroads of college/indie/alternative rock. The Smiths were playing on the other side of the pond and you could tell something huge was awakening. Just amazing groups with flawless albums at the time.
FLAWLESS performance. Double Rick attack and studio-quality (or better) vocals from Michael, Mike and Bill. These kids had it from the very beginning. Bravo.
I never really listened closely to the bass on Radio Free Europe, as Micheal's voice and the jangling guitar of Peter was what I focused on. However what a bass line and player!
Remember seeing the video for So. Central Rain as a 19 year old when it first came out in 83, believe it was on Friday Night Videos. It struck me then that both the song and the band really stood out quite a bit from everything else that you would have seen on that show at the time. It both harkened back to jangly 60s pop and also showed the way towards the future in the late 80s/early 90s.
![R.E.M. - Radio Free Europe + So. Central Rain (Hifi Mono) [10-6-83]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/PZDttTHeDEI/mqdefault.jpg)
When this aired I was in South Korea serving in the US Army. I had been a DJ in college before joining and was into all kinds of music. I had read the Rolling Stone review of "Murmur" and bought the album at the PX. I may have been the first person to play REM in South Korea! I forced alot of my friends to hear REM and made them alot of fans.
I read the same Rolling Stone review and went out and bought that first album, too. I had started collecting music about 1980, and at the time it was just another album to add to my growing collection. 44 years and thousands of LPs/CDs later they're still one of my favorite bands.
Thank you for your service!
Prob 2-3 pm??
I’m sure that wasn’t so hard ‘ miss these 😢guys
Mike Mills is the one who provides the drive and the hooks in both these songs....If there was any question of how important a bass player is in a band, this is the proof.
And look how much he’s enjoying performing. You can see the energy pouring out of him.
Rick Beato just did an interview with Mike Mills a few days ago
With Buck playing arpegiated chords so much- leaves a lot of space for bass and drums to fill
@@phnigra111 What a great interview, what a low-key genius Mike Mills is, and sounds like a seriously nice guy.
Yeah he's absolutely the star of this performance.
It's crazy how good they were right from the start.
was crazy to us Gen X kids and now feels like
Did anybody have a similar sound back then? Seems like they were wayyyy ahead of their time
They were basically the starters and popularized "college rock" aka today known as alternative music so bands like Nirvana, Radiohead, pearl jam, and other alternative bands Really loved REM. @@bamadave83
They gigged relentlessly. It shows!
I agree! They sound so professional and deep...and they were just kids...David L had no idea did he? Lol
Mike Mills plays bass like it's lead guitar. Bravo.
It's hard for people to appreciate how radical this sound was in 1983. Where are the cold droning synths, the morgue vocals, the electronic drums, the hairspray? What a lifeline they were at that time. I've never fully recovered from Murmur.
Yup, was so radical that you would have had to go all the way back to 1973, 1963, or 1953 to hear the same thing, only better. Anyway, wasn't bad for a group of kids, until they graduated, became accountants and Michael Stipe cut his hair ;)
So radical you'd have to go all the way back to 1979, in fact@@smithmann5616
@smithmann5616 haha. Nice one troll
We’ve all heard the expression “ahead of its time.” REM was exactly 10 years ahead of its time. They pretty much invented 90s grunge.
Hadn't New Wave been around for 7-8 years in 1983?
Gotta love the matching Rickenbackers.
I don't play bass at all but I still want a 4003 just to plunk around on.
Just like the Jam
That's what made their sound.
Pure class
Man I'd give my left nut for a Rickenbacker bass, but a little wasted here with no effects. Cliff Burton showed the world how a Rick bass should be played.
The purity of their sound at this moment was amazing. No BS, no effects. Amazing stuff that is timeless.
Agreed. I like their middle-era stuff as well (they got weaker in their later years IMHO) but there was just something about this early lo-fi era that's awesome. I like that the post-punk vibe is still front forward.
Almost too clean. This kind of thing is more hardcore than metal imo. Takes real balls.
It's for T.V. I think this is live so there is some heavy, and I mean heavy compression on each instrument. Not taking anything away from them, they bring it live and sound great. But there are guard rails in place to minimize a botched performance.
The vocal mix is awful.
This is so refreshing to listen too, especially after all today’s music has become.
Easily one of the greatest Letterman music performances of the entire run. Legendary....
Most of the music greats performed on Letterman Paul shaffer's band is the greatest late-night house band ever. This performance is quite good, but there's so many!
@ChipOrdway Ooooor, you could find some standards.🤷♂️🤦♂️🤦♂️🤡
In the words of Richie from The Bear “ok…that’s a little much”
Mid AF 😂
@@spanqueluv9er Hopefully, not your standards...
Man... So. Central Rain is so good and so quintessentially REM.... And they had the balls to debut it with no title on Letterman. Wow. Respect.
exactly, and they could have laid down this track 1 take and put it on the album and it would have been as good!
As good as REM was here can we also appreciate how good Letterman was at finding and putting on acts like this over the years? He is a music fan and allowed a lot of us to get exposed to music like this before the days of the internet.
I hardly think Dave was out there searching for bands. The A&R men organise it all.
@@LPManic Dave was responsible in large measure for many of the bands he had on his show and had a wide taste in music
Warren zevon says David was his music best friend
Logically, do you think REM's AR was a force at this point? Letterman deserves credit for his efforts
@@LPManic True for many hosts, not so much for Letterman, especially in 1983.
I love that Stipe, even in those nascent days of their career, takes a step back and lets Peter and Mike have their moment in the interview spotlight.
Early on Stipe was very socially awkward and shy and often tried to avoid doing interviews or talking to the press. Mills and Buck did a lot of the talking. Stipe did get better with his shyness and public speaking as he got older.
I would hope so. They wrote all the music.
He didn't take a step back. He was already in the back. He was painfully shy.
@@shelleyinthecity I'm 5 years older than Stipe--I had forgotten how beautiful and shy he was, OMG, but sounded so great! We lived in Atlanta, not far from Athens, GA, at that time, and I was happy to see the Athens bands coming out. We had just moved back south, having lived in Boston for 7 years, and I already loved the B52s. Look how generous the boys are, naming other unknown Athens bands! Sweethearts!
And Letterman could be brutal some nights! I was relieved to Not see him near Stipe!
This was the beginning of American Indie and Alternative rock.
I suppose they got on telly sooner than (eg Husker Du).
@@hackdaniels7253don’t forget the Replacements!
Absolutely
Are you forgetting Velvet Underground
@@Alex-wg8zl From them all things alt flowed. The spring from which the different and the good drank.
I am a boomer and Murmur and Reckoning came out while I was in law school. One of my favorite bands of all time. Every so often I just have to put them on and melt into the music.
Peter Buck is so natural on stage. He dresses well, has zero ego, and bops around in thorough enjoyment. This is good music folks x
Peter is the real deal. Pure rock 'n' roll...
Great description of this great player.
Just saw him And Mike Mills in the baseball project
@@KOSMICKEN09 Lucky!! Wish they'd tour around a bit.
Influential as all hoolahoop.
1983 I was 14 years old and while my friends were listening to Van Halen & Rush I found R.E.M.
A completely different sound that instantly reshaped my musical mind.
I just saw your comment. Mine is
the same. When I found REM (at 18) I had grown tired of songs about girls & ,drinking,. I also began listening to U2 & The Alarm....
and Def Leppard lmao
Did we have the same friends ?
Did you also find the Clash ? and the Specials ? and Billy Bragg ? .....
Loved Rush. Discovered REM later. Ended up playing bass and singing their songs in my first working band.
Mills bass on Radio Free Europe is simply awesome. So melodic and driving.
I think the great musicianship of Mills, Buck & Berry is a lot of what separated them from their peers like the Replacements & Husker Du, etc. Those other bands had good songs but the musical parts weren't distinctive the way R.E.M.'s were.
In addition to being a great bassist his harmony on backing vocals is perfect.
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World looks a lot like Mills on bass
FYP: Mills' bass is simply awesome. So melodic and driving.
@@RCAvhstape Berry's harmonies are overlooked too. Those three really locked in. I loved when they would sing those different parts over each other, whatever that is called, it isn't in round... but like on "Fall On Me" "Don't Fall on Me" sung by Michael with "What is it up in the air for... If it's there for long... it's over, it's over me" sung by Mills and "It's gonna fall" repeatedly sung by Berry. A masterpiece for what was just considered a "college rock" band at the time.
Bill Berry was an absolute metronome. So precise and complimented the rest of the band so well.
Here, here! Undersung.
complemented.
Thank you for your service.
First tv performance and they slayed it like they had been playing for 30 years together!
I worked for a band that opened for them a few times in Berkeley, a couple years before this. they drew a huge crowd and I never really cottoned to it but they were obviously going places. It seems like they got better.
@@hoboroadie That must have been great to see them that early in their career! btw what band were you working for that opened for them? just curious.
And they had already by that point written several songs that would be classics for the next three, maybe four more albums.
wow 2 fender amps and 2 rickenbackers. i love how simple yet big early alt bands sounded.
Yup.
We called it college radio back then
I still remember discovering REM. They were a breath of fresh air and essentially "American."
Murmur is one of the greatest albums of all time. A classic
way up in my top 10 personally!
Truly.
Masterpiece first album, up there with “greetings from asbury park”
You got that right ✅️
I wasn't even born when it came out but I've listened to it hundreds of times. Totally agree!
In 1982, Rolling Stone magazine's critics picked REM Murmur
as the album of the year, over Thriller
I was an instant fan
1983
I remember a trip to the King of Prussia mall to by this will my girlfriend in high school....a day which I could play back if the gods allowed
@@TheKlokan44I was a Junior in High School in 83. I'd give anything to go back for a day.
Haha they wouldn't do that today. They wouldn't even mention a band of straight white males
I'm an old man now but I remember at 15 my family moving to some place where I knew no one in 1986...new school and living in a trailer on a dirt lot cuz we were building a house to live in. So lonely and down but I used to listen to REM in our car and it took me up and away from my circumstances and made me happy for a change. Seven Chinese brothers was a big song for me. I was really into U2 at the time as well.
You probably know, but Stipe and sister were military brats who went through that moving around and it was hard on them.
Imagine having the chance to play two songs from your first album on your TV debut. You then decide to drop a new song, that nobody has heard, and that song is So. Central Rain.
If I had a time machine, going to see R.E.M. in this era would be top of my list.
I always enjoy listening to interviews with Mike Mills. He's such an interesting, enthusiastic, intelligent and charismatic person with no ego, no arrogance and no rock star swagger. You could meet him in a bar and not realise that he was a member of one of the most success bands of all time. He's always very generous and respectful to the interviewer even if they're poor with lazy cliched questions. I could listen to him all day.
So. Central Rain is not only one of my favorite REM songs, it’s one of my all time favorite songs, period. Amazing to hear it before they even picked a name for it, and even more amazing that they were able to play a song that wasn’t even released yet on national television.
You can even hear the mistakes in the guitar playing at 7:01. Definitely a brand new song.
So new it didn't yet even have the guitar intro that opens the song in the recorded version (which I read somewhere Don Dixon actually came up with).
don´t go back to rockville was a simple but well done song
Stipe wrote this when REM was touring. They were in LA and there was torrential rainfall across the South and they were unable to get through to people back home due to downed phone lines. Of course the song is about more than that, but that was the origin moment. Three months from conception to Letterman.
Definitely underrated it’s my favorite song of theirs as well
I always loved how shy and reserved Stipe was. You expect a front man to be dominant and ro be the speaker of the band. Instead, he's off sitting quietly near the drums while Peter and Mike talk to Dave.. It was interesting to watch him evolve over the years.
Drummer gettin' no love though.
And to watch his hair evolve! Or devolve 😂
Funny that by the 90s it was common for lead singers to be awkward introverts. Kurt Cobain, Billy Corgan and Thom York to name a few.
It is no contradiction to be at one time extroverted and at other times rather introverted.
But he wasn't just sitting in the back. He was actively hiding from the camera. That's some extreme shyness 😃
I met the bass player at a small club in Atlanta. Super chill and and cool guy.
That would be John Entwistle?
@@mcdaniels6188 Mike Mills.
I was there that night!
This appearance made me a lifelong fan of R.E.M.
Good song, but for me it was "The One I Love". That song based in Em and with the guitar hook and thundering power chords by Peter Buck in the choruses made me, like you, a lifelong fan. Their "Out Of Time" album is still one of the greatest albums ever, and that contains neither of the two songs you and I love. Amazing.
Even Mike Mills "Texarkana" is way the hell up there in my favourite R.E.M. songs.
No, I don't like talking about R.E.M.
That EP changed the musical landscape. Am I wrong?
Great performance! The close captioning guy had no chance
@@jamesblatchford3738 🤣🤣🙄🤦♂️Yes. You’re very, very wrong. REM didn’t change a thing.
@@spanqueluv9er is that a joke
Mike Mills looks like a little kid when he walks up to Dave at the end of Radio Free Europe, and it's awesome.
And he commands Dave's attention! I love it!
R.E.M is timeless
You Reckon?
This band is going to be huge!
definitely
God Bless you David Letterman for bringing all these bands to the world! Seriously.
For 10k you could of played on there too
Producers choose this. Letterman hasn't a thing to do with it.
@@somchai272 Not always true--Letterman did care about some types of music. He certainly care about Warren Zevon's music.
10 years ahead of their time. This was a precursor to the 90s scene (minus the flannel), from Nirvana (who were big REM fans and friends with them) to Lisa Loeb, etc.
You can actually hear the REM influence in Kurt's vocals. Not a copy, but there's a similar timbre in his delivery.
I saw this when it first aired, it made me an instant R.E.M. fan. Letterman really had some great bands on, and he showed respect. I don’t know if it was Paul Schaffer or someone else on the show, but they obviously had a strong connection with what was happening in music.
What a thing! To see this all these years later: I watched this performance on the very night it first showed. I always tried to stay up late for "viewer mail" on Thursdays. And here was this band. I bought the Murmur record that weekend and was a fan ever after. So cool to see again. What a World!
I did too. I loved Letterman and stayed up late every night to watch.
What a breath of fresh air this was...and still is. Brilliant.
In 1983, I was 17 and already a huge R.E.M. fan. I recorded this on my VCR the night it was on and watched it hundreds of times back then. For them to follow up Radio Free Europe with a new (and brilliant) song, "So. Central Rain," on their network TV debut was a bold move worthy of Dylan or the Beatles.
I was also 17 in 1983 and saw this live!
I was 3 in 1983 and became a fan hahahaha
I was much younger in 83. I remember 84 being a monumental year for music. I chuckled when I seen your message about taping with the VCR and rewatching it. I found REM way later. I was very on Twisted Sister, Prince's Purple Rain and of course Van Halen 1984. Those three kept me busy.
I was a foetus and became an instant fan hearing it muffled through my mom's stomach
Saw them in uk playing radio free Europe around same time
Guitar is almost so clean, but the overall sounds so straight to the point, so rock.
Genius.
Same bright, jangly sound The Byrds had thanks to the inimitable Rickenbacker.
Easy to forget they could play simple, straight ahead progressive rock, before all the studio gloss.
early REM just makes you feel like your in another time....another place. somewhere...anywhere.....its so good.
Letterman really was great for new bands!
I think Paul Schaefer had a lot of input on the musical guests, he was very keen on new emerging music.
my mom went out with him in the 80's and i imagine that being me with him back then
I'm a bass player and have been for more years than I care to mention. I saw a thing a thing about the bass line for "Good Vibrations" being possibly the best bass line ever ( I don't know why we pursue this " best ever " stuff anyway )...I mean it's a cool bass line for sure...but what Mike Mills is doing on these two songs here , is absolutely stellar !!! His lines are intricate , harmonic , punchy , and move these songs along in just the right way. Are these the "best bass lines ever" ??? Who's to say...all I know , is I love listening to what Mike Mills does in pretty much all of REM's songs ...My bass playing has gotten more creative by listening to this guy and I am happier with my playing because of discovering REM and Mike Mills especially...Thank you Mike !!!
"Rio" from Duran Duran has the best bass line ever.
Mike's melodic style was influenced by Chris Squire, that's why he plays a Rick.
@@papimontuno6821, for a pop song.
Letterman - You introduced one of America's greatest ever bands.
Michael Stipe’s voice is pure perfection to me. Just the right amount of emotion. I could listen to him all day and often do 😊
Agreed, his voice is unique in all the world.
@@keppela1yes me too!❤
Vintage REM is the best. The chord progressions and melody on the second song👌
Oh my lands, they didn't have a name yet for what went on to become one of their greatest songs!! What a magnificent performance.
So cool that they just play this brand new song without even having named it yet, in their first ever live television performance. And that it turns out to be a classic.
This was one of those performances that you can truly say was ahead of its time.
amazing what a good singer, 2 guys on guitar and a drummer can do. It's a shame kids these days have no idea what creativity and passion really is when it comes to music.
agree
Or talent.
Dude shut up you have no idea what kids are up to lmao most of my friends have bands. You just need to talk to punks more.
They were the Beatles of the '80s. Their growth during that decade was amazing.
I've made the same comparison more than once!
@@scott9580 you two have lost your damn minds. LOL
@@Biwwyb23 You don't know what you're talking about
@@gorbythechefAmen
YES! I like the cut of your jib,my friend.
This is the beginning. By the time this band called it quits they had developed the finest,
most intellectually engaging catalogue of music in the history of American pop/rock music! Won't be equalled, certainly not in my lifetime.
Wait what? Groovy REM??? Stipe with pretty long curly hair??? Omg it's like a dream
So powerful. To see the outspoken Stipe sitting so shy in the background is amazing.
giving space to their peers too
Paul was music director and presented most of the acts so give him the props.
Great album, great band, great year. Thanks, Dave.
Peter Buck simply has the best right hand guitar arpeggio technique I’ve ever seen/heard. So fast and accurate. I must learn to move like him too!
Primitive production. No light show. Simple stage. What you see is what you get. I love that you can hear the hum of the amps when dave did the mid set interview.
...and-as NBC hadn't gone stereo yet--in full in your face mono sound!
The best part!
The first thing I noticed was how Peter has his amp mic'd for this performance. True analog bliss.
Although the sound quality is awesome, congrats to those engineers
Drums too loud.
Just look at that pair of Rickenbackers! Most beautiful instruments in the world! Love that Mike dusted off that bass for Accelerate.
Total perfection. You couldn't have wanted a National TV debut to have gone better. Very interesting that Michael didn't talk to Dave between songs. Also ballsy to play a new song and not push the new album. Reminds me of when the Tragically Hip only played new stuff on SNL, when they could've easily made thousands of fans by playing a couple of the older bar tunes.
What a great band.
One of THE best, ever!!
Wow, this is one absolutely perfect example of me being a tiny little kid and really hearing a bass line worth hearing! Damn, it was almost 40 years ago and I still vaguely remember it :)
I was 13 years old in 1983. Missed this performance but discovered them a few years later. Their 1983-1988 catalog was the soundtrack of my college years even though I was a few years behind. A top five American band of all time in my opinion.
Still sounds as powerful as ever. Talking Heads and REM birthed the alternative movement.
The Replacements too!
@@Knapptime95 - Totally
*Pixies, Violent Femmes, Morphine... But yes, TRUE "alternative" music, and absolute greatness.
@@Knapptime95Don’t forget Husker Du.
Pylon.
For debut live performance, this is insanely good!
This makes me wish I was 20 again in 1999.
that makes sense. makes me wish I was 12 in 2010 again when I had never heard of this band. so much life ahead of me.
Hard to accept that we'll probably never hear a new band this good again.
The music industry isn't about bands anymore, isn't about albums, isn't about being organic and cares mostly about a formula that isn't about being original. It's sad but I am glad I (and i assume you as well) lived and loved music during a time of some great creativity.
Unbelievable. The era. they were the light of the days and nights. Americana and English post punk and more. Beyond
Man, so glad I found this! What a time capsule…I remember they first caught my ear in the early 80’s and one of my favorite bands ever since. What a privilege to be able to see this. Young Lions and Nailin’ it, man!
I had the good fortune to be working in a club they came and played in one weekend...first gig they played outside of Georgia. They rocked the house and owned it. Next day everywhere you went someone was singing 'Don't...go back..to Rock-ville!'
@@MrWeezer55 You are so stupid
This era of R.E.M. was magical
Good times for sure. Loved the early eighties
Everything they did from Chronic Town to Lifes Rich Pageant was amazing. I feel lucky to have experienced this as it happened.
Everything from Murmur to New Adventures… was 4-5 stars. After Bill left lots of good songs but not the same.
@@ellemjay me too.
One of the best bands ever.
I had this album & would play it beginning to end. They had their own sound. Love it!
Stipe always had perfect pitch, regardless of whether it was in the studio or live.
1983. I was 13 and this set the direction for my life.
Where did you go?
@@avengemybreath3084 Up!
How'd you turned out?
@@mandibarcena6667 Pretty darn good, I think.
I was 14
Just imagine how lucky the kids were who were going to school in Athens, Ga at the right time and saw these guys play at the clubs. Hell yeah
688 Club in Atlanta; Also saw them open for Bow Wow Wow at some hotel in Atlanta
40 Watt club baby!
What a performance. And what an interview! Always great to see Letterman drop the act and talk genuinely to artists he appreciates. And these guys were just breaking through!
What a very long time ago... 40 years goes by quick! They were my favorite band when this album came out. I saw them play at a local hockey rink lol
Man it's crazy how many times I've watched this since I found it a few weeks ago.... Mills and Buck are synergistic musical magicians... And Stipe being so shy yet confident at the same time... R.E.M. were so far ahead of their time.
HISTORY IN THE MAKING!! That voice!❤❤
I was 1 in 1983. Crazy. My Mom used to have MTV on all day. I remember the video for Losing My Religion. I must have watched that video a couple hundred times as a kid. The CD single for Drive was one of the first CDs I ever bought on my own.
♥️
As opposed to TIK TOK....
Letterman is a hero for music, too.
The communication/encouragement between the guitarist and bassist is infectious.
So young and beautiful! What an amazing and important band. Mike Mills' vocals are so good and compliment Michael Stiles sooo well.
Came home that night, flicked on the TV and this happened. I remember it so clearly. I’d never heard of R.E.M. and was instantly hooked on their sound and Stipe’s voice. What a band!
this is true i was crashing on the couch at the time! I also remember it very clearly. Orange brown and yellow hand knit blanket and coors light in the fridge. I loved it there. thank you. Hope you're well paul.
@@Biwwyb23 You are so stupid
No auto tune, no light show, no lasers, just a band and some amps and it sounds amazing.
would be kind of cool if they had used auto tune, light show, and lasers, though.
Mike and Peter just bouncing around the room
Don't worry i checked they're all alive. The news is just that Michael Stipe has his first solo album finally being released this year.
Oh good. The world can be bored stiff for a while.🙄🤦♂️🤦♂️🤡
@@spanqueluv9er
F. Trolls here..
I remember buying this record 1984 in Big W (Australia) for $1.99 having never heard of them. Best musical purchase ever.
Dadgumit, I miss those old days! Two amazing performances by one of my all time favorite bands. Friends and I were obsessed with REM back in the mid 80s. I still consider Reckoning, one of my 3 favorite albums of all; along with London Calling and Abbey Road. Greatness.
Thats some good taste. Those are certainly up there for me as well with Ok Computer and Future Days
Crazy how quickly 40 years have gone by.
I remember watching this live and wondering if I'd ever hear that awesome unnamed song again. Radio Free was already an underground hit that I loved, but that second song blew me away. The jangly Rickenbacker and up beat bass mixed with the melancholy sound of Michael Stipe's vocals were a perfect sweet and sour for my ears and mind. When I finally heard it again I was thrilled! An entirely new sound, and I loved it. And I still can only figure out two words in the lyrics.
I remember it. The show changed that day and started reaching out to a younger country. It was cool. I have been wanting to watch this again for a long long time. Thanks.
I was 18 and saw this, loved R.E.M ever since… now my 24 year old son listens to them 😊
Always liked the way Stripe held on to that microphone like he was in a damn wind turbine.
I was fortunate to catch REM in St. Petersburg FL on their Lifes Rich Pageant tour. Mitch Easter opened for them, and Roger McGuinn sat in for a couple of tunes with Stipe and company. They played a few songs that appeared on Document a year later. They were making their set list on the fly, and it was sublime. They closed with a subdued version of “So. Central Rain.” The highlight of the show for me was when Mills belted out “Superman.”
These guys had me from “Radio Free Europe.” Great interviews with the band and with Mike Mills have become available. Rick Beato’s time with Mike Mills is especially good.
Terrific interview including back stories. Legends
Man, they were so amazing back in those IRS years. Those first 5 albums plus Chronic Town EP are still regularly played for me. They just seemed like a bunch of chill small-town guys playing their own brand of rock. Right at the crossroads of college/indie/alternative rock. The Smiths were playing on the other side of the pond and you could tell something huge was awakening. Just amazing groups with flawless albums at the time.
I just love they way their live songs sound so much like the studio versions. Speaks of a very talented band that doesn't need a ton of production!
That has a lot to do with style. Panic never sound the same live because they jam... not because they lack tallent...
FLAWLESS performance. Double Rick attack and studio-quality (or better) vocals from Michael, Mike and Bill. These kids had it from the very beginning. Bravo.
I never really listened closely to the bass on Radio Free Europe, as Micheal's voice and the jangling guitar of Peter was what I focused on. However what a bass line and player!
Remember seeing the video for So. Central Rain as a 19 year old when it first came out in 83, believe it was on Friday Night Videos. It struck me then that both the song and the band really stood out quite a bit from everything else that you would have seen on that show at the time. It both harkened back to jangly 60s pop and also showed the way towards the future in the late 80s/early 90s.
well stated