R.E.M.

R.E.M. was an American rock band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980 by lead singer Michael Stipe, lead guitarist Peter Buck, bassist/backing vocalist Mike Mills, and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first alternative rock bands, R.E.M. were noted for Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style, Stipe's particular vocal quality, and Mills' melodic basslines and backing vocals. Following years of underground success, R.E.M. achieved a mainstream hit in 1987 with the single "The One I Love". The group signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1988, and began to espouse political and environmental concerns while playing large arenas worldwide.

By the early 1990s, when alternative rock began to experience broad mainstream success, R.E.M. was viewed by subsequent acts such as Nirvana and Pavement as a pioneer of the genre. In 1996, R.E.M. re-signed with Warner Bros. for a reported US$80 million, at the time the most expensive recording contract in history. The following year, Bill Berry left the band, while Stipe, Buck, and Mills continued the group as a trio. Through some changes in musical style, the band continued its career into the next decade with mixed critical and commercial success, despite having sold more than 85 million records worldwide and becoming one of the world's best-selling music artists of all time. In 2007, the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in their first year of eligibility. R.E.M. disbanded amicably in September 2011, announcing the split on its website.

Links To Peel
Peel publicly was not a fan of the group. On his 25 July 1989, before playing the Butthole Surfers cover of R.E.M.'s The One I Love, he stated to his listeners how he did not like original version:

"'And these are the Butthole Surfers from their double live semi official LP and their version of an R.E.M. song which you know and love, hate in my case.'"

Peel on the 28 October 1989 (BFBS) show mentioned that his producer compared one of Edsel Auctioneer's song to R.E.M., which he replied in his humour that he is now buried in a shallow grave, but alas is grinning sheepishly next to the studio:

"'When I played the other side of that in last week's programme, our producer Phil said that it reminded him of R.E.M.: I should like to be able to tell you that he's now buried in a shallow grave at the side of the A45 road, but alas he's grinning sheepishly in the decompression chamber next to this studio.'"

By the 90's, Peel still was not satisfied with R.E.M.'s music. On his Peel 181 (BFBS) show in 1991, he was still puzzled on why R.E.M.were successful:

"'I'm rather puzzled by the success of R.E.M.: I mean, I don't hate 'em or anything, and I listen to the records and they sound kind of OK but that's all, but the reviews! People are like, 'LP Of The Year,' 10 stars, y'know, 11 stars, that kind of stuff: people just go quite insane about it. I really don't see it, it's one of those things that's a great mystery to me, like the Stone Roses and U2 and so forth, in every generation. The most successful bands tend to be the ones I don't like or whose appeal is a mystery to me.'"

In 1993, Peel played a few of R.E.M.'s music, but this time on Jakki Brambles shows, where he was covering her whilst on holiday.

In 1998, Peel seemed to have a change of heart in the group, which resulted in them performing a session for his show, which was recorded 'as live' at the BBC Radio Theatre in Broadcasting House. Even after the session, the band still did not get any airplays on his shows, except for a track 'Losing My Religion' in 2004, which was remixed by SFB.

After Peel's death, two of R.E.M.'s early 80's albums (Fables Of The Reconstruction and Life's Rich Pageant) were found in his Record Collection: R.

Sessions
1. Recorded: 1998-10-25. Broadcast: 17 November 1998
 * Walk Unfraid / Day Sleeper / Lotus / At My Most Beautiful

Other Shows Played
1993 2004
 * 06 April 1993 (John Peel Is Jakki Brambles): Everybody Hurts (single) Warner Bros.
 * 07 April 1993 (John Peel Is Jakki Brambles): Losing My Religion (single) Warner Bros.
 * 09 April 1993 (John Peel Is Jakki Brambles): Everybody Hurts (single) Warner Bros.
 * 09 March 2004: Abusing My Religion (Maxi: Abusing My Religion) S.F.B. Remixes