Last year, all the members of REMbrandt counted down their top 5 R.E.M. tracks. What we consider to be ‘unmissable’ if you like.
The funny thing about the exercise was that, you might assume, that all the old favourites would be in there, at least a few times. However the reality was that out of 25 potential song choices, (5 members, each with a top 5), that 23 songs came out…. Only two songs made it onto two lists! One of which will be revealed today!
So in a feeble attempt to string out the suspense, today we’re going to look at Chris, Jeff and Andy’s choices, and share a video or two from each one. We'll highlight those shared choices, and reveal a famous track that DIDN'T make the list. Next time, we’ll look at mine and James’s. let's go!
Chris (Scott McCaughey) ((rhythm guitar / bass))
Affectionately referred to as ‘Dr. Rock’, Chris’s choices lean towards the rockier, upbeat end of the R.E.M. spectrum, but choices like ‘Electrolite’ from the 1996 LP ‘New Adventures In Hi-Fi’ and ‘Losing My Religion’ also show his love of the band’s more offbeat acoustic masterpieces. ‘Orange Crush’ is taken from the 1989 LP ‘Green’ which really saw R.E.M. enter the world arena of international touring bands.
Jeff (Bill Berry) ((drums, percussion, vocals))
You’d possibly think that being a drummer, Jeff’s choices would be even rockier than Chris’s, but actually the choices here are incredibly varied in dynamic and tempo. ‘Sweetness Follows’ may be from ‘Automatic For The People’ but ‘Gardening At Night’ hails back to the early 80s and R.E.M.s first releases. ‘Can’t Get There From Here’ is a bad imitation of Motown and Stax, which kind of has a life of it’s own, and ‘Be Mine’ is one of the most un-R.E.M. tracks ever - all worth checking out!
Andy (Michael Stipe) ((vocals))
Everybody’s choices do a pretty good job of spanning the range of styles that exist within R.E.M.s music - Andy’s choices are quite popularist, with three tracks from R.E.M.s best selling album ‘Automatic For The People’ which was released in 1992. ‘Everybody Hurts’, ‘The Sidewider Sleeps Tonite’ and ‘Find The River’ were all single releases from that album.
Close but no cigar…
So what doesn’t make any of our lists that you might expect? Well it’s actually this…. The lyrics for which were written by Michael Stipe in playful competition with Kurt Cobain of Nirvana (listen to ‘Lithium’) to see who could get the word “yeah” the most times into one song…..
Did you spot it?
Chris and Andy both chose 'Electrolite' from 'New Adventures In Hi-Fi' - if you're unaware of that little gem of a single, check it out here. We'll be playing it at our gig at VENUE24 on Bognor Pier on Saturday November 30th....
Get your tickets here...
Next time we'll wrap this up with more of the same. Do you agree with these lists? have you got a favourite track you haven't spotted yet? Let me know!
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