R.E.M.: The I.R.S. Years

It has been 30 years now since R.E.M. first got together in Athens, Georgia. While time may have dimmed their achievements in the eyes of some, they have had a huge impact on music over the years. R.E.M. practically invented what we used to call college rock. In the eighties, radio was downright hostile to new music. Even during the short burst of New Wave, which supposedly opened up the airwaves, R.E.M. still did not fit in. In the beginning, the only place one could hear them was on college-campus radio stations, and those had a very limited signal.

The biggest hurdle R.E.M. faced was the fact that they were on an independent label, I.R.S. Commercial radio stations were just not willing to play anything that did not come from one of the majors. Once in a great while there would be an exception, but it did not happen often. Ironically, R.E.M. themselves were one of the exceptions, with their hit “The One I Love.”

In 1988, R.E.M. signed with Warner Bros. and went on to become one of the biggest bands in the world. They have had their ups and downs in the ensuing years, most notably the loss of drummer Bill Berry due to an aneurism - but have soldiered on. With the recent release of their 15th studio album Collapse Into Now, we thought it would be interesting to take a look back at their formative years on I.R.S.

The story begins in 1981 with the band’s first single “Radio Free Europe,” released on the tiny Hib-Tone label. This was followed by their I.R.S. Records debut, the five-song Chronic Town EP. The platter was produced by Mitch Easter, and showed that the band already had their trademark sound locked in, especially on tracks such as “1,000,000,” and “Carnival Of Sorts (Box Cars).”

At this point the group were ready to begin work on their full-length debut, Murmur. Mitch Easter was again at the controls along with his partner Don Dixon. The music the band came up with was simply magic. All 12 songs that make up Murmur have something to recommend them, and Rolling Stone  named it record of the year for 1983. Personal favorites include “Catapult,” and “Pilgrimage.” They even re-recorded “Radio Free Europe,” which this time around found some (college) airplay. The Deluxe Edition reissue features a second CD of a show at Larry’s Hideaway in Toronto on July 9, 1983.

Article Author: Greg Barbrick

Greg Barbrick is a Seattle native who was first published in 1988, in his hometown music magazine, The Rocket. Since then his work has appeared in print and online for numerous sources. He Googles himself so often that his mother told him it would make him go blind.
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