REM: Classic or dud?

For up-tempo, I like "Mine Smell Like Honey" too, it's got one of REM's better choruses from the last few records

Parakeet is great, I should've remembered that one

I just re-listened to The Lifting, and it kinda sounds awful out of anything except a crisp 1990s CD player

Am I the only one that reads that song title as Stipe referring to his farts?

farts or feet

We're talking about "The Lifting", right?

"The Lifting" ranks with "Begin the Begin" and "Radio Free Europe" among my favorite R.E.M. openers.

So is "Me in Honey" about Stipe in a roomful of his own farts then?

"That's a fart, that's a fart of meeee!"

I can't remember where I saw this, but somewhere out there (probably on a blog) an R.E.M. fan wrote about an awkward encounter with Stipe in the mid-'80s where they were waiting in line for something and laughed to a friend how the guy next to them smelled like pee. To their surprise, it was Michael Stipe, who then berated them for saying that.

"That's a fart, that's a fart of meeee!"

― BrianB, Friday, July 8, 2022 12:31 PM (forty-eight minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

kudos

I went looking for it, and found several other stories about how Stipe smells bad. I didn't realize that was a thing with him.

Anyway, here's the anecdote, buried in an old thread in a film-related forum:

As a native Athenian, I've had plenty of run-ins w/the members over the years (I worked in a Kroger that literally everybody shopped at, so it was bound to happen from time to time)...

Stipe is known around town for not bathing too regularly. Once in college, I was with my roommate at Jackson St. Books, and the guy ahead of us reeked as if he hadn't bathed in a week, and my roomie turned to me and whispered "That guy smells like pee." "That guy" apparently heard, because he turned around and surprise!--it was Michael Stipe, demanding to know why she'd said that.

I worked in a record store in Boulder, Colorado back in the 80s. Once, a couple came in who I thought were probably homeless (the store was on the outdoor mall downtown, there were a lot of unhoused people who ended up there esp. in the summer), or possibly just traveling people. Only after they left did I realize it was Michael Stipe and Natalie Merchant, who were in town to perform that night.

“beat a drum” is the best song on reveal

otm, always loved that one

I owned the album and can remember almost nothing about it.

It's looooooooooooooooong

Stipe is known around town for not bathing too regularly. Once in college, I was with my roommate at Jackson St. Books, and the guy ahead of us reeked as if he hadn't bathed in a week, and my roomie turned to me and whispered "That guy smells like pee." "That guy" apparently heard, because he turned around and surprise!--it was Michael Stipe, demanding to know why she'd said that.

Take oasis, Stipe's not bathing

Try Not to Bathe

More like 'Michael STINK', amirite?

Aromatic for the People

"It's The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Need A Shower)"

Mike’s Rich, Pungent

Reekoning

Deodorant (IRS Records 1987)

Smelly
Smelly
Smelly
Superman

everybody pees

Sweatiness Follows

Where's the fragrancy, Kenneth?

Swan Swan B.O.

Can Smell That From Here

Legit dying at “Aromatic for the People” lmfao

All the Way to Reno (You're Gonna Need a Gas Mask)

The Scent of Man

BO Free Europe

What’s the Reekquency, Kenneth?

Supernatural Superodious

Losing My Basic Personal Grooming Habits

Smelt And I Dealt It

Stinky the Doormat

Shiny Happy People Holding Noses

Wolves, Odor

B-O The Letter

Really Enjoys Marinating

Try Not To Breathe (when Mike is in the room)

Somewhere I've still got a tape of the early live bootleg File Under Kudzu, which is pretty lively, along the lines of what Brad C. was talking about way upthread. Discogs shows the CD version, but ads on there now screw w my olde laptop.

I first saw them on the Fables tour. They were fun back in those days. They seemed very disorganized--they'd huddle together periodically in what seemed to be a discussion about what to play next--and had a lot of energy. Saw them on every tour after that through Green, at which point they had progressed to arena rockers. Still interesting enough, but that weird magic had been lost.

Had a similar experience (though the tour I saw them on was “Preconstruction” — a couple weeks before Fables was released). The huddling happened before each song in the three (!) encores they did. And they’d leap out of the huddle and into the song. The next (and last) time I saw them, in 1987, the arenas they were playing were not suited to such spontaneity, and while it was a good show, like you said, a certain magic was gone.

Speaking of spontaneity – when I saw them on the Monster Tour, Stipe stopped at one point and told the crowd: “Anyone who saw us in Boston last night, and noticed I’m doing the same stage moves, it’s because I need to line up with the lights at the same point in every song… please don’t think we’re lazy.”

Haha that reminds me that the only pre-planned lighting cue on the 1985 show I saw was at the very beginning: a light emanating from Berry’s bass drum, in an otherwise pitch-black hall, was accompanied by a train whistle sound. Even then I remember thinking, “Well, look at you, Mr. Big Time Rock Band!”

I posted this in the dB's thread, but Peter Holsapple talks a lot about his time with R.E.M. here:

https://www.caropop.com/caropopcast/episode/26268249/peter-holsapple-pt-2

Around the 32 minute mark, he mentions that "Bill Berry was a driving force as a songwriter for so long," singling out "Perfect Circle" (which was primarily Berry's song) and pointing out that it's his piano on that song.

Love that song.