Weekend Music -- Even More Back Pages

 

Indulge us again as we continue to visit the blog's music attic to relive some musical joys from years past -- some well known, others not -- that we liked then and now.  

We continue again today with an eclectic mix, but heavy on the group sound.  We're providing the date and the link to when the songs originally appeared in Hackwhackers.

R.E.M. (2011)

 

Love (2019)

 

Mt. Joy (2024)

 

Run River North (2020)

 

Volebeats (2014)

 

The Kinks (2020)

Mid-Week Birthday Twin Spin

Today is the 60th birthday of Bill Berry, founding member and drummer for the iconic band R.E.M.  Berry left the band in 1997, and was replaced by various other drummers for live and studio work.  Generally retired from the music business, he's now a hay farmer in Georgia (!). We're featuring one song from the Berry era and one from several years after he left the band, because why just play one R.E.M. song when you can play two?  "What's The Frequency Kenneth?" (the title a reference to an incident involving Dan Rather several years earlier) was released in 1994 and "Imitation of Life" in 2001, both reaching the top of the Alternative Rock charts.  A little trivia:  the suit bassist Mike Mills wears in "What's The Frequency Kenneth?" was once owned by Gram Parsons.  Hope you enjoy.

Mid-Week Orange Song

Still reflecting on the "orange jumpsuit" story (see below), we're reminded that almost exactly 30 years ago, the iconic alternative rock band R.E.M. had a hit with "Orange Crush," off of their landmark album "Green." The song was about a young man leaving the comforts of home for the Viet Nam war (Stipe's father was a veteran of the war). The song's title refers to the chemical defoliant Agent Orange which was used to devastating effect there, especially on soldiers that came in contact with it. These days, we have another orange, toxic agent to deal with.

Mid-Week Birthday Song

Groundbreaking alternative rock band R.E.M.'s lead singer / composer / leader Michael Stipe turns 56 (!) today. Since R.E.M.'s disbanding in 2011, Stipe has been involved in film production, direction and visual arts. His band (and it's truly his band) had enormous success in the '90s, having sold over 80 million records worldwide. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2007 in their first year of eligibility. Here's R.E.M.'s first hit, 1987's "The One I Love."

Weekend Song

"Perfect Circle" is a song from influential Athens, Georgia- based R.E.M.'s first studio album, "Murmur," released in 1983.  We well remember first hearing their distinctive music on "progressive rock" FM stations as a substantive, welcome relief from the metal and "hair" bands then dominating the airwaves.  Thanks to Silver Spring Bureau Chief Brian for the musical suggestion!

Weekend August Release Twofer

One of our favorite groups, Athens, GA based R.E.M., released two of our favorite R.E.M. songs in the month of August.  "Fall On Me" was released in August 1986 when they were still building a following.  "The One I Love" was released in August 1987 and was their first commercial success (we're featuring the original heavy-rotation MTV video here for the second time because favorites!).  Hope you enjoy them.

Weekend Going and Coming

In honor of R.E.M.'s calling it quits after a great, influential 30-year career, here's one of my favorites of theirs.



Now, compare and contrast this by the rather obscure (but still around) Generationals:



Have a wonderful weekend!