R.E.M. released their fifteenth and final studio album, Collapse Into Now, in 2011.
This song, co-written by the band (minus Bill Berry, who had left the band at this point) and the legendary Patti Smith, who also provides vocals on the song, ended the album.
The band would make videos for every song on the album. This video, directed by actor James Franco, ends with the words "The End".
I think they were telling us something.
The band broke up in September 2011, six months after this album's release.
They never toured in support of the album, but they left us with a great exclamation point on their career.
No, this isn't a love song. It's a song Michael Stipe called "violent" in 1988 but acknowledged later that it could be open to interpretation. "A simple prop to occupy my time" is not exactly a loving line.
But I'm here to talk about Peter Buck's guitar work. Despite being a rock band, I don't think they got enough credit for the sheer talent of the instrumentalists, and Buck - who also played mandolin and banjo on other tracks, has a HELL of a guitar solo in this song.
The video features friends and family of the band, including Michael Stipe's sister, Lynda (who herself was formerly in a band called Oh-OK and a little later was in another one called Hetch Hetchy).
I just needed an excuse to talk about Lynda Stipe. OK, let's move on.
From their fifth album, 1987's Document, the song would be their first big hit single, hitting the US Top 10 and getting airplay worldwide... but not as much as they would if they were on, say, Warner Brothers....
In 1990, R.E.M. released a movie Documenting the Green tour, called Tourfilm. I figured the footage of this song from that would be better than anything someone with a videocamera in the audience in 1989 could get.
It's a pretty straight-forward version of the song.
In fact, this is a song they always did faithful.... even in 2005.... even in the pouring rain.
In 1988, R.E.M. left their longtime home at IRS Records to join the Warner Brothers roster with their sixth album, Green. They did it because overseas distribution of their records had been poor thus far.
Not a speck of green on this cover.
They kicked off their Warners years with a song about Agent Orange and the Vietnam War in 1988 - this song, which is not about a soft drink but absolutely did kick off an orange soda kick for 16-year-old me. The song was not released as a single in the US, but did well on modern and mainstream rock radio as well as overseas, where it WAS released as a single.
The video was a huge MTV hit and won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Post-Modern Video - in the inaugural year for the category. The band does not appear in the video at all.
This live video, courtesy of Reelin' In The Years Productions, is exactly how I remember the band performing the song in 1989 when I saw them - complete with the "Be All You Can Be" intro and megaphone usage by Michael Stipe.
The megaphone stuck around for later tours, including this 2005 performance that was just as dynamic so many years later.
This song was one of R.E.M.'s earliest, being performed at shows as early as 1980, and a live version was recorded for their 1983 debut album Murmur, but it was left off. So, when it came time to record the follow-up album Reckoning, producer Mitch Easter wanted the band to record it.
Except, at that point, Michael Stipe had grown to hate the song.
Well, compromises were made, and the song was recorded in a multi-track version with Stipe and Mike Mills providing fresh harmonies.
Despite Stipe's feelings at the time, it remains one of my favorite songs of theirs.
This is one of their earlier performances of the song. Yes, the harmonies are there, but you can see it sounds a lot more raw.
This is a song that disappeared from R.E.M.'s live sets for a good spell, but it came back. Here they are in 2007 performing it once again.
The band was still performing the hell out of the song.
R.E.M. broke up in 2011.
HOWEVER, in February 2025 - LAST YEAR - they reunited for ONE SONG ONLY at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA.
What was the song?
This one, of course.
Now, a little explanation - Michael Shannon, Jason Narducy & Friends were touring and performing a cover of the entire Fables of the Reconstruction album. This song wasn't on that album, so clearly, they needed help...
They didn't, actually. They perform the song pretty frequently as part of their R.E.M. cover band project.
That's what a lot of people think the name of this song is.
It's not. It's "So. Central Rain (I'm Sorry)". The "So." is short for "South". However, it is listed as "Southern Central Rain (I'm Sorry)" on the inner sleeve of the Reckoning album. I usually myself refer to it as "South Central Rain" without the parenthetical title.
What does it mean? I'm not sure, but Michael Stipe seems to be singing a narration happening during a particularly rough rainstorm, so that's probably part of it.
But it's a passionate, great song - one of my favorites by the band even though it ended up being a relatively well-known song.
The video - and this is a band that LOVED exploring the video medium, but more on that throughout the week - was fake playing by the band but real singing by Michael Stipe, who hated lipsyncing.
You might notice the Hall of Fame label on this week. It's R.E.M. week, folks. They're our newest Hall of Fame entry.
Throughout their career, R.E.M. consistently played this song. Here is one of the last times they played it, on Austin City Limits.
My sister saw R.E.M. in 1995 in Buffalo, on the Monster tour - R.E.M. is her favorite band - and this song was one of typical encore songs. It was a little more torch-songy, but also passionate. This is a recording from the Milan, Italy show on that tour.
I personally saw R.E.M. live on September 13, 1989 in Hartford, CT - and it was my first concert ever. I saw them with my very good friend Mark Whittier, who passed away in 1995. Great show. Again, it was somewhat torch-songy, but less so than 1995.
Anyway, this is the performance from September 12, 1989, in Buffalo, NY. This is exactly how I remember it.
For the last live performance, I go back to 1983, and the band's first national television appearance on Late Night With David Letterman. Yes, this is a year before the song was released, and yet they performed it anyway.... even before the song had a title. By the way, if you go back up to the ACL video earlier in this post - that's my source for that little fact.
Michael Stipe had a reputation for being a little mumbly early in his career. This performance is a lot of the reason why.
I'm not thrilled with most of the new Katy Perry music. She's trying too hard.
But this song is a refreshing throwback to her earlier stuff. It's like, she spent all those years on American Idol listening to other people cover her first two albums and decided that she wanted to recapture that magic.
Mine is an unpopular opinion. The song did OK in Europe but bombed in the US.
It's a new song, so she's not performed it live much yet, but I can tell you that her fans alredy know the words.
Well, since so many of you love this spooky season so much (I very much do NOT), here's a spooky song for you.
Written by Andrew Farriss and Michael Hutchence, it was the followup single to the breakthrough "Need You Tonight" in the US and became a worldwide hit, again. It uses a super breathy Hutchence vocal over what Farriss called a ""Daytripper"-like guitar sound", which I don't really hear, but hey! I'm a blogger, not a musician. Just enjoy the song.
Look at them go.
Look at them Kick.
This live version should also drive home that, although not the title song from the album, that the band was Kicking all over the place.
Also, the Hutchence stage presence is amazing, as always.
In 1986, TV journalist Dan Rather was assaulted by 2 men in New York City - and these assailants kept repeating the phrase, "Kenneth, What's the frequency?"
This phrase translated into a 1994 single, the first from R.E.M.'s 9th album, Monster. According to lead singer Michael Stipe, the lyrics are from the point of view an old guy who knows everything about Generation X based solely on what he's reading in the media, which, of course, is utter and complete bullshit.
The song is a cautionary tale, people.
It's also a complex song, with a lot of fuzzy guitar... but you might notice the pace slows down at the end, almost as if they are running out of breath. Well, that's partly true - as they were recording the song, bassist Mike Mills slowed down his pace... and the rest of the band followed along. Well, it turns out that Mike Mills had appendicitis and was in a lot of freaking pain. Rather than rerecord the song at full speed, the band chose to rush him to the hospital.
See if you can find the point where Mike's appendix started to burst.
Normally, I try to sprinkle in a live performance, but in this case, they all sound like the studio. R.E.M. is funny that way.
I figured you'd like to see what it looks like when Dan Rather tries to sing with the band. Seriously. This is Dan Rather, singing with R.E.M. He would go on to tour with R.E.M. keep his day job.
How did INXS become an afterthought on the US charts? The answer may surprise you.
This 1993 single, the lead one from their album Full Moon Dirty Hearts, featured a video that MTV would not air, because it had "controversial images" - specifically Gulf War images, something that was still pretty fresh in the American psyche.
It was, and is, still a great and exciting song. It is a true shame that it was ignored to the extent that it was.
Even though Michael Hutchence passed away in 1997, he still have time to give spirited live performances of this song. Here is the band, performing the song to an excited crowd in 1994.
I was really late writing this today. So, yeah, I dipped into my leftover Hall of Fame bag for this one. Enjoy what was the first major international hit by INXS, Australia's greatest export. Of course, after Vegemite. And Paul Hogan. And koala bears.
The strength of this song in Australia led to record deals for INXS outside of Australia - and their worldwide fame.
Released on their 1988 album Green but intended for 1989 single release (hence the title), the story of this song isn't really the song - which is a pretty standard pop song parody lyrically, and unimaginative in its simplicity musically. The video featured three topless women and a topless Michael Stipe dancing. This is the age restricted video you can't see below.
However, you can't show nipples on MTV. So, Michael Stipe put black bars on all the nipples, including his - because, as he said, "a nipple is a nipple."
It's rare that a B-side to a single is the same as the A-side, and yet, an acoustic version of "Pop Song 89" was the B-side. It is, in my opinion, a better version of the song - showing the beauty of the arrangement and the biting parody of the lyrics a little more pointedly.
Our third HoF inductee was Nirvana. And this is probably the last Nirvana post we will ever make, because we did such a complete job covering them last year.
You see, because they were a short-lived band, due to the untimely death of Kurt Cobain.... well, they aren't making any new music. But this song was released in 2002, eight years after Cobain's death. It was the last song the band ever recorded, in 1994. You can hear the anguish in Kurt's voice throughout.
Our 2nd HoF !nductee was P!nk. And P!nk has been busy.
Th!s song, a 2016 Grammy nom!nee, is P!nk's most recent Top 10 h!t !n the US as of th!s wr!t!ng. A t!e !n to the D!sney f!lm Al!ce Through The Look!ng Glass, the v!sual !s very Wonderland-y.
Mus!cally, !t's P!nk. C'mon now. Sure, she has a b!t of a breakdown partway through, wh!ch !s atyp!cal for her mus!cally. Lyr!cally, !t's P!nk, wh!ch means you can count on a lot of empowerment throughout. The song does not d!sappo!nt on that front, br!ng!ng a really pos!t!ve message.
Last week, we inducted our fourth Hall of Fame artist - INXS. For the rest of this week, I figured we could revisit the other three, because each of them had deeper catalogs than this little blog could tap into during just one week.
We start with the original, Katy Perry, who has also been the most active in releasing music. This song came soon after her HoF induction, in 2013. Co-written by Ms. Hudson, the song has elements of pop, but also trap and hip-hop. Lyrically, it's full of clichés - cold, unfeeling, and still full of passion despite the clichés.
The song ended up being one of her biggest hits - and gave Juicy J his first #1 in the US.
"I was writing lyrics like 'Baby Don't Cry' and 'Beautiful Girl' and lyrics just about how wonderful it is to have something else in your life besides yourself to worry about and think about." - Andrew Farris
This, the fifth single from Welcome to Wherever You Are, was also penned by Andrew Farris, this about his infant daughter. His quote says everything that needs to be said there.
(by the way, if you're looking for the third and fourth singles, we posted them previously in 2012 and on Monday)
This song, the second single from Welcome To Wherever You Are, was wholly written by Andrew Farris as a sweet love song for his six year old daughter, who, not shockingly, he missed when he went on tour. Backed by the Australian Concert Orchestra, the song is about choosing love, even when far away, in the face of adversity.
As has become customary for this little blog that could, when there's a Hall of Fame artist, we give you a little extra, for the loyal readers.
Thus, "Heaven Sent", the first single from what was considered something of a comeback album, the band's eighth (save for their live album, Live Baby Live) and in my opinion, their high water mark, Welcome To Wherever You Are.
This is a high water mark on an album that is already a high water mark. It's a pretty typical INXS song - Michael Hutchence frequently goes to the megaphone vocal trope, as he does on this song, and it's straight-ahead pop-rock - but it is the band at their happiest. They clearly enjoyed making this song, which is lyrically about the beginning of a life-altering love.
This was a song that became a live staple throughout the 1990's for the band. At their last show ever, in Pittsburgh, they performed what has become my favorite version of this song. Hutchence sings the song with more passion and energy than even the original recording - or any pther live version. The rest of the band matches his vigor here.
I had way too much material for just one Hall of Fame week. This is why I'm posting on the weekend.
And I couldn't ignore the biggest INXS anthem of all. Initially not a big hit song, this has become one of their most played and most popular. And it's for good reason - the song is so uplifting and sweet. Opening with one of the most iconic synth solos of the 1980's, it erupts quickly into a full band showcase.
The song is about a love that was lost and found again. I like to think of it as the reclamation of a relationship after a breakup, or maybe finally finding that love after failed attempts. The resolution of happiness and execution of bitterness in the lyrics is referring directly to that love, and the pleas to not change are a wonderful reminder and acceptance to love those who we love just as they are.
Of course, because Michael Hutchence is no longer with us, there were a finite number of times he performed this song. This performance, from September 27 1997 in Pittsburgh PA, is sad in hindsight, knowing that it was the final time he'd sing the song - he would be dead exactly two months later. Still, even though it's only audio, you can hear his stage presence, even in his exhaustion.
In 2011, Kirk Pengilly and Andrew Farris - not typically lead vocalists - took the vocal duties for a slower, deeper version of this song they co-wrote. It is a fitting tribute.
Right now, most of you are wondering what the hell this is.
This was the debut single by INXS in 1980. Notice the more new wave sound - a little more punk-edged. Originally only released in Australia, their debut album, which featured this song and many others written by all six members of the band, made it internationally in 1984, after the band started having some hits in Europe and the US.
This song wasn't a hit. It was six guys looking for a sound. It is frantic and fun and simple.
This song isn't one I had ever really enjoyed by INXS. It is NOT a song I really enjoyed all that much. It's not bad, mind you - but modern Vienna waltzes weren't my thing in the 1980s. It was a pretty big hit, and one that was inescapable in 1988, between radio and heavy MTV rotation.
But then, I got a girlfriend, and of course the song took on a new meaning. The girlfriend and I didn't last forever, but the song resonated for our time together. It's a classic love song for the ages, with a great arrangement by Andrew Farris.
The song also resonated again in 1997, when INXS lead vocalist and lyricist for this song, Michael Hutchence, passed away. The five remaining members of INXS, as well as Michael's brother, Rhett, served as pallbearers. What song played as they carried the coffin from the cathedral? This one.
So, at the end of the day, because of its romantic meaningfulness and its meaningfulness to fans of INXS, it grew on me. I hope it grows on you, too.
