Subject: R.E.M. and rec.music.rem FAQ (1/3)
Supersedes: <rgh3-0506951710080001@128.253.70.90>
Date: Sat, 08 Jul 1995 17:05:04 -0400
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Last modified: July 7, 1995

=====================================================================
                R.E.M. - Usenet rec.music.rem
              THE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS LIST
                          7 July 1995
=====================================================================

                          Contents:

[Contents, Changes and additions]
Part 1.   About The Newsgroup, and How to Get its Documents
Part 2.   Some Very Basic Information About The Band
Part 3.   Recent R.E.M. News
Part 4.   The FAQ Proper: Questions That You Don't Need to Ask
    A. General Questions
    B. Album Covers, Liner Notes, and Other Packaging Questions
    C. Those Darn Lyrics; and Other Music Questions
    D. Questions on R.E.M.'s Live Performaces
Part 5.   Those Evil "Favorite Song" Polls
Part 6.   Where To Get More Information about R.E.M. (Books)
Part 7.   R.E.M. on Video
Part 8.   Resources Available on the Internet
Part 9.   How to Find an R.E.M. Bootleg

Additions and changes made to the text of this version (July 7, 1995):

 o Part 2.  Index now available for Gray's _It Crawled from the South_.
 o A4. "Doesn't R.E.M. stand for 'rapid eye movement'?" (additional quote
   about the night the name was made up by the band)
 o A12. "So, what's the story with those funky suits Mike Mills has been
   wearing since the release of Monster?" (quotes from a recent interview
   with Mike Mills about the suits)
 o A18. "What is the tatoo under Michael Stipe's right upper arm that
   was so visible on the recent Letterman appearance?"
 o C2. "How exactly do you people think Michael Stipe could have
   written songs for Murmur, Reckoning, etc. having words in mind?  He is
   often quoted as saying "the earlier songs don't have lyrics _per se_"  
   How does he do that?  This seems ridiculous, but at the same time witty."
 o C18. "Where is Rockville, in '(Don't Go Back to) Rockville'?"
 o D9. "So what *are* all the songs by other artists which R.E.M.
   has recorded?"  (Added "Sex Bomb")
 o Part 8.   Resources Available on the Internet: WWW (Corrected Don
   Goodman [Bungee Bob's] URL)

Changes and additions have been marked with a vertical line in the left
margin, for easy reference.

=======================================================================
Part 1.

       About The Newsgroup, and How to Get its Documents

An R.E.M. e-mail list first began on February 2, 1990 as a part of
Project Athena at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In
July of 1993, it moved to Lynchburg College in Virginia; then, due to
the ever-increasing volume of Internet interest in the band, on
March 28, 1994, USENET newsgroup "rec.music.rem" was created, after
winning a landslide voter approval (789 to 241).

Please be aware that the Murmur e-mailing list is no longer available.

* The most recently updated version of the full FAQ can be obtained by:

  - mailing the command SENDME FAQ to the server at
    <fables@lynchburg.edu>;
  - mailing an informal request to <rgh3@cornell.edu>;
  - WWW browser to the URL <http://www.halcyon.com/rem/index.html>;
  - anonymous FTP from <ftp://ftp.halcyon.com/local/rem >

* Several specialized supplements to the regular FAQ document have been
  prepared (send email to rgh3@cornell.edu to receive them; most of them
  are also housed on the R.E.M. Home Page at halcyon.com):

  - The World Tour 1995 Mini-FAQ, which contains a schedule of R.E.M.'s
    tour and much other information relevant to the tour;
  - The Bill Berry Illness FAQ, which summarizes Bill Berry's recent
    brush with fate;
  - "Lame Postings to the Newsgroup and How to Cope" article to help
    readers face the insanity that is Usenet;
  - Collected posts and responses to Michael Stipe's online sessions
    last August (this document also available from the "Fables" server,
    send the 1-line email message SENDME STIPEY to FABLES@LYNCHBURG.EDU);
  - "Real People in R.E.M. Songs" list, compiled by Gary Nabors, author
    of the R.E.M. book _Remnants_;
  - R.E.M. Monster World Tour Setlists statistics, compiled by Martin
    Hoyt;
  - List of REM videos with directors and brief descriptions
| - Multi-part index to Gray's R.E.M. reference book _It Crawled from 
|   the South_, compiled by Cindy Donlin.

* NOTE to Macintosh and Windows users with fancy screen fonts -- the
  FAQ document looks best when viewed with a *non*-proportional
  screen font like "Courier," which preserves non-tab ASCII paragraph
  indentions, table-columns, and pseudo-centering.

* To comment on or make a suggestion for the FAQ-lists, send email
  to me <rgh3@cornell.edu>.

Enjoy rec.music.rem!

======================================================================
Part 2.

                    Some Very Basic Information
                       About The Band R.E.M.

The actual band members are Bill Berry (percussion, backing vocals),
Peter Buck (guitar), Mike Mills (bass, keyboards, and vocals) and
Michael Stipe (vocals). Other folks of note are Jefferson Holt
(manager), Bertis Downs IV (the band's lawyer), and Scott Litt
(producer of their albums since Document).  
__________________________________________________________________
R.E.M. album                    Released     Common abbrev.
__________________________________________________________________
Chronic Town (EP)               1982
Murmur                          1983
Reckoning                       1984
Fables of the Reconstruction    1985            FotR
Lifes Rich Pageant              1986            LRP
Dead Letter Office
   (B-sides and rarities)       1987            DLO
Document                        1987
Green                           1988
Out Of Time                     1991            OOT
Automatic For The People        1992            AFTP
Monster                         1994

  [Compilations:]
Eponymous                       1988
   (I.R.S. Greatest Hits)
The Best Of R.E.M.              1991
   (European Greatest Hits)

In addition, European reissues of albums through Document, which
include bonus live and b-side tracks, have appeared from I.R.S.
See the discography for a more complete description of all the
official releases.

==================================================================
Part 3.

                        Recent R.E.M. News

  R.E.M. resumed their 1995 World Tour on May 15, 1995 (at that
  show they joked that it had been dubbed the "Aneurysm '95 Tour.")
  If you would like to receive more specific information on tour
  dates, or on how Bill Berry's illness caused the cancellation
  of some tour dates, see the frequently-posted World Tour Mini-FAQ
  (on the newsgroup, or request it from rgh3@cornell.edu), or the
  Bill Berry Illness FAQ respectively.

  The video compilation _Parallel_, which includes clips for songs
  from the albums _Automatic for the People_ and _Monster_, as well
  as some documentary footage and excerpts of experimental films
  commissioned by the band for tour backdrops, has been released.
  Note that two versions have been released, a censored and an un-
  censored version (the difference being in the nudity content of
  the video for the song "Nightswimming," which is, after all, about
  memories of skinny-dipping). Ordering info for those who need to
  special order it:
 
    R.E.M. - Parallel   1995/70 Mins.   3-38426/VHS    $19.98
    R.E.M. - Parallel   1995/70 Mins.   3-38388/VHS    $19.98
        (censored version)
    R.E.M. - Parallel   1995/70 Mins.   6-38426/LD     $34.98
        (laserdisc version)

  So far, four singles from _Monster_ have been released (in Europe;
  it is expected they will all be released in the U.S. in the near
  future, as well) -- "What's the Frequency Kenneth?", "Bang and Blame,"
  "Crush with Eyeliner," and "Strange Currencies."  Each has been
  issued in two forms: the album track accompanied by a lyrics-free
  "kareoke" version; and as a 4-track CD with three live tracks from
  the 1992 Greenpeace (solar-power) benefit show in Athens, GA.  (See
  the Discography for more information.)

  Those interested in joining a fan club dedicated to Mike Mills,
  and receiving the email newsletter that club puts out, should
  contact the "Organization Intended to Catapult Mike Mills into
  Musical History" (also called OIC3MH) <erwright@uga.cc.uga.edu>
  or <oicm3h@aol.com> for more information.

  Some QuickTime format video excerpts are now available to download
  from the Warner's R.E.M. WWW page on IUMA <http://www.iuma.com
  /warner/html/R.E.M..html>. These include 30-second excerpts each of
  "Crush with Eyeliner", a short film excerpt taken from Parallel,
  "Nightswimming", and "Star 69".

| An index to Marcus Gray's book, _It Crawled from the South, an
| R.E.M. Companion_, has been compiled by library science student and
| newsgroup member Cindy Donlon.  It includes three sections: songs, 
| albums, and images. For more details on this index email Cindy at
| <CDONLIN@KENTVM.KENT.EDU>, or email <rgh3@cornell.edu> as with other
| supplementary newsgroup materials, to receive a copy.

(Please send information on any recent R.E.M.-related news to
rgh3@cornell.edu for possible inclusion in this section. Thanks!)


======================================================================
Part 4.
                          The FAQ Proper:
                   Questions That You Don't Need
                    to Ask (and Their Answers!)

A. GENERAL QUESTIONS

 o  A1. "How do I join the fan club?  Is it worth it?"

   Send $10 if you're in North America ($12 elsewhere) to: R.E.M. Fan
   Club, PO Box 8032, Athens, GA 30603.  You will have to renew every
   year.

   For the $10, you get a few postcards/newsletters, some random promo
   stuff when a new record comes out (usually a poster, some buttons,
   photos, things of that nature) and a holiday package containing the
   ever-famous Christmas fan club single, and other random goodies.

 o A2. "How can I get information about, or tickets for, the 1995 World Tour?"

   See the Tour Mini-FAQ document which is posted weekly to the newsgroup,
   request it from rgh3@cornell.edu, or read it on the WWW Home Page.

 o A3. "Are there any R.E.M. fan newsletters I can subscribe to?"

   Here is a quick list of a few currently-published R.E.M. fanzines,
   in no particular order:

    _394 Oconee_
    c/o Pattie Klienke
    P.O. Box 304,
    Union City, NJ.  07087-9998
    (Single issue: US $3, UK & Europe $5 US)

    _Country Feedback_
    RR1 North Road
    Jefferson, NH  03583, USA
    (Single issue: US $3, UK & Europe 5 US dollars;
         Payable to Country Feedback)

    _Chronic Town_
    27 Oriel Drive, Old Road
    Liverpool, L10 3JL, England
    (Single issue: UK 2 pounds, Europe 2.50 pounds,
         Australia 3 pounds, US 5 pounds (no US checks!))

    _Murmur_
    c/o Stephen Rennicks
    Church Rd, Ardbraccan, Navan
    Co.Meath, Ireland
    (Single issue: UK 1.80 pounds, US 6 pounds;
         Payable to Stephen Rennicks)

 o A4. "Doesn't R.E.M. stand for 'rapid eye movement'?"

   In the scientific field of sleep research, the acronym r.e.m.
   indeed stands for "rapid eye movement," and refers to the stage of
   sleep in which, among other things, dreaming occurs. But, in the
   case of the band, no, it doesn't.  The story related by Peter Buck
   on the band's early 1983 David Letterman _Late Night_ appearance
   is that they picked it out of the dictionary (not all dictionaries
   include scientific terms like "r.e.m.," so don't be disappointed
   if you don't find it) and they liked it because it was so ambiguous.

|  From _It Crawled from the South_: "'We sat up one night,' says 
|  Michael, 'and we just got completely drunk and rolled around the floor.  
|  We had all this chalk, and we took every name anyone could think of 
|  and we wrote it on the wall in the living room.  When morning rolled 
|  around, we pointed and erased, and it was between R.E.M. and Negro 
|  Eyes, and we thought *that* probably wouldn't go over too well 
|  outside our immediate circle of friends!'"  (p. 24)

 o A5. "I think that Fables of the Reconstruction sucks/rules."
   "I think [song x] is terrible/great."
   "I hate/love [album y]."
   "Yeah, well you're a [insult z]!"

   Fables rules/sucks: an old, tired flame war.  Some people are
   going to hate any given work, while other people will love it, and
   many remain indifferent.

   Frankly, *any* simplistic opinion about a song, album or video
   which does not elaborate further in support of the opinion,
   wastes group readers' collective time and bandwidth, and
   should be discouraged (in other words, should *not* be replied
   to by other group members!)  Mindless knee-jerk proclamations serve
   only to start tiresome battles that annoy everyone.  (Note that
   some people even to this day include in their .sig "Fables rules!"
   as a defiant and facetious homage to the FotR flame war.)

 o A6. "Do R.E.M. members ever read the newsgroup, and do they have
   email addresses?  I want to send them a message if they have an
   address!"

   During August, 1994, Michael Stipe did in fact post comments, and
   answered fans' questions, via an America On Line account named
   "stipey@aol.com".  After much confusion and controversy regarding
   the authenticity of these postings, his identity was confirmed by
   news reports and third party sources. For those interested, the
   complete text of Stipe's net postings, which have been annotated
   with the actual questions asked by fans, is available (send a
   request to me, rgh3@cornell.edu).  Bill and Mari Berry have also
   posted from a Prodigy account, and Peter Buck appeared on an
   online Q & A session on AOL.

   More recently Stipe has posted the lyrics to "Tongue" directly to
   rec.music.rem, wished Happy Holidays to the group, responded
   sarcastically to a post commenting on his sexuality, and thanked
   a poster for defending the band from another article claiming they
   had sold out.

   TO THE MORE BRAZEN AMONG US: Stipe has also said he deletes ALL
   email sent to his AOL account due to the excessive volume, so
   don't bother trying to send him a message there -- he won't see it!

 o A7. "Someone told me that R.E.M. is going to break up on New Year's
   Eve, 1999. Is that true?"

   Peter Buck said this as an off-the-cuff joke during an interview
   (mainly in connection with it being a great excuse for a huge
   party), but they have all repeatedly said since then that long as
   R.E.M. keeps making good music together, they will stay together --
   whether that doesn't last until 1999, or goes beyond.

 o A8. "What does the 'J' in J. M. Stipe stand for?"

   John.  Nobody knows why he dropped the name but still uses the initial,
   and nobody of note has asked.  Much biographical information on the band
   members' full names, birthdays, home towns, childhoods, and educational
   backgrounds is covered in detail in the book _It Crawled from the South_
   by Marcus Gray.

 o A9. "A friend told me that Michael Stipe is HIV positive! Is this true?
   Has anyone else heard this?"

   Yes, we heard. In fact, we hear this every few months or so
   when a new reader decides to share this so-called "fact" with us.
   There is absolutely nothing to substantiate such a rumor and
   questions and comments such as this are in poor taste. In recent
   interviews he has mentioned how upsetting and cruel he found
   this rumor to be, and that he feels he is now in the best shape
   of his life.

 o A10. "Who are the Hindu Love Gods?"

   R.E.M. sans Michael Stipe collaborated on a side project with the
   singer Warren Zevon. (Note that the lineup also played on Zevon's
   own album _Sentimental Hygiene_.  The HLG album includes covers
   of many blues standards as well as Prince's "Raspberry Beret.")

 o A11. "Where does the title 'Automatic for the People' come from?"

   The band borrowed this slogan from Weaver D's Delicious Fine Foods,
   a popular home-cooking restaurant in Athens, Ga., which, incidentally
   sells T-shirts, hats, and other such merchandise which include the
   slogan (address 1016 E. Broad St., Athens GA, 30601).

   The phrase means that people at the restaurant "automatically" get
   what they want (as in: "Do I get fried potatoes with my chicken?";
   "Automatic!").

 o A12. "So, what's the story with those funky suits Mike Mills has been
   wearing since the release of Monster?"

   Actually, the outfits Mike has been wearing are known as "Nudie"
   suits, after the late tailor Nudie who designed many such outfits
   for country stars of the 1960's/70's.  Nudie suits became hip with
   the rock crowd through their being worn by the band that's been
   credited with initiating the music called country-rock, the Flying
   Burrito Brothers (including the legendary Gram Parsons.)  It's been
   mentioned in an interview with the band that the one Mike wears in
   the "Kenneth" video was once owned by Parsons.

|  From a recent interview:
|  "Q: Where did you get your cowboy stage ensembles?"
|  "Mike: There's a tailor in Nashville named Manuel.  He has a really cool
|  shop and makes all those suite.  He made them for Gram Parsons, Hank
|  Williams, Porter Wagoner."
|
|  "Q: What prompted the wardrobe change?"
|  "Mike: I just felt like doing something different.  There was a place
|  in Los Angeles where <Manuel> used to work.  A guy by the name of
|  Nudie <the famous "rodeo tailor"> ran it.  He died a few years ago,
|  but I went out just to look around and ended up buying a suit.  That
|  was the start of it.  I said, "Well, hell, I'm going on tour.  I
|  might as well buy a couple more and wear these on the road."

 o A13. "There's this kind of wacky song whose lyrics talk about all
   the songs on _Reckoning_ and about the guys in R.E.M. -- what is
   that?"

   The band Pavement recorded a song for the compilation CD _No
   Alternative_ called, "The Unseen Power of the Picket Fence," which
   is a tribute of sorts to R.E.M., their album _Reckoning_, and the
   defense of Atlanta against General Sherman's march to the sea in the
   Civil War.

 o A14. "Is there a 10,000 Maniacs mailing list?"

   Yes. To subscribe to the list, send mail to:
          majordomo@vader.egr.uri.edu
          (containing the line: "SUBSCRIBE 10k_maniacs")
        To post:               10k_maniacs@vader.egr.uri.edu
        To contact list mgr.:  owner-10k_maniacs@vader.egr.uri.edu

 o A15. "Is there an Indigo Girls mailing list?"

   We are sad to report that the Indigo Girls mailing list is no longer
   available.

 o A16. "Is Peter Buck related to Rob Buck of the 10,000 Maniacs?"

   No. There was, however, an amusing story in Musician magazine about
   Peter being so drunk during the Work Tour that in a hotel, he found
   the room assigned to "Buck" and got in the bed that Rob Buck was
   already occupying.

 o A17. "Who is that woman prominent in both the 'One I Love' and 'Pop
   Song 89' videos?"

   An old friend of Stipe's named Caroline.  According to Marcus Gray,
   "Auctioneer (Another Engine)" was written with her in mind, and Stipe
   used to tell anecdotes about her between songs during the "Reconstruc-
   tion" tour.

 o A18. "What is the tatoo under Michael Stipe's right upper arm that
   was so visible on the recent Letterman appearance?"

   It is a tattoo of Ignatz Mouse and Krazy Kat, who are the main 
   characters in the comic "Krazy Kat" by George Harriman, drawn from 
   the 1920s-1940s.  If you don't know who/what these are, and like 
   interesting comics, make a beeline to a library or good bookstore and 
   find a compilation of old Krazy Kats.  They are a incredible mix of 
   quite hilarious and totally surreal (reality-bending) material at 
   the same time.  Berke Breathed's "Outland" (and parts of "Bloom County" 
   before it) are the closest contemporary comparison to the style and 
   attitude, I think. 

   There's a web page at <http://www.krazy.com/coconino.htm> which explains
   the comic better than I have -- I suggest surfing over there if you're
   interested.


B. ALBUM COVERS, NOTES, AND OTHER PACKAGING QUESTIONS

 o B1. "What are those phrases inside the liner notes for 'Monster'?"

   Possible alternate names, and working titles, both for the album
   itself and various tracks from the album.  In interviews the band
   has described its process of naming albums this way: they tape a
   big sheet of paper up on the studio wall and then variously they
   write down random ideas when they occur to them. One might
   speculate that at least some of this list is derived from that
   process.

 o B2. "What are the strange symbols on the cover of CD-single for
   'What's the Frequency, Kenneth?'"

   The packaging for the CD single for "What's the Frequency, Kenneth?"
   the first single off "Monster," displays some interesting features
   that newsgroup members have already remarked upon.  Each letter
   of the title is surrounded by a circle. A dot at the upper right
   corner of each circle contains the rank of the frequency (e.g.,
   "E" the most common letter in English, equals 1) of that letter's
   occurrence in the English language. Also, found below each
   title letter, appears the Morse Code (in dots and dashes) for
   that letter.  Notched into the circle around the letter are the
   semaphore positions (hand-held flags at various angles) of that
   letter.  (See Section C below for info on the "Kenneth" lyrics.)

 o B3. "Why is there a '4' superimposed over the 'R' on the Green album?"

   The story told in interviews is that *someone* (most likely Michael
   Stipe) was typing the name of the album and hit the '4' key instead
   of the 'R' (note their proximity on the "qwerty" keyboard).  Somebody
   (again, most likely Michael Stipe) thought it was a neat idea and
   carried it on to the packaging as a faint transparent "4" over the
   "R" in both "GREEN" and "REM" on the CD notes.  Note that some
   later pressings (notably CD club versions) may not have this
   feature.

   When remarking on oddities in R.E.M. packaging and publicity,
   always bear in mind the band's eccentric creative bent. (See also
   the answer to the next question.)

 o B4. "There's a '5' on Document and a '4' on Green, and wait, there's
    a '10' on Chronic Town, and a '9' on Murmur and an '8' on Fables,
    and a '7' on Reckoning!  Is this some kind of countdown?"

   This is an urban legend which even the band are weary of denying.
   The topic has also been the subject of many flame wars, and most
   newsgroup members don't want to hear any more about it. On AOL in
   August 1994, Stipe had this to say about the so-called countdown
   theory, "the countdown is a silly coincidence. i swear it.  pb
   [Peter Buck] sez were going into neg.#;s next, so there. i did put
   the #7 on each record for a while but started getting
   strange mail in volumes about it and so we quit. no reason for 7,
   it was just a cool typo thing [like typefaces on fables]."

 o B5. "Who painted the cover art for _Reckoning_?"

   The "naive" artist (this is the term art critics use), Rev. Howard
   Finster, is a friend of Michael Stipe and painted the intricate
   snake design for the band.  (Presumably Stipe added the song titles.)
   Rev. Finster also appears in the video for "Radio Free Europe" (at
   the end, when they tumble the little figure down the wooden ramp;
   note it was filmed at his home).  Also, Michael Stipe has dedicated
   the song "Maps and Legends" on FotR to Finster when playing it live.
   (Some may want to note that Finster later was asked to do the cover
   of the Talking Heads album _Little Creatures_, too.)

 o B6. "My copy of the Green LP has names for each side.  Are the
   sides named on other albums?"

   Almost every R.E.M. album bears creatively-named sides.  Here's
   a list:

   Chronic Town                  Chronic Town / Poster Torn
   Murmur                        (side 1 / side 2)
   Reckoning                     L / R
   Fables                        A Side / Another Side
   Lifes Rich Pageant            Dinner / Supper
   Document                      Page / Leaf
   Dead Letter Office            Post Side / Script Side
   Eponymous                     Early / Late
   Green                         Air / Metal
   Out Of Time                   Time Side / Memory Side
   The Best of R.E.M. (UK)       Us / Them
   Automatic For The People      Drive Side / Ride Side
   Monster                       C / D

----
[Continued in Part 2/3]
