BEHIND THE MUSIC: R.E.M. (TV)
Summary
One in this documentary series about notable artists and figures in the music business. This episode examines the career of alternative rock band R.E.M. The band met in 1979 in the town of Athens, Georgia, where its guitarist Peter Buck was working as a clerk at a record store. There he met Michael Stipe, then an art student, and they became friends and decided to form a band. Soon thereafter they met high school friends Mike Mills and Bill Berry, and together the four of them started playing music together in an abandoned church. Stipe randomly selected the group's name from a dictionary. They started playing at venues around Athens and soon gained attention from the local music scene. During this time they met record store owner Jefferson Holt, who would become their manager for the next fifteen years, and Bertis Downs, a law school graduate who worked for them as a business manager. They started touring all over Georgia, making little money and essentially living out of their van. In 1982 the band's booking agent Ian Copeland sent a sample of their music to independent music label I.R.S., which signed a deal with R.E.M. to produce albums. The band was eager to work with I.R.S., as they would allow them total creative control over their material. They released their album "Murmur" in 1983, being thought of as "recluses" due to their rag-tag recording style. Their music rose to prominence when their single "Radio Free Europe" was featured on "American Bandstand," and in October of that year they appeared they appeared on "Late Night with David Letterman," marking their national television debut. Despite their success, the band still struggled financially. In the winter of 1985 they flew to London to record their third album, "Fables of the Reconstruction." The unusually cold winter and unfamiliar surroundings impeded their progress, but the album got released and outsold their previous work. R.E.M. became quite popular on college radio stations across the country, and Stipe took the opportunity to communicate his personal views both through his music and via other appearances such as a series of public service announcements on topics such as gun control and environmentalism. Their popularity and prominence continued to increase, to the point where some called R.E.M. "America's best rock band." In 1988, their contract with I.R.S. expired and the band was courted by many major labels, ultimately signing with Warner Brothers Records for a five-album six million dollar deal. "Green," their first album with Warner Brothers, garnered immediate acclaim and in 1989 the band flew to Japan for their first world tour. Stipe, a shy and introverted person by nature, had difficulty adjusting to the newfound attention and popularity, especially when his private life started falling under scrutiny. His sexual orientation in particular was a topic of much public interest, and eventually he came out as homosexual, feeling that obscuring it would be "cowardly." After their world tour, the band decided to base themselves in Athens, Georgia, returning there after a ten-year absence. The band also worked to preserve historical sites and buildings in the area, preventing them from being torn down. "Out of Time," their next album, embraced a gentler, more acoustic sound than their previous work. One song on the album, "Losing My Religion" became an unexpected hit single. The album was their first to hit number one on the charts and sold ten million copies. Their decision to remain in Athens sparked all manner of false rumors, such as one claiming that Stipe had contracted AIDS. The band took such comments in stride, and in 1992 completed their next album "Automatic for the People," including the emotionally resonant and hugely popular anti-suicide anthem "Everybody Hurts." Tragedy struck the band when actor River Phoenix, a friend of Stipe's, died from a drug overdose in 1993. In 1994, while R.E.M. was working on their album "Monster," another of Stipe's close personal friends, "Nirvana" lead singer Kurt Cobain, died in an apparent suicide. Stipe and the other band members were affected quite deeply by Cobain's death. Later that year, the band completed "Monster" and Berry convinced them to take the album on tour, their first in five years. While playing a show in Lausanne, Switzerland, Berry collapsed on stage on March 1st, 1995. The next day he was taken to the nearby Lausanne University Hospital, where it was discovered that he had a massive aneurism about to burst. After six hours of surgery, Berry pulled through, but his recovery lasted several weeks, forcing the band to postpone several of their appearances. However, upon recovering Berry returned to play for the remainder of the band's performances. Berry was not the only member of the band who suffered health problems during the tour: Mills had to be hospitalized to remove an intestinal scar, and Stipe performed their final show of the tour while suffering from a hernia, which was operated on the following day. In July of 1996, Warner Brothers resigned R.E.M. for 80 million dollars, at that time the biggest contract in pop music history. Two months earlier, Holt had resigned from his position as manager following a sexual harassment charge leveled against him by an employee of the band. Berry, motivated partially by his aneurism, also decided it was time for him to leave the band, just as they began work on their eleventh album "Up" in 1997. He stipulated that he would not quit if it meant the breakup of the band, and the other members ultimately decided to remain together as a trio, branching out into new musical territory with "Up." Berry became a crop farmer, still quite supportive of the band. Commercials deleted.
Details
- NETWORK: VH1
- DATE: December 6, 1998 9:00 PM
- RUNNING TIME: 0:44:05
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: B:57873
- GENRE: Public Affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SERIES RUN: VH1 - TV series, 1997-
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- George Moll … Executive Producer
- Jeff Gaspin … Executive Producer
- John Berkson … Coordinating Producer
- Paul Gallagher … Supervising Producer
- Mark Rowland … Producer, Writer
- Jay Bienstock … Producer
- Julee Margulies … Associate Producer
- Nicholas Caprio … Director
- Jim Forbes … Narrator
- Mitch Easter … Cast
- Kate Pierson … Cast
- Mike Mills … Cast
- Michael Stipe … Cast
- Bill Berry … Cast
- Bertis Downs … Cast
- Peter Buck … Cast
- Ian Copeland … Cast
- Don Dixon … Cast
- Elysa Gardner … Cast
- Courtney Love … Cast
- Jane Pratt … Cast
- Gwen O'Looney … Cast
- John Keane … Cast
- Kurt Cobain
- Jefferson Holt
- River Phoenix