REM’s debut album celebrates its 40th anniversary: ”Murmur” was released in April 1983. On this occasion, the band members have personal words, memories and speeches of thanks on their social channels and on their official website “REM HQ” divided.
Drummer Bill Berry says he happened to play the music for a Dodge pickup truck commercial while recording at Reflection Studios and earned $100 for it. Guitarist Peter Buck points out that 40 years before “Murmur” the Second World War was in full swing and it was again a musical era dominated by Glenn Miller: “Forty years is a long time.”
Bassist Mike Mills recalls that during sessions Buck would buy a pair of toy dinosaurs to sit on the studio speakers during the recording of every subsequent REM album until the band’s end in 2011. And Stipe reveals he got some good life advice from a book by Tammy Faye Bakker that he received from a Christian community that was using the studio at the time.
Patti Smith and Gwyneth Paltrow also send congratulations
Well-known fans also sent their congratulations in the comment column. Patti Smith wrote: “Happy anniversary Michael. REM brought me a lot of joy.” Gwyneth Paltrow commented with a red heart. Author Rich Roll wrote: “This album changed my young life and opened my 16 year old soul to a whole new experience and perspective on what music can be at a time when I needed it most. Forever grateful @michaelstipe & @rem.”
Michael Stipe emotional on Instagram: “We went out to change the world and ended up only changing ourselves”
Michael Stipe shares his personal words in a post on his private Instagram profile and shows a photo gallery consisting of the album cover, a self-portrait and photos of tulips and a pumpkin.
His words of thanks under the picture gallery: “40 years ago today we released our very first album. 1983. I’m so proud of that and to misquote Todd Haynes, ‘We went out to change the world and ended up changing only ourselves.’ To all the people along the way who have made my life a living, breathing blessing since then – thank you!”
In particular, he thanks Peter, Mike, Bill and band manager Bertis Downs – “for your enduring friendship and love and for believing in me and trusting me through some really rough and fun times. I feel like the happiest person alive and I’m not exaggerating.”
Stipe founded REM in 1980 with his fellow students. After the band broke up in 2011, he couldn’t imagine making music again – but this year, 2023, the time will come: Stipe is planning a solo album.
Peter Buck: “Forty years is a long time”
Buck writes on the REM website: “If we had stumbled upon a radio show from exactly forty years ago on our way to the first day of recording ‘Murmur,’ we would have had Franklin Roosevelt speeches, World War II news and the swinging sounds of Owned by Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Miller. Forty years is a long time. I am beyond pleased that Murmur is still floating in the ether.”
Bill Berry’s memories: “The band dinner was on me”
Berry recalls, “First of all, we all stayed in one hotel room during the recording. Second: There was the incident at the Reflection studio where I told a producer (meant either Don Dixon or Mitch Easter), who worked in a control room down the hall, whistled at them. His room was small, so he left the door open. For hours he struggled to imitate the whistling part of ‘The Good The Bad and The Ugly’ theme on a Moog synthesizer.”
Whenever he left the studio to go to the bathroom or to eat something, the producer’s desperation became more and more audible:
“I had long ago figured out the whistling technique that produced that eerie sound. I decided to tease him a bit and stand in the hallway where he couldn’t see me, blew in the same pitch, then made my way to our control room and quickly closed the door behind me.”
Then he announced to everyone in the control room that there would probably be a knock on the door soon. And reliably there was a “polite knock on the door of Studio A. Since I always like to lend a hand, I went to Studio B and made it in one go. He produced the soundtrack for a Dodge pickup commercial. I was so amazed that he paid me $100 for my brief engagement! That was a real bounty back then. Of course, the band dinner that night was on me, or maybe on Lee Iocacca, then-Chairman of Dodge.”
Mike Mills’ memoir: “Peter found plastic dinosaurs standing on top of the studio speakers for every recording”
Mills: “That’s when Peter went to the Salvation Army across the street from Reflection Studios and found the two plastic dinosaurs that became Left and Right sitting on top of the studio speakers for every recording. Until the end.”
His second favorite memory: “While we were recording in Charlotte, we went to see a movie called ‘Strange Invaders.’ They had licensed the song ‘1,000,000’ from the ‘Chronic Town’ EP, the first time one of our songs had been used in a film, so naturally we wanted to see it in action. When the film was over, the four of us gave it a standing ovation. The other four people in the audience were confused and didn’t know why.”
More about REM and “Murmur”
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