Happy Birthday R.E.M.

On April 5, 1980 R.E.M. performed live for the first time. They played as part of the birthday celebration for Kathleen O'Brien. The event was held at St Mary's Episcopal Church in Athens, Georgia, where Michael Stipe and Peter Buck lived with birthday girl Kathleen. It is said that they performed mainly cover songs and that there were about 300 people at the party. At the time R.E.M. did not have a name yet, but some say they played under the name Twisted Kites.

Happy Birthday R.E.M.!

Here's to many more years of wonderful music!

Here is a song from an early R.E.M. show. The actual date of the performance is unknown, although it is believed that this is from the May 30, 1980 concert at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, GA, making it the earliest R.E.M. concert available. Enjoy!

Orange Crush - Embryonic

One of the great pleasures of intently following a band like R.E.M. is the bootlegs; and being able to hear the rare treasures that are early versions of some of their most popular songs.

This is one of my favorites. It is an early version of Orange Crush played at the 40 Watt Club in August 1987 prior to the start of the Work Tour. Orange Crush was later included on the album Green, which was released in November 1988. I enjoy this early version because I like to see how the music progresses and it is also fun to have a different perspective of the song.

There are other R.E.M. songs that were performed live before they made it onto a album that underwent some significant changes. Some of which include, The One I Love, Fall on Me, and I Believe. I'll try to post those later on as well. In the meantime, please enjoy Orange Crush!