R.E.M's "Radio Free Europe" leads a bounty of new singles in July of 1981

R.E.M. : "Radio Free Europe"

On July 8, 1981 R.E.M. released their debut single "Radio Free Europe" b/w "Sitting Still" on the Hib-Tone label. With an energy that matched the excitement of punk rock and indecipherable lyrics, the single marks a brave new world for alternative rock, opening one side of the gate as Mission of Burma holds the other. Man, I wish I heard this single in the Summer of '81 but I was on my own course, buying one classic album a week as recommended by Dave Marsh's Rolling Stone Record Guide. But never fear : R.E.M's debut album and I would arrive at my college radio station the same week. 

The Ramones : We Want the Airwaves

In July of 1981 The Ramones released "We Want The Airwaves", a new single produced by Graham Gouldman of 10cc fame. The Pleasant Dreams single sounds more like hard rock than punk rock to these ears. Music journalist "Chuck Eddy" described the song as " a sort of Black Sabbath punk rock". The song failed to chart.

Other great songs complaining about the airwaves : "American Beat 84" by The Fleshtones and " I Must Not Think Bad Thoughts" by X.

Squeeze : Tempted

On July 10, 1981 Squeeze released "Tempted" as the second single from East Side Story. It's strange that it took this this long because "Tempted" was the one song FM Rock Radio was playing at the time. The single was not a massive hit by any means, peaking at UK#41 and US#49, but it has become the most famous of the band's songs . It also contains Difford's favorite lyrics, as he tells What's New, " It’s so visual and again floats me back to that time when youth was a cloud I drifted around on from day to day." 

The Go-Betweens : Your Turn, My Turn

In July of 1981 The Go-Betweens release their fourth single, "Your Turn, My Turn", with plans to make it the album opener for their debut. Recorded in Sydney at Trafalgar Studios. In Grant & I, Robert Forster writes "Singles were of supreme importance, like a report card of a band. Groups were conscious that everything they wanted to show the word, including how far they'd progressed since their previous record, had to be compacted into a single's release." 

The video for  the angular ballad is shot in Grant's flat.

Kraftwerk : Computer Love

On July 7, 1981 Kraftwerk released the eventual UK#1 hit "Computer Love", a song that predicts the loneliness of sitting in front of a home computer looking for love. Coldplay fans will recognize the melody which Chris Martin borrowed with permission for "Talk" on the album X&Y.

The Undertones : Julie Ocean

In July of 1981 The Undertones released the dreamy "Julie Ocean", a UK#41 hit. It's a re-recorded version of the Positive Touch song, which adds a tremelo guitar and nearly doubles the length of the tune. A winner!!

Stevie Nicks with Tom Petty : Stop Draggin' My Heart Around

Recorded with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers for the Hard Promises album, the US#3 hit instead showed up on Stevie Nicks's debut album Bella Donna. Heartbreaker Mike Campbell explained how that happened to Songfacts:

"Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" was a song that I had written the music and Tom had written the words. The Heartbreakers had recorded a version of it with Jimmy Iovine, and Jimmy being the entrepreneur that he was, he was working with Stevie, and I guess he asked Tom if she could try it, and it just developed from there. We cut the track as a Heartbreakers record and when she decided to do it we used that track and she came in and sang over it. It became a duet. It's basically all the Heartbreakers on that record .

R.E.M plays the 688 Club : This Athens band could go somewhere

REM : Burning Down 

[Purchase]

On February 20, 1981 the Athens, GA band REM played the 688 Club in Atlanta, opening for Joe "King" Carrasco. Within a year they would be recording their Chronic Town EP. In ten years they would be the biggest band in America.

They opened with a cover of Buddy Holly's "Rave On" and followed it with originals  "Burning Down" ( which would become "Ages of You"),  "Dangerous Times", "All The Right Friends" ( which would be recorded and left off Murmur), " Get On Their Way" ( which would be recorded as "What If We Give It Away" for Life's Rich Pageant), "Different Girl", "Permanent Vacation" ( a song they would perform with Bruce Springsteen), "White Tornado" ( a Bside to "Superman"), Bill Berry's "Narrator" ( later recorded by the Hindu Love Gods), "Windout" ( which would appear on the Bachelor Party soundtrack), the Chronic Town number "Gardening At Night" ( which the band would perform at their induction ceremony to the Rock Hall of Fame), "Mystery To Me" ( which they would revisit during the Life's Rich Pageant session)  and "Radio Free Europe" which they would record as their first single at Mitch Easter's Drive In Studio the following month.

 

1980's Greatest Guilty Pleasure and The Birth of R.E.M.

Ambrosia : Biggest Part of Me

[Purchase]

On April 5, 1980 Ambrosia's US#3 hit "Biggest Part Of Me" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #60. It is one of those inescapable songs from the summer of 1980 that strikes a nostalgic major seventh chord. At 16, I basically had my dad's apartment to myself, a refrigerator stocked with good beer and an internship at the local newspaper.

This smooth yacht rock classic was all over the radio. It has the funky beat, the requisite sax solo and excellent production. All it's missing is Michael McDonald but it turns out singer David Pack could hit all thise falsetto notes just fine. Pack tells the Huffington Post how he came up with the song:

4th of July 1979, morning...family was packing up car to drive to Malibu for private celebration. Car was running... I went back to my studio guesthouse to shut off the gear, sat at piano for a moment, and the chords appeared under my fingers. I turned on the portable cassette recorder and laid it down in a couple of minutes. Then ran back to the car and we took off. The next day I played it back, and wrote the bridge and lyrics...very quickly. It was early summer. That’s key. My favorite feeling of the year. I wanted Ambrosia to have a signature vocal group call and response song. So that had something to do with it as well. My previous hit “How Much I Feel” had that lead vocal and wall of group harmony thing happening. So I was in pursuit of a vocal sonic identity for us. This was back when radio and TV was all that we had. No internet, mobile phone, etc.

Moving on to a topic that is completely different...

This was also the date of the very first R.E.M. gig, a birthday party in which they played "Roadrunner", "I'm Not Your Stepping Stone", and "God Save the Queen" in front of 300 people. R.E.M. played for about two hours. Here's a great story about the gig.

Six Degrees of Separation: Dave And Ansell Collins to The dB's

1. With their UK #1 single " Double Barrel", Dave and Ansell Collins brings reggae to the masses in 1971. This is the first record a 14 year old drummer named Sly Dunbar ever plays on.




2. The following year Sly teams up with bassist Robbie Shakespeare. Sly And Robbie become one of the most sought after rhythm sections in the world. They play with, or produce, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and reggae greats like Peter Tosh and Black Uhuru. In 1981 they back up Grace Jones on her club hit "Pull Up To The Bumper", the single from her album Nightclubbing.




3. The title track  is a cover of the 1977 Iggy Pop/David Bowie tune which appears on Iggy's album The Idiot.





4. In 1994 Trent Reznor samples the kick drum sound from "Nightclubbing" for his disturbing hit "Closer". The video is directed by Mark Romanek who has won 19 MTV Music Video Awards.

5.The following year Romanek directs the video for R.E.M.'s "Strange Currencies" which, for some reason, can't be found on YouTube. This is the third single from Monster, produced by Scott Litt ( who produced the Katrina and the Waves hit "Walking On Sunshine" as well as the final Replacements album All Fall Down).





6. Litt made his debut as a producer on The dB's 1982 album Repercussion, which is best known for the cut "Amplifier". So we're going to dig a little deeper into this terrific album and post "We Were Happy There".

Before They Fell In Love With Their Own Voices...

All artists have the right to evolve and to perfect their craft. At the risk of losing readers, I reserve the right to say I wish they hadn't.

David Byrne Before




David Byrne After



I liked when David Byrne sang out of tune. (I even liked when Tina's bass was out of tune). Now he's wearing the dreaded double earplugs and singing opera. And even so, I'm not so sure he's nailing the notes. And you may ask yourself, well, can I leave already?

Sting Before



Sting After



Sting couldn't hit those ball imploding high notes all his life but did he really have to go for baroque? The young Sting would have torn that neck-er-cheif off the old Sting too.

Elvis Costello Before




Elvis Costello After



The day Elvis started giving his lyrics an extra degree of "importance" by adding vibrato, he lost a little love here.


Michael Stipe Before




Michael Stipe After



In the early days Stipe buried his vocals and lyrics in the mix ( and his identity behind his hair). Now he's bald-- in a hip way-- his vocals are upfront and his earnestness all too apparent. Could an album of whaling songs be far behind?

who would you add to this list?

Peter Buck's 5 Catchiest Guitar Hooks

Compiled to celebrate R.E.M.'s apparent return to form with their new album:
 
                                          

   #5: R.E.M. "Talk About the Passion" from Murmer



Every mid-80's college student with a guitar tried to figure out this lick. On revisiting these albums it surprises me how many of the memorable riffs actually came from Mike Mills on bass.

 #4 The Replacements "I Will Dare" from Let It Be



The R.E.M connection helped sell the Mats to college radio stations who were still taking their cues from MTV. It's a great song but can you imagine "I Will Dare" without Buck's searching lead lines?

#3 R.E.M."Wolves, Lower" from the Chronic Town EP



Here's where we first heard the jangle and arpeggios ( as well as the mumbled lyrics) that inspired a hundred really sincere bands to form.

#2 Full Time Men "I Got Wheels" from Fast is My Name EP

Had to throw a curve. This is from Buck's 1985 EP with Keith Streng of the Fleshtones.Honestly the whole thing is one great guitar hook. Can't find it anymore so here's an mp3.




#1 R.E.M. "The One I Love" from Document



Buck used every trick in his arsenal, added a touch of distortion, and helped make "The One I Love" R.E. M.'s first major hit. Inescapable on Friday nights driving to football games in South Carolina's Low Country in 1987.


HONORABLE MENTION:
R.E.M. "Driver 8", "Shiny Happy People" ( hate the song but this is about "catchiest" riffs) and "Losing My Religion"
Decemberists "Down By the Water"