My First Musical Crush

plus recommended books from the Dorothy Project, music by Wednesday, and a playlist of new music

This week is the 40th anniversary of R.E.M.’s debut album, Murmur.

In some ways, R.E.M. helped form me as a music fan. In 1981 I left the small, north Alabama town where I had gone to high school for Atlanta for college.

The north Georgia music scene engulfed me. Swallowed me alive. That first year my evening homes were often the Agora Ballroom or 688 Club, both walkable from my North Avenue dorm. Only 17 when I started at Georgia Tech (and looking at most 15 with my slim frame and whiskerless face), I was immediately immersed in live music for the first time.

R.E.M. was the most hyped band when I arrived, the Hib-tone release of their single “Radio Free Europe” saturated the playlists of the local indie radio station, Georgia State’s WRAS, as well as my turntable. Rumors swirled of the major labels courting the band as they played all over Atlanta and Athens in small clubs, me usually in the front row arms folded into an indie boy pose, in awe of Peter Buck’s guitarwork. I tried to attend every show they played within an hour or two radius (and my calculus grades proved that).

At the beginning of my sophomore year R.E.M. signed to I.R.S. Records and released my favorite disc of theirs, the Chronic Town EP. Jangly guitars, murmured lyrics, and full of enthusiasm, I paired it with The Brains’ Walking Under Streetlights EP on a cassette for my Walkman, dancing my way to classes in the day and clubs in the evenings for months.

Later that year Murmur was released, the album that launched R.E.M.’s ascent into stardom. I was a bit let down, I missed the fervent energy of Chronic Town. The production by Mitch Easter (still one of my favorite musicians and producers) made the music seem muddled and distant. The songwriting still stirred me, as did the musicianship, but I gave the album few spins. My young heart was broken, but I knew it wasn’t the band, it was me. And Pylon was playing at the 40 Watt Club that night…

R.E.M. was my first music crush, what was yours?

This week’s playlist of new music:

This week’s subscriber playlist includes new music from Angel Olsen, Cola, Lucinda Williams, Esther Rose, superviolet, Indigo De Souza, Jason Isbell, and Neva Dinova, plus much more.