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Entertainment for the people
by Sarah Warden16/ 6/2005
MICHAEL Stipe has been called a spokesman for a generation - but
he's been around for so long that just one generation seems
pitifully small compared to the REM frontman's fan base.
More than 25 years since the band's first gig, they are one of a
very few world-famous groups to combine musical credibility and
modesty alongside huge mainstream success, thanks to Stipe's
charisma, vocal talents and writing abilities mixed with the
musical talents of guitarist Peter Buck and Mike Mills on
bass.
They make music for everyone in any mood, from Shiny Happy People
to Everybody Hurts, and it's hard to find anyone whose record
collection doesn't include at least some of their back
catalogue.
Unlike some young bandwagon-hoppers, the middle-aged trio's legacy
of political activism goes right back to the beginning of their
time as musicians - how many other bands opposing Bush this year
were also protesting against Reagan?
And like recent visitors to the city, U2, they have also spoken out
about issues including war, AIDS and poverty, and will appear at
next month's Live8 spectacular as one of the acts who have been
driving that bandwagon for some time.
The world has changed a lot since four dropouts from the University
of Georgia played their first gig together in 1980, and listening
to their music is a lesson in alternative American history, right
from the first album Murmur, released in 1983.
After a few years of success the band made the move to a bigger
label, Warner, where they released Green ("the colour of the
ecologists, but also the colour of dollars") which contained the
classic Orange Crush, the title of which came from the Agent
Orange, the herbicide thrown on civilians in Vietnam.
Other albums, which brought critical acclaim, included Out of Time,
Automatic for the People, and Monster.
There seems to be an enthusiastic audience for almost every note
REM release, but as well as a musical following the band has also
remained in the public eye because of Stipe himself.
The singer was variously described as gay, straight, bisexual and
every shade in between for years before revealing he was in a
relationship with a man, and famously refused to confirm or deny
rumours he was HIV positive in the early 1990s because he claimed
he wanted to avoid offending or stigmatising anyone.
His art has stretched way beyond the music world - he co-produced
the critically-acclaimed Being John Malkovich and has published
books of his photographic work, which he claims comes far more
naturally to him than writing songs.
But despite a wide range of other interests, REM are growing old
together on stage and claim they have no intention of giving it up,
despite considering a split after the departure of drummer Bill
Berry in 1997.
And age isn't slowing the pace of their work either.
They will be playing Switzerland and London on the same day to fit
in the Live8 concert with longstanding commitments.
Right-on rockers may be ten-a-penny nowadays, but there's no
mistaking the voice of experience.
REM at Lancashire County Cricket Ground, Old Trafford,
tonight (Friday)
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