Thursday, September 22, 2011

R.E.M. Says Goodbye

Alternative rock band R.E.M., in 1988, when they released their album "Green."  From left to right:  Bill Berry, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills.  (AP)

Alternative rock band R.E.M., in 1988, when they released their album "Green." From left to right: Bill Berry, Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills. (AP)

After 31 years and 15 albums, R.E.M. has announced that the band is calling it quits. We check in with blogger and music critic Jordan Stepp who has followed the band for nearly a decade in Athens, Georgia — the town the band called home. We also talk to Ingrid Schorr — in the 80s she was dating R.E.M.’s bass player, Mike Mills. When she told Mills she was going back home to Rockville, Maryland, he wrote a song for her — “Don’t Go Back To Rockville.”

Guests:

  • Ingrid Schorr, Mike Mills former girlfriend
  • Jordan Stepp, music critic from Athens, Georgia

We welcome comments from all of our listeners. Post below. Please stay on topic and be civil. Comments may be moderated by us, but you are solely responsible for the content of your comments.

  • Anonymous

    Oh good, since my name is misspelled, people won’t Google me. :)

  • Dan Matthews

    Jordan Stepp, not Strepp

  • Ort. Carlton.

    Folks, I was there at the beginning… that magical night at the old church on Oconee Street. They had something intangible then, and I half-jokingly remarked soon after to my still-friend Kurt Wood “If these guys keep this up, they’re gonna be bigger than The Beatles.” In their own way, they were, and many similarities exist. But to cut a long story short, they gave us 31 years of great music and we all owe them a monster debt of gratitude. — Ort. Carlton in Amazing Athens, Georgia.

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