VH1 Storytellers (R.E.M.)

On October 23, 1998, during promotion for their eleventh studio album, Up, R.E.M. recorded a set for VH1 Storytellers. They were an unlikely candidate for the show, since lead singer Michael Stipe always seemed to enjoy wrapping his lyrics in an aura of mystery. “I think Michael was surprisingly open,” said Bill Flanagan, VH1’s editorial director. “One of the things I was struck by was that this was the real Michael Stipe. He’s charming and funny. He’s not as aloof as people make him out to be. That’s just the way he is when you go out to have dinner with him.” For his part, Stipe said he "just went on autopilot and pretended I was talking to my friends".

The performance took place on a stage bedecked by fairy lights at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City's Manhattan Center.

Setlists

Unedited

1. "Electrolite"
2. "Suspicion"
3. "New Test Leper"
4. "Losing My Religion"
5. "Parakeet"
6. "Daysleeper"
7. "At My Most Beautiful"
8. "Fall on Me"
9. "Walk Unafraid"
10. "Sad Professor"
11. "I'm Not Over You" (Stipe solo on acoustic guitar)
12. "The Apologist"
13. "Man on the Moon"
14. "Electrolite" (re-take)
15. "New Test Leper" (re-take)
16. "Perfect Circle"
17. "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville" (Mills solo on piano)
18. "Man on the Moon" (re-take)

As the setlist on Stipe’s music stand that faded in and out during the opening sequence of the televised show illustrated, ‘Everybody Hurts’ was originally pencilled-in as the encore, but was subsequently replaced by "Perfect Circle" and "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville".

Edited

The televised show shifted the setlist around. The programme began with the band just emerging from the bridge on "Electrolite".

1. "Electrolite" (part)
2. "Daysleeper"
3. "Fall on Me"
4. "Perfect Circle"
5. 'Parakeet"
6. "Man on the Moon"
7. "Losing My Religion"
8. "At My Most Beautiful"

Seven songs were omitted, namely "Suspicion" , "New Test Leper", "Walk Unafraid", "Sad Professor", "I'm Not Over You", "The Apologist" and "(Don't Go Back To) Rockville".

Personnel

R.E.M.
*Peter Buck - guitar, banjo, mandolin, bass

• Mike Mills - bass, piano, vocals
• Michael Stipe - acoustic guitar, vocals

Auxiliary musicians
*Scott McCaughey - guitar, piano, vocals

• Ken Stringfellow - bass, banjo, vocals
• Joey Waronker - drums, percussion

Quotes

"I had a dentist in Los Angeles, who was also a dentist to Martin Sheen, and Martin Sheen was in the dentist’s chair, getting his tooth drilled, when I went up to him and said, ‘We have a record coming out in a couple of weeks and you’re mentioned in one of the songs, and I just want you to know that it’s honoring you; I don’t want you to think that we’re making fun of you’. And he was [impression of Sheen speaking with the dentist inside his mouth, saying ‘Thank you very much!’]. He was very nice about it." - Stipe, regarding "Electrolite".

“This song is off our new record, and it’s 'Everybody Hurts' with a hard-on. I hope you like it.” - Stipe, introducing "Suspicion".

“This next song that we’re going to do, I think, is one of the - for me, lyrically - one of my crowning achievements. [Glances offstage] Can I say that?” [laughter] “You can mean it,” replied Mills. “I can mean it, yeah." - Stipe, regarding "New Test Leper".

"I think I’m a little nervous, I just realised that,” explained Stipe “We love you!” piped up a female member of the audience. “Thank you," replied Stipe. "But also because I know Peter’s really bored."

"It’s in a long line of polka songs by R.E.M." - Stipe, regarding "New Test Leper".

"This song is beloved around the world. It is, it wasn’t our fault; it just happened, and it was one of those freak things and we’re really proud of it. When you have a crush on somebody and you think that they understand that but you’re not sure, and you’re dropping all kinds of hints and you think that they’re responding to these hints, but you’re not sure - that’s what this song is about: thinking that you’ve gone too far and you’ve dropped a hint that is just the size of Idaho, and they’ve responded in a way that maybe confused you... or they haven’t responded at all, or they’ve responded in a way that seemed like, ‘Wow, maybe something’s gonna happen here!’ I think I’ve probably said this 7,000 times, but the phrase ‘Losing My Religion’ is a Southern phrase which means that something has pushed you so far that you would lose your faith over it; something has pushed you to the nth degree, and that’s what this is about. Now, some people still think it’s a song about religion - it’s not, it’s just a song about having a crush.” - Stipe, introducing "Losing My Religion".

"After holding a koala bear and smelling its urine, I decided that koala bears are the highest that you can go. If you believe in reincarnation and if you believe that you’re a good person and you do everything right, you’ll go higher and higher and higher and higher. The deities of the highest order are koala bears, because: they live in trees - eucalyptus trees - they eat eucalyptus... that’s they’re only diet, right, Eucalyptus? Which is a hallucinogen. They spend most of their lives in a completely slothful, relaxed situation; they’re totally high, so of course they’re gonna be relaxed. And their urine smells great! And everyone in the known world thinks that they are the cutest things in the world. Thus, koala bears are the highest deified life form on earth, and it’s what we all strive to be. Can I get a witness?" - Part of Stipe's introduction to "Parakeet".

“Are there any guilty pleasures you have? Bands that are pretty much uncool that you still are totally into?” asked a man from the audience. “Hole,” retorted Stipe to much laughter, none more than his own. “Oh, boy, am I gonna hear it for that one! Thank you. That was a good question.”

“We’re going to do a song that was written by Bill Berry," explained Stipe. "It’s a beautiful song off a pretty beautiful record called Murmur [cheers of approval from the audience], and the name of the song is 'Perfect Circle'. I hope you enjoy it.”

References

• The R.E.M. Timeline

External links

• R.E.M. on VH1 Storytellers