U Talkin’ U2 To Me? - R U Talkin' R.E.M. RE: ME? - Lifes Rich Pageant

Episode Date: March 21, 2018

Adam Scott Aukerman say hello to their friends, fans, and family as they discuss R.E.M.’s fourth studio album, Lifes Rich Pageant. They’ll talk about E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Adam’s on call camera crew, and The Guinness Book of World Records before diving into the 1986 album. Plus, they share their Top 5 Scorsese Films in another edition of “I Love Films.” This episode is brought to you by Leesa (www.leesa.com/REM) and Spotify.

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From chronic to collapse town into now, respectively that is, this is Are You Talking R.E.M. Re-Me? The comprehensive and encyclopedic compendium of all things R.E things REM, this is good rock and roll music. Good rock and roll music. Music. Music. Music. Music is fun. According to my calculations, it's music.

I have put this through the musicometer and determined. And the result is music. Ding, ding, ding. Music alert. Welcome back to the show for another week. I want to say hello to all my fans. I want to say hello to all my friends. I'm happy to see that you've

picked up on this habit, Scott. Doesn't it feel good? It feels really good. I've ignored them up till now. I want to say hello to my family. And most of all, Adam, I want to say hello to God. Oh, okay.

He's looking down at us and he approves of this show. This is the official podcast of God, by the way. Oh, okay. He's looking down at us, and he approves of this show. This is the official podcast of God, by the way. Oh, okay. We have new sponsorship. Oh. God has started to sponsor this podcast. How does God say get in touch with you?

He just wants to get – well, I mean, he speaks to me on the wall. They're basically writing on the walls and messages from heaven. I do not see any writing on these walls. It's all around you right now. Have you ever, this is a serious question, by the way. I'm Scott. This is Scott across from me. Hi.

We're talking about our- Hi, everybody. Hello. We're going to be talking about life's rich pageant during the show today. Et cetera, et cetera. Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Have you ever known anyone who's legitimately crazy? Oh, yeah, sure.

Like, I don't mean crazy like all actors are a little bit nuts. I don't know what you're talking about there, but... Sure, yeah, crazy, yes. Like legitimately... Like bonkeroon-y? Yeah, like, get me a rubber room. Oh, oh. You know?

Okay, yes. What's their name i cannot divulge that information this is santa cruz buddy is this uh no i actually i don't i'm not really sure if i if you're really asking seriously scott and i think you are i'm gonna say i don't know i don't know we're all a little i have a feeling that i do and i have but i don't know it's hard to tell you know because hard to tell truly crazy people do not think they're crazy therefore it's it takes a while we all wear masks don't we oh in life you said it that's why i chose this occupation. It's taking on and putting back on, taking off,

putting on, taking off, and then again, putting on. It's a lot of busy work. Masks. You're really into the busy work. Do you like mask work?

There is nothing. Do you like putting on a mask? Oh, I love it. There's nothing better to me though at the end of a long day at work, coming home and the minute you slam that door behind you,

just dropping all pretense and having just a frown on your face and just being like fuck and just knowing just knowing everyone all the shit you had to put up with and smiling and oh god just now you can just relax and just scowl at everyone including my wife

and just coming to terms with the fact that we're all doomed we're all going to hell. Yep. Is what God wanted me to say. We're all going to die. We're all going to die. We're all worm food when you think about it.

Yeah, yay. Hey, worms got to eat. Oh, man. You really put a point on that one. Dotted the I's, crossed the T's. Adam, what's the saddest you've ever been? Sure. I've been sad.

I mean, I think we all have been sad. That's part of the human condition. That's part of being a person. P-E-R-S-O-N. P-E-R-R-S-O-N. No, there's only one R in there. P-E-R-S-O-N. I'm sure you're mistaken.

Do you ever get so sad and you're like, oh my God, I bet I could do a dramatic scene right now. Call the cameras. Get them over here. That's right. I have a camera crew on call. On call for whenever you're sad. There's a red phone in my house.

You just get a closeup. You're against a green screen. You just start bawling. If I'm watching E.T. with my fam, family. Sure. Extraterrestrial. E.T. with my fam family. Sure. Extraterrestrial. E.T. the extraterrestrial. With your family.

With my fam illy. And this is IRL, by the way. This is in real life. In real life, IRL to the max. Why are you watching E.T. with your family? We do it every night. Every night at the dinner table. At 7.30 at the dinner table.

We watch E.T. projected up onto our neighbor's house across the street. Do they like that? They hate it. They've tried to get a restraining order against our entire family. Against a projector? Against a projector. How could you? That's not impossible. Well, the projector is a man. And he shoots light out of his mouth.

And it's exclusively E.T., the extraterrestrial. No wonder. Okay, this all makes sense now. got it. And it's exclusively E.T., the extraterrestrial. No wonder. Okay, this all makes sense now. So anyway, if we're watching E.T. with my fam, Illy. And that part where Peter Coyote, who, by the way, Neil Campbell, you know Neil Campbell? He tipped me off to the fact that Peter Coyote and Dick Wolf have very similar names. Like their first name sounds like a penis. And their last name is a wild animal.

Don't you wish Dick Wolf's – those names were reversed? Wolf Dick, yeah. Or Coyote Peter. Anywho. But that part where Peter Coyote, E.T uh et gets away from him it's so sad yeah especially at the beginning before we know it's peter coyote and you just see the keys jangling that makes me very very upset it makes me tear up just when i see those so right when that happens i pick up the red phone and i give the code word i can't say what you can't say what it is okay but

you do have a code word just so so people know, burglars haven't broken into your house and are making you call up the camera crew. Yeah. No matter what you say, I'm not going to tell you what the code word is. Right, right. The code word is... Bellflower. Bellflower. Bellflower. I say that into the phone and the camera crew arrives.

Bellflower. And they start filming. Bellflower. I have a green screen there so we can just shove it in there. Just drop it in. Just drop it into Big Little Lies 2. They're still filming. Bellflower. I have a green screen there so we can just shove it. Just drop it in. Just drop it into Big Little Lies 2. They're still lying. That's right. They keep lying, these people.

Yeah, they won't stop. Why do they call them Big Little Lies? Don't they realize that's an oxymoron? Like, they're either big or they're little. I think they're aware of that, Scott. Are you sure someone hasn't brought this up to them? I think they might. Because if someone were to bring it sure someone hasn't brought this up to them? I think they might. Because if someone were to bring it up to them, they might go to HBO and go, can we retroactively change this title?

I think they know what they're doing. I think they know what they're talking about. I think they know what the title means. And to you, what does it mean? Who do you play on that? Jim, I bet. No, his name's not Jim. Who is this guy that you play?

Ed. Ed. Similar to Jim in a way. Do you ever get a script and you read it and you're like, man, this is so good, but do I have to play a guy named Ed? I say every role I play, I always try and get the name changed. That's the first thing I do.

Because it shows dominance to the director, doesn't it? It's a power move that works every time. So you changed it to Ed? Yeah. And what was it originally? Who was your character? Edward. Edward.

Yeah. It's a good change. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's a good move. Well, it shortens it. It is weird, though. It's so strange to be an actor and be like, I'm Ed. How can you be believable saying I'm Ed?

Because when you wake up in the morning, you refer to yourself only as Ed. And you make Naomi and your children call you Ed? Yep. There's a post-it on their door when they wake up. They get their sides. And they get their sides and they know that for the rest of the day. Hello, Daddy Ed. I love you. Yeah. If they say Daddy, they get sent

back to their room. Ten minutes, they come back out. And they have to call me by my name. My name is Ed. My name is... My name is... Hi. My name is...

Hi. Ed. It's so strange. Remember when Elton John and Eminem had that duet at the Grammys? And they held hands? Yeah. Yeah.

Remember that? Those two cool dudes. Yeah, it was a big moment for our nation. It truly was. It's a demarcation point before and after. Oh, man. It's like BC and AD. Yep.

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, 80 miles. And British Columbia. British Columbia. We're talking about REM here on the show. Exclusively. And we have been.

There is no disputing that we have been talking about REM in every episode. Yeah. Right? No, you can't. If you cannot say – if Guinness Book of World Records were – they were taking a tally of people. And I hope they do. I hope they do this. Yeah, of podcasts who have not talked about REM.

We would lose. Hold their feet to the fire, Mr. Guinness, and please make that tally. Mrs. Guinness. Oh, so is it a Mrs. now? It's Mrs. Guinness. Is it the same? Is it the beer company that makes? It's the same people.

Yeah, they keep track of all the crazy shit that happens in the world, and they make frosty beer. That's so weird that they would do both things. I know. Is one a side project? Yeah. Which one? The beer. The beer is the side project. project? Yeah. Which one? The beer.

The beer is the side project. You would think it'd be the world records. Right. It's not. The world records are more important and more profitable than the beer. I bet those are really profitable. Oh, man. You don't find people talking about the Guinness Book of World Records all that much these days.

Like, remember when we were- And you clearly haven't been hanging out with me enough. That's all I talk about. Really? Do you remember when we were kids? We were kids. This guy has a thousand cigarettes in his mouth. Who gives a shit?

Yeah. No, but it was a big thing. It was. It was a big reference point of like, call the Guinness Book of World Records. It kind of still is with kids. Do they really still talk about it? How is Guinness getting out there in marketing? The same book that comes out every year.

They come out with a book still every year? Oh, yeah. Is it a website or is it a – I don't know, but I know that every couple of years we get another Guinness Book of World Records. You get another book? Yeah. Would you get that book if you didn't have kids? No.

Absolutely not. And do the kids flip through it and go, oh, man, do they have aspirations? At the time, we go through it and look at the guy with all the cigarettes in his... It's all the same shit. They still have the same guy in there? The tall guy, still the same tall guy. Is anyone... I mean, is anyone...

Do they come out with a new edition and be like, extra, extra, guess what? Man fits more cigarettes. Well, it's like new ones. Like, man is on the internet for 18 days without some... You know, there's new kind of – I mean I've done one. Technically, my internet has been hooked up for 18 days at least. You could come up with a Guinness – a world record for yourself.

I do know some people who have sent them to Guinness like, hey, what about this? And they're constantly turned down of like, no, that's not something we're going to cover. Oh, really? Yeah. Okay. I don't know. It's not something we're going to cover. Oh, really? I don't know.

I mean, I guess we could set a world record for the longest anyone's talked about the Guinness Book of World Records in 20 years. Yeah, right here on this show. I feel like we've been talking about them more than REM this show, which is crazy to think about because we talk about REM so much. That's what this show is. We talk about REM. We give you everything you need to know.

And we're going disc by disc. And when I say disc, I'm talking those old-timey platters. That's right. Long players. Vinyl. Vinyl. The old delicious V. Did you like that show Vinyl on HBO?

Yes. Yeah. I didn't Vinyl on HBO? The, yes. Yeah. I didn't see it. Sorry. No, I did not see it. You have that thing that we do in the business

where you have to say that you liked something before you can even really process it. But I was still trying to land what show you were talking about and then I remembered

and then I realized I had not seen it. I like that punk band in there. Oh man. Is there a punk band on the show? Yeah, Mick Jagger's son played, like, I realized I had not seen it. I like that punk band in there. Oh, man. Is there a punk band on the show? Yeah, Mick Jagger's son played, like, I want to say it's something as stupid as, like, the Nasty Boys.

Uh-huh. You know, basically, like, or- The Sex Pistols. Yeah, the Spitting Teens or something like that. Yeah. Right. That was Scorsese. Scorsese.

Top five Scorseses. Oh, are we doing... Is this an episode of... I Love Films. I believe so. Hey, welcome to I Love Films. This is Scott. And this is Scott.

And we're talking about films we love, and specifically the Masters. Yeah, Scorsese. Coop. Coop. Coppola. Copp. Copp. Coppola.

How do you say, like, break it down. How do you say it? Cuh. Cuh. Just say cuh. Cuh. Okay. There, I said it.

And now say p. Oh. Oh. And then as if you're singing la-dee-da. Okay. Let me try it all together. Ka. Oh.

La-dee-da. That's it. I've done it. That was easy, right? I've done it. Apocalypse Now. Yes. Oh.

This is the end. I get a cold sweat on the back of my neck. You're just doing that. Are you okay? Yeah. I think I might throw up. The Godfather. The Godfathers.

Part three. Top five Scorseses. Top five Scorseses. Well, you got to put Goodfellas in there somewhere, right? It's got to be in there somewhere. Great film. On the list of films that he's right there. That's a film.

That to me is like, look, let's be honest. He made a lot of movies. Sure, he's made movies. Hey, we've all made movies. We've all been in movies. Yeah. And several of them. Yes.

But have we made films? Exactly. Exactly. When does it transcend into film? Is it just shooting on film? That's the mystery, Scott. No one knows. It's so interesting.

Have you ever seen a movie? Scorsese, to me, that last one that he did with the train, Hugo. Hugo, yeah. Yeah, it's about a little boy and it's about a train station, but it's almost about the power of film. Yeah. No, I think you picked up on a subtlety in the film. It's very subtle.

He was talking about the language of film and how it affects people and how it translates to childhood. It's like a love story to film. Yeah, in a way it is. In a way,

did you say and see Shape of Water? I have not seen that. That's a love story to film as well. Wow, I can't wait. Oh, the movies. I can't wait.

I love film. The experience. love story to film as well. Oh, I can't wait. Oh, the movies. I can't wait. I love film. The experience. Film. The darkened theater. A bunch of strangers. Although, when I go see a film, I prefer to rent out the theater. And fill it with friends. Fill it with friends.

That's just- Every time you go see a film. Every single time. It's what I like to do. I love film. So, I would say good do. I love film. So I would say Goodfellas. Goodfellas. I would say, of course, Taxi Driver.

Beep, beep. Honk, honk. Hey, get out of my way. I'm walking here. Yep. So good. The Rage of the Bull? The Rage Cage of the Bull.

Rage Cage. Love that movie. King of Comedy. Love it. So good. is that five movies that's five okay there we go minus what about you bro the aviator yeah is that because because i'm sitting here with you that's because of my my buddy right here was loving it i would have put that on there too on my list but it would have been a little... A little self-centered, but when you work with a director like... Hey, you got to put him on the list.

Marty. Did you ever get to call him Marty? First day. First day on set. First day, did you walk up to him and go, hey, Marty? And you kick his ass just to prove dominance? I called him the Martz. He loved it.

They tell you that when you go work on a film, find the biggest guy in there, put him down, and that way everyone respects you. Everyone respects you and they do what you say. So you just kicked Martin Scorsese's ass and then everyone had to take your orders. I just called him the Marts and I asked him to get me a cup of joe. And then everyone

respected me. I started ordering people around and everyone loved it. That's great. Everyone loved it. Everyone loves it when an actor arrives on set and orders people around and everyone loved it. That's great. Everyone loved it. Everyone loves it when an actor arrives on set and orders people around. Yeah, and starts complaining. They love it. They love it. Had several experiences like that. I can say as a producer, I love it. Because you've segued into producing.

I produce now. Yeah, sure. That's so interesting because as an actor It's funny you brought that up. You're not in control of your material a lot of times. So it's very smart of you to get into producing. Thank you. Yeah. I love it.

And you've produced what? Ghosted? I produced that. I produced some films. Some films like the one where you show your actual penis the overnight. Yeah. It's a prosthetic, but yeah. No. It's not what you told me scott scott

it's not what you look at me i'm looking right at you at me oh like look at you yes it's a you're shaking your head no while you say this no no no no no you're winking while you say this look i get it you don't want people to know it's your real piece so the aviator is the only one on your list that's all five aviator aviator aviator aviator aviator all the different cuts yep every yeah the work print his his it's crazy that you saw marty uh i was working on shark tale at the time with him and he just invited me in that's great that's right he was a voice in Shark Tale. That's right. He and Bobby D. Bobby D.

We got him to record at the same time, which was not something DreamWorks ever did. Yes. They recorded together? Everyone recorded separately on every DreamWorks film and they were like, no, no, we don't do people together. And we were like, come on, it's these two. Let's get them together. So every scene you see of them together, they're like overlapping dialogue and talking.

Oh, that's so cool. We did it together. That's cool. And this has been I Love Films. Great ep. That's one of our longer eps we have ever done. We really got into it. We really were, I mean, we talked about everything there.

We did. I really do love The Aviator. Did you like that movie for real? were. I mean, we talked about everything there. We did. I really do love The Aviator. Did you like that movie for real? Yeah. I thought it was interesting. I didn't really know anything about, what was your character's name? Johnny Meyer. He's a real guy.

Yeah, I know. Everyone in that is a real guy, right? Yeah. It's like you're bragging, hey, I was in a biopic, and guess what? I played a real guy. No, I know, but there are some characters in some of those movies that are like... They're composite characters. But yeah, yeah.

Did you... He's not still alive, is he? He is not. He died in the 70s on the side of a road, apparently, under mysterious circumstances. Which circumstances? He was kind of a skeezy dude. He was kind of held the same position for Aristotle Onassis

for the later period in his life. Like the right-hand man, the kind of greasy kind of – Greasy? You pronounce it greasy. Greasy. Hmm. Easy, greasy. Easy, greasy, so it'll go down easy. What were the circumstances?

Was he naked? Was he alone? Was he afraid? He was changing attire and died under mysterious, some say, heart attack. It's weird. It's hard to find anything on the guy. I mean, it's not mysterious if mysterious some say heart attack it's weird it's hard to find anything on the guy i mean it's not mysterious if you had a heart attack i actually wrote the um the department of justice under freedom of information act to try and get some information about him and two

years after we shot the movie i got a giant box of documents in the mail from the department of justice did you do that is that is that your process? Or is that like, oh, I'm working with Marty. I got to like step my game up. Or is that just like, I can tell Martin Scorsese this and have him think that I did some hard work. Well, it was playing a real person. You kind of want to try and get information, right? But isn't everything you need to know there in the script if the writing is good? You know where everything is here and here you're pointing at your penis again i don't know why i don't

understand why you keep doing this here at each one of my balls we're talking about rem i was pointing at my heart and my head because that's where it all lies. Is it the life of an actor? You're constantly playing other people. Let me just say yes. Just already yes. Yes. Okay, great. To everything.

Do you feel like you nailed that guy? What's his name? Johnny Grease? Johnny Meyer. Do you think you nailed it? When you look back at a life on screen do you say like you know what yeah I did this you know some films were good

some were bad but Johnny Meyer nailed it always that's what I say I only saw it once but my impression of you is you were in a tuxedo at a big party scene is that accurate I was in a variety of tuxedos in a variety.

It was the Coconut Grove in a few different decades. And were you aging at all? Were you putting on makeup or anything like that? Where were you doing? A little bit, yeah. Did you have old age makeup put on you? Yeah, I think so. I'm trying to remember.

Did you look old? Not old. It was only like a 20-year jump and we were still relatively young people. What if like in the early scenes you were playing normal and then when you got to the set for the 20 years later scenes you were like Excuse me!

Mr. Hughes! And Martin Scorsese is like, Adam, can I talk to you for a second? Hey, um, Mr. Hughes, it's your old friend. I bet you barely recognize me. Johnny Meyer. I think I'll try to change attire later today. That would have been hilarious.

It's fun to play pranks like that. And then you turn to Marty and you're like, Marty, can I tell you something? Hey, Marks, told ya. You've been had. It's a true Nickyanks like that. And then you turn to Marty and you're like, Marty, can I tell you something? Hey, Marks. Told ya. You've been had. It's a true Nicky Fink told ya situation. Oh, good stuff. Great stuff.

I'm going to be in one of those Martin Scorsese films one day. Yep. And I guarantee you that. Oh, okay. And I'm going to win an Oscar. Oh, Jesus. Okay. Great.

For acting in a Martin Scorsese movie. Yes, for acting. What else would I win an For acting in a Martin Scorsese movie. Yes, for acting. What else would I win an Oscar for in a Martin Scorsese? He's directing. Okay. What else do you think I'm going to do? Okay. Listen, I believe you, and I encourage you to start laying the groundwork for getting there.

I've started, bro. Okay, okay. I'm post-groundwork at this point. Fine. I'm like ready for him to pluck me out of obscurity. You are on your way to achieving this. Yeah. Okay.

Great. I would say, in fact, here's my promise to you. Yeah. His next film. Whoa. I'm going to be in. I'm going to win an Oscar. Whoa.

Okay. Whatever his next film is. Heard it here first, folks. This is happening. This is a first folks experience. First folks. Mm-hmm. FF.

this is happening this is a first folks experience first folks ff um speaking of ff we don't want you to fast forward uh through our commercials because we have to take a break yeah um when we come back we're going to be talking about life's rich pageant which is the next uh album yeah album album album album album you call them in the music industry they call them albs albs got it this is the next we're going to be talking about live search patch the next alb we'll be right back with more are you talking rem remi Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, podcast fans. I know you're a fan of podcasts because you're listening to one. Well, Spotify is making it easy for you to stream this podcast

and many others like it, although there really aren't a lot of podcasts like this. Maybe you talking YouTube to me, I don't know. But if you want to stream any podcast you want, you can do it on your mobile device, your desktop app, and your smart speaker using Spotify. It's so easy.

You just open up the app on your mobile speaker using Spotify. It's so easy. You just open up the app on your mobile device or desktop. You click on the browse channel and then click on the podcast section. Easy peasy. You'll be able to stay thoroughly entertained during your commute to work, during your drive home and your downtime. Now, thanks to Spotify. Everyone. Everyone thanks Spotify. Thank you, Spotify. Welcome back. We are talking about REM on this show, Scott and Scott. The boys. The guys from down the street.

Isn't that the name of our first album? The guys from down the street isn't that the name of our first album the guys from down the street someone please make that album cover for us the guys from down the street Scott and Scott the guys from down how

would it be popular if we put a and the first single is called This Neighborhood and we are who we are you're you're an actor

been in movies and TV. I'm an actor. I've not been in all that much. And we have this show and we have our fans. And we put out what we would put out as a music album. Yeah. Like just how good we actually are. Yeah.

And it's called Scott and Scott. The guys from down the street. Down the street. And the first single is – This Neighborhood. This Neighborhood. And it's called Scott and Scott. The guys from down the street. Down the street. And the first single is. This Neighborhood. This Neighborhood. Would it be popular? I don't know.

Would it win a Grammy? I don't think it would be good, but I think. Like, what if it's like. Do you have any kind of musical ability? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Like when you're talking about minor keys and major keys when you're sequencing. You don't even know.

I have no idea what you're talking about. Do you not know what a minor key is? Not really. The difference? Not really. Okay, so a major key is like happy,

happy, fun, fun, fun. I know, and then minor's like happy, fun. I know, but I don't know what that means.

Okay. It's the difference of like one note in the chord. Right, so there are minor keys and major keys.

Now you're just fucking with me. Okay, so there are minor keys and major keys. Now you're just fucking with me. Okay, so Life's Rich Pageant. Life's Rich Pageant, let's talk about it. It came out in 1986. So one year after Fables. July 28th. So exactly one year after, not exactly, but roundabout.

Yeah. Roughly 54 weeks or so after Life's Rich Pageant, or sorry, after Fables, comes out a studio album by R.E.M. July 28th, 1986. It's unbelievable that it's only been a year because this sounds like a new band. This is what you had to do, though, back in the days. You had to put out records every year. Yeah. And tour the whole time.

Otherwise people would forget about you. Yeah. But maybe other bands weren't doing this, and that's why they're not successful. I don't know. Yeah. But maybe some of their contemporaries were taking it easy every once in a while or something. That's the thing is that these guys work their asses off. That's why they became so successful.

Their little butts. They work their little southern butts off. They have sweaty butts. Yeah. You work that hard, try not to get a sweaty butt. Try to make the crack of your ass not have a glistening sheen. Right. Speaking of glistening sheen, you ever watch Two and a Half Men?

Yeah, glistens. It's good. Glisten. You ever watch The West Wing? It's legitimately a good show. Oh, yeah. Are you kidding? Yeah.

The West Wing's good, too, but it's legitimately good. Like, a lot of people make fun of it. It's legitimately good. It's great. Okay. Life's a pageant. Life's a pageant. This album was produced by, what's his name?

Don McGahn. Don McGahn. Who was a John Cougar Mellencamp producer. Yeah. And wanted to make them sound slightly more commercial. And do you think that their fan base was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold the horses. Sure I like pink houses. Right. Sure I like ROCK in the USA. But I also like Koh-O-Tech, and I don't know about this Don McGann fella coming in and messing with my band. Like they're so dissimilar. John Cougar Mellencamp. I mean, honestly it so dissimilar. John Cougar Mellencamp.

I mean, honestly, it doesn't sound like a John Cougar Mellencamp production to me. It doesn't sound like John Cougar Mellencamp, but there's definitely a clarity

and the drums are big. It sounds like they're ready to play some big places. They want to get out of Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium and maybe go over

to the Greek theater. Which was the, this was the tour, by the way, at the end of which Peter Dollar Bill, excuse me, said. That is disgusting. Sometimes I'll stifle it, but you know what?

I feel comfortable with you. Hey, man, let it go. I feel like you and I have the relationship where I can belt around you and you're not going to judge me. I can burp, I can do anything. I can come in I can belt around you and you're not going to judge me. I can burp. I can do anything. I can cum in the middle of the show and you're not going to judge me. No, that's great.

This was the tour at the end of which Peter Dollar Bill said, hey, we're never going to play general admission shows anymore and we're never going to play places this big anymore. Oh, yeah. And they were playing like Greek theater size places, right? Yeah, basically. And they were playing a lot of places where general admission was getting dangerous for people, you know, jockeying. They were just too big. It was people jockeying for...

Like this album, they got pretty big. Like they were ready to take that step to like a top 10 hit after this album. When you go to a general admission show, and I just went to one recently. I went to Grizzly Bear, right? Yeah. And it's at the- It's general admission? Well, the Wiltern, you know,

is like the floor is general admission now. It fucking really- Sucks, right? It sucks so bad because this is what always happens. I get there 45 minutes early or whatever, find a nice position, and there's someone,

and it's not where it's like, I have a lot of room between me and the person. Yeah. That I'm behind. Yeah. You know, I'm usually like right behind someone and I stake it out. I'm like,

oh, this will be fun to watch the show. And then some guy, some guy right after it starts, comes in, like does that thing, taps you on the shoulder, like, hey, I'm just getting by. And then just thing taps in front of you taps you on the shoulder like hey i'm just getting by and then just stands right in front of you it's the worst

i cannot and have you ever told off the person no i've done it one time at duranduran at the uh at the house of blues here in la yeah someone did that and i tapped the shoulder and said nah not tonight yeah and then And what did he do? They were like, okay, man, sorry. Like, they all know they're doing it. If they're blocking you, they're generally taller than you, right? Aren't you afraid they're going to punch you in the face? No, but they're not generally taller than me.

It's just someone in front of you. It's just someone getting right in front of you and going like, oh, this is a cool place to watch the show from. No. I do that stuff with my kids. If someone does that, I'll ask them to move. Really? Yeah.

Where are you with your kids in general admission? God, I don't remember. Like you go to things with your kids and you're trying to watch something. And you're just trying to watch something and someone plops down right in front of you. Or even a movie theater if you're sitting with your kid. So wait, if someone sits in the seat in front of you in a movie theater, you ask them to move? Well, if it's a super tall person. Like who? Like our friend Tall John?

Yeah. So if Tall John were to sit down in front of you at a movie theater, you would say, even if it's at a place where they've bought that seat, you ask them to move. If there's room and they could, and there's room to move over, sure, I would ask them. Or if me switching places with my kid isn't going to improve their view, I would ask them to move down one. Sure, sure. It's my kid. It's your kid. Why don't you bring like a booster seat or like a phone book or something?

Why don't you bring a phone book? Walk around with a phone book. And look up the number to go fuck yourself. Okay, this album, life's rich pageant do you know what the title is a reference to some line in a movie yes the movie a shot in the dark the inspector clusso film uh inspector clusso uh opens a car door falls into a fountain someone named maria weird name, says, you should get out of these clothes immediately.

You will catch your death of pneumonia, you will. And Clouseau says, yes, I probably will, but it's all part of life's rich pageant, you know? And I don't know. I guess they were watching that and said, that's it. That's when you hear it, you hear it. And how about that cover art, Bill Barry? Did Bill Barry do the cover of this? No, that's him. Oh, that's him. When you hear it, you hear it. And how about that cover art, Bill Barry? Did Bill Barry do the cover of this?

No, that's him. Oh, that's him. Oh, okay. So what are you just saying? You like Bill Barry? Well, I like the cover of the album. It's weird. It's very 1986 weird.

Yeah, it's very art. It's a couple of buffalo running, and then on the bottom half, the top half is the upper half of Bill Barry's face. It's a good face. Yeah, he's a good-looking guy. He's got two eyes. The hint of a nose. The hint of a nose. He's got an ear.

You can see one of his ears. He's got hair. Hair. It's a face. It's a real face. Eye. Two eyes. There is a quote from him that I read circa this album where he's saying that he doesn't think he'll be in a rock band very much longer, mainly because of his hair falling out when he takes showers.

Cut to 1997 when he leaves the band. He's finally leaving. Yes. 11 years later. This record, this is my first R.E.M. record that I got. Yeah, so you got into this. I got way into it, but two years later after Green came out. Because you bought Document.

Document. Then you bought Green. Green. And then you bought the Dead Letter Office. Is that right? I got Document, Dead Letter Office, Green. Then went backwards. And then you did Life's Rich Pageant. Right Letter Office, Green. Then went backwards. Then you did Life's Rich Pageant.

Right, right, right. This is my first one. I had it again previous episodes. I've talked about I had it on tape. I did not have it on record. But this one, because it's such a pleasurable listening experience all the way through, I wore this tape out. I listen to it constantly. Great album.

I listen to it a lot this album. I listen to it a lot this week. Since our last episode, it holds up. Yeah. Every song is an SCC, a Stone Cold classic. Every song? Every song. Okay. Here we go. Let's go through it. Let's

literally begin with Begin the Begin. This is Begin the Begin. This is Begin the Begin. This is Begin the Begin. This is begin to begin. This is begin to begin. This is begin to begin. This is kicking the album off with a bang. Let's hear it now. Big song.

Bang! Whoops. Gotta turn it up. Again. Bang! Bang! The urgency began and you missed it I looked for it and I found it Milestone you sprout, congratulate me

This is kind of a groove song in a way. Like it's kind of like, you know what I mean? Like they lay down a groove. Yeah, it's, I mean, talk about a departure for this band. I mean, it's huge. His voice is a little more front and center. It's Don Ga mean, talk about a departure for this band. I mean, it's huge. His voice is a little more front and center. It's Don Gaiman, by the way. It's not Don McGann.

Sorry, that was my mistake. Who's Don McGann? I don't know, but Don Gaiman is the... What'd you say? Don Gaiman. Or Gaiman? G-E-H-M-A-N. Gaiman. Gaiman?

Maybe? Don, if you're listening... Let's say G-E-H-M-A-N. G-E-H-M-A-N. Or G-E-H-M-A-N. G-E-H-M-A-N. G-E-H-M-A-N. G-E-H-M-A-N. Don, G-E-H-M-A-N.

Sure. I mean, I love this song, but this is so different than anything they've done. Right? Wouldn't you say? I'd say so although yeah i mean it definitely i i think i said this on a previous episode i i have a playlist of these early albums that i put on random at one point and this song came after something off murmur and it sounds very different it's like sound it's it's a very modern sound but um i was i was listening to it going like well

this is the first one that i listened to so this is technically the rem song that i sound rather that i fell in love with so um it's not that i don't uh as rem progressed yeah and changed their sound it's not like i had i'm like so in love with the early records that anything they did that was more commercial i was turning against this is this is the one that i fell in love with so this is this is the rem sound to me yeah i mean and it's also the sound this and document is kind of the sound they go back to when they decide to go back to like rocking a little more yeah yeah exactly it's more they don't really go back to murmur yeah they don't they don't go back to like basics rocking a little more yeah yeah exactly it's more this they don't really go back to murmur yeah they don't they don't go back

to murmur sound right you know what I mean like accelerate and collapse and then now they go back they go back to this yeah yeah exactly

um let's go into the next yeah this is these days fun music music music

music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music music I'm not beating off you I will rearrange your skills If I can, and I can Marching to the ocean Marching to the sea Hatter, patter I put it down and the sun preached down

Naked up, slapped it on my head All the people gathered For life is a richest burden We are young despite the years We are concerned We are hope despite the times Oh, let's start out on these days Happy throngs take this joy

Wherever, wherever Can I say, they get to the chorus really quick Down these days, happy throngs take this joy. Wherever, wherever. Can I say, they get to the chorus really quick on that. Yeah, they do. I don't know if that's one of the reasons that this record resonated with me, but they're getting to the chorus slightly quicker. I think. What is it that's so different?

I mean, the vocals, you can hear what he's saying. You can hear what he's saying way more. But also, they're just bigger and clearer, the vocals. And the drums, right? It's probably what Todd Glass talked about on our stained glass episodes. It's a little more reverb as well. That's right. It is. It sounds like the drums are recorded in a big, empty room.

Yeah. It sounds great. Like with no one around for miles and miles. No one. Like it's basically they went to like Chernobyl or something and recorded the drums there. And then they all flew. Yeah, they all left. They had to be in hazmat suits the whole time.

Yeah, the entire time. And you got, what's his name? You got Dollar Bill Strawberry? Bill Berry. I can't remember. You can't put up a pretense anymore. Having names for this band is weird because... They're also normal.

It's like Ed. They haven't anointed themselves to being... To Bono. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you're abandoning the... You're abandoning it. No, no, no, no. I'll never say that.

So these first two songs songs it's really kicking the album off I think this is very well sequenced they're fairly rocking but what do you think about these two songs I love them

I want to talk about the sequence a little later when we get into the supper side aka side two this is one of the best Star AM songs ever

track three Fall On Me. To the ground before the weight can leave the air By the sky and till the sky And till the sky and till the sky Oh, what is the need? Oh, what is the need? They are getting to those choruses right away. 30 seconds in.

30 seconds in, they're on the chorus. I have not realized that until this moment, but that may be one of the reasons why the songwriting was really sticking out to me. I think Don Gaiman. I don't know how to say the name. Don Gaiman. Gaiman. Call him Donnie G.

Donnie G. I think Donnie G really took them to task for stuff like that. He probably scolded them a little bit and said, R.E.M., can I talk to you for a second? He spanked them on their bottoms. On their sweaty, sweaty bottoms. But apparently he and Michael Stipe butted heads because he was really telling him,

no, I want to know what you're talking about. I want to hear what you're saying, and really made him step up and clarify. And Michael Stipe was like, can I to know what you're talking about. I want to hear what you're saying and really made him step up and clarify. And Michael Seif was like, can I be honest with you? It's a bunch of fucking gibberish. I don't know what I'm doing. No, but it really kind of – I think he improved as – I had a friend who once said to me that he only listened to uh records when they had a lot of reverb on them

like he he hates it when a band cleans up their sound a little bit and takes away the like i'll give you a an example would be the smiths um they in their first three records i think they had a lot of reverb in there and then they and then around the time of Panic and Ask, they get rid of all the reverb and it's very straightforward. It sounds very studio. Yeah, you know. And my friend was always like,

that's when I don't like the bands anymore. Is that Tall Glass? It should be. But I feel like my Morning Jacket has never gotten rid... They do more... Some of their stuff later on was a little more commercial,

but I feel like they haven't gotten rid of the reverb entirely that they had in their early records. But the drums on this sound very reverb-y, but Stipe is less reverb-y, if that makes sense. He's more out in the middle of the mix. Yeah, that's true. This is Cuyahoga!

This one, the chorus, takes a while. This one takes a while, so let's stick with it. It's a great song. Classic. Also, this album, more overtly political than any of the albums. Yes, this is about the Cuyahoga River, which was a trash river. We raced to parts you didn't like. Let's try to fill it in. Bank the quarry, river swim. We need skin, dear, you and me. We need skin, that river red.

This is where we walk. A little pre-chorus here. We don't quite get to the chorus chorus. Just kind of teasing your little peen. Take a souvenir. And then... Nope. Back to it.

Nope. Sorry, folks. Sorry, folks. Nothing to see here. Let's get to the chorus. I'm going to fast forward if you don't mind. Do you mind? I do not.

Here we go lots of guitars too they're piling there yeah a lot of guitar sounds. Now, because I had this on tape, I did not study the record. Like when I would listen to records in my room, when I had them on record, I would pour over the album cover or the liner notes. I would read every name. I would read whatever was on there. The song titles, I know the song titles of records I have way more than I do of tapes I had or even CDs I have now.

Sometimes I'll hear a song and be like, I don't even know what the title of this is but I know the song. I didn't know that really the title of this song

was Cuyahoga. Uh-huh. And so I couldn't really make out what they were saying either. Uh-huh. So what did you think he was saying?

I thought it was like, throw your arms around me or something like yeah i didn't know i didn't quite know what it was but um so when i finally i think got it on cd and and you know it was like oh they're saying kaya hoga yeah i don't think i knew what the hell kaya hoga was or what they were talking and honestly i didn't care me neither i was like you want to talk about the coyote river go fucking have fun with yourself that's the thing is these songs all are so catchy and fun that i never gave a shit what they were talking about and found out later and if and and if they had told me what they were about i would have said where are you telling me yeah i don't give a shit mind your own business mind your own business aria why are you coming

over to my house i'm on the toilet and explain yeah i'm taking a massive massive shit get out of here get out of here michael leave me alone all right this is hyena uh second song yes an old song they they uh we have rem uh concert uh tapes of them playing this very early on yeah Yeah. This is great. Hyena. Yeah, this is good stuff. That's a bird. 40 seconds in. Great. So great. Now, again, I didn't have the title to this,

so I thought he was saying, my penis. My penis. No, obviously he's saying hyena uh terrific song so good uh again it sounds big and a lot of reverb the piano there is great these guys were really just like achieving liftoff as they say this next song is uh was not listed on the record really in the track listing it's kind of just a little

noodling around for a minute and 25 seconds what it's called once the actual CDs and all that came out is Underneath the Bunker

and it's the one I feel like why is this on here well let's talk about it this is where like i kind of felt like it makes the album sound bigger and more musically adventurous i mean mean, it adds texture to the album. It does. In this book that I have to talk about,

the Passion Book, the dudes from Camper Van Beethoven, who I guess REM were fans of Camper Van Beethoven. Actually, at that Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium show that I have the poster for, that's the show where the lead singer, Camper Van Beethoven, threw their demo up on the stage and Peter Buck grabbed it.

Really? And they listened to it. And then brought them on tour with them. Brought them on tour with them. Stipend, I guess, called them from a payphone in the desert to say that they like the band. And they were like, we don't think this is you. Yeah. And they finally did.

But the Camper Van Beethoven people are like, well, they've never admitted it, but this song is sort of a ripoff of us. Really? And it sounds like a Camper Van Beethoven song, and it's cool. And they're not mad. Oh, I see. They're like, it's cool that they sort of jacked our sound and did this song it does sound a little like um and then the book the author of the book puts in a note saying like it definitely sounds like camper van beethoven which is a little bit of editorializing from the book guy that's fine it does it does sound like they're like early

record that first yeah my beloved revolutionary sweetheart is that their first record? I can't remember God that was great why don't I have that? because you're a fucking idiot you're right so that's the end of side one that is the end of the dinner side

as they call it the next side is the supper side and we will get to it after a break this is more of what we've been doing

this is Are You Talking R-E-M. Rimi will be right back after this. Yeah, my beloved revolutionary. Shut up. We're going to a break. Oh, sorry. Hey, everyone. How's it going?

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and just forget that you ever took it. Take this survey instead. One more time. That's TakeMySurvey.net. One more time. That's TakeMySurvey.net. Welcome back. Are you talking to R.E.M. Remy? We are talking about Life's Rich Pageant. No apostrophe in life's. That's right. Because they say that there's never been a good album title with an apostrophe in it.

Is that – do they say that? Yes. Hmm. Can you think of – do the Beatles ever have an apostrophe in – Abbey's Road. Oh, Abbey's Road. So can I just jump in here for a sec? Thanks. Yeah, you're the only other person in the room.

I expect you to jump in. Camper Van Beethoven got back together in like the early aughts and put out a bunch of records. Did I know this? I don't know. I don't know what you know or what you don't know. I don't care. I saw them, Kemper Van Beethoven. I saw them at the Universal Amphitheater in a K-Rock holiday show, I believe.

Were they awesome? They were pretty good, yeah. And I saw it with this girl that I was into who we were listening to the B-52s, another Athens band, on the way there. And they had just put out their big um their big record that had their their big love shack song on it and i was singing along and much because i don't know lyrics i think when they go tin roof rusted i said like plin ploof busted or whatever i thought it was she's like oh no actually uh that's stupid first of all well this it's normally if someone were to correct you you would feel embarrassed or whatever and maybe i did feel embarrassed but she did it in uh that's stupid first of all well this it's normally if someone were to correct you

you would feel embarrassed or whatever and maybe i did feel embarrassed but she did it in such a nice way she's like oh no i'm from the south and that's that's an expression that we use in the south tin roof rusted really yeah what's the what does it mean i don't remember because i stopped listening to her after she corrected me after she dared After she dared. Like, we're finished. And we were. You and me, we're done. We're done here. Get out of your car. Life's Rich Pageant, 1986.

I'm about to be a junior in high school. I listened to this my entire junior year. I just had received my driver's license when this record came out. Oh, look out. Just a few weeks earlier. I had received my driver's license. And again, this was a tape that I played continuously as I would drive back and forth from my silly little errands. We're getting to side two, which is the supper side.

Now, this is something I wanted to bring up. Yeah. Okay, because I had it on tape. Yep. And because when you had a tape deck in your car, it would, you didn't have to eject it and re-put the tape in. By the time that I had this record, it would just play one side and then do an automatic reverse

and play the other side back and forth. record it would just play one side and then do an automatic reverse and play the other side back and forth so i and because the rem uh when they would put out records we've talked about this on previous episodes they sometimes would be confusing about what side was side one what side was side two yep sometimes even i believe on this record they listed the songs out of sequence they did the record yes on the record it was all out of sequence it's track one five ten eight two seven four nine three eleven why and it leaves out superman and it and it doesn't mention underneath the bunker um i don't know why they would do it to but if if they wanted the effect of like hey listen to it in whatever order you want to listen to it in yeah it had that effect on me because i will say i will tell you that i probably

my entire life until i got it on cd i had a different opinion of where the record started did you think flowers of guatemala was the first song i thought i believe track eight was the first song isn't flowers of guatemala the start of a i thought i believe track eight was the first song isn't flowers of guatemala the start of a side but because i had a tape deck that was just automatically going back and forth i never knew where a side would end or weird so my impression of the record is it went track eight nine ten eleven twelve one two three four five six seven and and that track eight was the first start of a side. And that this track, which is the beginning of side two,

was the last track on the album. Weird. Yeah, it is weird. But listen to it in that order. Still a good album. And it's great. Anyway, this is Flowers of Guatemala, which is the start of side two. here are friendly and content People here are colorful and bright

The flowers often bloom at night And And... Amanita is the name 45 seconds in. Getting to it a little quicker. Really pretty song. Very pretty.

I, in my mind when I was listening to it, I remember, and this is a vivid memory to me, I remember trying to figure out what the sides were and thinking to myself, this can't be the first song on a side. Because back then, when you would listen to a record, they would always try to make the first song on each side of a record be like one of the bigger hits

or like a big like, hey, this side is... So I was like, this can't be the first song on the side. But it was, right? This is probably the last song on the record. But it was. It was the first one, a really pretty one. And kind of a bit of a harbinger for – Harbinger.

Harbinger. No, a harbinger. Yeah, a harbinger. No, I'm just kidding. You're correct about a harbinger no i'm just kidding um a uh i knew you're correct about a harbinger am i wait because we're both looking at each other kind of confused should we look it up no you're right oh okay you are i'm i'm i was that's one of those as a word reading on a piece of paper that's one of there i have so many words that i have read like in you know growing up in books or comics or

whatever i remember harbinger was one that uh there was a character in the dc universe during crisis on infinite earths called harbinger yeah and i was like who do you ask at the time who do you ask of like how do you pronounce something like that i remember telling someone they're full of shit and they all they were saying was hyperbole. Well, yeah. I mean, Segway is another one that I always thought that word was seg. And so when I would read it, it would seg. But I thought the word was seg plus the word way. So almost like how they did the actual machine Segway.

But it's one of those things where like growing up, there's no internet when we're kids. So there are words that I'm still mispronouncing. And to be honest, Harbinger might be one of them. I'm going to look it up right now. When I get really nervous, I have a problem reading. If I'm really nervous. Like when you're acting or when you –

Or like a table reads i like i said at a table read a couple years ago i said conspicuous instead of conspicuous and what did people say uh the guy next to me are you dumb it was big little lies table because i was so fucking nervous j James Tupper is really sweet guy he was like that's conspicuous I was like yes conspicuous

that's got is that like one of your top like embarrassing moments in acting yeah because

it's because you're you're like doing this prestige television show I was just worried about how you're coming off this prestige television show. I was just worried about my acting.

Oh, how you're coming off. Yeah, I wasn't making sense of the actual words. Oh, that's a nightmare. Yeah, I felt like I got dyslexia just for – You felt dumb. It is Harbinger. It is Harbinger, by the way. It is, right?

Yeah. It is Harbinger. It is Harbinger, by the way. It is, right? Yeah. But Flowers of Guatemala kind of is a harbinger for Everybody Hurts, Strange Currencies. These pretty songs. Come later.

Yes. This is the next song on the side, and this is what I believed is track one of the record. This is I Believe. My favorite song on the record. This is I Believe. My favorite song. This is like a classic R.E.M. song. This is me on the This is you playing banjo? When I was young and full of grace And spirited a rattlesnake

When I was young and fever fell My spirit, I will not tell And on your honor, not to tell I believe in coyotes And the time has come Peter Coyote. To explain the change Coyote. Coyote's Peter. Peter.

Give me that chorus. Here it comes does not get better than that so good that is such a good melody unbelievable I guess I assumed

when I was listening to it that the record that the banjo at the top was like a good way to start a record of like almost like the queen is dead how it starts with like you know when a record starts top was like a good way to start a record of like that's

almost like the queen is dead how it starts with like you know when a record starts with dialogue like a wu-tang album or something you know like i i just figured like oh that must be the opening track it's you know like it's it's almost a statement of intent of like you know banjo this is us before and now big rock it's amazing how classically rem that sounds but how different it is from anything that had come before. Right. And that sounds like 4th of July weekend drinking a beer and sitting on a cooler music. Were you drinking a beer in 1986?

No, but if I was, that's the song I would listen to. What's the first alcoholic drink you ever took? Do you remember it? A beer, I'm sure. You don't even remember what it was? Well, I had sips of my dad's beer when I was a kid. Didn't you? No, my parents didn't really drink.

But your dad would be sipping a beer and he'd go, hey. I'd say, can I have a sip of that? Really? Yeah. What a cool dad. Yeah. He's a cool dude. He's a cool dude?

Really? Oh, yeah. Love to meet him. He's the coolest. Can you bring him by? Yes. He's the smartest guy you'll ever meet? Really? Oh, yeah. Love to meet him. The coolest. Can you bring him by? Yes. He's the smartest guy you'll ever meet. Really?

I promise you. Yes. Like what's in what way? Does he know how to pronounce Harbinger? Nope. Or Conspicuous? Nope. He doesn't know those.

Neither. Okay. That's why I had the problem with that. This is the next song. This is What If We Give It Away. Oh, I love this. I love this. Outside, underneath the wall, all the money couldn't buy. You're mistaken.

No one's standing there for the record. No one tried Oh, I Tried to What if we give it away? Yeah. Great. It was never one of my favorites on the album,

but that chorus is just great. I love it. I love it. That's maybe the clearest his lyrics have ever sounded. But the two of them singing together on that chorus is beautiful. Yep. Great. Some good shit. Some good shit. his lyrics have ever sounded. But the two of them singing together on that chorus is beautiful. Great. Some good shit. It's strange how they put out a record that

did well, but kind of ate shit. They didn't like it. Someone in this book, by the way, this book, this is the time period where the book becomes pretty useless. Where it's all just people talking about their various experiences backstage at a concert. None of them have access to the band anymore, and they're all just kind of talking about –

This is when they get big. Yeah, and they're all just like, this is around when I stopped liking them. Yeah, I went to one show, and there were a bunch of dudes. Isn't there a story in there about some guy that gets pissed off because they take his backstage passes away or something? Something like that. And then there's another person who's like oh they finally gave me a laminate you know it's all stories like that you know but it is it is interesting where they um someone says that they they asked peter dollar bill about uh fables when it came out and he's like i don't like it yeah um but they they came a lot of bands

that would be like fuck what are we doing and instead this band comes back with uh a record where every song is like incredibly written this is like their war this is them like they they felt what it felt like to fuck up a little bit and so they're like okay we better maybe i don't i don't know what's in their head or maybe they know fables they came close to breaking up yeah and so they needed to focus up and figure out what they're doing and right and it's just a year later it's or like 13 13 months later it's crazy um this is just a touch another old song this is great. Man, so good. Reminds me of Wind Out a little bit.

Yeah, sure. One of their just classic like super fast on speed songs. Yeah, totally. Like early days on speed touring in a van. But this is sped up. I think they used – Oh, really? Kind of mixed it with Wind Out a little bit.

What do they call that when they – Increase the tempo? Increase the – Oh, there's a name for it where like – because, there's a Bruce Springsteen on the river, I think Hungry Heart or something, is slightly sped up. You know, where they literally speed up the finished record. Oh, really? And it's slightly sped.

Yeah, it's Veritone, I believe, or something like that. They did that to Billy Joel's first record. Yeah, it's all slightly sped up, whereas Voice sounds slightly higher than it should. And some Smiths records are just slightly sped up where his voice sounds slightly higher than it should. And some Smith's records are just slightly sped up as well. This is Swan Swan H. Swan, swan, hummingbird

Hurrah, we're all free now What noisy cats are we Girl and dog he bore his cross swan swan hummingbird hurrah we're all free now

long lo time ago people talked to me. Johnny Reb, what's the price of fans? 40 a piece or three for one dollar? Hey, Captain, don't you want to buy some bone chains? Two picks, nine rings.

Yeah, great. That's one of those songs that doesn't really have a verse, chorus, verse kind of structure. It just starts with the chorus. It's like losing my religion. Like a sea shanty in a way. Like almost. Swan Swan. I remember that Mike Mills or Bill Barry said that they were annoyed that it's called Swan Swan H,

which they felt was pretentious. Because they thought that it's called Swan Swan H, which they felt was pretentious. And they, cause they thought of, they thought it was just called Swan Swan Hummingbird. Yeah. It's almost like a wolves comma lower situation. Yes. But, um, I don't know. It doesn't, doesn't shit like that that confuses you.

That's, it's almost like the making the track strong and the sides confusing. Like, doesn't that add to the mystique of like, hey, we're not explaining everything. We're not giving it all to you. It's part of what was making them cool. It's not like you're buying a Romantics record. Right. Hey, here are all the songs.

Here's a picture of the band. This is what we look like. Like us. It's why Michael Stipe was in charge of all the art direction and everything. Yeah. This is the final track on the record. And this is, well, let's just go into it. This is a cover, by the way, of a band called The Click,

but I didn't know it was a cover when it came out. This is Superman, and I'm going to play it right now. This is the movie Godzilla, by the way. Oh, it is? I always wondered what it was. I am, I am, I am Superman And I know what's happening

I am, I am, I am Superman This was a big hit. Yeah. Where I was. Yeah. On college radio. College radio, yeah. Not like a mainstream. This is Mike Myers singing.

Isn't this the only cover ever on an album of theirs? On like an official album. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, which is, I think why it's not really, it wasn't on eponymous, their best of. But it was a little hit. I didn't even know it was a cover. I just assumed it was their song.

This is one that we used to play whenever we'd grab the old git fiddles. Oh, really? I bet it's fun to play whenever we'd grab the old Get Fiddles. Oh, really? I bet it's fun to play. Yeah. And this is another reason why I felt like this couldn't be side two because I was like, their big hit can't be the last song on the record. So it was this, Fall On Me.

Those were the two singles. I Believe wasn't a single. Is that right? I don't think there were a lot of singles for this, which is weird when you realize what a huge album it was. And then on eponymous. Flowers of Guatemala, maybe? I don't think they were.

Wikipedia just lists those two songs as singles. I should have that book with us because it has all that shit. Yeah, yeah. Great record. Every song. Jesus Christ. Even the filler, the minute 25,

them fucking around is like cool in a way. Yeah. Every song, impeccably written. They get to the choruses. And when we say get to the chorus, that's just because we are,

we can only play snippets here. It's handy for us here, but we do enjoy when you kind of hold off and push the chorus. Who are you talking to? When you? I don't know. I have no idea.

Is there a person? Is it an imaginary musician? Let's run through some B-sides real quick. This is Tired of Singing Trouble, which is just a little kind of one-off. We sing it live a lot. Yeah. It's kind of like a... Isn't it old spiritual or something?

No, but they wrote it. Oh, they did? It sounds like one, but they wrote it. I don't know. I'm tired of singing. It sounds like him and Mike kind of fucking around in the studio a little bit. It's cool. I like it.

This is Bad Day. Now, this didn't come out until recently, and then they re-recorded it for a best of, but it's sort of the precursor to End of the World as... Yeah, it is.

It's totally End of the World. It sounds like they reworked this into it's the end of the for sure it was a song called PSA and then Bad Day

then they recorded it for like 2005 yeah super late best of yeah where it was it was almost like I heard it then

saying like oh wow return to form but it's just a cool song but not essential certainly this is mystery to me which is another song I like this A cool song, but not essential, certainly.

This is Mystery to Me, which is another song. I like this one. This is kind of the old R.E.M. sound. Yeah. I like it. Next up is Theme from Two Steps Onward. Are you going on all the Athens demos? Is that what you're playing?

No, this is off the complete rarities. Don't be a stranger. don't be a stranger don't be a shadow cool song sounds kind of like something like you'd put in a movie or it's a movie score almost they tried all the right friends again for this album right which i don't think i have this is um this is a real B-side. This is Rotary 10. Oh, yeah. Which, on Dead Letter Office, they say this is a movie

theme without a movie. Yeah. Sounds like a David Lynch Twin Peaks song. Yes. Badalamente. Do you have the Swan Swan H demo? I do not.

It's so great. It's really majestic. It's very different than what they ended up putting on the record, which I love, but it's different. What's this? Oh, is this... Toys in the Attic. Aerosmith cover.

Did they record this during um life's rich pageant i like this now when they put this out this is uh i got this in 87 or whenever dead letter office came out and uh at the time aerosmith is i think they were doing dude looks like a lady and all this kind of stuff right that was like 87 yeah yeah so i so it was it was you know aerosmith was kind of corny i think at the time and so i was surprised uh reading the liner notes where they say if you grew up in the 70s you liked aerosmith and this one is always and i was like oh like aerosmith could actually be cool?

Yeah. Aerosmith, that's a great song. That does sound fun to play. It does. This is from the Athens demo. These are a couple of songs that uh were not released this is a little trifle called out of tune wonder why they didn't put this on the album

it kind of sounds like a song you'd put in between a song. Yeah. You know what I mean? Of like, just like fucking around. Just listen to how rad Mike Mills and Bill Barry are. Mm-hmm. And then this, this is a song called Wait, which they've never put out. But it's kind of a cool song.

It's very commercial, actually. I think they played this for a long time like from the early days yeah Run on, oh La, la, la, la, la, la, la, la I wish they put out a real version of this because he's just saying la-las and then he's kind of off-key once it goes into a key change because he's like taken aback of like,

oh, there's a key change. It's a cool song, though. Yeah. Why don't you stay? I was thinking of something else. I don't think this is from the early days. Maybe it is. Who cares?

Who cares? Do you have that? Comprehensive. That Swan Swan H? I don't. The demo? I don't. Here we go.

Trying to get this. Fuck you. Fuck you. This is the Swan Swan H demo. This is the Athens demo. This came out on the deluxe version of the record, and Adam has queued it up. It's just more kind of a full band sound on it.

I really like it. I like it. Oh, here's the All the Right Friends they tried. Turn it down if you're going to talk. Jesus. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. This is that one. I wonder why they just never i wonder why they just never they just never did it we in fact we talked about this demo um it sounds really cool yeah i like it nope not today my friend i ain't falling for your bullshit um and that is life's rich pageant a classic record after

listening to it i, you know what? I approached it with some trepidation of like, is this going to hold up? Because when we talked about doing the show, you had said, what's your favorite record? And I said, I don't know, maybe Life's Rich Pageant. And then I haven't listened to it in maybe a decade all the way through. Oh, really? And I was like, okay, how's this going to hold up? And it held up. what are you doing fucking with your mic at the end of finally trying to move it um i hope people are

who weren't familiar are discovering these records by the from this podcast who knows i mean people did so people say they like you too from listening to our last song. Yeah. So maybe people like R.E.M. now. Although, who knows? Maybe they hate it. Maybe. Taking one last sip before we go, eh? You have any final words about Life's Rich Pageant? I'm just looking right here. I see Carl Tart, 2017.

Yep. Love that guy. Love that guy. He worked on Ghosted. Yeah. Listen, great record. It was fun discussing it with you. I hope people will go out and get this record.

It's great. Purchase it. Purchase this record. And go to live music shows. Sure. I saw Jeff Tweedy last night. He was sitting there playing music right in front of me. Like just strumming his six strings.

His guitar. Oh, boy. Live music. Live music. Speaking of music, let's take you out with a little bit of it. That's another episode for this week. We'll see you next time when we talk about

REM's commercial breakthrough document. What are you pointing at? Are we not going to do Dead Letter Office? No, we've already done all this. We've already done the songs. We're going to talk about document next week. Speaking of Dead Letter Office? No, we've already done all this. We've already done the songs. We're going to talk about Document next week. Speaking of Dead Letter Office, here's Bandwagon off of it. We'll see you next time.

We hope that you have found what you're looking for. Bye. Bye. Hi, I'm Cameron Esposito. And I'm Maria Butcher. And we're stoked to bring our long-running stand-up podcast, Put Your Hands Together, to Earwolf. Yay! Every week we record PYHT live here at the UCB Theater in Los Angeles.

Recently, we've had sets or chats from folks like Sarah Silverman and Hari Kondabolu. We've had Earwolf faves like Paul F. Tompkins, James Adomian, Nicole Byard. It's the opportunity to be at a live stand-up show hosted by two wives in your ears wherever you live. You can listen or subscribe right now on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, or Earwolf.com. this has been an earwolf production executive produced by scott ackerman chris bannon and colin anderson for more information and content visit earwolf.com hey queeros it's me cami espos, and I'm here to tell you about my podcast, Queery. You can sit in on hour-long conversations between me, Cameron Esposito, and some of the brightest luminaries in the LGBTQ family.

Queery explores individual stories of identity, personality, and the shifting cultural matrix around gender, sexuality, and civil rights. Plus, it is fun. We have had some incredible guests. Emmy winner Lena Waithe? Yes, definitely. Congressman Mark Takano? You bet. L Word creator Eileen Shakin? Yes. President and CEO of GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis? We definitely have. We've got celebs. People like Trixie Mattel, Evan Rachel Wood, Tegan and Sarah, the band, and the people separately on two different episodes. We also have activists and change makers in our community.

I think it's a one-of-a-kind show full of chats you have never heard before. It's identity, it's community, it's query. You can find Query every Monday on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.