R.E.M. considered themselves missionaries against the prevailing pop culture – no solos, no old-school stagecraft, no printed lyrics, no lip-syncing, no hard-sell videos, no obvious leader – and mapped out a whole new route to international success. Peter Ames Carlin, whose books include biographies of Springsteen, Brian Wilson and Paul Simon, talks to us here about ‘The Name of this Band is R.E.M.’, what they pioneered and how it rearranged the rock and roll furniture. Which involves …

… why their Letterman Show was a statement of intent.

… “rather than bending to the mainstream, they did what they wanted ‘til the mainstream bent to them.”

… where you can see “the R.E.M. model” - from Sleater-Kinney to Taylor Swift.

… when ‘Mike Stipe’ became Michael.

… Stipe’s first TV appearance, dressed as Frank-N-Furter at a Rocky Horror Show screening.

… why rock critics connected with them.

… the strategies they share with U2, Radiohead and Coldplay.

… “Springsteen = Elvis + Dylan”.

… what was in the water in Athens, Georgia, that produced such unconventional

acts - R.E.M., the B-52’s, Pylon, Love Tractor.

… their ‘straight’ but supportive parents – Stipe’s dad in the military, Mills’ dad a marine helicopter pilot.

… how R.E.M. “channelled popular culture”.

… their pioneering approach to record deals, royalties, videos, mixing and song-writing.

… and which of them most wants a reunion.

Order ‘The Name Of This Band Is R.E.M.’ here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Name-This-Band-M-Biography/dp/0385546947

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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Neil Storey worked in the Island press office in the ‘70s and ‘80s and has set out on mammoth undertaking, to compile a series of gorgeous, album-sleeve-sized books telling the story of virtually every record the label released in its pioneering history and talking to all involved - musicians, producers, designers, photographers, label staff – and collecting old music press ads and ephemera from the time. This latest edition, ‘the Island Book Of Records 1969-1970’, has transported us back to our teenage selves when albums by Fairport, Nick Drake, Jethro Tull, Free, King Crimson etc were unmissable. We talked to Neil at his home in France which happily involved …

… the extraordinary story of the Unhalfbricking album shoot.

… when album sleeves were assembled by hand.

… how Island pioneered the ‘underground’ aesthetic and the cheap sampler album.

… the mystery of Ian Anderson’s 11 fingers.

… the “worst sleeve” in the label’s history (which involved a trip to the butchers).

.. the day the Island roster met in Hyde Park at six in the morning.

... the curious marketing of Nick Drake – “who doesn’t have a telephone and will disappear for four days at a time”.

… and Roxy Music, Sparks, Head Hands & Feet and what else to expect in Volume 3.

Order the Island Book Of Records Volume 2 here:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Island-Book-Records-II-1969-70/dp/1526182246

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

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Danny Baker, the act you’ve known for all these years, is kicking his legs up again in 2025 on a thundering new theatre tour, ‘Aye Aye! Ahoy Hoy!’ “Dead men tell no tales,” he points out, “so we might might as well get ‘em all told now.” This will be another barnstorming one-man circus - as, naturally, is this barrelling conversation with the two of us which collides with the following …

… being shot, Welsh cake, an olive green Humber, goldfish, when videos were the size of a loaf of bread, why half his Maidstone audience got up and left, stolen gear being hustled over Waterloo Bridge, bad things done by Rod Stewart and Britt Ekland, ELP, the Average White Band, Max Miller, Kenneth Williams’ loathing for Michael Aspel, when records become like furniture, getting £4k for a Ziggy Stardust white label, why he doesn’t miss the 14,000 albums he sold, and the record that came out the same day as Sgt Pepper and Bowie’s first album but is better than both.

The podcast includes an extract from Ronnie Barker’s “A Pint Of Old And Filthy” and Terry Thomas reading PG Wodehouse.

Order tickets for Danny’s 2025 tour here:

https://www.dannybakerstore.com/

Find out more about how to help us to keep the conversation going: https://www.patreon.com/wordinyourear

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.