R.E.M.
CMJ 1985 New Music Awards
Beacon Theatre
New York, NY
Saturday 9 November 1985
Originally seeded on Dime on 13 November 2005 by TheOutsider. Remastered by eckythump 26 May 2020.
Original linage information: Taper, equipment and generation unknown
Audience Master>>>Unknown generation Maxell XLII> JVC XL R2010 CD Recorder>WAV>Flacfrontend>FLAC
Flac files rejoined to 1 file using foobar v1.5.3. Remastered using iZotope RX7 standard (declipping and decrackle modules applied), then EQ adjustments using iZotope Ozone 9 (master assistant recommendations applied). Tracks split again using Audacity.
Acoustic Set
01. The Wayward Wind (Stanley Lebowsky / Herb Newman cover)
02. Michael talks
03. Driver 8
04. All I Have To Do Is Dream (Everly Brothers cover)
05. Michael talks
06. Angel (The Neats cover)
07. Swan Swan H
08. Time After Time (Annelise)
09. (Don't Go Back To) Rockville*
10. Tired Of Singing Trouble
Electric Set
11. Feeling Gravitys Pull
12. Second Guessing
13. Can't Get There From Here
14. Moon River (Henry Mancini cover)
Michael Stipe - Vocals
Peter Buck - Guitar
Mike Mills - Bass, vocals
Bill Berry - Drums, vocals
*Peter Holsapple - Guitar
*Susanna Hoffs, Michael Steele - Backing vocals
Original uploader notes: This is a different source than the other 11/9/85 tape posted last week [referring to the original recording posted earlier in November 1985]. The generation is unknown but sounds low. Taped close to stage, very clear with little crowd noise. After Can't Get There From Here Peter
Buck throws down his guitar and walks off stage. If I remember correctly the sound crew wouldn't help out with band's sound. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Show notes: From The R.E.M. Timeline - "R.E.M. performed at the end of the awards show, part of which was broadcast on MTV, & hosted by Cheech & Chong. R.E.M. won Best Album Award for 'Fables Of The Reconstruction'. '(Don't Go Back To) Rockville' features Peter Holsapple on guitar and Susanna Hoffs & Michael Steele of The Bangles on backing vocals. This show was made infamous due to Peter Buck throwing his guitar at one of the television crew members and storming off the stage after 'Can't Get There From Here', Peter frustrated that the crew were unwilling to help with the sound." Further elaborating on this, it seems Peter was really drunk, and while he might not have appreciated the crew's unwillingness to help with the sound, storming off the stage may have been more to do with the fact he was inebriated. After Second Guessing, Michael actually says sorry this is getting really embarrassing, presumably referring to Peter's behaviour. He then starts to talk, before getting promptly cut off by Peter starting the next song.
Peter freely admitted in later years he spent most of 1985 in an alcoholic haze. In my view, the combination of being on tour all year, plus too much to drink was all that was needed to set him off. It's a shame, because we'll never know how many more songs the band was planning to play - my guess is there were probably going to do about 10 electric songs.
Of note regarding the CMJ Awards, other winners that year included U2 for song of the year for (Pride) In The Name Of Love, and Tears For Fears won best group, beating Talking Heads, Dire Straits, R.E.M. and U2. Tina Turner won best female act, and Bryan Ferry best male act.
Recording notes: This recording is not the more widely circulated recording from Stonecutter's archives - for example, their recording has an incomplete Wayward Wind, here it is complete. This recording also sounds much better than that one, a very fine audience recording, which I have in my humble opinion made even better with a basic remaster using the mighty powerful iZotope RX7 and Ozone 9 programs, something I treated myself to while in self isolation. I used RX7's recommendations to declip and decrackle, as the software told me the recording was clipped. I then moved over to Ozone 9 and asked the master assistant what EQ adjustments it thought would suit this recording best. I listened to its results, and agreed with it, it sounded mighty fine. For anyone who only has the version from stonecutter's archive, this will be a significant upgrade.
Torrent notes: This recording of the show was only ever on Dime once, on 13 November 2005, uploaded by user 'TheOutsider', who is no longer on Dime. While the other source has seen many reseeds since 2005, this one has languished for some strange reason, as no doubt it's superior. I downloaded it from Dime back then, and thought it's time to put the new iZotope toys to good use, and get this one out there for wider distribution. Enjoy!