Really Easy Money

Back in 1987, I read an interview with R.E.M. in Rolling Stone in which one of the boys, obviously tired of answering the question, ‘But what do the letters STAND FOR’, said, ‘Really Easy Money’. And sure, why not? They were on the cover of Rolling Stone, hailed as the best band in America.

And yes, I love(d) R.E.M. with pretty much every fiber of my being at the tender young age of 12. In eighth grade, when I got glasses for the first time, I wore my pink REM bicycle shirt to give me strength. My best friend in middle and high school poured over liner notes, studied J.M. Stipes clues expecting to find a treasure map leading us to wry sophistication.

I’ve collected their albums, their singles, their shirts, and been an on-again off-again member of the fan club for ages. I once called ‘Peter Buck’ in Atlanta (circa ‘87, pre-Rolling Stone cover) and spoke to Peter Buck’s dad, a gracious man.

I can’t deny a feeling of being let down over the last 10-12 years by the boys. A short list of concerns:

- Broken Promises – Bill Berry left the band, and the remaining members soldiered on despite promising they’d break up if that every happened. Similarly, the promises to break up on Dec. 25, 1999, and to never print their lyrics

- Declining output/declining quality From 1983-96, they released 10 albums, the worst of which (in my opinion, ‘Monster’) was still pretty good. From 1996-2008, they’ve released 4 albums (if you count tomorrow’s release of ‘Accelerate’)

- Rock Star-ism – According to Jim DeRogatis of ‘Sound Opinions’, at this year’s SXSW festival R.E.M. also taped an episode of Austin City Limits, and the taping was held up over an hour because someone brewed J.M. Stipe the wrong kind of espresso

- Greatest Hits – 2003’s ‘In Time (88-03) & ‘And I Feel Fine – The IRS Years (82-87). Yeah, not a fan of the GH packages/tours

Ok. Here’s the thing though, I really really dislike those guys who’re like, ‘Oh yeah, they used to be great, but now they suck.” I hate those guys, because when I was getting into R.E.M. (1986), everyone was saying that ‘Life’s Rich Pageant’ was no ‘Chronic Town’. Fuck those guys.

So, in an effort to give my old heroes a legit chance, I’m going to, starting today, listen to every R.E.M. studio album, in order, and give an honest review. I’m not going to tackle the B-side or greatest hits compilations. I will kick it off with their first EP, and work my way up through ‘Accelerate’. I will do my best to weed out nostalgic pap and give an honest review of their work.

As a quick refresher, here’s how it’ll look -

1982 – Chronic Town
1983 – Murmur
1984 – Reckoning
1985 – Fables of the Reconstruction
1986 – Life’s Rich Pagent
1987 – Document
1988 – Green
1991 – Out of Time
1992 – Automatic for the People
1994 – Monster
1996 – New Adventures in Hi-Fi
1998 – Up
2001 – Reveal
2004 – Around the Sun
2008 – Accelerate

Wish me luck!

THE event of 2008

So, a friend turned me on to Hulu recently. For those of you not in the know, it’s basically a website that gave reason to the WGA writer’s strike. You can watch loads of TV shows and movies, but they all come with commercials. So tonight, as I started to watch The Usual Suspects, I was offered the option of watching a movie preview, and then the film sans commercials, or the film with commercials. I took the preview, and holy christ am I glad I did. We’re in for a treat people.

Fuck yeah Tina Fey in a starring role.

Well all right

Whenever I come to work early, I develop the best logic. I think, ‘ok I’m here 30 minutes early, so I can fuck around, blog, ebay, etc. for 30 minutes’. Of course, I always end up screwing around for like an hour, and start work late, which is ostensibly ok, except, I then rationalize leaving work early because, hey, I came in early today.

In the ‘exciting news’ department, I sent off interview questions today to Seth, Damon & Naomi, and the almighty Ringo Starr.  It’s the third time I’m submitting questions to Seth, but I have a decent feeling about it. The first was back in about 2002. I then sent a reminder, and he responded saying he never got the questions. Then, last year, I sent him a box that contained the Uncollected Salinger, and he didn’t respond to that….BUT I discovered upon opening the new Palookaville that he has moved, so a third try seemed in order.

Damon and Naomi I’m guessing are pretty likely. I did an email interview with them years ago, and they were quite friendly. Ringo Starr is a long shot, but not out of left field. Evidently, he’s really cool about autograph requests and the like, and is weirdly into his fans. You should check out his website and watch the video updates he does. They’re pretty brill.

Other than that, I’ve rekindled my love of Buddy Holly, and when I went to the post office this morning, ‘Everyday’ was playing. A good sign, I believe.

Holy Crap

Golly. It’s been a busy month, and is only going further, so many apologies for the lack of updates. First of all, the run of lettered copies of Dirt’s Funnies #1 are finished and sitting on my coffee table and are ready for purchase.

Secondly, the band I am in with two of my friends is going well. We’ve been rehearsing weekly, and have three pretty close to finished songs, which kind of rules. Yes, we have a myspace page, and no, I’m not linking to it.

Thirdly, I’ve started a massive writing project, and have been tackling a thousand words a day. So far, I’ve finished about 25 pages – way more than I’ve ever written before. At this pace, I’ll finish in late May.

Not to mention that I’ve begun looking for a house, and work is actually work again. Man. So much!

I’m hoping to bust out some more interview question packages soon, but am stopping short of promising anything.

Oh, I also scanned a few dozen new characters for Dirt’s Funnies – hopefully I’ll be able to get on the ball and start putting some new shit up soon. Wish me luck!