Apparently it's Michael Stipe's birthday. Here's R.E.M. in 1982 about six months before the release of MURMUR. They sound amazing. www.youtube.com/watch?v=9sBV...

R.E.M. - Live at the Raleigh Underground (10th October 1982) (PRIVATE REMASTER)

Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of the release of "Murmur" and somehow I stumbled upon the existence of this video which I'd never seen before. I love ear...

The fact that there are bootlegs of them when they were still doing almost exclusively covers bc they were that new is a real testament to how fast they clicked and how quickly people noticed