Lou has been circling a copy of REM’s We Are Having aHeavenly Time at Vinyl Vogue for what seems like months. The album is a live recording from a September 26, 1984 show at Page Auditorium at Duke University. This was the second show, the first being the previous day. According to the album jacket, the LP was issued by the REM fan club and was not for commercial sale or release. Lou is surprised that it hasn’t sold already. There must be REM fans out there in the wild. While Lou would not consider himself an REM fan that would join a club, he is far from a casual listener of the band either. His dealings with REM come down to three central listening experiences.
The first usually happens late at night after a few beers, when cruising around YouTube. More often than not, Lou will fire up REM’s 1983 appearance on The David Letterman Show whenthey performed So. Central Rain and Radio Free Europe. The band is in top form, and it is a prime example of early REM at its best. In the 1980s and 1990s, Letterman had performances like this all the time, often by alternative bands. The Lemonheads performing “It’s a Shame About Ray”, complete with the back and forth between Evan Dando and Letterman is a must listen. Lou will also watch all of the many Warren Zevon appearances on Letterman and end the night by tearing up during Zevon’s heartbreaking final interview. So go to Letterman YouTube for all the priceless Chris Elliott material and stay for the dynamite musical guests. REM definitely hold their own in 1983.
Similarly, always late a night, Lou will listen to any version of REM’s “Nightswimming” that is on YouTube, from the official video to the live appearance on Jools Holland. The official video is art/film school schlock at its finest. Watching it you know for certain that the waters REM swims in is no doubt deep. To Lou’s mind, “Nightswimming” is REM’s greatest song, and it doesn’t seem close. This is supreme mood rock,and nothing captures the thrill of being a teenager in the 1980s like this song. Lou lived through it and when listening to this song with a buzz on Lou felt it all over again.
The final REM experience is another pivotal late 80s moment in time. In the summer of 1989, Lou traveled on a student ambassador program through Eastern Europe. As you may remember this is right before the Wall fell in November. There was a palpable feeling that something was going to happen. Something big. Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” was the song of the summer but for Lou REM’s 1988 Green was the soundtrack of the Eastern European trip. It was the first time Lou wore out a tape. Going through Checkpoint Charlie. Greenwas playing. Traveling through the Polish countryside to Auschwitz. And Auschwitz as you would expect is in the middle of nowhere. Green was playing. Waiting at the airport to return home. Green was playing. Green is a political album with a lot to say, and it seemed to speak to Lou in that moment. A moment before history changed. Lou is in good company, because Green was one of Kurt Cobain’s favorite albums of the 80s.
Back to REM fans and fan clubs. By the way, Lou would pay money for the history of music fan clubs from the Beatles to the Kiss Army to Swifties in book form. It would be a fascinating look at rock music, rock fandom, rock’s reception, rock’s distribution, and the rock industry. For what it is worth, We Are Having a Heavenly Time was not issued by the REM fan club. That was a diversion tactic. The record is a bootleg. The Page Auditorium show was professionally recorded with the intention of releasing a live album, but it did not happen. Instead, a bootlegger got a hold of the soundboard material on cassette and burned off the bootleg. I believe this backstory as the recording sounds exceptionally good as do REM. They were in the midst of a backbreaking touring schedule, and the band was tight. To see REM live in the early to mid 1980s seems like a wonderful show. A true REM fan can tell Lou different, but this must be one of the definitive recordings of early live REM. It is fantastic.
Now the REM fan club did exist, and they did, in fact, release singles. These singles have not been collected since their original issue and from what Lou can tell, present day REM fans would love to see them reissued. As for the bootleg, that does not appear to have had a formal release either. To Lou’s untrained ears, We Are Having a Heavenly Time sounds like an essential recording for any REM fan and for that matter any fan of college rock of the early 1980s. Pure nostalgia. And the memories felt while listening to the recording still hold up. As does the live recording.
Suggested Sites and Sounds:
REM on Letterman: R.E.M. Performs "Radio Free Europe" & "So. Central Rain" | Letterman - YouTube
Nightswimming: R.E.M. - Nightswimming (Official Music Video) [British Version]
Fan Clubs: Eleven of the most passionate music fan clubs
Fan Clubs A History: The History and Importance of Fan Clubs