For those that were not there...REM were the Beatles of college radio long before MTV, grunge, alt, indie, etc...their first two Lps were magical...after that they had brief moments of brilliance but nothing that rivaled their early work. They also got rave reviews from RS and NY Times which catapulted them to stardom.
REM by MTV
Really enjoyed this documentary on VH1 classic a couple of days ago. Insightful footage of the lads from their Athens' days playing for keg parties and whoever would listen. They came across as being sincerely surprised about their commercial success while all in all creating a great body of work. I remember seeing them open up for the "Swimming Pool Q's at 688 in Atlanta in the early 80's. I thought they were great and giggled at Michael Stipe because he danced like he was having an epileptic fit on stage.