Twenty-six years ago, an event took place that changed my life. And I wasn\u2019t even there. The rock group R.E.M. played together publicly for the first time on April 5, 1980. The event was hardly something that signaled a long career \u2013 they didn\u2019t even have a name and had only practiced together for a month or so before playing at a beer-soaked party.<\/p>\n
But that night changed my life, even if I was probably at home watching television or making a fool out of myself at a junior high dance.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t make a habit out of making heroes out of celebrities. I have a low tolerance for those who see entertainers as anything other than just that.<\/p>\n
I suspend that rule for R.E.M. In reality, I don\u2019t think they have done anything extra special. But the fact that they have achieved great success while not doing anything special is what makes me feel the way I do.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t think people really appreciate the fact that three guys \u2013 drummer Bill Berry left the band in 1997 to become a farmer \u2013 who met in college in 1979 have played in the same band together since then.<\/p>\n
We now live in the \u201cAmerican Idol\u201d culture where \u201cstars\u201d are made by telephone polls. The notion of a college band hitting it big and staying together for more than two decades seems laughable now.<\/p>\n
Guys have always dreamed of that, but the possibility seems so much more limited now. I admit that before I ever heard of R.E.M., I had a guitar and I fumbled my way through chords before realizing that I had absolutely, positively no musical talent.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s part of the reason I envy the guys in the band. They had some talent and made the most out of it. I didn\u2019t even get that chance.<\/p>\n
The music obviously has something to do with it. I don\u2019t try and tell people their favorite band isn\u2019t worth listening to because I know that the feeling I get when I hear some of my favorite R.E.M. songs defies descriptions.<\/p>\n
All of this is magnified by the availability of recordings from their earliest shows on the Internet. I can put myself in that bar, at that party and get a glimpse of what people heard back in 1980 when the whole idea was a lark.<\/p>\n
In recent years, the band has pulled songs from its earliest days and officially released them for the first time. To stand in a concert hall in 2004 and watch them enthusiastically play a song they wrote in 1980 is just too much to bear for me.<\/p>\n
Songs by R.E.M. have helped me come to grips with my views on many issues. They led me into ill-advised college flings. They keep me excited as I drive down the road even now at 37.<\/p>\n
I guess part of the attraction is my refusal to stop feeling like I belong in college. I don\u2019t ever want to grow up and \u201cSuperman,\u201d \u201cPermanent Vacation,\u201d and \u201cRadio Free Europe\u201d keep that feeling alive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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