On Saturday April 5, 1980 four young men played at a birthday party in a ramshackle ex-church on Oconee Street in the university town of Athens, Georgia.
This was the first time that the Peter Buck, Bill Berry, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe would play together in front of a crowd, they would go on to become one of the most important bands in American history.
In 2005, R.E.M. are celebrating their silver jubilee, and to mark this moment we’ve put together our alternative selection of their finest moments in the more recent back-catalogue for you to hear, in full. None of these are on the 2003 album ‘In Time: The Best of REM 1988-2003’.
Simply click ‘High’ or ‘Low’ depending upon your internet connection. You’ll need Realplayer from realnetworks.com/freeplayer.
Don’t forget to check out our full REM feature and all three CDs on this month’s collectible covered Uncut Magazine.