Tuesday, September 27, 2011

THEY WILL BE MISSED

Sometime last week, I found out that R.E.M had decided to disband after 31 long years of making music. Though I knew they've been around for a long, long time, the knowledge that it was 31 years actually took me by surprise.

I got to know R.E.M back in 2001 when the song Imitation of Life was repeatedly played. The video, a pool side party in a reversed sequence was equally fascinating. I suppose that song made them popular in these parts, and two years later while Bad Day was receiving lots of airplay due to In Time, I actually won this CD of theirs in a promotional contest organised by a music TV station, which I listened to a lot back then due to my *limited CD collection (Channel V - which for some strange reason has ceased airing it's programmes here since last year) In a freak accident while cleaning up, the CD fell off the shelf and broke into two.

Eventually, over the noughties, I ended up being exposed to a lot of their stuff to the point that at one time, my MP3 player was actually dominated by R.E.M songs. Even iTunes, recently, in an attempt to allow it some independence in picking music for me, decided that I should listen to R.E.M among some other stuff it picked out for me.

Now, I can't really say I'm a great big fan of R.E.M - if i was, I'd have probably known that they've been making music for 31 years. I just like them, and find their music among those I like to listen to, not just the songs from In Time, but other songs as well. But somehow, the knowledge that they have decided to call it quits seems to be like an end of something, and it made me think something like - 'there goes another band that I actually like to listen to'. They will be missed. Indeed.

* CDs are insanely expensive here, hence the limited collection.


6 comments:

  1. It was a fun clip with an infectious melodey but oh my god - the awful fashions

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  2. im not good in music but i heard about them before.

    a few of my favorite group disbanded, including some boy bands.

    crap but thats fact.

    miss nirvana, really. i got one colleague who is much older than me named nirwana.

    coincident? LOL.

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  3. 31 years - that is a long time for a band to stay together.

    Their music will always be there and I think Michael Stipe will continue recording in some form or another.

    I've just (re)discovered Little Feat - a band whose most formative menmber died in 1979. I'm no longer too concerned about keeping up with "new" music. There is plenty out there made in the last 50 years that I still haven't listened to.

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  4. nurse: LOL... yeah, couldn't stand the costumes either...

    Faisal: I've had a few fav bands disband too... and some bands I discovered only after one of their members died. Nirvana was good... and cool name your friend has...

    King of Scurf: Oh yeah, I love the older stuff, and coudln't be too bothered with the most current and up to date music, actually....

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  5. Aww, you won the CD? I never win anything! They will eventual reform and tour again. Old bands like that always do it.

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  6. They might, yeah... And yes, I won the CD, and a few others while I was actively participating in competitions :)

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