According to Spencer it was Berry, Buck or Mills. Stipe approved. I could see Mills vetoing an 81 or 82 show because they didn't sound as tight and professional as they did in 83.
I'm sure it is hard to find. What I should have mentioned is that this boot and dozens and dozens of others are easily available for free on music sharing sites so one doesn't need to buy this on vinyl. This site has lots of R.E.M. shows and outtake boots etc.. www.dimeadozen.org :: EzTorrent v0.7.0r495
I download every R.E.M. torrent that pops up on Dime. I'm seeding most of them from a seedbox so if you have the ratio, download away... Looks like I have 20+ Pageantry tour bootlegs (all sourced from cassettes, like you said). The quality varies greatly, but there are some nice ones there. The JEMS masters are usually the best of the bunch. I do hope they release an official one at some point, but I can live with these boots in the meantime...
I thought we weren’t supposed to post direct links to torrent sites and bootleg recordings on this forum, but you do you. As I noted above, much of the material that could have been included on this set is “out there” in dubious bootleg sound quality for those who care enough to track it down. I’ll repeat that the great missed opportunity here is the opportunity to put this stuff out there 1) legally, in a way that the band itself deservedly profits from, and 2) in better sound quality than the dubs of dubs of cassettes that provide the basis for the 1980s-vintage bootlegs that are now being torrented at Dime.
Easy there, fella. Just because I said I was disappointed by the failure of Chronic Town to receive the deluxe edition treatment doesn't mean I spend my time obsessing over the R.E.M. reissues that might have been. Frankly, I found the tone or your post somewhat disturbing.
I didn't ask that exact question to Mike Mills recently but close enough since it always puzzled me....
I do think a representative show from the '86 tour should be released officially and legally but obviously not all of these shows can conceivably be made available for purchase, so the bootlegs will continue to be traded (provided people still care to have them). I will continue to collect and share them with zero guilt. It's not like this practice is depriving the band of revenue if they've made it clear they have no interest in releasing them for purchase. Also, while most of them are "dubs of dubs" some of them are very lovingly transferred from first generation tapes on high quality decks and given a thorough remastering job. For instance, this Bloomington, IN show I'm listening to from September '86 was freshly transferred from the master tape on a Nakamichi DR-1 and then speed corrected/normalized/EQ'd. I can't really imagine an audience recording on a Walkman with a Radio Shack mic sounding any better!
Keep in mind that REM themselves allowed the distribution of live material on file sharing sites. So in one sense they've already given fans all these shows...maybe not in the best possible quality, but they didn't charge for it either.
Buck famously personally collected vinyl bootlegs of R.E.M. back in the day, but, as far as I know, no one in the band or their management has ever endorsed or “allowed” the distribution of their live material on Dime or other file-sharing sites. Of course, just like people with time on their hands can download hundreds of Led Zeppelin torrents on those sites, people with time on their hands can download half or more of the dates on the Pageantry tour from those sites, but I would argue that it’s a real stretch to argue that R.E.M., Inc. are endorsing that in any way.
Funny how the self-imposed ban against live albums went out the window in the 21st century when the band’s appeal became more selective, as Spinal Tap put it. Of course, a live album from the Little America tour would feature three or four new songs that ended up on Fables, a live album from Pageantry would feature “The One I Love,” which was introduced on that tour, etc.
I'm blanking out on the name of this site, but it was one of the bigger file sharing apps that was briefly in vogue after Napster went down. They posted that live material was only being circulated by bands who explicitly allowed it, including WIlco, Sonic Youth and REM. Loads of live sets by all those bands were available. Since REM was still a band at the time, I did an interview around then and asked Mike Mills about it. He didn't want to go to details but said "I think that was just one of those things we signed off on." (EDIT: It was WinMX).
I listen to R.E.M. bootlegs. I’m not judging you for listening to R.E.M. bootlegs. My point to which you responded with your manifesto about bootlegging was simply that, as I understand them, the rules of this forum supposedly prevent people from posting direct links to bootleg file sharing sites. That’s all. If R.E.M. followed the example of Neil Young and issued their own Official Bootleg Series to beat the bootleggers at their game, I’d gladly legally purchase an official Pageantry bootleg on vinyl just like I recently purchased Neil Young’s official bootlegs of his Royce Hall and Dorothy Chandler shows on vinyl. For whatever reason, R.E.M. haven’t chosen to do that, and so here we are.
No manifesto here. I was just quoting you to say that these boots are not always the poorest quality and that your argument that the band should release the shows they're holding back so they can "deservedly profit" from them is undercut by their obvious unwillingness to do so (which you've previously pointed out). Clearly, they're making enough money selling skateboards/pins/t-shirts/branded cassette players/straight reissues without any bonus material that they don't need to release live shows.
Exactly this. There already was a reissue a few years ago (not the coloured one for RSD) with quite excellent mastering that is also very close to the first issue of the ep. Furthermore, of course "Chronic Town" had already been issued on (standalone) CD before (so, apart from "Dead Letter Office") - and it is very likely that the mastering of that version (and from "DLO", of course) will be better than the one we will get in the new package.
When was Chronic Town released on standalone CD? Not seeing anything on Discogs... If it has been, it's very misleading for the band to say this new release is "the first time ever as a standalone CD." R.E.M. Celebrates the 40th Anniversary of Chronic Town (press release) | R.E.M.HQ
Try harder - I am certain you will find it . I mean, technically, it came with two other (early) releases in one box - and it's still going for cheap (and yes, they mixed up the sides...). So, maybe that is the point for them to call it "standalone" . P. S.: It also came with the "original original" artwork as "mini CD" in this box, if I remember correctly. Still have it and might take another look...
This it? Not that cheap but I wouldn't be surprised if the mastering is better. Still think $12 with new liner notes is more worth it for me personally, even if it sounds inferior... R.E.M. - The Originals
Exactly that is what I meant. I still don't know why they began with side B followed by side A on CD but hey - it really sounded (and looked) great.
I'll go against the tide here and say - despite the ruined artwork - I'm glad they've not added any extras. It's an EP and should remain just that.
For completist reasons, I am also thinking about acquiring it once again. However, the old version is not that expensive, since you also get the first two albums in some neat packaging (and with good sound, of course - although they might just be the IRS years versions, which, on the other hand, has never been confirmed, I guess).
