I saw them play every UK tour during their existence including the various secret gigs. The only exception was their opening 83 London gig. For various reasons I have also seen them in the US and in Europe. It’s a song like other songs which they have definitely played from time to time and they opened one European gig with a fantastic acoustic version of it. Even the wiki page suggests you’re wrong Andy when it notes that Michael Stipe gave one interview expressing his dislike of it but has since publicly softened that view to merely being embarrassed it was a hit.
I’d say nowadays they’re at peace with it and the broad consensus is a small degree of regret it was released as a single. No more no less. Certain individuals have more regret over the video for Stand.
I’m glad that you’re a big fan of REM Mike, they are a great band. I was just going from the Setlist website which suggested they’d never played that song live in the UK.
I only saw REM live once, a big open air concert at Milton Keynes Bowl, along with one of my other favourite bands, The Cranberries. I still listen to them often; they have a great back catalogue. Take care.
Seen them about 15 times in the uk (admittedly starting with the up tour) and never seen them play it
Edit, according to the internet they played it on Saturday night live in 91 and maybe one o5er time the same year. Never played it since. Pity because I quite like it!
BtBS is one of my favourite U2 tracks. I’ll acknowledge that the politics of the lyrics are brash and unsophisticated (corny, even), but the feel of the song is great, and the anger is palpable.
In a rare misjudgment, Carlos Kleiber had the Russian bass Ivan Rebroff sing his part in a falsetto voice. So I prefer to listen to that recording on CD rather than LP, as it’s easier to skip the offending passages where Rebroff sings.
I remember a ‘Building A Library’ edition (on Radio 3’s Record Review) a few years ago, where the reviewer reluctantly ruled out Carlos Kleiber’s recording because of this appalling miscasting.
Ahem, having had a selection of free gig tickets and albums over the years I can’t really comment on whether it was invite only as I’ve no recall and didn’t have to worry about it. My vague recall is that Bush Hall holds at most 400 and I didn’t think 400 were there by all accounts.
I do know that I wasn’t there. It was a few days after my 40th and I was at home taking delivery of an XPS2.
“Nothing Like You” (Bob Dorough, vocalist) on Miles Davis’ Sorcerer is a real puzzler. I wonder if he included it – for some reason – for Cecily Tyson, since she is the cover model.
I think I heard somewhere that Miles and Dorough were friends and that Miles included this track as a favour. Maybe they were also a bit short of time on side 2 and Teo dug this one out from the vaults. A strange session - but it did bring Wayne Shorter into the Miles orbit several years before he officially joined the band.
Whatever the reason, it’s a real odd duck for the album. I often don’t play it. Not that I think it’s bad, just that it doesn’t fit the vibe of the album.
The other Miles Davis oddball track which comes to mind is ‘Red China Blues’ on ‘Get Up With It’. Totally out of sync with the rest of the album - generic Wade Marcus arrangement with Miles wah wah-ing some bland stuff over the top.
