R.E.M. this November will unleash a mammoth video package documenting 30 years of live performances, award show highlights and TV appearances on MTV’s networks, a six-DVD set called “REMTV” that will collect 14 hours of material, including both of the band’s “MTV Unplugged” performances and a new feature-length documentary called “R.E.M. by MTV.”
Due out Nov. 24 on Rhino, the set is now available for pre-order.
In a press statement, longtime manager Bertis Downs says:
“It occurred to us that there’s all this footage of some of the band’s absolute career highlights sitting in some MTV vaults in London and New York — and thanks to a lot of effort and digging and arranging, this is our chance to share that music with various generations of R.E.M. fans in a pretty unique release. And Alexander Young’s documentary is a fine way to tell the story of R.E.M. through its various twists and turns, as captured in real time by MTV’s cameras — it has some great funny bits too!”
The first disc combines both “MTV Unplugged” performances and their outtakes — the audio of which was released earlier this year. The second disc features the band’s 1998 “VH1 Storytellers” performance, including two songs that weren’t aired, and material from “The Cutting Edge” in 1984 and other MTV appearances.
Discs three, four and five include a huge collection of live appearances filmed for MTV around the world between 1995 and 2008, including full concerts recorded in Cologne, Germany, in 2001 and Athens, Greece, in 2008 that are included here in their entireties.
See full tracklist below:
Tracklist: R.E.M., “REMTV”
Disc One
UNPLUGGED 1991
(04/10/91)
“Half a World Away”
“Disturbance at the Heron House”
“Radio Song”
“Low”
“Perfect Circle”
“Fall on Me”
“Belong”
“Love Is All Around”
“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
“Losing My Religion”
“Pop Song 89”
“Endgame”
OUTTAKES 1991
“Fretless”
“Swan Swan H”
“Rotary Eleven”
“Get Up”
“World Leader Pretend”
UNPLUGGED 2001
(05/21/01)
“All the Way to Reno (You’re Gonna Be a Star)”
“Electrolite”
“At My Most Beautiful”
“Daysleeper”
“So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)”
“Losing My Religion”
“Country Feedback”
“Cuyahoga”
“Imitation of Life”
“Find the River”
OUTTAKES 2001
“The One I Love”
“Disappear”
“Beat a Drum”
“I’ve Been High”
“I’ll Take the Rain”
“Sad Professor”
“The Great Beyond”
Disc Two
VH1 STORYTELLERS
(10/23/98)
“Electrolite”
“Daysleeper”
“Losing My Religion”
“Perfect Circle”
“Sad Professor”
“Fall on Me”
“I’m Not Over You”
“The Apologist”
“Man on the Moon”
STORYTELLERS – OUTTAKES
“New Test Leper”
“Parakeet”
“(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville”
“Suspicion”
“Walk Unafraid”
“At My Most Beautiful”
THE CUTTING EDGE
(06/14/84)
“(Don’t Go Back to) Rockville”
“Driver 8”
“Wendell Gee”
“Smokin’ in the Boys Room”
“Time After Time (Annelise)”
“Driver 8”
LIVEWIRE
(10/30/83)
“So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)”
“Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)”
MTV 10th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
(11/10/91)
Featuring members of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
“Losing My Religion”
VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS 1993
(09/02/93)
Including Brian Harris and Duane Saetveit
“Everybody Hurts”
“Drive”
VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS 1995
(09/07/95)
“The Wake-Up Bomb”
EUROPEAN MUSIC AWARDS 1998
(11/12/98)
“Daysleeper”
EUROPEAN MUSIC AWARDS 2001
(11/08/01)
“Imitation of Life”
ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME INDUCTION 2007
(03/12/07)
“Begin the Begin”
“Gardening at Night”
“Man on the Moon”
THE COLBERT REPORT
(04/02/08)
“Supernatural Superserious”
Disc Three
R.E.M. IN DALLAS
(09/19/95)
“I Took Your Name”
“What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”
“Crush With Eyeliner”
R.E.M. UPLINK AT BOWERY BALLROOM
(10/28/98)
“Losing My Religion”
“Lotus”
“Daysleeper”
“E-Bow the Letter”
“The Apologist”
“So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)”
“Walk Unafraid”
“Man on the Moon”
“Radio Free Europe”
LIVE IN COLOGNE
(05/12/01)
“All the Way to Reno (You’re Gonna Be a Star)”
“The Lifting”
“Imitation of Life”
“The One I Love”
“She Just Wants to Be”
“Walk Unafraid”
“Losing My Religion”
“Man on the Moon”
“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
LIVE IN COLOGNE OUTTAKES
“What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”
“Cuyahoga”
“Electrolite”
“I’ve Been High”
“Find the River”
“I’ll Take the Rain”
“At My Most Beautiful”
“So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)”
Disc Four
R.E.M. AT THE TABERNACLE, LONDON
(03/02/99)
“Losing My Religion”
“Daysleeper”
“Walk Unafraid”
“Man on the Moon”
“What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”
“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
MTV SONIC MILAN
(05/02/01)
“Losing My Religion”
“The Great Beyond”
“What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”
“Daysleeper”
“All the Way to Reno (You’re Gonna Be a Star)”
“The Lifting”
“I’ll Take the Rain”
“I’ve Been High”
“Man on the Moon”
“She Just Wants to Be”
“Imitation of Life”
ROCK AM RING
(06/03/05)
“What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”
“Leaving New York”
“Imitation of Life”
“Electron Blue”
“Man on the Moon”
ROCK AM RING OUTTAKES
“I Took Your Name”
“Bad Day”
“Drive”
“The Outsiders”
“Leave”
“Me in Honey”
“Wanderlust”
“Everybody Hurts”
“Electrolite”
“Orange Crush”
“The One I Love”
“Walk Unafraid”
“Losing My Religion”
“Imitation of Life”
“The Great Beyond”
“Animal”
“I’m Gonna DJ”
Disc Five
LIVE AT ROLLING STONE, MILAN
(03/18/08)
“Living Well Is the Best Revenge”
“Drive”
“Accelerate”
“Hollow Man”
“Electrolite”
“Houston”
“Supernatural Superserious”
“Bad Day”
“Losing My Religion”
“I’m Gonna DJ”
“Horse to Water”
“Imitation of Life”
“Until the Day Is Done”
“Man on the Moon”
LIVE AT OXYGEN FESTIVAL
(07/12/08)
“What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”
“Drive”
“It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
“Man-Sized Wreath”
“I’m Gonna DJ”
“Supernatural Superserious”
“Man on the Moon”
R.E.M. IN ATHENS, GREECE
(10/05/08)
“Living Well Is the Best Revenge”
“What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?”
“Drive”
“Man-Sized Wreath”
“Bad Day”
“Electrolite”
“(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville”
“The Great Beyond”
“The One I Love”
“Losing My Religion”
“Let Me In”
“Orange Crush”
“Imitation of Life”
“Supernatural Superserious”
“Man on the Moon”
Disc Six
R.E.M. BY MTV
DELETED SCENES
“Peter”
“Politics”
“Golf”
“The Hornblower Affair”
“The Year 2000”
PREVIOUSLY ON SLICING UP EYEBALLS
- R.E.M. releases monster 131-track Warner Bros. rarities set, puts ‘Chronic Town’ on iTunes
- R.E.M.’s 50-track ‘Complete Rarities: I.R.S. 1982-1987’ due out digitally next month
- ‘This is not just pop music’: Michael Stipe inducts Nirvana into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
- Video: Mike Mills and Drivin’ N Cryin’ play R.E.M. classics at Buren Fowler tribute
- R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, Mike Mills help Joseph Arthur pay tribute to Lou Reed on Letterman
- R.E.M. to release 4LP set of 1991, 2001 MTV ‘Unplugged’ sets on Record Store Day
Any idea if the Livewire material will have the interview portion or not? That was some nice intro material to the band, and the fact that the proto-Beastie Boys were in the audience asking questions just makes it that much better.
I’m waiting for MTV to do this with The Cure. Should be some good stuff there, especially the best version of Just Like Heaven I’ve heard – VMAs 1989.
AMEN !!!
I just saw them at Riot Fest here in Chicago, and it was a reminder they need to release some new DVD footage.
Nice, but wish there was more early stuff (I guess none exists?)…only two pre-1991 items.
I was thinking about that myself. Mind you, I think this is an excellent set, and rounds a up a lot of great stuff that would be forever out of circulation otherwise — THANK YOU to all concerned for the effort!
What I’m trying to remember is, whether the band made any MTV appearances (not counting videos, which have already been released on DVD long ago) between, say, 1986 or so and the first Unplugged show in ’91. It’s quite possible they just didn’t — we need some band historians to remind us.
The Rockplast show from 1985 is a good video record of the “Fables” era and easy to find, while “Tourfilm” has “Green” covered. My sense is, though, the Pageant/Document era is kind of black hole where live video is concerned, specifically in MTV’s vaults.
Anyone?
Can’t recall any MTV appearances between 1986 and 1991 outside of Mumbles doing some Greenpeace plugging on MTV News interviews, but senility set in at thirty.
By the way, who am I and where are we?
You are Scott Stalcup and we are at http://www.slicingupeyeballs.com ))))
Okay, next question. How did the vomit get up on the ceiling?
(Hat tipped to anyone getting the reference.)
Good luck getting much from before 91, MTV basically ignored them until the Green album. Nit this is a rare treat for fans of their entire career, looking forward to this for sure.
Their might be enough IRS era material floating around but gathering that stuff up could be next to ompossible due to scattered rights. MTV owning all this material under one roof likely mase this possible. Anything before will probably comeout piece meal.
MTV did a small recap of the year 1987 with segment on ‘Document’, an interview with Michael (holding a pole of some sort) and ending with the ‘Work Tour’ version of “Finest Worksong”.
There is also the interview from 1986 that Michael gave while sitting on a miniature house.
I honestly do not think R.E.M. embraced MTV at all until MTV embraced *them* when they signed to Warner Brothers.
IRS got them on a few things but we have to remember it was *all* about Madonna, Michael Jackson, The Police, U2, etc. Nobody really knew (or cared) about R.E.M. on a grand scale until the WB years.
I was going to complain that their appearance on the Arsenio Hall in 1989 is absent… but that’s not MTV.
That’s good information, thanks!
I have found some Work Tour video online that looks like it originated with the band, with footage shot from side stage and a single stationary camera in the balcony. Sound “mix” is nominal at best. I’d like to think there’s something better out there from that tour, and hopefully it’ll surface someday.
In the meantime, yay for REMTV!
And I agree that The Cure need to release something like this on DVD. The best we have now is ‘The Cure Play Out’ on VHS.