R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe made a pair of high-profile public appearances last night, first popping up on “The Colbert Report.” to sing the Christmas carol “Good King Wenceslas” with Stephen Colbert and Mandy Patinkin, then joining Coldplay’s Chris Martin to perform “Losing My Religion” at 12-12-12: The Concert for Sandy Relief.

In February 1981, R.E.M. played three known concerts, including a pair in Atlanta opening for Joe “King” Carrasco at the 688 Club. Little of this period has been seen on video, but Slicing Up Eyeballs is thrilled to be able to premiere — courtesy of Wuxtry Records in Athens, Ga. — this 40-minute set filmed at one of those Atlanta dates.

For a generation raised by MTV — particularly in the late ’80s and early ’90s — they were ubiquitous: those 30-second “Rock the Vote” promos featuring stars ranging from R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe to Anthony Keidis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers to Madonna imploring viewers to register to vote and cast their ballots.

In honor of this week’s release of the expanded 25th anniversary reissue of ‘Document,’ R.E.M. has posted the album’s original electronic press kit, a 6-minute, black-and-white video dubbed “A Conversation with Michael Stipe” that would have been sent to music journalists in 1987 to promote the then-forthcoming record.

It’s Michael Stipe’s birthday today — he’s 52 — so we’re cracking open the Vintage Video vault to bring you a 30-year-old R.E.M. concert, filmed Oct. 10, 1982, at The Pier in Raleigh, N.C., for broadcast on local television — less than two months after the release of ‘Chronic Town.’

Now that he’s unemployed, former R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has plenty of time on his hands, which might explain his drop-in at the end of Thursday night’s ‘The Colbert Report.’ Stephen Colbert paid fitting tribute to ‘legendary rockers The R.E.M.s,’ then permanently enshrined Stipe on his ‘rock ‘n’ roll shelf of fame.’