“Remember Every Moment”

Final REM / Rock & Roll Hall of Fame post.  I swear.

I caught part of the VH-1 replay of the ceremony tonight and it reminded me that I didn’t comment on how awesome REM sounded in their performances.  The band was incredibly tight and Michael Stipe’s voice is as strong as I’ve ever heard it.

So for you, dear readers, I’ve done the youtube work and brought you all 5 songs the band played (including the Stooges cover (how big of a crime is it that they aren’t in the HOF?) and the end jam/wankery with all of the evening’s participants).

“Begin the Begin”

“Gardening at Night”

“Man on the Moon” (w/ Eddie Vedder)

“I Wanna Be Your Dog” (w/ Patti Smith & Lenny Kaye)

“People Have the Power” (obligatory end of the night “jam”.  Sammy Hagar blows the unintentional comedy scale out of the water here)

“Mr. Charles Darwin had the [balls] to ask”

Before I get started, Ted Leo played some excellent cover songs for WFMU’s radiothon the other night. If anyone has MP3s of these songs please please please let me know (especially The Pretenders’ “Brass in Pocket” which I didn’t hear and New Order’s “Love Vigilantes” which I did hear).

WFMU’s “Beware of the Blog” has a MP3 of Ted’s cover of the Jam’s “That’s Entertainment” featuring his modified WFMU-referencing lyrics.

But the real reason for this post is a brief recap of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony from the other night (I sat through all 4 hours of it on VH-1 Classic!). In a previous post I scratched the surface of my love for R.E.M. and during his induction speech Eddie Vedder did the same. After the cutaway I’ll include the text of his speech as well as some youtube I’ve found of it.

Before that, here’s a link to MP3s of Ed’s speech, R.E.M.’s speech, and the performances (including “Man on the Moon” with Eddie and the Stooges’ “I Wanna Be Your Dog” with Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye). I Am Fuel, You Are Friends maintains this Pearl Jam – R.E.M. synergy by posting an excellent R.E.M. show from 2003.

(Also, Patti Smith was wonderful, especially her cover of the Stones’ “Gimme Shelter”, which you can download from Pitchfork)

Maps and Legends

Tonight is the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony and the bevy of articles turning up online today (which I’ll link to periodically as they become relevant) gave me two topics to discuss. The first concerns the nature of the HOF itself. Putting aside the notion of whether such an institution is necessary (I say yes, others question it on the basis that a institutional shrine to a rebellious artistic mode are mutually exclusive), the question of what the hall celebrates is worth discussing. Is it, as writer Roger Wade suggests in a recent USA Today article, an opportunity for rock snobs “who are finally able to right the wrongs made by the buying public” or should it reflect popularity as well?

As with most things in life, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. As a minor amateur rock historian (a polite way of calling myself a snob), I believe that the hall must contain culturally significant artists whose significance might not appear in record sales. This year’s example is Patti Smith. While never a commercially successful artist (save for her one songwriting collaboration with Bruce Springsteen – “Because the Night” – and the 10,000 Maniacs’ cover version), her legacy lies in her social activism and one brilliant record (Horses) as well as immeasurable influence on subsequent generations of performers. In an editorial for today’s New York Times, Smith identifies herself as a “poet and performer” rather than a musician. While many might not know Smith’s work she certainly deserves canonization.

While I support Smith’s induction, I also support the induction of artists such as Van Halen. Their style of music is not traditionally respected by critics and elitists but they are no doubt influential. Imagine how many kids picked up guitars in the 1980s and tried to imitate Eddie Van Halen. While I’m not much of a fan of theirs, I’d be foolish to ignore their importance. However, we must draw the line somewhere – bands should not get into the HOF on popularity or record sales alone. Moreover, enshrined acts must have some sort of longevity – through either an extended period continued innovation and influence (Patti Smith) or a watershed moment of tremendous significance (Grandmaster Flash’s influence on the early days of hip-hop or even the brief careers of Hendrix or the Beatles).

So I guess what I’m saying is enshrine Rush along with The Replacements.

My second point concerns a band that is both critically adored and commercially successful. Nobody should question REM’s credentials when they accept their enshrinement tonight. The band is among the most important group in the “modern rock” era and filled stadiums for a great number of years. On a more personal level, I can unequivocally declare REM to be the most important band to me. The band was among the first that I really got into when I started buying CDs ten years ago and was the first band whose catalogue I fully collected, digested, and celebrated. I spent a lot of time in high school listening to REM albums.

At this point in my life, my music taste is as enriched by bands I discovered through REM as it is through their own records. The band is my gateway into almost every album or band that I now love. I sought out the Replacements after reading how Peter Buck played on Let it Be, I sought out Sonic Youth after seeing the two bands frequently mentioned as seminal acts in the 1980s, and I discovered Patti Smith’s Horses and The Velvet Underground after reading about Michael Stipe’s love of both.

I may not listen to the band as much as I once did and my taste has changed a bit over the last decade but I still love listening to REM whenever I get the opportunity. I still find new things in their music – even if it’s something simple like discovering that I like 1985’s Fables of the Reconstruction a lot more now or that Automatic for the People is still beautiful after hundreds of spins.

So when I’m watching tonight (8:30 PM on VH-1 Classic), I’ll be smiling when Eddie Vedder welcomes Bill, Mike, Peter, & Michael into the HOF. At one point in my life they were my favorite band and to a degree they will always remain so. If nothing else, they’ll always be my most important band.

So, thanks guys.