TS: Michael Stipe's horrible guest rap on Neneh Cherry's "Trout" VS. KRS-One's horrible guest rap on REM's "Radio Song?"

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Both are pretty terrible, and both are pretty dated. The Neneh Cherry song comes towards the end of "Home Brew," but "Radio Song" kicks off "Out of Time," which I say makes it a more conspicuous error in judgement.

Or does it?

― Josh in Chicago, Monday, 1 December 2003 16:25 (twenty-one years ago)

KRS-One's is MUCH worse. In Stipe's defense, he's NOT a rapper, yet KRS-One is supposed to be some sort've hip hop demi-god (though you'd never know exactly why from listening to "Radio Song").

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 1 December 2003 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

amazingly i have never heard either

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 1 December 2003 16:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Stevem, you are a lucky lucky man.

― Nihilist Pop Star (mjt), Monday, 1 December 2003 16:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Alex hits it.

"Radio Song" is complete suxors, bad rap or not.

― earlnash, Monday, 1 December 2003 17:38 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm not sure if I've heard the Neneh Cherry song.. Is that the song that sampled "The Pusher" ? Because if it is, I hated it.

― dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 1 December 2003 17:49 (twenty-one years ago)

The radio song rap wins. Barely. If only because I kinda like the "Baby, baby, BABY, that stuff is drving me crazy!" bit.

I think Trout was about AIDS (or something) too which only made it that much worse.

― may pang (maypang), Monday, 1 December 2003 18:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Is that the song that sampled "The Pusher" ? Because if it is, I hated it.

Yep, that's "Trout".

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 1 December 2003 18:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Fuck that shit, man.

― dave225 (Dave225), Monday, 1 December 2003 18:07 (twenty-one years ago)

It's not so much about AIDS as an enouragment for AIDS education (as, y'know, so many teachers are big Neneh Cherry fans).

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 1 December 2003 18:08 (twenty-one years ago)

guilty pleasure: i've always loved "Trout". and yeah, stipe's rap is godawful (and kinda amusingly so), but he's done so much worse: ShinyHappyPeople, much of the last few albums, etc.

― bucky wunderlick (bucky), Monday, 1 December 2003 20:09 (twenty-one years ago)

Ugh, both make me cringe, but I actually quite like 'Trout' apart from the rap.

― The Lex (The Lex), Monday, 1 December 2003 20:10 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't mind "Trout," so long as I mentally block out the lyrics....and Stipe's contribution.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 1 December 2003 20:14 (twenty-one years ago)

what's wrong with encouraging AIDS education?

― s1utsky (slutsky), Monday, 1 December 2003 20:25 (twenty-one years ago)

Nothing, just don't do it in the form of song.

― may pang (maypang), Monday, 1 December 2003 21:14 (twenty-one years ago)

what about a vilanelle?

― s1utsky (slutsky), Monday, 1 December 2003 21:15 (twenty-one years ago)

It's a real shame about that rap on "Radio Song," because it'd be a pretty nice song otherwise. I made myself a version that fades out before KRS1 comes in at the end. That's how I cope.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 1 December 2003 21:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I think the remix of Radio Song that was on the CD single had the rap cut out of it. It's pretty lousy though.

― may pang (maypang), Monday, 1 December 2003 21:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Ah, I don't like that remix. There's a version they did on MTV Unplugged, and that's probably the best it is going to get.

I just like the tinkly part with "the world is collapsing around my ears" a lot.

I wonder if R.E.M. will ever get the urge to rework their older albums someday. I'm sure they could pull a Let It Be..Naked with Out Of Time...

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Monday, 1 December 2003 21:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Not yet. Not until they've been deemed to have made five of the ten best albums EVER.

― Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 1 December 2003 21:38 (twenty-one years ago)

HEY. HEY. HEY.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 1 December 2003 22:37 (twenty-one years ago)

SAY WHAT?

― may pang (maypang), Monday, 1 December 2003 22:39 (twenty-one years ago)

A friend who had given up on REM after Life's Rich Pageant described being intrigued by the opening arpeggios of this song when he heard it only to be horrified when the band took an unprecedented left into the land of boogie. The horror only increased when KRS showed up. I liked the song plenty back when it came out. And I was 12.

Haven't heard "Trout."

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Monday, 1 December 2003 22:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I gotta admit--only a little bit sheepishly--I like both songs, though I don't defend the "rap" element in either. Stipe's cameo is the more embarrassing by a hair, I reckon. But the extreme awkwardness of the rap aside, I think "Radio Song" is a perfectly acceptable mid-period REM song.

(Ducks)

― M Specktor (M Specktor), Monday, 1 December 2003 23:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Was KRS-One even their first choice for that song? It sounds like it'd work a lot better with Trugoy or Q-Tip.

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Monday, 1 December 2003 23:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Anthony has a point - I remember that song sounding way better when I was a kid too. It always seems like the REM songs which people hate the most are the ones most accessable to children.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 00:05 (twenty-one years ago)

"Trout" stinks worse, I'd say. It's maybe the worst thing on 'Home Brew' anyway.
Me never actually hated "Radio Song" (and the hey-i-was-only-a-kid-then clause didn't apply for me either).

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 00:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Nine-tenths of the reason I like "Trout" has more to do with Steppenwolf and Zeppelin than anyone else, but the preachiness of the lyric puts me off considerably. I do love Neneh, though, otherwise. Where's she got to these days? Am I right that the last album she did was Man?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 00:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Man appears to be the last one, yes
...seven years ago now?

― t\'\'t (t\'\'t), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 01:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember being disappointed with Man when it came out, but I like it much more now. Her cover of "Trouble Man" shits all over the original. Conversely, having dug Homebrew out after over a year of not listening to it... it's dated badly, very badly.

― The Lex (The Lex), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 01:22 (twenty-one years ago)

nate i'm pretty sure krs-one was their first choice, the wngm athens 34 affiliate, which was otherwise wall-to-wall beverly hillbillies reruns, high school football, and saturday nite local professional rasslin, used to show this 'stop the violence' krs-one psa stipe bankrolled all the time.

― cinniblount (James Blount), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 01:28 (twenty-one years ago)

best channel ever!

― nate detritus (natedetritus), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 02:02 (twenty-one years ago)

When I found out Thom Yorke sang Patti Smith's part when REM did "E-Bow The Letter" at the Tibet Freedom Concert, I remember being really disappointed that they didn't have Yorke do "Radio Song" with them instead.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 02:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Lex: you think Homebrew has aged badly in the last 12 months?

― bucky wunderlick (bucky), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 18:52 (twenty-one years ago)

The moral of this story is that Michael Stipe should not try to involve himself with rap in any way, shape, or form. It's like pouring fish sauce on ice cream.

― El Diablo Robotico (Nicole), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 18:55 (twenty-one years ago)

That's an Iron Chef challenge right there!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I wish I had handy the quote where Stipe tries making the claim that Radio Song was the FIRST case of a rock act asking a rapper to be on their album. Apparently Walk This Way doesn't count because that was RUN-DMC's idea and not Aerosmith's or something to that affect.

Whatever.

― may pang (maypang), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 19:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Fool forgot all about "Kool Thing" by Sonic Youth the year before, huh?

― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 20:33 (twenty-one years ago)

two years pass...

I just got done with an exciting hour synchronizing "Trout" for karaoke and I think Alex in NYC had it on the nose with first reply: Stipe's rap is pretty damn bad, but would you have expected anything else? It's probably to his credit that he didn't try to bust out the high-speed delivery from "It's The End of the World..." and instead went for an undisguisably wack old-skool slow-paced recital of the alphabet. KRS-One - can anyone seriously produce something great this guy has done? I'm genuinely curious, because all I know of him really is "Radio Song" (loveable only through nostalgia) and his team-up with Zach de la Rocha and the Last Emperor, "Criminals In Action," about which I've babbled sufficiently elsewhere.

"Trout" is also a generally better song, although only by a hair. "Radio Song" would have done decently to stay with its opening pretty part, but the digression into uptempo Blueshammer territory is embarassing and not aided at all by them going "Yo! Ho! Ho!" Horrible way to start the album, and probably the main thing keeping "Out of Time" out of the canon, "Shiny Happy People" included.

― Doctor Casino (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 16 February 2006 22:18 (nineteen years ago)

uh, the first couple BDP albums are pretty good.

― Shakey Mo Collier (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 16 February 2006 22:23 (nineteen years ago)

It's funny, my first exposure to Out Of Time was on a pirated Polish cassette that put Losing My Religion as the opener and Radio Song second.

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Thursday, 16 February 2006 22:26 (nineteen years ago)

Anthony was right. I did love the song a whole ton when I was 12. Then fell out of love with it, but got to like the rest of the album.

(Anyone remember the Kool Keith and Pras cameos on Getaway Cruiser's major label debut? Those were embarrasing to a level that should have them being brought out with baby pictures any time a girlfriend meets Pras or Keith's moms).

― js (honestengine), Thursday, 16 February 2006 22:27 (nineteen years ago)

CASINO PLZ TO TELL ME TROUT WILL BE READY FOR TONITE AND DO YOU WANT TO BE STIPE OR NENEH? I'M FINE WITH EITHER

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 16 February 2006 22:32 (nineteen years ago)

o and the first 3 bdp albums are untouchable, the fourth's just alright in my opinion though i know people who think it's untouchable too. and obv. 'self destruction' was awesome.

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 16 February 2006 22:35 (nineteen years ago)

The KRS-ONE part of "Radio Song" is the best part! I constantly find myself saying "What are you conveyin' day out and day in" when I'm at the grocery store or whatever. Certainly better than "The world is collapsing around my ears..." part which presages the overly literal frou-frou that was to bring R.E.M. down entirely around _Automatic for the People_. And "Shiny Happy People" is great, by the way.

― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 16 February 2006 22:50 (nineteen years ago)

I thought it was "who are you obeyin'."

Oh man, Getaway Cruiser. I remember them prancing around, smugness personified, on the U-M campus after they signed the Sony contract but before the album "came out"...

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Thursday, 16 February 2006 22:57 (nineteen years ago)

rem were more literal immediately before oot than immediately after

― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, 16 February 2006 23:02 (nineteen years ago)

Both are harmless. I haven't heard "Trout" since '93; I suspect that I'll find Neneh's part as charming as her talk-singing in "Buffalo Stance."

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Thursday, 16 February 2006 23:13 (nineteen years ago)

Ghetto Music is a great album

― Thomas Tallis (Tommy), Thursday, 16 February 2006 23:42 (nineteen years ago)

Cotton— Later, I lived with one of the guys (the bassist) from Getaway Cruiser. Before that, my first music assignment was to interview Six Clips, the band that Getaway became after their singer left.
The Peters brothers run 40 oz Studios, which is an alright joint, and the bassist went on to be in the Wildbunch/Electric 6 before getting his law degree.

― js (honestengine), Thursday, 16 February 2006 23:52 (nineteen years ago)

Was he the guy in pigtails?

― joseph cotten (joseph cotten), Friday, 17 February 2006 00:14 (nineteen years ago)

so the beatles, they're supposed to be all legendary. can anyone seriously produce something great those guys have done? i'm genuinely curious because all i know is that "ebony and ivory" song, with michael jackson (lovable only through nostalgia). could anyone help me out here?

― Sym Sym (sym), Friday, 17 February 2006 05:21 (nineteen years ago)

Sometimes maybe. He had a beard and wore a cowboy hat most of the time. I forget what his alias was. Joebot maybe? Something.

― js (honestengine), Friday, 17 February 2006 05:27 (nineteen years ago)

"Why don't we do it in the road?" asks an important philosophical question that most, if not all, great thinkers have neglected since the Enlightenment.

― Freud Junior (Freud Junior), Friday, 17 February 2006 05:32 (nineteen years ago)

KRS One had plent of great stuff! "You Must Learn", "Sound of the Police", lotsa stuff off the 1st 3 albums. Come on. The REM thing was a terrible move. But there were plenty of terrible moves being made thenabouts.

― veeal, Friday, 17 February 2006 06:11 (nineteen years ago)

ten years pass...

ROUND AND ROUND
THE BUREAUCRATS GO
THE LAWS ABOUT EDUCATION
JUST BLOW

― DOCTOR CAISNO, BYCREATIVELABBUS (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 5 October 2016 16:07 (eight years ago)

Josh in Chicago, Monday, December 1, 2003 4:25 PM (twelve years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Haha, man ....

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 5 October 2016 16:10 (eight years ago)

round and round

― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 5 October 2016 16:11 (eight years ago)

CASINO PLZ TO TELL ME TROUT WILL BE READY FOR TONITE AND DO YOU WANT TO BE STIPE OR NENEH? I'M FINE WITH EITHER
― j blount (papa la bas), Thursday, February 16, 2006 5:32 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

in case anyone is wondering about this my records show that we did not sing it until the following week. feb 16th i sang "hunger strike," "fell in love with a girl," and "the girl that i knew somewhere." feb 23 though was "i want to be there when you come," "ana ng," and "trout." i'm almost certain i was stipe. and then we went through the mcdonalds drive-thru and stayed up late playing carcassonne with emilys looking on. man those were good days.

― DOCTOR CAISNO, BYCREATIVELABBUS (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 5 October 2016 16:16 (eight years ago)

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