I'm POLLshin' an Elephant Up The Stairs: REM's Non-Album Singles, Rarities, B-Sides, Etc.

Stuff they've only covered in concert etc excluded, cause, I mean, that would be just hundreds of things. Covers put to record ("Draggin' the Line," "Dark Globe," "See No Evil") are fair game and they're all pretty good, really.

i've always been of the opinion that R.E.M. do other people's songs pretty badly

i heard a live version of dark globe which was ridiculously bad

They have their moments, though - I mean, "Superman" sounds pretty great.

Hrm, searching YouTube for Draggin' the Line started turning up a few other weirdo recordings I didn't know. Sorry y'all.

i've always been of the opinion that R.E.M. do other people's songs pretty badly

Their covers of Moon River and The Lion Sleeps Tonight are sloppy but charming. And their covers of I Walked With A Zombie and Wall Of Death are as catchy as a lot of their own mid-career stuff.

Still, I'll probably vote for All The Right Friends. Maybe Fretless.

They cover Strange real well on Document.

Yeah, they do. It's raw and rollicking.

All The Right Friends

And First We Take Manhattan is better than the original (because they don't make as many bizarro production choices as Cohen).

I voted "All The Right Friends", love the version on the best-of but man we had this pre-Murmur bootleg in h/s with this song and it was FIERCE, would love to hear that one again (was called So Much Younger Then).

After that I'd rep for "It's a Free World, Baby" and "Wichita Lineman". They're not consistently great with covers ("Moon River" isn't great, "Dark Globe" isn't my thing) but this "Wichita Lineman" is a devastating Stipe vocal on the chorus in particular, the last chorus in particular particular, the way his voice trails off at the end is like pure lament.

I voted "All The Right Friends", love the version on the best-of but man we had this pre-Murmur bootleg in h/s with this song and it was FIERCE, would love to hear that one again (was called So Much Younger Then).

YEAH, I have that too, somewhere. What a great tape. At the time I thought it was better than Murmur. Now I can't recall much about it.

yeah it's like another band, but great songs, "Permanent Vacation" (not the Aerosmith song), "I Wanna Be the Narrator for the Jacques Cousteau Show",...

Yeah, I love those recordings from before they were anything at all, just really fun party band, tight, good covers, goofy Nuggets stuff really. "Jacques Cousteau Show" is super fun, "Permanent Vacation," "That Beat" etc....

My copy of So Much Younger Then doesn't list "All The Right Friends" but it might be under a different name, will have to listen and see...

Now I'm dying to locate those old cassette tapes. Can't find them anywhere, of course.

They remind me of being young.

The "Arms of Love" cover is very beautiful and gets my vote.

Also missing from the list:
Ghost Riders
Memphis Train Blues (instrumental)
Funtime
Love Is All Around
(All I Have to Do Is) Dream
The Passenger (live)
Surfing the Ganges (instrumental)
Mystery to Me
Toyland

"Narrator" was released as the (Stipe-less) b-side of a Hindu Love Gods 7" (a-side: We're Gonna Have a Good Time Tonight) 4 years before the H.L.G. album came out.

Random trivia: "Winged Mammal Theme" was originally written as an unused Batman movie theme.

i've always been of the opinion that R.E.M. do other people's songs pretty badly

I've always been of the opinion that R.E.M.'s instrumentals are pretty dull.

oops it could have been on another boot besides that one; also loved "Scheherazade"

I voted Chance but I can't find my cd single with it right now. That's the one where Stipe just talks right?

i know "Romance" from Eponymous and from a mixtape someone made me of the '80s stuff, but i don't have all the albums from that era, so i had no idea it was non-LP, always thought of it as one of my favorite early REM songs.

also "The Great Beyond" is balls, and i say that as someone who likes lots of their mid/late 90s stuff.

I would have sworn I used to have a fan club thing that had them covering Flipper, but I can't find it.

2JN is a great instrumental - stands for "to Jack Nitzche" I think. Good for a breathing space on a compilation. Doesn't really sound like REM.

Manhattan also v good. Good acting job by Stipe - the scattergun megalomaniac vibe suits him.

Absolutely love "The Great Beyond", which is one of their best songs ever.

They did do "Sex Bomb":

Sex Bomb/Christmas In Tunisia

Still going with "Arms Of Love" though. I have a little bit of a thing for Hitchcock.

"The Great Beyond" was the first I ever remember downloading.

My true favorite here is "Last Date," but I'm going to give it to "Romance" for being an original. Also because I once heard a klezmer band at a wedding do a version of "Last Date" that was even better than REM's version, or the original. Actually it was a pretty famous klezmer band but I've now forgotten the name.

"Bad Day" also a very worthwhile choice -- always feels a bit half-finished to me but the chorus is one of the great REM choruses of the era.

Lots of good covers here: "Dream," "Love Is All Around," "See No Evil," and especially "Ghost Rider" are all highly worthwhile -- the last features one of Stipe's greatest bleats.

"The Great Beyond," however, is stinXor.

I think "The Great Beyond" is pretty, but can understand why - like "Bad Day" it feels like a retread of earlier highs. I think TGB works, independently of "Man on the Moon," because it feels like an honest product of their Up-period concerns - this guy probing the stars for "Answers from the great... answer!" could probably have a good conversation with the people from "Hope" and "Daysleeper."

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

So, "It's A Free World, Baby" is nice (though too long), and "Bad Day" and "Romance" are fun, and I've elaborated above what I like about "Great Beyond." I dunno. I think I'll vote for "See No Evil," which isn't really better than any of those, but IS well-done, and also I discovered it much more recently so it has more novelty for me.

No 'Out In The Country" = No credibility. JUST KIDDIN, I don't care much for REM and they just go through the motions on this, but I LOVE the original 'Out In The Country' by Three Dog Night. In fact, I'm voting for 'Fretless' which Kate Pierson SHREDS!

I thought I'd be the only one voting for Fretless. Kate Pierson makes that song and should sing on every REM song.

"Don't talk to me..."

Full disclosure... "Leave" is my favorite REM song so couldn't help but vote for the alternate version here... :(

Kate Pierson makes that song and should sing on every REM song.

^^^^
TRUTH INCOMING

Still stand by my conviction that Fred Schneider should have replaced all REM guest vocalists.

Still stand by my conviction that Fred Schneider should have replaced all REM guest lead vocalists.

OK, not really, it's just funny to imagine. Esp. for "Belong" for some reason. "THOSE CREATURES JUMPED THE BARRICADES!"

gotta love a name like "Wall of Death" either way.)

that's a richard thompson song.

"I'MMM pushing an ELephANT UP the STAIRZZZ"

(xpost)

i voted for "first we take manhattan" but their version of "academy fight song" is wow.

Their cover of "I Walked With A zombie" got me into Roky! Thanks, REM.

True for me with "IWWaZ" replaced by "Femme Fatale" and Roky with VU.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Wow, I really missed the mark on this one - expected more IaFW,B love. Nice spread though.

Still soldiering on: It's The End Of These POLLs As We've Known Them: REM's "Document"