in 1983…times they were a-changin’

in 1983 a record was released that would change the music landscape forever. a quick look at the billboard hot 100 for that year and you’ll find a lot of familiar tunes:

maneater – hall & oates
hungry like the wolf – duran duran
tell her about it – billy joel
china girl – david bowie
i’m still standing – elton john
it’s a mistake – men at work
photograph – def leppard
little red corvette – prince

there are some pretty big names in there…billy joel, elton john…but from a pop music standpoint 1983 was the year of michael jackson’s thriller. the billboard hot 100 features no less than 5 singles from that album. beat it, billie jean, human nature, the girl is mine (with sir paul mccartney), and wanna be startin’ somethin’ are all in there. i’m not going to argue that this record isn’t great. it’s a classic without a doubt. even as a lover of punk / alternative / indie rock can admit that. and yes, i do own the record. what i am going to talk about is the record that rolling stone magazine picked as album of the year in 1983…

in 1983 a little band of college kids from the university of georgia named r.e.m released their debut album, murmur. listening to it today (the 25th anniversary edition is out) its hard to imagine just how different it was. until you put it in context with all of the music i talked about above, you just don’t get it’s importance. in a world of overproduced, corporate pop, this record sounded completely out of place in 1983. and yet it fits in perfectly well with any playlist of current indie rock. ahead of its time? yes…but it is also the record that started a revolution in the music industry.

its obvious that this record was going to get little play on the radio in 1983…it was just so different from the pop music at the time. jangley guitar riffs, almost indecipherable lyrics…and where were the guitar and saxophone solos so prominent in the music of the time? but college radio stations began to play it…and the band toured relentlessly…and more college radio stations played it…

many critics credit r.e.m. and their contemporaries with creating the driving force behind alternative rock radio, and i’m not going to argue otherwise. what is now a staple of major markets all over the country (and the world) started out as college radio…playing r.e.m.’s murmur for one.

the album itself is a pure indie pop masterpiece. every single song on the record is great, a rarity for any band. here we find a more subdued r.e.m. than pop music became accustomed to after the band signed with warner brothers in 1988. that r.e.m., while still good in my opinion, was a different animal than the one on this first record. i have many friends that for one reason or another don’t like r.e.m., but they’ll listen to murmur.

rolling stone were on to something in 1983. i don’t know if they had the foresight to know that the music landscape was changing (by the early 90′s everything had changed…thanks largely to r.e.m. and a little band from seattle, washington named nirvana), or if they just loved the record…but to award it album of the year over what is quite possibly the greatest pop album ever made…that’s saying something. if you don’t own it, you should.

pick up the cd here:
Murmur [Deluxe Edition]

or if you’d prefer the digital download:
Murmur – Deluxe Edition

here is r.e.m.’s first ever live tv appearance…enjoy!

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