News day that R.E.M. is calling it a day after three decades caught me by surprise today as I was up very late last night ripping my entire R.E.M. CD library (I got a bigger iPod recently) and was sort of thinking to myself, besides "Murmur" and "Reckoning," do I really want to listen to any of this? That's undoubtedly unfair given my long history with the band, who my brother Bill introduced me to when he was a student at the University of Arizona right when "Murmur" came out (the "Chronic Town" EP was quickly added to our heavy-rotation list). I remember my 10th grade biology teacher, Joy Shrode, being impressed that I'd seen them live a handful of times before they "made it" as she knew the guys back in Athens, where her daughter Kelly had befriended them way back when. "Lifes Rich Pageant" has always been a fave of mine, too -- I even interviewed Michael Stipe after a concert in Mesa, Arizona, for my college newspaper -- and I was one of the rare people who liked "Up" when it came out, and thought "Reveal" had its moments even if looking back it was all pretty much downhill after "Automatic for the People" (what an incredible album). But now that the end is official, one thing is abundantly clear. Michael Stipe, the Internet and too much time on his hands is a recipe for disaster. I call a "reunion" within two years, perhaps with Bill Berry back in the fold to legitimize it.
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