REM Broke Up!!!

[electrofaro]

Not mine but it belongs to a mutual friend. He loaned me that bass for an REM tribute show so my sound could be more authentic

Well, not just the sound, but also the looks as Mike once had a Jetglo as well!

[kt66]

Hello, does anyone know what happended to Peter's 340/6 MG used in UK and Germany in 85?

I don't believe it has been used since and seems to have vanished from his guitar arsenal.
Could it possibly have been loaned to him for the European tour?

thanks

[Sweden]

Hello, does anyone know what happended to Peter's 340/6 MG used in UK and Germany in 85?
I don't believe it has been used since and seems to have vanished from his guitar arsenal.
Could it possibly have been loaned to him for the European tour?
thanks

Interesting query! You are right that there are no obvious sightings of it after the October 1985 footage (from what I know at least). Peter also does not use the regular 360/6 JG in any of the filmed German shows, but only the 340/6 and a 360/12 JG. But why would he not bring that guitar over at all? Or did he? It's not obvious what he uses for Gravity at the two German shows, is it the 360/6 JG or a 330/6 in Burgndyglo or something?
Same thing for Gravity in Beligum in July the same year: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXXPDcvizUs

And if he did bring it over, why use the 340 instead?

Maybe there was an issue with it when they were heading over, and so it was replaced for that your alone. But what is he then using for Gravity?

However, the 360/6 JG was absent quite a bit in 1985. In the Raleigh show from May 1985 he generally relies on the Tele Custom, a Thinline Tele and the 360/12 JG, but I don't think he uses the 360/6 JG at all.

So, not really an answer there...anyone with other input?

[electrofaro]

Oi, if David doesn't know, who might? Didn't Peter also use a 350 at some German shows that isn't his?

[Folkie]

Keep in mind that Peter only uses his Jetglo 360/12 for one song in the entire 1985 German Rockpalast show ("So. Central Rain"). And, in the Raleigh footage, from May 1985, he uses the 360/12 on only three songs ("Talk About the Passion," "So. Central Rain," and "Good Advices"). You're right that he doesn't use the ubiquitous Jetglo 360 6-string on any of the German shows (at least the ones I've seen) from that period. It looks to me like Peter is indeed playing a Burgundyglo 330/6 for "Feeling Gravity's Pull" on the 1985 German Rockpalast concert.

That show is the only one I've seen in which Peter plays practically the whole show with that Mapleglo 340/6 (often in conjunction with a chorus pedal). What became of the guitar after the German Rockpalast show is anyone's guess.

[kt66]

I saw them on that tour at Hammersmith Palais, I was at the front and am sure Feeling Gravity
was a 330/12 - then onto the 340MG for the rest of the set.
It's still my favourite ever guitar sound, I bought one about 3 years later and still have it.
Been looking for a matching 340/12 MG for ages.

My guess is that it was lent to PB for the tour by a European distributor.
I'd like to think mine is Peters! Bought mine in Denmark St, London.
Wishful thinking!

I can't see it being used elsewhere in 85

[kt66]

I remember now this guitar being used on C4s The Tube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSe1dQBOuu4

[electrofaro]

Thanks for posting, Tim! I Never saw that video before!

[chronictown]

Thanks for posting, Tim! I Never saw that video before!

+1....never seen that one either. Thanks!

I initially thought that Mills must have had a cold or something, but it seems the mics were very much favoring Berry's backup vocals

[indianation65]

"Can't Get There From Here," my least favorite song from my favorite song from my favorite band of all-time! I never thought KISS would ever be dethroned, but I heart Murmur and Reckoning, and it was all over. What I did not know was that Fables of the Reconstruction/Reconstruction of the Fables was a year away! Even though I had seen Rickenbackers before, I was a Les Paul nut, and well deserved. Ace, Jimmy, Mick R. all taught me to love the king of the hill, but Peter and REM showed me another valley! Wahi'

Addendum: Regarding the breakup, I considered a few events in the REM life that felt like a breakup, such as BBerry leaving, 360/330 turned in for a Les Paul, from IRS to Warner Bros., Monster, Out of Time, etc., but all in all, the greatest pain for me had to be from the time/movement from Document to Green. REM felt different then. Luckily, I learned to love much of the post IRS period! The break up still lingers...

...wisdom

[electrofaro]

When WTBerry left if felt like losing a beloved family member!

I once wrote on a forum that Green was a necessary evil on the road from Document to Out of Time. I was like virtually stoned to death by the fundamentalist fans! When the band called it a day they had a nice triple 5er (5 IRS albums, 5 Warner-WithBerry, 5 Warner-PostBerry) and I was not that sad. JMStipe's voice had gotten quite bad (let the stoning begin!).

[indianation65]

Edit previous..."least favorite song from favorite album," and "heard," not heart.

...wisdom

[fireglo330]

I remember those early albums, and the Gardening at Night EP!!, with great fondness and saw the band when they were still playing the college circuit in Canada. Great shows!

I loved the band before I loved my Rickies.

[Folkie]

Edit previous..."least favorite song from favorite album," and "heard," not heart.

...wisdom

"Fables" is my favorite R.E.M. record, too. The haunting melodies, impressionistic lyrics, and retro-Byrds 12-string sound make it a classic. I think it's an even better folk rock record than "Murmur," although I have a great fondness for the latter.

"Fables" also holds a tie for my favorite indie-rock record of all time (Husker Du's "Flip Your Wig" came out the same year and was just as powerful and influential). I've listened to both records literally hundreds of times. It's too bad that R.E.M.'s creative powers seemed to take a precipitous dip after "Lifes Rich Pageant" (1986), although I think two post "Pageant" records deserve recognition: "Out of Time" and "Automatic for the People."

As always, when we come to discuss favorite records, subjectivity undercuts hyperbolic praise. But, if, as Peter Buck once stated, his goal for the band would be to make "one really great record," I think R.E.M. clearly fulfilled that promise.

[electrofaro]

Fables is my most favourite as well, but the band never seemed to like it that much due to the circumstances of recording it in the UK.

I hardly ever still listen to AutomaticftP! The album that is my least favourite is Green if I have to go by album as a whole.