R.E.M.’s career trajectory as it relates to their relationship with the BBC will be laid out in a new box set entitled, fittingly, R.E.M. at the BBC. The eight-CD, one-DVD collection is due out October 19th via Craft Recordings and features a number of rare and previously unreleased performances.
The material in the box set was culled from R.E.M.’s numerous appearances on BBC programs as well as live concert broadcasts. Included are an entire John Peel Session from 1998, a pair of 2003 appearances on Drivetime and Mark and Lard, and the band’s 2008 Radio 1 Live Lounge performance. As for live shows, there’s a 1984 performance at Nottingham’s Rock City, clips from the Milton Keynes stop on 1995’s Monster Tour (their first trek after a six-year road hiatus), and the band’s…
…iconic 1999 Glastonbury headlining set. There’s also audio of a 2004 invite-only gig at London’s St. James’ Church that featured a guest appearance by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke.
The DVD features a 60-minute retrospective of R.E.M.’s entire BBC career called Accelerating Backwards, a film previously only aired in the UK and never before available for purchase. There’s also the band’s complete Later… with Jools Holland episode from 1998 and appearances on shows like Top of the Pops.
In addition to the box set, two-CD and two-LP versions called The Best of R.E.M. at the BBC will also be available, offering a selection of both the BBC broadcasts and live performances. The full R.E.M. at the BBC collection will be available for streaming. All the configurations feature a version of “Losing My Religion” recorded during a 1991 appearance on BBC 1’s Into the Night.
Disc 1
Into the Night, BBC Radio 1 (March 13, 1991)
1. “World Leader Pretend”
2. “Fretless”
3. “Half A World Away”
4. “Radio Song”
5. “Losing My Religion”
6. “Love Is All Around”
John Peel session (Oct. 25, 1998)
7. “Walk Unafraid”
8. “Daysleeper”
9. “Lotus”
10. “At My Most Beautiful”
Mark and Lard, BBC Radio 1 (Oct. 15, 2003)
11. “Bad Day”
12. “Orange Crush”
Drivetime, BBC Radio 2 (Oct. 15, 2003)
13. “Man On The Moon”
14. “Imitation Of Life”
Radio 1 Live Lounge (March 16, 2008)
15. “Supernatural Superserious”
16. “Munich”
Disc 2
BBC Radio Theatre, Broadcasting House, London, England (Oct. 25, 1998)
1. Introduction
2. “Losing My Religion”
3. “New Test Leper”
4. “Lotus”
5. “Parakeet”
6. “Electrolite”
7. “Perfect Circle”
8. “The Apologist”
9. “Daysleeper”
10. “Country Feedback”
11. “At My Most Beautiful”
12. “Walk Unafraid”
13. “Man On The Moon”
Disc 3
Rock City, Nottingham, England (Nov. 21, 1984)
1. “Second Guessing”
2. “Hyena”
3. “Talk About The Passion”
4. “West Of The Fields”
5. “(Don’t Go Back To) Rockville”
6. “Auctioneer (Another Engine)”
7. “So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)”
8. “Old Man Kensey”
9. “Gardening At Night”
10. “9-9/Hey Diddle Diddle/Feeling Gravitys Pull”
11. “Windout”
12. “Driver 8”
13. “Pretty Persuasion”
14. “Radio Free Europe”
15. “Wendell Gee”
16. “Carnival Of Sorts (Boxcars)”
Disc 4
National Bowl, Milton Keynes, England (July 30, 1995)
1. “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?”
2. “Crush With Eyeliner”
3. “Drive”
4. “Turn You Inside Out”
5. “Try Not To Breathe”
6. “I Took Your Name”
7. “Undertow”
8. “Bang And Blame”
9. “I Don’t Sleep I Dream”
10. “Strange Currencies”
11. “Revolution”
12. “Tongue”
Disc 5
National Bowl, Milton Keynes, England (July 30, 1995)
1. “Man On The Moon”
2. “Country Feedback”
3. “Half A World Away”
4. “Losing My Religion”
5. “Pop Song 89”
6. “Finest Worksong”
7. “Get Up”
8. “Star 69”
9. “Let Me In”
10. “Everybody Hurts”
11. “Fall On Me”
12. “Departure”
13. “Its the End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
Disc 6
Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, England (June 25, 1999)
1. “Lotus”
2. “What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?”
3. “So Fast, So Numb”
4. “The Apologist”
5. “Fall On Me”
6. “Daysleeper”
7. “The Wake-Up Bomb”
8. “The One I Love”
9. “Sweetness Follows”
10. “At My Most Beautiful”
Disc 7
Glastonbury Festival, Pilton, England (June 25, 1999)
1. “Losing My Religion”
2. “Everybody Hurts”
3. “Walk Unafraid”
4. “Star 69”
5. “Finest Worksong”
6. “Man On The Moon”
7. “Why Not Smile”
8. “Crush With Eyeliner”
9. “Tongue”
10. “Cuyahoga”
11. “Its the End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”
Disc 8
St. James’s Church, London, England (Sept. 15, 2004)
1. Intro
2. “So Fast, So Numb”
3. “Boy In The Well”
4. “I Wanted To Be Wrong”
5. “E-Bow The Letter” (with Thom Yorke)
6. “Around The Sun”
7. “Aftermath”
8. “Losing My Religion”
9. “Walk Unafraid”
10. “Leaving New York”
11. “Imitation Of Life”
12. “Man On The Moon”