BERRY'S BACK . . . OR IS HE?

Back when I first became an R.E.M. fan (after taping a few albums from a friend, 1986's Lifes Rich Pageant sealed the deal for me), it was always Berry-Buck-Mills-Stipe, as they epitomized the "band first" ideology. I even remember Michael Stipe once saying that if any of the four leave the band, there WAS no R.E.M. However, after drummer Bill Berry left the band in 1997 (and I consequently stopped buying R.E.M albums), there was still a huge Warner Brothers contract to fulfill, so the remaining three members continued making (sub-par) albums without him.

When I first saw the BERRY TO REJOIN R.E.M. headlines today, I felt a little jolt of nostalgic excitement (which is as useful as a really strong static shock from a doorknob). Then I clicked on the link and realized they are only getting together to perform 3 songs at their Georgia Music Hall of Fame induction ceremony (are the Georgia Satellites in there yet?) on September 16. But it's still pretty cool.

Even though he's not an "official member", Berry has played with them a few times since 1997: once at a Atlanta show in 2003, again for a friend/roadie's wedding in October 2005, and again this past year at a Minus Five show (Buck's side project). The original four piece band defined "tight live band" back in the day, and this 2003 clip where Bill joins them on a cover of Aerosmith's "Permanent Vacation" gives you a little taste of that.

VIVA LA BERRYBUCKMILLSSTIPE!



R.E.M. - Permanent Vacation [YouTube]