Chronic Town
Encyclopedia
Chronic Town is the debut EP
by the American alternative rock
band R.E.M.
, released in 1982 on I.R.S. Records
. Chronic Town is the first illustration of R.E.M.'s signature musical style: jangling guitars, chords played in arpeggio
, murmured vocals, and obscure lyrics.
" in 1981, R.E.M. manager Jefferson Holt
felt the band was ready to record a longer release. While he felt they were not ready to record a full album, Holt figured an EP would be satisfactory. The band was uncertain at first if they would record with producer Mitch Easter
(who had produced "Radio Free Europe"), but Easter managed to convince Holt and the band to let him produce it.
In October 1981, R.E.M. spent a weekend at Easter's Drive-In Studios recording the EP. Easter was a fan of the Krautrock
band Kraftwerk
, which inspired him to try various sonic experiments while recording. Easter incorporated tape loops and recorded singer Michael Stipe
singing outdoors. The band was open to such experimentation and used the sessions as an opportunity to learn how to use a studio.
R.E.M. intended to release the EP on a proposed independent record label
named Dasht Hopes run by Holt and his business partner David Healy. However, the band's demo had caught the attention of I.R.S. Records
. The label signed the group to a record deal, working the band out of its contracts with Healy and Hib-Tone
, the indie label which released "Radio Free Europe". I.R.S. heads Jay Boberg and Miles Copeland felt the proposed track listing was weakened by the song "Ages of You", and felt "Wolves, Lower" was a better choice. However, the pair felt the original take of the song was too fast. The band re-recorded "Wolves, Lower" with Easter in June 1982 in a quick recording session.
didn't know what to make of the record, but added, "The Georgia stations and some of the more together college stations across the country jumped on it." The band filmed its first music video
for "Wolves, Lower" to promote the record. The EP sold 20,000 copies in its first year.
NME
reviewer Richard Grabel wrote, "Chronic Town is five songs that spring to life full of immediacy and action and healthy impatience. Songs that won't be denied." Grabel praised the songs' auras of mystery, and concluded, "R.E.M. ring true, and it's great to hear something as unforced and cunning as this." Creem
writer Robot A. Hull began his review saying, "This EP is so arcane that I had to play it six times in a row to get a handle on it – and even now, I'm still not sure." Hull praised the EP for "[evoking] the music of the late-'60s without any pretensions, mingling past and present to shape both into concurrent moments." Hull concluded, "Despite its eccentricity, R.E.M.'s record is undoubtedly the sleeper EP of the year."
Chronic Town ranked second in the EP category of the Village Voice Pazz & Jop
critics' poll in 1982.
For Record Store Day 2010, held on April 17 of that year, participating independent record stores sold a limited edition and individually numbered blue vinyl 12" reissue of the long out of print EP.
, Peter Buck
, Mike Mills
and Michael Stipe
.
Side one – "Chronic Town"
Side two – "Poster Torn"
Track listing notes:
Production
(1987), its only current source of availability on CD. It is, however, available in LP
and cassette formats. It was also bundled together with Murmur
and Reckoning
in the United Kingdom as The Originals in 1995.
Chronic Town
Dead Letter Office
†I.R.S. Vintage Years edition, with bonus tracks
The Originals
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
by the American alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
, released in 1982 on I.R.S. Records
I.R.S. Records
I.R.S. Records was a record label, started in the United States in 1979 by Miles Copeland III along with Jay Boberg and Carl Grasso. Miles was also the manager of Wishbone Ash, The Police, and later, Sting, as well as other bands. I.R.S. was the sister label of Copeland's Illegal Records .I.R.S...
. Chronic Town is the first illustration of R.E.M.'s signature musical style: jangling guitars, chords played in arpeggio
Arpeggio
An arpeggio is a musical technique where notes in a chord are played or sung in sequence, one after the other, rather than ringing out simultaneously...
, murmured vocals, and obscure lyrics.
Background and recording
After the minor success of the group's debut single "Radio Free EuropeRadio Free Europe (song)
"Radio Free Europe" is a song by American alternative rock band R.E.M. "Radio Free Europe" was released as R.E.M.'s debut single on the short-lived independent record label Hib-Tone in 1981...
" in 1981, R.E.M. manager Jefferson Holt
Jefferson Holt
Jefferson Holt is the founder of and former manager of rock band R.E.M., often referred to as the band's "fifth member," from 1981-1996.In 1996, Holt and R.E.M. parted ways. When asked about leaving the band he offered this statement to Chuck Philips, L.A.Times Staff Writer:"I've agreed to keep...
felt the band was ready to record a longer release. While he felt they were not ready to record a full album, Holt figured an EP would be satisfactory. The band was uncertain at first if they would record with producer Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter
Mitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...
(who had produced "Radio Free Europe"), but Easter managed to convince Holt and the band to let him produce it.
In October 1981, R.E.M. spent a weekend at Easter's Drive-In Studios recording the EP. Easter was a fan of the Krautrock
Krautrock
Krautrock is a generic name for the experimental music scenes that appeared in Germany in the late 1960s and gained popularity throughout the 1970s, especially in Britain. The term is a result of the English-speaking world's reception of the music at the time and not a reference to any one...
band Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
, which inspired him to try various sonic experiments while recording. Easter incorporated tape loops and recorded singer Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
singing outdoors. The band was open to such experimentation and used the sessions as an opportunity to learn how to use a studio.
R.E.M. intended to release the EP on a proposed independent record label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
named Dasht Hopes run by Holt and his business partner David Healy. However, the band's demo had caught the attention of I.R.S. Records
I.R.S. Records
I.R.S. Records was a record label, started in the United States in 1979 by Miles Copeland III along with Jay Boberg and Carl Grasso. Miles was also the manager of Wishbone Ash, The Police, and later, Sting, as well as other bands. I.R.S. was the sister label of Copeland's Illegal Records .I.R.S...
. The label signed the group to a record deal, working the band out of its contracts with Healy and Hib-Tone
Hib-Tone
Hib-Tone is an American recording label, based in Atlanta, Georgia, founded by Jonny Hibbert, a law student at Woodrow Wilson College of Law, in 1981. The label has released eight records, including two full-length albums by the bands Design and RF and the Radar Angels...
, the indie label which released "Radio Free Europe". I.R.S. heads Jay Boberg and Miles Copeland felt the proposed track listing was weakened by the song "Ages of You", and felt "Wolves, Lower" was a better choice. However, the pair felt the original take of the song was too fast. The band re-recorded "Wolves, Lower" with Easter in June 1982 in a quick recording session.
Reception
I.R.S. released Chronic Town in August 1982 as its first American release. Reaction to the EP varied; one I.R.S. radio promoter said that many of his contacts at campus radioCampus radio
Campus radio is a type of radio station that is run by the students of a college, university or other educational institution. Programming may be exclusively by students, or may include programmers from the wider community in which the radio station is based...
didn't know what to make of the record, but added, "The Georgia stations and some of the more together college stations across the country jumped on it." The band filmed its first music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for "Wolves, Lower" to promote the record. The EP sold 20,000 copies in its first year.
NME
NME
The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...
reviewer Richard Grabel wrote, "Chronic Town is five songs that spring to life full of immediacy and action and healthy impatience. Songs that won't be denied." Grabel praised the songs' auras of mystery, and concluded, "R.E.M. ring true, and it's great to hear something as unforced and cunning as this." Creem
Creem
Creem , "America's Only Rock 'n' Roll Magazine," was a monthly rock 'n' roll publication first published in March 1969 by Barry Kramer and founding editor Tony Reay. It suspended production in 1989 but received a short-lived renaissance in the early 1990s as a glossy tabloid...
writer Robot A. Hull began his review saying, "This EP is so arcane that I had to play it six times in a row to get a handle on it – and even now, I'm still not sure." Hull praised the EP for "[evoking] the music of the late-'60s without any pretensions, mingling past and present to shape both into concurrent moments." Hull concluded, "Despite its eccentricity, R.E.M.'s record is undoubtedly the sleeper EP of the year."
Chronic Town ranked second in the EP category of the Village Voice Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
critics' poll in 1982.
For Record Store Day 2010, held on April 17 of that year, participating independent record stores sold a limited edition and individually numbered blue vinyl 12" reissue of the long out of print EP.
Track listing
All songs written by Bill BerryBill Berry
William "Bill" Thomas Berry is a retired American musician, multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. In addition to his drumming duties, Berry played many other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M....
, Peter Buck
Peter Buck
Peter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....
, Mike Mills
Mike Mills
Michael Edward "Mike" Mills is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments...
and Michael Stipe
Michael Stipe
John Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
.
Side one – "Chronic Town"
- "Wolves, Lower" – 4:10
- "Gardening at NightGardening at Night"Gardening at Night" is a song by R.E.M. It was recorded in 1982 for the band's EP Chronic Town.The song is said to have been written on a mattress in the front yard of the Oconee Street church in Athens, Georgia...
" – 3:29 - "Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)" – 3:54
Side two – "Poster Torn"
- "1,000,000" – 3:06
- "Stumble" – 5:40
Track listing notes:
- On the original vinyl release, R.E.M. labeled the A (or first) side (tracks 1–3) as the "Chronic Town" side and the B (or second) side (tracks 4 and 5) as the "Poster Torn" side. Both are lyrics in the band's song "Carnival of Sorts (Box Cars)".
Personnel
R.E.M.- Bill BerryBill BerryWilliam "Bill" Thomas Berry is a retired American musician, multi-instrumentalist, best known as the drummer for the alternative rock band R.E.M. In addition to his drumming duties, Berry played many other instruments including guitar, bass guitar, and piano, both for songwriting and on R.E.M....
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, vocals - Peter BuckPeter BuckPeter Lawrence Buck , is an American rock guitarist who is best known for playing in and co-founding alternative rock band R.E.M....
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Mike MillsMike MillsMichael Edward "Mike" Mills is an American multi-instrumentalist and composer who was a founding member of the alternative rock group R.E.M.. Though known primarily as a bass guitarist, backing vocalist, and pianist, his musical repertoire includes also keyboards, guitar, and percussion instruments...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals - Michael StipeMichael StipeJohn Michael Stipe is an American singer and lyricist. He was the lead vocalist of the alternative rock band R.E.M.Stipe is noted and occasionally parodied for the "mumbling" style of his early career as well as his social and political activism. He was in charge of R.E.M.'s visual image; often...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
Production
- Greg Calbi – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
at Sterling Sound, New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, United States - Mitch EasterMitch EasterMitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...
– production - Kako .n. – graphics
- Curtis Knapp – cover photography
- R. A. Miller – artwork
- R.E.M. – production
- Ron Scarselli – design
Release history
The EP was added to the CD edition of the band's rarities compilation album, Dead Letter OfficeDead Letter Office (album)
Dead Letter Office is a rarities and B-sides collection by R.E.M., released in 1987. The album is essentially a collection of many additional recordings R.E.M. made pre-Murmur to Lifes Rich Pageant that were outtakes or released as flip sides to their singles internationally...
(1987), its only current source of availability on CD. It is, however, available in LP
LP album
The LP, or long-playing microgroove record, is a format for phonograph records, an analog sound storage medium. Introduced by Columbia Records in 1948, it was soon adopted as a new standard by the entire record industry...
and cassette formats. It was also bundled together with Murmur
Murmur (album)
Murmur is the debut album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1983 on I.R.S. Records. Murmur drew critical acclaim upon its release for its sound, defined by singer Michael Stipe's cryptic lyrics, guitarist Peter Buck's jangly guitar style, and bassist Mike Mills' melodic...
and Reckoning
Reckoning (R.E.M. album)
Reckoning is the second album by the American alternative rock band R.E.M., released in 1984 by I.R.S. Records. Produced by Mitch Easter and Don Dixon, the album was recorded at Reflection Sound Studio in Charlotte, North Carolina over 16 days in December 1983 and January 1984...
in the United Kingdom as The Originals in 1995.
Chronic Town
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | I.R.S. I.R.S. Records I.R.S. Records was a record label, started in the United States in 1979 by Miles Copeland III along with Jay Boberg and Carl Grasso. Miles was also the manager of Wishbone Ash, The Police, and later, Sting, as well as other bands. I.R.S. was the sister label of Copeland's Illegal Records .I.R.S... |
EP Gramophone record A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove... |
44797-0502-1 | |
| Cassette tape | SP-70502 | |||
| Greece | Illegal Illegal Records Illegal Records is a record label founded by Miles Copeland III with his younger brother Stewart Copeland and the manager of The Police, Paul Mulligan in 1977. The label released The Police's debut single, Fall Out.... |
EP | ILP 26097 | |
| Worldwide | A&M A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group that operates under the mantle of its Interscope-Geffen-A&M division.-Beginnings:... |
LP | 70502 | |
| Worldwide | I.R.S. | EP | 44797-0502-4 | |
Dead Letter Office
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | I.R.S. | LP | 44797-0054-1 | |
| CD | 44797-0054-2 | |||
| United States | I.R.S. | CD | 70054 | |
| Worldwide | A&M | CD | 70054 | |
| Worldwide | I.R.S. | Cassette | 44797-0054-4 | |
| The Netherlands | EMI EMI The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major... |
CD | 0777 7 13199 2 1† | |
| Worldwide | A&M | CD | 195 | |
†I.R.S. Vintage Years edition, with bonus tracks
The Originals
| Region | Date | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | I.R.S./EMI EMI The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major... |
CD box set | 7243 8 35088 2 2 | |
External links
- R.E.M.HQ on Chronic Town (I.R.S. Vintage Years edition) (I.R.S. Vintage Years edition)