REM are the most influential, prolific and vital American group of the last quarter century. From their humble post-punk beginnings in the college town of Athens, Georgia to their current standing as a global phenomenon, REM have consistently bucked audience expectations and defied music biz rules.
This new edition of Tony Fletcher's acclaimed biography brings the band's story right up to date, covering the departure of drummer Bill Berry, Michael Stipe's increasing role as a spokesman for humane causes, Peter Buck's 'air-rage' trial and the group's music right up to their 2001 Reveal album.
Remarks Remade; The Story of R.E.M.
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More About the Author
Tony Fletcher has been writing about music since 1977 when, at the age of 13, he started a 6-page fanzine, Jamming, at school in London. Jamming grew to become a major music monthly, landing exclusive interviews with Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend and U2 and helping to introduce the likes of Scritti Politti, Aztec Camera and the Homosexuals to a wider audience (or not). The success of Jamming also propelled Fletcher into the world of freelance journalism and television work before the magazine folded in 1986 (having optimistically attempted to expand in the middle of a deep recession) and Fletcher discovered the joy of writing books.
Falling in love at first sight with New York, Fletcher moved across the Atlantic in 1988, living in various roach-infested apartments on the East Side of Manhattan while contributing regularly to New York Newsday, New York Press, Spin, and Details - back when print media was still considered cutting edge - and bringing his love of music into a stint as resident DJ for Communion, an acclaimed weekly alternative music night at the Limelight club. He continued freelancing as a television journalist and producer, mainly for the cult classic Rapido and its various offspring, and found himself with an expense account for the first (and last) time in his life when hired as a major record company A&R consultant during the music industry's lucrative swan song period of the mid-nineties.
But his main love has always been the written word. He has contributed to countless magazines and newspapers on several continents, some of which even paid him on time, and is the author of several books. These include the best-selling biography on Keith Moon ("Dear Boy" in the UK, just "Moon" in the States), the first ever biography of R.E.M. (updated and expanded into something of a director's cut, as "Remarks Remade"), a song-by-song chronology of The Clash, a biography of the highly influential Liverpool band Echo and The Bunnymen, plus a novel of New York nightlife, "Hedonism," which would come with a Parental Advisory sticker except that, thankfully, publishers don't believe in such things.
In 2005, Fletcher left the funk and soul of brownstone Brooklyn, where he'd been living since 1996, for the relative peace and quiet of New York State's beautiful Catskills. There, tucked into a mountainside between Woodstock and Phoenicia, he resides with his wife, two sons, Rickenbacker, Hammond B-3, cat, and various wildlife. Ironically for such a bucolic existence, his most recently published book is entitled "All Hopped Up and Ready To Go: Music from the Streets of New York 1927-77," which was published by W. W. Norton in October 2009 to a significantly positive reception.
Since the year 2000, Fletcher has been posting regularly at his web site, www.ijamming.net, where he muses upon his love of running, skiing, writing, wine, women - and, of course, song. More recently, he has shown up on http://twitter.com/TonyFletcher. In the year 2010, he completed a memoir of his schooldays, entitled Boy About Town, and began work on a major biography of The Smiths, for publication by William Heinemann (UK) and Crown (USA) in 2012.
Falling in love at first sight with New York, Fletcher moved across the Atlantic in 1988, living in various roach-infested apartments on the East Side of Manhattan while contributing regularly to New York Newsday, New York Press, Spin, and Details - back when print media was still considered cutting edge - and bringing his love of music into a stint as resident DJ for Communion, an acclaimed weekly alternative music night at the Limelight club. He continued freelancing as a television journalist and producer, mainly for the cult classic Rapido and its various offspring, and found himself with an expense account for the first (and last) time in his life when hired as a major record company A&R consultant during the music industry's lucrative swan song period of the mid-nineties.
But his main love has always been the written word. He has contributed to countless magazines and newspapers on several continents, some of which even paid him on time, and is the author of several books. These include the best-selling biography on Keith Moon ("Dear Boy" in the UK, just "Moon" in the States), the first ever biography of R.E.M. (updated and expanded into something of a director's cut, as "Remarks Remade"), a song-by-song chronology of The Clash, a biography of the highly influential Liverpool band Echo and The Bunnymen, plus a novel of New York nightlife, "Hedonism," which would come with a Parental Advisory sticker except that, thankfully, publishers don't believe in such things.
In 2005, Fletcher left the funk and soul of brownstone Brooklyn, where he'd been living since 1996, for the relative peace and quiet of New York State's beautiful Catskills. There, tucked into a mountainside between Woodstock and Phoenicia, he resides with his wife, two sons, Rickenbacker, Hammond B-3, cat, and various wildlife. Ironically for such a bucolic existence, his most recently published book is entitled "All Hopped Up and Ready To Go: Music from the Streets of New York 1927-77," which was published by W. W. Norton in October 2009 to a significantly positive reception.
Since the year 2000, Fletcher has been posting regularly at his web site, www.ijamming.net, where he muses upon his love of running, skiing, writing, wine, women - and, of course, song. More recently, he has shown up on http://twitter.com/TonyFletcher. In the year 2010, he completed a memoir of his schooldays, entitled Boy About Town, and began work on a major biography of The Smiths, for publication by William Heinemann (UK) and Crown (USA) in 2012.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Just like what a band biography should be...,
By
This review is from: R.E.M.: Remarks (Paperback)
I've only recently become a fan of REM and I picked up this book to read about the band's origins and early history. Fletcher did a great job with describing the early music scene in Georgia and detailing the birth of REM. He never asked you to learn too many details and tidbits about the comprehensive world of music and never went too deep into the motivations of the songwriting. But the band does give input here and there and the rise and success of the band is very well-documented. I'd like to read Fletcher's take on the 2nd decade of REM. He did that good of a job in this book.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
FANTASTIC!,
By A Customer
This review is from: R.E.M.: Remarks (Paperback)
Being an REM fan for over a decade, this was the first book of their's that I had ever purchased... this book is chock full of information about the band, and it has some great pictures! If you are into the history of REM... this is a MUST!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliantly done - thank you Tony Fletcher!,
By
This review is from: Remarks Remade: The Story of R.E.M. (Paperback)
I have been a huge fan since I was 10 (1982). I have pretty much always avoided biographies on bands because it seems too easy for them to be sensational. I thought for sure any such book on R.E.M. would be aimed at those fans who discovered the band with "Losing My Religion" or "Everybody Hurts" and while those are fabulous songs - I was more interested in learning about the time that led UP to that point. This book starts at the very beginning and makes you feel like you are there. You gain a better understanding of the context of their sound early on and it's fascinating to follow the band as they grow, progress - have many successes and make a few mistakes along the way. I can't recommend this highly enough. I can't put it down.
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