Can't Get There From Hereby R.E.M.

Birthday celebrant Peter Buck wrote, "Over the years, a certain misapprehension about 'Fables Of The Reconstruction' has built up. For some reason, people have the impression that the members of R.E.M. don’t like the record. Nothing could be further from the truth… It’s a personal favourite and I’m really proud of how strange it is. Nobody but R.E.M. could have made that record.”

The music video, directed by Michael Stipe and Rick Aguar, shows the guys at a drive-in theater, juxtaposed with images of them running and tumbling through a country field and performing in silhouette. "We used the new-to-us 'blue screen' process," Peter Buck told MTV UK in 2001. "So we have dinosaurs and monsters in the background. It's probably the most humorous video we've ever done. For a band that's kind of noted for not having a sense of humor, I kind of enjoy that aspect of it.": www.youtube.com

A band that Pavement likes to name check

In another first for R.E.M., who had opposed including the lyrics with their albums, many of the words of "Can't Get There from Here" appeared in the video for the song. The video features band members frolicking in hay fields, throwing popcorn at each other at a drive-in movie, and big insects. "We used the new-to-us 'blue screen' process," Buck explained to MTV UK in 2001, during An Hour with R.E.M. "So we have dinosaurs and monsters in the background. It's probably the most humorous video we've ever done. For a band that's kind of noted for not having a sense of humor, I kind of enjoy that aspect of it."

Celebrating 30 years of Fables of the Reconstruction. Concert footage from 1985: www.youtube.com

One of the "Seattle all-stars" mentioned a few songs ago in the Barrett Martin-organized show coming up June 14 at the Crocodile, is REM's Peter Buck! remhq.com

John Richards once did a post on his favorite R.E.M. videos....listen to them here blog.kexp.org

Can't get there From Here from R.E.M.'s 1985 LP Fables of Reconstruction, their third release.

The iconic band's 3rd studio album recorded in London, England with new producer Joe Boyd.

This Atlantic article calls R.E.M. "America's Greatest Band, asking "What other U.S. band was as good as long?": www.theatlantic.com

You can listen to a KEXP documentary on R.E.M. as part of our 'Music Revolutionaries' series here: kexp.org

(#173) Learn more about R.E.M. through the KEXP documentary "Music Revolutionaries" - kexp.org