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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Nov. 9, 1987)
Arts & Entertainment Obscure small town band rises to top r% r? i jr 1. R.E.M. promises to rock tonight By Geoff McMurtry Staff Reporter They came quietly, from the ob scurity of a small town in Georgia that was better known as Herschel Walker’s birthplace than as a hotbed or even a warm bed of new, undiscov ered or soon-to-be discovered music. The impact R.E.M. has had on the m usic of our decade is unm istakeable. They’re an inspiration to a whole generation of vibrant self-aware American bands, yearning to breathe free of the huddled masses of stifling corporatecommercialism choking the radio airwaves, the top-40 charts, and the increasingly vacuous eyewax of MTV. Like their British counterpart, U2, they have defined and pinpointed Concert Preview the sound of their native land, while remaining safely in front of the musi cal trends that have sidetracked so many of their contemporaries. Perhaps the greatest measure of the status they’ve risen to is that they’re rarely, if ever, compared to the Byrds these days. For better or worse, every band with even a hint of jangly, finger picked guitar is instantly called an R.E.M. clone. R.E.M., which will appear at Per shing Auditorium tonight, formed in 1980 at a party in Michael Stipe’s abandoned-church home. The band lirstmadcitsprcscnccfeltwith 1981 ’s self-produced single of “Radio Free Europe.’’ They’ve been a consistently growing musical phenomenon ever since. Their quirky, moody, mysteri ous, yet ultimately optimistic trade mark style has carved them a perma nent place in rock history, as well as making them a household name on every campus in the nation. In an age of million-dollar video album commercials, corporate con trol of artistic means of production, and Lifestyles and Economic Growth of the Rich and Famous, R.E.M.*s commitment to their own unique vi Mike Mills, Bill Perry, Peter Buck and Michael Stripe of R.E.M. appear at 7 p.m. tonight at Pershing Auditorium sion and refusal to follow any of the safe, well-established, creatively bar ren paths the music industry lays out for them has been both a refreshing, badly needed change and a model for many young bands following in their wake. The opening act, the dB’s, origi nated in Winston-Salem, N.C., but formed in New York in 1978. They then went through nearly every pos sible career-ending setback but some how have remained relatively intact. Their first two albums, “Stands for dcciBels” and “Repercussion,” criti cally acclaimed but otherwise un heard, were recorded in 1981 for Britain’s tiny Albion label and were unavailable in the U.S. In 1983, co founder, songwriter, and leadguitarist Chris Stamcy left the band, partly out of frustration, to pursue solo projects. The following year, the remaining members tried to continue with “Like This,” their American label debut, on Bearsville Records. Immediately af ter the release, Bearsville Records folded. Bearsville owner Albert Grossman refused to let them out of their contractual obligations, despite no longer having a record company to record them. This caused the 2 1/2 ycar delay between “Like This” and the recently released "Sound Of Music.” The dB’s are now made up of gui tarist and singer Peter Holsapple, lead guitarist Gene Holder, drummer Will Rigby and bassist Jeff Bcninato. Longtime friends of R.E.M. (it was Peter Holsapple who introduced them to Mitch Easter, who produced Chronic Town, Murmur and Reckon ing along with Don Dixon), the dB’s arc primarily responsible for the murky, light pop harmonizing popu larized by dozens of bands from their home area and perfected by their sometime collaborator, Let's Active’s Mitch Easter. Though largely unknown and uncredited for a style they helped to originate, the dB’s have survived enough obstacles at this point that there can’t be too many left. R.E.M. and the dB’s will be at Pershing Auditorium at 7 p.m. Doors open at 6 p.m. Tickets are reserved seating, but seats are still available. Cost is $14.50 per ticket. --1 'Less Than Zero'borrows little frombook ^ Courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox Co. Jami Gertz, Robert Downey Jr. and Andrew McCarthy appear in “Less Than Zero."___ By Scott Harr ah Senior Editor “Less Than Zero” (Douglas 3 Theater) Two years ago, Benning ton, Vt., college student Bret Easton Ellis penned the overrated, controversial bubble-gum angst novel “Less Than Zero.” Hype and praise fol lowed. Based on the cocaine dusted, callous world of overpriv ileged L.A. youth, the book was compared to “The Catcher in the Rye,” “The Great Gatsby” and Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” because of its portrayal of excess and self indulgence. . Movie Review Prerelease publicity for the “Zero” film has been equally an noying. “It only looks like the good life,” the ad slogan says. Ellis’ novel was a skeletal, shal low Hollywood potboiler mas querading under the ruse of a major literary triumph, but it did have some occasionally provoking statements about life on the edge. The film borrows little from the book. The decadence of California society, the key factor of Ellis’ See ZERO on 14