R.E.M.

R.E.M. (sometimes written as REM) is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. They were formed in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry.

They were one of the first popular alternative rock bands. Their first single, "Radio Free Europe", came out in 1981 on the independent record label Hib-Tone. The single was followed by the Chronic Town EP in 1982, the band's first release on I.R.S. Records.

The band had no name as they went through several months of rehearsing and even when they played their first show on April 5, 1980, at a friend's birthday party held in a converted Episcopal church in Athens.

They had a number of pretty terrible names as possibilities including "Twisted Kites", "Cans of Piss", and "Negro Wives." R.E.M. is supposedly a random dictionary grab by Stipe - though I find it hard to believe it was random. 

The fact that we see the name both as R.E.M. and REM also makes the most obvious origin of the band's name as a legitimate acronym for "rapid eye movement" questionable.  That term was first used in the early 1950s when REM (pronounced as a word) sleep was identified as a normal stage of sleep characterized by the rapid and random movement of the eyes and dreaming. The allusion to dreaming is a nice one for the band, but they maintain that it was not selected for that reason.

Nevertheless, they did use the idea in some early promotions as shown below.

 

A reader of this blog wrote to say he heard that it comes from a measurement, as in 3 microREMs, with one microREM being one-millionth of a "roentgen equivalent man." That's interesting, and unsubstantiated, and I still like the dreaming allusion a lot better.

In 1983, the group released its critically acclaimed debut album, Murmur, and built its reputation over the next few years through subsequent releases, constant touring, and the support of college radio.

Following years of underground success, R.E.M. achieved a mainstream hit in 1987 with the single "The One I Love". The group signed to Warner Bros. Records in 1988, and began to be more political and environmental in their songs. They also started playing large arenas worldwide.

R.E.M.: Document (25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)

And I Feel Fine (The Best Of The IRS Years 82-87)

They released fifteen original albums.

1. Murmur (1983)
2. Reckoning (1984)
3. Fables of the Reconstruction (1985)
4. Life's Rich Pageant (1986)
5. Document (1987)
6. Green (1988)
7. Out Of Time (1991)
8. Automatic for the People (1992)
9. Monster (1994)
10. New Adventures in Hi-Fi (1996)
11. Up (1998)
12. Reveal (2001)
13. Around the Sun (2004)
14. Accelerate (2008)
15. Collapse Into Now (2011)

April Fools

Maybe today you were the victim of a practical joke. For centuries, April 1 has been a day marked by hoaxes and practical jokes played on people around the world.  If you fall for one of these pranks, then you are an April fool.

This tradition goes back to Europe in the mid-1600s and crossed over to the English-speaking world in the late seventeenth century.

Although the origin of April Fools is still debatable, most references trace it back to France and the French calendar reform of the sixteenth century.

Up until 1564, the Julian calendar was the accepted one to use in France and the beginning of the New Year was around April. But King Charles IX declared that France would begin using the Gregorian calendar which has New Year's Day on January 1.

Those who did not accept the change became the focus of April jokes and were mocked as fools. Pranks were played on, like being invited to parties that never occurred. In rural areas, word of the change was not always known, so these people were also mocked for celebrating the new year on the wrong day.

The tradition of pranking these "fools" commonly included sneaking a paper fish to their backs. These victims were called Poisson d’Avril, or April Fish. Today the term is still used in France for April Fools where the tradition is more popular with younger children. Bakeries and chocolatiers even make fish-shaped treats for the "holiday."

Why related to fish? That's unclear but it has been suggested that it relates to the zodiac sign of Pisces (a fish), which falls near April.

In Italy,  Il Pesce d’Aprile, or April’s Fish, is very similar. Youngsters secretly attach a paper cutout pesciolino (small fish) to the back of a school companion and then everyone asks, "L’hai visto?—Chi?—Il pesce d’Aprile!" (or Have you seen?—Who?—the April Fool!) and laugh at the Fool.

In France, Italy, the United States and other countries, adults get in on the game - usually minus the fish.

basket cases

“Basket case” has multiple meanings nowadays. Referring to a person it often means someone unable to cope with mental or emotional stress, especially due to anxiety. It can be temporary. Someone who is very nervous, tired, and unable to think or act normally. "By the end of the day, he was a complete basket case".

Used to describe a non-person, it can be anything that is impaired or incapable of functioning ot is beyond repair. For example, "The company was in such financial trouble, it was considered a basket case".

Simply defined, it means stressed out, or unable to cope

But why basket? 

WWI wounded arriving at triage station, Suippes, France

In World War I, soldiers who had lost all of their limbs and could not be safely carried on stretchers were put into makeshift baskets. The term is considered insulting and dates back to around 1919. 

The Oxford English Dictionary says the colloquial term “basket case” originated in the United States shortly after World War I, and meant “a person, esp. a soldier, who has lost all four limbs.”

But there is some evidence that is a mythic origin.

"However, the phrase, which initially referred to American soldiers supposedly left limbless by the war, was a product of the postwar rumor mill in the US. No quadruple-amputee American soldiers existed, and there’s no evidence that any head-and-torso survivors from any country were carried around in baskets."