Re-Flex? Now, there's a blast from the past. Not that I ever liked them but we did play them at our college radio station a lot back in the early 80s. Glad you were able to solve the mystery. R.E.M. used to play around NC a lot back in those days. Even though I was a fan early on, I missed out on those shows (when they were still playing clubs) but finally saw them when they came to Duke in '86. I haven't missed a tour since then.

What I heard at the Band of Joy show I saw recently in Raleigh sounded a whole lot like rock n' roll to me. I definitely wouldn't confuse it with Ernest Tubb which is the impression you would get from some of the folks around here who apparently haven't actually listened to the new record or seen him in concert.

I'm not positive if this will help you any as I'm not sure if their support dates for The Police are listed or not but it may be worth a shot: remtimeline.com

Years ago I was going through some of my sisters' old records and found this one with Phil on it. I have no idea how much it may be worth or if it's worth anything at all. Still, a pretty cool find even though I've never been a Collins fan.

Loved their appearance on Letterman and them doing "So. Central Rain" before it even had a name. Hate you missed them opening for the Police. In a somewhat related note, Jon Wurster (from Superchunk and tons of other bands too numerous to mention) recently posted this on his Facebook page. It's reprinted here with his permission: This one’s a little cringy but often so is life. In March of 1983 my parents and I drove from Harleysville, PA down to Williamsburg, VA to watch my older brother compete in a cross-country meet. When I asked my friend Bob Walsh if he had any new *jams I could listen to on the long car ride he enthusiastically pushed a cassette into my hand (*we didn’t actually call them jams back then). It was a mix his older brother put together featuring stuff like XTC, Talking Heads, Romeo Void, etc. “R.E.M. –Chronic Town side one” was also scrawled on the j-card. I’d seen ads for “Chronic Town” in New York Rocker but thought R.E.M. was some kind of synth band, so I never felt compelled to buy it. When the EP came up on side B of Bob’s tape I was prepared to hit the fast forward button. I let the tape play and the music just instantly connected with me. I loved the Byrds and this seemed like a weirder updating of what they were doing on their early records. I must’ve listened to those three songs twenty times on the way to Williamsburg. I located a small mom and pop record store when we got to town but struck out finding “Chronic Town.” I ended up buying “Chronic Town” a couple weeks later at the surprisingly well-stocked Montgomery Mall branch of the Music Scene. I scooped up the EP’s full-length follow-up “Murmur” upon its release a couple months later. You could call the months that followed “R.E.M. Spring/Summer” since that’s about all I listened to. The band played around this time at a local rock club called The Ripley Music Hall but I was too young to get in. You can imagine my excitement later that summer when I spotted an ad for the Philly stop of the Police’s “Synchronicity” tour. There at the bottom of the bill, after the Police, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Madness was…R.E.M. The first thing I did when I got to JKF Stadium on August 20th was head to the merch table and purchase an R.E.M. t-shirt. There’s no way to sugar coat this so I’m just gonna come out with it: THAT DAY I WAS ONE OF THOSE GUYS WHO BOUGHT THE BAND’S T-SHIRT, PUT IT ON AND WORE IT THE ENTIRE DAY. I was lucky the shirt was so cheap and thin because it was a brutal one-hundred-and-six degrees that day. It’s funny/frightening to look back on those pre-bottled water days. What did we drink? Just before R.E.M. came on I maneuvered my way through the crowd until I was about twenty feet from the stage. They came out and launched into “Wolves, Lower” and it was, to my sixteen-year-old self, pretty fucking magical. At one point during the band’s twenty-minute set Michael Stipe looked directly at me, pointed at my shirt and smiled. I think he was genuinely surprised there was someone out there flying his band's flag. He was so enthused by this he walked over to Peter Buck --who was in the middle of a guitar break—put his arm around him and pointed at me again as if to say, “Dude, a fan!” I’m not entirely sure any of this registered with Peter but it was pretty exciting, nonetheless. It was the first time I’d ever experienced the (momentary) disappearance of the rock star/rock fan wall and saw a band playing on a big stage who seemed friendly and approachable. And just as important, it planted a seed that maybe someday I could do what they were doing. Flash forward nineteen years later and I’m tooling down the Pacific Coast Highway as the drummer with the Minus Five, a supergroup featuring Scott McCaughey, Ken Stringfellow, John Ramberg and on bass, Peter Buck. Scott’s at the wheel, Peter’s in the passenger seat and the rest of us are crashed out on the van’s benches. As I teeter between consciousness and unconsciousness R.E.M.’s “Sitting Still” comes through my headphones. I flash back to the road trip to Virgina and then to the supremely positive impact of R.E.M.’s JFK set. I look at the guy asleep in the passenger seat. I shake my head in amazement.

You say he "ever sounded like that again on any tours after that" yet you go on to say "I've seen him any almost every tour since Shakin n' Stirred" and "that was by far the best time to have caught him live". So, if you haven't seen every tour since then, how would you know that he never sounded like that again or that it was the best time to see him live? I've seen him on his two most recent tours and he's still pretty fucking great sounding, at least to my ears. Then again, I don't judge everything he does against Zeppelin.

The "worst frontman of all-time" in action circa 1985:

She's the daughter of Arlo, some may remember Johnny from the band Queen Sarah Saturday. The drummer (Zeke Hutchins) from that band went on to perform with (and later marry) Tift Merritt. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DBgI6WLvcA

The Roots covering Neil Young's "Down By the River" at the Tibet House benefit at Carnegie Hall in NYC on 3.3.11.

If you had taken just a minute to actually read the thread (which obviously you didn't) it wouldn't have taken long to figure out that that it is not just about CBS shutting down Two And A Half Men. It has been taken of the air because of Sheen's behavior which is what the thread is about, not just the show itself. If you had read the thread before starting this one you would have been able to figure it out.

Jim Carrey proves he still has his comedic chops and can do so without some of the manic humor that made him so annoying in the pass. As per usual Zooey Deschanel is a real treat. A bit dreary at times but overall still a good movie.

Michael Stipe on Nightline's Playlists segment from last night, to watch it fast forward to around the 13 minute mark. Rolling Stone interview with Stipe prior to his performance at the Tibet House benefit at Carnegie Hall on 3.3.11.

No need to withdraw your post. I think most everyone here has posted what they thought was a "one hit wonder" only to realize that artist also had other hits.

Not sure why certain publications are just now picking up on this, he announced it months ago and then it was also included in an interview Rolling Stone conducted with him at the time. To read that interview it seems like he's got a lot more going on than just some problems with his neck. Apparently all the criticism that was leveled at him in the 80s has taken it's toll.

"Twilight Zone" wasn't their only hit. Years before that song ever hit the radio there was this tune:

I know fans of Zeppelin that don't particularly care for it so not liking "Stairway To Heaven" isn't just confined to the "post-punk crowd". Not to mention, I wasn't aware that all of them don't like it either.

By the same token, does Bart Simpson represent a good "role model"? There are also tons more shows that portray men as assholes, should they also be shut down?

I first started watching it because I thought it was funny. It also pushed the envelope as far as innuendo. I'm still amazed at what they got away with. I'm guessing a lot of that had to do with having to compete with cable where there is no restriction on language. For one, people shouldn't be looking for TV characters to set good examples or serve as role matters to start with. Secondly, I look at his TV character (where he's pretty much playing himself anyway) the same way I looked at Archie Bunker on All in the Family. In the end it's up to the viewer to decide but Archie Bunker was never meant to be a role model either. His character was clearly written so that most viewers could tell that he was making an ass of himself, mainly by way of his bigotry. The "Charlie" character on Two And A Half Men is written the same way except applied to his treatment of women. If anyone gets anything out of his character on that show it only means they haven't been paying attention.

Out of the three times I've seen him solo (Now & Zen, Raising Sand and Band of Joy) I'd have to go with the most current tour though it's almost neck and neck with the Raising Sand Revue for my favorite. Thing is, as a vocal foil, Patty Griffin isn't nearly as timid on stage as Alison Krauss. She just walks right up to the mic and let's it wail, particularly on cuts such as "Gallow's Pole".

I don't think it's "uncool" to say you don't like "Stairway To Heaven", some people actually don't like it. Instead, perhaps the fans that have an undying love for it should just learn to accept that. Personally I love the song but got burnt out on it (and "Freebird", amongst many other songs) thanks to "Classic Rock" radio playing it to fucking death. I still like to listen to it on occasion but not nearly as often as Classic Rock plays it. It's also not my favorite song in the Zeppelin catalog.

Yes, you did but at that time the clip hadn't been posted to YouTube yet. I'm not sure what the overall consensus is but I'd think someone is more likely to click on a embedded video than to go to another site to watch it. It's much more convenient anyhow. It was never meant to take away from your post.

That's one of the reasons why I said it's not been "officially" announced. Until a press release is published it's merely hearsay.

That's a duplicate thread, this one was started on February 11th.