R.E.M. at Tyrone's (04-10-1981)

Please note - the cover of this tape is mislabeled! After doing some research, I determined that this gig actually occurred on April 10th, 1981.

So, on April 10th, 1981, legendary alternative rockers R.E.M. performed at Tyrone’s in their hometown of Athens, GA. This is an extremely early recording of the band in their infancy, as frontman Michael Stipe and guitarist Peter Buck had only met less than a year prior. The band hadn’t even entered the studio yet to record their first single, “Radio Free Europe.” They’d do that in April of 1981 at producer Mitch Easter's Drive-In Studios in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Initially distributing it as a four-track demo tape to clubs, record labels, and magazines, the single was released in July 1981 on the local independent record label Hib-Tone with an initial pressing of 1,000 copies—600 of which were sent out as promotional copies. The single quickly sold out, and another 6,000 copies were pressed due to popular demand, despite the original pressing leaving off the record label's contact details. The band returned to Easter’s studio in October of 1981 to record their debut EP, Chronic Town, which was released on I.R.S. Records the following year. The rest, as they say, is history.