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/ Features / Giveaways!

Reissue Theory: R.E.M., "Holiday"

December 14, 2011 By Mike Duquette Leave a Comment

Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they may someday see. It's the most wonderful time of the year, as you likely know, and we're celebrating with a recently-departed group of rock legends who made a few nights not-so-silent with a long running assortment of Christmas-oriented giveaways.

Not too long ago, I took part in a lively chat with my fellow Popblerd! writers/occasional co-podcasters Mike Heyliger and Zack Stiegler about various covers of Darlene Love's classic "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." (Indeed, as the chat indicates, my favorite is the U2 version. Fire away in the comments!) It was a total surprise to discover that R.E.M. covered the song for what ultimately seems to be their last Christmas fan club single, with vocals from bassist Mike Mills instead of lead singer Michael Stipe.

Indeed, that led to a pretty predictable trip down the rabbit hole to remember just how much interesting stuff R.E.M. put out solely for their fan club. I think you can guess where this is going: a Reissue Theory in which Athens, Georgia's favorite sons make with the holly and the jolly.

When R.E.M. made their transition to major-label act, signing with Warner Bros. from I.R.S. Records in 1988, they had the idea to release, as a gift to fans, a special, limited-edition single for the holidays. Typically, there would be a cover of a Christmas tune on one side (usually a classic carol, although there were some originals in the mix, along with covers of songs by Slade, The Beatles, Big Star and Vince Guaraldi). The other side would typically feature an unrelated cover or some other bonus.

While a vast majority of the singles were released on vinyl, some were released on other formats. 1997's gift, for instance, was a VHS consisting of two performances from Washington, D.C.'s Tibetan Freedom Concert, featuring collaborations between R.E.M. and Radiohead, and most thereafter were either released on CD or DVD. (A notable exception: 2000's blue-vinyl 45, featuring a take on The Beatles' "Christmas Time is Here Again" and two original songs.) From 1995 to 1999, in 2001, from 2003 to 2006 and once more in 2008, none of the singles had any Christmas material at all, opting instead for otherwise-unavailable live material and the like.

There's already been one R.E.M. compilation this year - and while even I'm tempted to believe it won't be the last, even I can't imagine it'd ever come to a holiday album made from years of rarities. But 'tis the season, after all, so hit the jump for a look at how that might look, with some links to hear some of the tunes as well.

R.E.M., Holiday (Warner Bros.)

  1. Parade of the Wooden Soldiers (from Christmas Fan Club Single 1988)
  2. Good King Wenceslas (from Christmas '89)
  3. Ghost Reindeer in the Sky (a spoof of Stan Jones' "Ghost Riders in the Sky," from 1990 Holiday Single)
  4. Christmas Griping (original song from Holly Jolly 1991 Single)
  5. Toyland (from Mystic & Merry 1992 Single)
  6. Silver Bells (from Happy Holiday Hoedown Single, 1993)
  7. Christmas Time is Here (Vince Guaraldi Trio cover, from Happy Holiday Hoedown Single, 1993)
  8. Christmas in Tunisia (original song from Yuletide Lite Fan Club 45, 1994)
  9. Christmas Time is Here Again (The Beatles cover, from R.E.M. Holiday Single, 2000)
  10. Jesus Christ (Big Star cover, from 2002 Holiday Single)
  11. Merry Xmas Everybody (Slade cover, from R.E.M. 2007 single)
  12. Santa Baby - Mike Mills (from R.E.M. 2009 single)
  13. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home) (Darlene Love cover, from R.E.M. 2010 single)

Categories: Giveaways! Tags: R.E.M., Reissue Theory

Mike Duquette

Michael Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he discovered there was more than one version of John Williams' soundtrack to E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, with bylines on catalog at Discogs, City Pages and Ultimate Prince and credits on titles including the Grammy-winning 'Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of "Weird Al" Yankovic.' Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with an ever-expanding collection of music.

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Comments

  1. Matt Springer (@MattSpringer) says

    December 14, 2011 at 2:51 pm

    Man, this would be an EPIC release.

    Reply
    • Don says

      December 14, 2011 at 3:42 pm

      Yes, this would be incredibly awesome! Especially for someone like me who doesn't have the fan club singles. Then again, bands are always on shaky ground when they release "fan club" stuff to the general market... some of the loyal, die-hard fans might feel like they're being kicked in the gut.

      Reply
      • Mike Duquette says

        December 14, 2011 at 4:06 pm

        They could always release a compilation as a fan-club release!

        Reply
  2. Randall Anthony says

    December 14, 2011 at 4:32 pm

    Yep, that'd be sweet. I've collected a whole bunch of over-priced Christmas collectables, but I've never tried to corral all the R.E.M. singles - too many, too expensive.

    Anyway, shameless self-promotion: http://www.hipchristmas.com/artists/r/rem.php

    Anyone heard what they plan to do for this, their final year?

    Reply
  3. wardo says

    December 14, 2011 at 6:29 pm

    It would appear that Mike Mills has been more involved with the Xmas singles than Stipe. But then I could be wrong.

    If they do compile a collection of these, it would be fairest to the fan club members who paid the dues to be the only ones to have access to it. (It would likely turn up on file-sharing sites anyway.)

    And I'm still waiting for a decent excuse as to why the Beatles messages aren't available for purchase.

    Reply
  4. Matt says

    December 15, 2011 at 9:56 am

    I have a version of R.E.M. Performing Deck The Halls from a MOJO CD entitled Festive Fifteen. Not sure it was the fan club, but would also for on the collection.

    Reply
    • Randy Anthony says

      December 15, 2011 at 11:14 am

      First appeared on a promo called "Winter Warnerland" (1988). I believe.

      Reply

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