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REM: how the arty pop gods taught a shy south Wales girl to be herself

For a teenager stifled by Welsh choir music, Michael Stipe’s kaleidoscope of artistic influences – and mega-success – were too irresistible not to follow

When I first fell in love, I was 14. He was 32. I watched him being carried around on a sea of other people’s hands, holding him gently like a god, then tossing him in the air like a plaything. My REM and Michael Stipe fandom was born an ordinary Saturday morning in a living room in south Wales as the video for Drive played on the ITV Chart Show.

Before REM, I was a chart music geek, devouring Now That’s What I Call Music compilations and noting down the Top 5 in my diary. After REM – or more specifically, my love of the multi-platinum-selling Automatic For the People – I burrowed into southern folklore, short stories, experimental film and chiaroscuro art, led by this new guide from Athens, Georgia, with the huge pale blue eyes.

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from Culture | The Guardian https://ift.tt/3dDM78c
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