As requested, this week's Spotlight is on Michael Stipe, leader singer for the band R. E. M. R. E. M. formed in 1980 when Michael Stipe met Peter Buck in an Athens, Ga. record store. They recruited Mike Mills and Bill Berry to form a quartet and all four dropped out of college to focus on the band. R. E. M. soon found acceptance in the indie music scene, playing colleges and small venues. I saw them several times when I was at Rutgers in the mid '80s.
In the early '90s, R. E. M. began to find mainstream success. They began to have hit songs on commercial radio. Stipe also began working with other musical collaborators. He had a planned collaboration with Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, which unfortunately did not happen before Cobain died. Incidentally, Stipe is the godfather of Cobain's daughter, Frances. He also collaborated with Natalie Merchant, with whom he had once been romantically linked. There had been rumors for a while about Stipe's sexuality, and in 1992 a rumor that he had AIDS began to circulate. Stipe did not address this rumor, feeling it was ridiculous to do so.
In Time magazine in 2001, Stipe said he was "a queer artist," and that he had been in a relationship with a man for three years. In previous interviews, Stipe had referred to himself as "an equal opportunity lech," said he did not use labels such as straight, bi, or gay, and said that he had been attracted to and had relationships with both men and women. Recently, Stipe has come out as gay, saying that he now feels, "I recognize that to have public figures be very open about their sexuality helps some kid somewhere out there."
Stipe's contribution to R. E. M. is lyrics and melodies. When R. E. M. first formed, Stipe sang in an incomprehensible mumble. It was a sort of game among fans to try and figure out what he was saying! In the mid '80s, he began to sing more clearly. Now his singing style is much more understandable. Stipe still has one of the most recognizable voices in rock. Recently, Stipe has gotten into movie production, and has been executive producer for movies such as Being John Malkovich, Velvet Goldmine, and Man on the Moon.
Michael Stipe comes out
Official R. E. M. website
Recent picture of Michael Stipe.
Michael Stipe as he looked when I first saw him!
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Out Spotlight XX
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From WFT2-
From US weekly apparently...
Jake bonded with the boyfriend of Reese's nanny.
And on the flight home to LA, a flight attendant asked if they would autograph their cover issue of last week's "US" and they obliged.
If that doesn't tell you everything about Reeke, I don't know what does.
US Weekly is such a PR pimp.
Morning all -
Thanks for today's Out Spotlight. I have loved Michael Stipe and REM for years - I, like you, remember how beautiful I thought Michael was when I first saw him. I think the even went on to eclipse The English Beat for me, well, sorta! ;)
Wow, so many wonderful songs - Radio Free Europe of course got my attention, Man on the Moon, Texarkana is probably one of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard, Losing My Religion with the beautiful mandolin, music that would really reach in and grab your feelings, and express them.
Much happiness and congrats to Michael Stipe! :*
I liked yesterday's music choice too - very The Cure-esque! ;)
Hope you and Spesh had a great time at the Botanic Gardens. *Sigh* Must have been beautiful!
the nanny's boyfriend is the cute guy helping Jake, we saw the pics. Jake had chemistry with the guy indeed. Both seemed really close like they were flirting.
I've been a big fan of REM since the beginning (when I was in college). I remember buying their first album Murmur and playing it to death. Michael was definitely not understandable but I loved the music and his vocals so much, I didn't care.
"Losing My Religion" is one of my favorite songs.
I also played Murmur to death when it first came out. Their earlier songs are not very understandable, nor were they really meant to be I don't think. Their new cd is kind of unusual in having such direct lyrics.
It is great to see Stipe being so open at the same time as they are making a push to reclaim their former spot as a leading band. The music business is so tough right now, so it'll be interesting to see what happens and, if they don't do well, what gets the "blame".
In the meantime, here's a very short video Stipe did in response to all of the stories about his being gay (keeping fingers crossed that link works).
Stipe Video
Hi guys! The snow is melting fast and spring is finally in the air! Saw my first robins this morning. Poor little things, hope they can find all the food they need. Nights are still cold, there's still tons of snow pretty much everywhere and not much fruits and mosquitoes to eat. :(
Thanks for this Spotlight Wicked! I started to pay attention to R.E.M. after hearing Fall on Me on the radio and was particularly pleased when I learned about Stipe's caring for the environment. The mumbling was sometimes dismaying though; there were times when I thought the problem was mine and I couldn't understand his accent; now I know better. ;)
Funny the songs that stick in your brain. Mine are The Flowers of Guatemala, Swan, Swan, Welcome to the Occupation , The One I love, among others. In retrospect, you notice that Stipe never used the "she" pronoun, particularly in the TOIL.
Of course the mentioning of the AIDS rumors brings to mind Douglas Martin's Outline of My Lover, a book I strongly recommend. For those who may wonder, Martin is not disparaging Stipe in the least in that book. It's much more a very lucid, bittersweet, sometimes poignant recounting of his own youth and feelings until and throughout his encounter and affair with Stipe (who is never named in the book btw). It gives interesting insights on how Stipe dealt with his public and private lives.
By the way, does anybody know why Stipe is singing more clearly these days? Does he feel more secure with himself or simply that this mannerism would look lame for an older man? Does the "official" coming-out has anything to do with it?
It's good that he came out officially as gay, but he also made a clip recently in which he ridiculed the whole process of coming out publicly. I felt uncomfortable watching it, not exactly knowing what message he was trying to convery.
One thing I'm sure though is that he has great tastes in movies. I LOVED Velvet Goldmine and Being John Malkovich!!!
DESTINY LINKED!!! Woo! Great video.
My favorite R. E. M. record is Life's Rich Pageant, and Swan Swan H is my favorite R. E. M. song.
Formatting comments: bold, italic, clickable links
Cheat Sheet
HTML, thanks for that cheat sheet. It is now linked at right!
Sometimes an old dog can learn tricks Wicked.
Frenchy, I think I linked to the video you were talking about. I really liked it; I thought Stipe was just making fun of the fact that being gay is a big newsworthy event, and making the point that it shouldn't be any different than being straight.
Swan Swan is also one of my favorite songs, and Pageant along with Fables of the Reconstruction are probably the cds I listen to the most. I'm always amazed at how many of us have similar tastes in music, I guess it is part of the same gene that caused us all to be interested in J&A. :D
Thanks for the Out Spotlight today. Stipe is a great artist, although I think if it did took him awhile to come to terms... and I want to echo the recommendation for "Outline of My Lover", it's very good read... not the jilted lover type one would have imagined.
I third the recommendation, in fact I remember recommending it in the old days of WFT (before it changed). It's a book I keep in my permanently out stack, appropriately enough. I've often wondered what Michael Stipe thinks of it.
Question of the day:
Why do Jake and Reese walk arm in arm, holding flowers and pointing at unicorns one week and the next week walk backwards, stay separate and ignore each other publically?
Answer:
Because no cover story about their secret love are planned for this week so they don't need to pose.
Follow Up Question:
Are they concerned that they are too obviously manipulating their images or do they really think people are that stupid?
PR I know you're here. I would love an answer.
I think you are right on all counts, Destiny. :)
Forgot to mention, looking forward to our first Movie Club discussion. Love today's REM song too. :)
btw. did anyone watch Stephen Colbert interviewed REM? Best.Interview.Ever.
I third the recommendation, in fact I remember recommending it in the old days of WFT (before it changed).
Well London as you can see your recommendation was not in vain. ;) And speaking of books, I thoroughly enjoyed Mary Renault too!
My favorite R. E. M. record is Life's Rich Pageant.
That was my first R.E.M. CD and it got me hooked!
Thanks Destiny for your input on that video. It made be uncomfortable when I first saw it since there are still so many gay public personalities closeted or playing word games when it comes to their sexual orientation � Stipe's own attitude in the past � that I still think that certain public coming-outs are indeed newsworthy.
Wicked & Special, I did a search/find on our Famous Queer People list and there are two names I couldn't find: Douglas A. Martin and the fabulous Irshad Manji, an extraordinary muslim woman who's strongly attached to yet very critical of Islam. She's a strong advocate of critical thinking and of rediscovering the richness of Islamic history and intellectual traditions. Here's the link to her Wiki page: Irshad Manji at Wikipedia and the one to her Website: Irshad's Web Site
Winterbird, is that interview available online?
Hi guys, just a quick note to say I am back from vacation. I was able to check the net briefly once a day just to keep up with major Jake news, but I will have to spend a lot of time reading comments to be fully up to speed. Glad to be back.
Nice to see you back M! Hope you got a good rest and a great vacation. :)
My only really impressive celeb meeting, apart from Roger Moore on holiday when as I was about 8, was walking into (and I do literally mean walking into) Michael Stipe at a gallery opening in NY a few years ago. He seemed abit unfriendly and overly precious at the itme, but then again having a very drunk woman barge into you as she shouts across the room about dinner arrangements might annoy anyone. (I'll forgive him).
Their music is good as well.
Colbert interviews R. E. M.
Ha, just my tough luck - the video won't play for Canadian viewers.
Thanks anyway Wicked that was really sweet. :)
Is Spesh on her way home? If so I hope she'll let us know she had a safe trip. I'm a bit fussy for those things myself; every time people leave my house I almost "order" them to call me to say they got home safe. :)
I did see R.E.M. on Colbert, and it was a hoot! Among other things, at one point Colbert was sitting on a chair much higher than the band, and Stipe made a joke about how maybe Colbert should keep his legs crossed, and Colbert joked right back. It was funny and sweet at the same time.
I've got to get that book Outline of My Lover. Does it talk at length about the being in/out issue? I would love to read something in-depth about that, particularly the fact so many seem to do it in their 40s.
I saw a great movie this afternoon called XXY about a teenage intersex "girl". It's fiction, made by an Argentinian filmmaker but shot in Uruguay. It's about gender, sexuality, family and acceptance. It is very powerful, moving, and doesn't shy away from dealing with these topics directly (unlike say, the book Middlesex, which I thought was well-written but disappointing). I saw it as part of a film festival, but the director said it had been picked up by distributor and will be out in May, at least in NYC. I can't say enough good things about it.
I've got to get that book Outline of My Lover. Does it talk at length about the being in/out issue?
Not really, and it's mostly about Martin's POV and the difficulties of conducting an affair with a famous rock star. But you get the feeling of how some of these things were dealt with. And you get Martin's style, which is very distinctive and is not everybody's cup of tea. ;)
Frenchy, Frenchy, here it is!
Wicked, London & Winterbird - these last two might be in bed though ;), you all read Outline so what did you think?
(((Rattler))) It works! Going out to watch it right now!
That was a riot! I'm going to record it (now if I can find back the instructions I noted somewhere...)
Loved how Colbert introduced the band saying R.E.M. put college radio on the map making it easier for corporate radio to find it and kill it. ;)
I saw Michael Stipe on the subway here in NYC 20 years ago. He looked great. Wonderful chiselled bone structure.
Destiny, that movie sounds great but the title is unfortunate. XXY is a genetic condition (also known as Kleinfelter's) where a boy has an extra X chromosome. The second X is inactive, but having it there causes some developmental effects such as difficulty with language processing and other subtle and varying symptoms. However, the individual is definately a boy! There is still lots of remnant prejudice about the condition causing criminal behavior because it was first identified in a prison population.
BTW, XXY is a common chromosome variation affecting approx. 1 in 500 boys. It very often goes undiagnosed.
Thanks for these very interesting details Geneticist. :) Destiny I'll be on the lookout for this movie.
I loved Middlesex btw, but mostly because of the author's style, the atmosphere and the milieu he described. I was expecting to be touched by the main character's struggles but often they were treated almost as allegories - quite obliquely as you pointed out.
Thanks mom, I didn't think about the title, nor did I know about that disorder. I wonder why the director used that? She said the idea for the film came from a short story her husband wrote, but that she then spent a lot of time talking to people in the intersex community, doctors, etc. She probably didn't know.
For all that I've been in NYC for over 20 years, there are certain people I've always wanted to see on the street but never have, like Stipe. At the top of that list is Bowie.
Frenchy -- I am still here in the big DC, and fly back tomorrow. I will report my safe arrival after I make all the necessary calls to friends and family. (Yes I come from one those families too)
Having a great time. And it was nice to get a little spring. Of course no matter what the temperature will be on Tuesday it will be Spring in Boston. Why? Red Sox home opener at Fenway and they get their World Series rings. Yeah baby!
And the mystery C word? No C is not for cookie, but more like it starts with C and ends with "u next Tuesday".
sorry Frenchy for the late reply... I am in Asia at the moment, so have been posting at weird hours...
re "Outline of My Lover", I think what surprised me the most if that it's not an expose... it's a very moving account of a relationship ended badly and personal demons and how impossible it is to maintain a relationship with a "celebrity" love... it's a very personal journey. Of course, it's entirely from Martin's POV, so one can't really view it as the "truth" :P... but ultimately, at the end, I sympathize with the writer, but I don't hate Stipe either.
There's also a part about the writer's childhood... growing up as gay teenager in the south, that part is rather touching as well.
All in all, it's not the best piece of literature, but I do like it, as I do have a soft spot for people looking for "love" - even in the wrong place or with the wrong person. But I think some might find him a bit "whiny"... :P
Destiny, at first I thought 'how cool, she talks to her mom on this blog'. lol!
Special, you're in Boston and the Celtics aren't a hot button C word? lol!
Great post esp since REM is coming out with a new....collection of music. Can't say album anymore and CDs will prob be passe soon enuff.
Bowie....always great.
Looking forward to Wedding Banquet.
Special, I knew what C word you meant. Just yankin your chain and rattlin the cage to come up with any other C words that might press your hot button. hey, 2 more, chain and cage. :)
M,
I have become quite a fan of yours. Do you think J&A are still
together or have called it quits?
I would just like your opinion is
all. Thanks very much. Everybody
have a good week. I'll catch you
later on in the week.
Kacie, sorry but how many times do you have to ask the same question? And is there a chance you'll fix that dreadful formatting? Thanks.
Come on, leave Kacie alone.
Bad Seed --
Hey now the C's (Celtics) are leading the conference at 61- 15! Let's talk Lakers -- at 53 -24. The Celtics are so not on that list.
More C word for you collection -- carbuncle, convulsion, corkscrew.
This is a community, so Kacie asking people their opinions about J&A is an ok thing to do.
Each of us communicate differently in ways, patterns and styles. That is what makes us unique and makes the blog more interesting to read. Who would want to read a blog that every single post read exactly the same? So let you style show.
Parents should try to accept the fact that their child is mentally challenged and help him or her grow to the full potential that he or she is capable of. Some people try for a miraculous cure and expend a lot of time and energy in search of a divine elixir.
http://www.indiaparenting.com/raisingchild/data/raisingchild020.shtml
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