Mountain Stage: An Oral History
Part 2: The day R.E.M. came to town and ‘changed everything’
No story about National Public Radio’s “Mountain Stage” is complete without talking about the day R.E.M. — at that point the most popular band in America — performed in tiny Charleston, W.Va.
“That was the show,” co-founder and longtime host Larry Groce says of the band’s April 28, 1991 performance, “that changed everything for us.”
R.E.M. had just released “Out of Time,” its seventh album, but had no plans to tour beyond select media appearances like “Saturday Night Live” and MTV’s “Unplugged.” In 1990, guitarist Peter Buck performed on Mountain Stage with Kevn Kinney of Drivin’ ‘n Cryin’.
Buck enjoyed the experience, telling Groce afterward, “It was a great show. I had fun. I’ll bring back my band back sometime.”
“Of course, I thought that would never happen,” Groce says.
But it did, as you can read below in the second installment of this four-part oral history on the program.
Bertis Downs, R.E.M.’s manager: The band decided at the end of the 1989 tour (behind major label debut “Green”) that they were not going to tour behind their next album. They had worn themselves out through the 1980s playing in clubs, then up to midsized arenas, and then up to the larger arenas. They were willing to do promotional stuff, and they wanted people to know they had a record out, so we booked them on “Saturday Night Live” and “Unplugged.” They did some fan club things, videos, and media things, but they were not touring.
During a brainstorming session with the band’s label, Warner Brothers, Downs mentioned Mountain Stage as a possible stop.
Downs: I had known about the show. I was born in West Virginia and moved away when I was 4 because my parents were missionaries, but my roots are there, and I thought “Mountain Stage” was a neat show. I also knew that it was a little unconventional, not a typical move for a rock band to make, but (National Public Radio) has a pretty big reach all over the country and our audiences overlap. I thought it would be fun.
At this point, Downs reached out to Andy Ridenour, Mountain Stage’s co-founder and executive producer. Ridenour thought it was a prank.
Ridenour: I definitely thought it was a joke at first. This would have been in the fall (of 1990), and they were looking to do something in the spring after the album came out. I told them to call me back when they had a date, and sure enough, a month later Bertis called me back.
Groce: For their visit we moved to the Capital Plaza Theater. At this point our show was sort of on the chopping block and we didn’t know whether we’d be around, so we decided to make it a fundraiser for “Mountain Stage.” We charged $20 a ticket; at the time we were charging $3 per person or $5 for a family ticket, so that was huge.
Ridenour: The pressure on the show was immense, not from (the band), but from the outside. “The Today Show” did a piece on us. Rolling Stone had a blurb about us. We sold out a 1,000-seat auditorium in nine minutes, and scalpers were charging outrageous amounts for tickets. From the day of the announcement to showtime, the phone never stopped ringing at our station. We had a receptionist who was taking all the calls and she was ready to quit.
Groce: It wasn’t as scary as it probably should have been. The band suggested that we have Billy Bragg and Robyn Hitchcock on the show with them, but otherwise we didn’t make any changes to our format. The band that closed the show opened the show, and the rest was just like we always do it.
Remarkably, the performance — Clive Gregson and Christine Collister also played sets, and Peter Holsapple (formerly of The DB’s) accompanied R.E.M. — went off without a hitch. One major change: The show started at 3 p.m. instead of its regular 7 p.m. slot. Pre-show, Hitchcock entertained people standing in line, making up songs as he read from a math textbook. BBC-One aired Mountain Stage live.
Ridenour: It showed us and the crew that we could do major talent. We earned our stripes and everyone came through beautifuly. It was a crew of 18 to 20 people, all from and around the Charleston area, and they were great.
Groce: They closed the show with a Jimmy Dale Gilmore song. (Sings) “Have you seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night?” And then the band performed after the show, and we kept it on the air for our folks in West Virginia.
Downs: It was a nice weekend. It was a perfect place for us. I had a chance to see a lot of friends and family, and it gave the band a chance to perform in an obscure location for a lot of people who came from a real musical place. The band really respected the audience that was there, and they knew the people behind the scenes were good curators for quality music.
According to Amos Perrine, the No Depression photo editor who was at the performance, R.E.M.’s appearance became the most bootlegged show in the history of live radio. Two songs from the show were on Mountain Stage compilations in the 1990s, and the entire set was released commercially as part of the four-disc deluxe edition of “Out of Time.”
Groce: What R.E.M. did was put us on the map. We were on about 100 stations then, but everybody knew who we were for a moment, and that didn’t go away. They really opened doors for us that put us on another level.
More:
Coming next Wednesday: The challenges of booking and taping 24 live radio shows a year, plus insight into the show’s promise and purpose. To catch up, read the introduction to the series here and Part 1 here.
Wonderful piece -- thanks, Glenn! I remember well listening to this when it was broadcast.