E-Blow The Candles: Stipe At Fifty

Happy Birthday to R.E.M. vocalist/lyricist/mouthpiece Michael Stipe, who turned a whopping fifty years old on Monday.

As someone whose key formative music-listening years coincided precisely with R.E.M’s rise (I was in high school when I first heard Chronic Town and was an instant fan), it is hard to believe these four icons of my youth are all in their fifties.

In his years in the public eye, Mr. Stipe has evolved from an eccentric Southern Gothic wallflower to a soy-latte-drinking, Patti-Smith texting jet-setter, but as Bob Dylan might say, "Hey Man, are you the same person you were in 1982?"

Stipe was also the driving force behind Rock Turtleneck's least favorite album of the Aughts: R.E.M.’s Reveal. My two regrets of the 00s are not taking any photos of my then-infant daughter on 9/11 so she would know she was there; and not throwing my new copy of Reveal out the window of my car and onto the Jersey Turnpike when I was done listening to it for the first time. I have tried listening to it several times since and find it both boring and irritating.

Anyway, ummm... back to Patti Smith. The Godmother of Punk was a huge influence on Stipe in his formative years and his remarkably close and pretentious friendship with her has been the defining characteristic of Stipe since the departure of Bill Berry from the band in 1997.

While I am not much of a fan of Smith’s music and find her incredibly overrated by mainstream rock critics (read my 2007, super-controversial take on Ms. Smith's election to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame here), she can be an extremely effective singer when given the right material.

Case in point: R.E.M.’s “E-Bow the Letter,” from their last great record, 1996's New Adventures in Hi-Fi. “E-Bow” refers to a guitar effect held in the player’s right hand that produces a bow-like sound, one of the hallmarks of the tune as played by Peter Buck. “The Letter” refers to the lyrics, supposedly taken from a letter Stipe wrote to doomed actor River Phoenix. Assuming this is true, it is one of the most non-linear, self-indulgent letters ever written from one celebrity to another. But it also makes for a great tune.

R.E.M. brought their friend and hero Patti onstage in 1998 during an MTV concert filmed at NYC’s Bowery Ballroom. Smith, looking like a cross between Mary Magdalene and Howard Stern, seems nervous and shy at first but by the end of the song, it’s like she’s banging out “Gloria” at CBGB.


Here Michael talks about his passion for Patti on a Parisian talk show. Following that, a run through of Iggy Pop's "I Wanna Be Your Dog" with Patti at the 2007 Hall of Fame ceremony, where both acts were inducted.



Ummm… Happy 50th Michael. Belong.