Community Trolls
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In 1983 Michael Stipe and Matthew Sweet wrote and recorded three songs together under the name Community Trolls.[1] One of the songs, "Tainted Obligation," was released on the 2002 Matthew Sweet compilation To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet.
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[edit] Background
As a teenager in Lincoln, Nebraska Sweet was a big fan of Mitch Easter. Easter had produced R.E.M.'s first single, the Hib-Tone version of "Radio Free Europe"—Sweet especially loved its b-side, "Sitting Still"—so when R.E.M. performed at The Drumstick in Lincoln in September 1982, Sweet went to the show.[1][2] At that point R.E.M. hadn't hit it big yet, so there was almost nobody at the concert. Sweet met the band and gave Michael Stipe a tape of songs he had been working on.[1][2] They also put him in touch with Mitch Easter. Sweet had read about the Athens, Georgia music scene in punk and New Wave magazines, and learned more about it from talking to R.E.M., who were from there, but Easter also told Sweet about the city and helped persuade him to move there.[1]
Meanwhile, Michael Stipe really liked Sweet's tape, and also played it for his sister Lynda Stipe. She invited Sweet to come open for her band Oh-OK in Athens. In the late spring of 1983, just before graduating from high school, he went down to Athens, and within a week was a member of Oh-OK, who recorded their E.P. Furthermore What that August with him onboard.[1] While a member of Oh-OK, Sweet also found time to collaborate with Stipe on the Community Trolls songs.
[edit] "Tainted Obligation"
| "Tainted Obligation" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Song by Community Trolls | ||
| from the album To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet | ||
| Released | October 1, 2002 | |
| Length | 3:06 | |
| Label | Hip-O Records | |
| Writer(s) | Michael Stipe and Matthew Sweet | |
| Producer(s) | Community Trolls and John Keane | |
Sometime in the autumn of 1983, Stipe and Sweet recorded their three song demo, but only "Tainted Obligation" has been released from that session. Stipe plays accordion and sings lead vocals, and Sweet plays acoustic guitar and does harmony vocals. Rolling Stone describes the song as "enchanting" with "harmonies as pretty as you can imagine."[3]
In 1986, "Tainted Obligation" was slated for, but was not ultimately released on, the Demon Records compilation album Don't Shoot,[4][5] which would feature such artists as John Doe, Top Jimmy & The Rhythm Pigs, The Divine Horsemen and Clay Allison.
In the early 1990s, the song would surface as "Tainted Obligations" on R.E.M. bootlegs such as Stab It and Steer It and Wolves, Lower.[6]
[edit] Live performances
[edit] The Stitchcraft
On September 30, 1983, Community Trolls opened for R.E.M. at the Stitchcraft in Athens, Georgia and played five songs: "Six Stock Answers" (sometimes known as "6 Stock Answers For 74,000 Questions"), "My Roof Your Roof," "Pale Blue Eyes," "Tainted Obligation" and "Sweet Jane."[7][8] Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Curtis Crowe may have performed with them.[9]
[edit] "Six Stock Answers" and "My Roof Your Roof"
The R.E.M.-related website remchronicle notes that these songs, which appear on bootlegs of the Stitchcraft show, have never been officially released.[8] The website R.E.M. Reconstruction of the Pop Songs 1980-2001 credits Stipe and Sweet as the songs' co-writers.[10][11] The website's authors met Sweet at a concert in Norway and asked him specifically about Community Trolls.[12]
[edit] "Pale Blue Eyes" and "Sweet Jane"
These are Velvet Underground songs, written by Lou Reed.
[edit] Other performances
They may have performed live on at least one other occasion in September 1983 at the 40 Watt Club in Athens, and Peter Buck and Curtis Crowe may have played with them this time too.[13] In addition, Sweet joined R.E.M. onstage on October 3 at the Legion Field in Athens to perform "Pale Blue Eyes"; Oh-OK was one of the opening acts for that show.[7][14]
The Community Trolls collaboration lasted only this very short period of time, and then Sweet began his next project, The Buzz of Delight, while Stipe continued his work with R.E.M.
[edit] Trivia
Years later, in 1996[15] or 1998,[16] Sweet would record with another member of R.E.M., Mike Mills, on the song "The Ballad of El Goodo," on the Big Star tribute Big Star Small World, which was finally released in 2006. Sweet sang vocals (and possibly played guitar), Mills played bass, and Jody Stephens played drums.[16][17]
[edit] Notes
- ^ a b c d e To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet liner notes.
- ^ a b Cost, Jud. "Sweet Emotion," reprinted from The BOB magazine #46, September 1993; accessed March 3, 2007.
- ^ Rolling Stone review of To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet; accessed January 31, 2007.
- ^ Schinder, Scott. Rolling Stone's Alt-Rock-A-Rama, 1996, Delta, p. 143.
- ^ The Matthew Sweet Discography: News and Information; accessed March 3, 2007.
- ^ The Matthew Sweet Discography: Unauthorized Releases; accessed March 3, 2007.
- ^ a b REM 1983 Concert Chronology; accessed February 13, 2007.
- ^ a b remchronicle September 30, 1983 Stichcraft show; accessed February 13, 2007.
- ^ R.E.M. Reconstruction of Pop Songs 1980-2001: I Took Your Name
- ^ R.E.M. Reconstruction of the Pop Songs 1980-2001: S Songs; accessed March 3, 2007.
- ^ R.E.M. Reconstruction of the Pop Songs 1980-2001: M Songs; accessed March 3, 2007.
- ^ R.E.M. Reconstruction of the Pop Songs 1980-2001: Half a World Away; accessed March 3, 2007.
- ^ remchronicle September 1983 40 Watt Club show; accessed February 13, 2007.
- ^ remchronicle October 3, 1983 Legion Field show; accessed February 13, 2007.
- ^ R.E.M. Reconstruction of the Pop Songs 1980-2001: B Songs; accessed March 3, 2007.
- ^ a b Information about Big Star Small World 1998 recording and planned release; accessed March 3, 2007.
- ^ The Matthew Sweet Discography: Compilations of Various Artists; accessed March 3, 2007.
