That and I was 11.
Iâm taking âruin the ozoneâ big. Haha 
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Isnât that Michaelâs sister Lynda?
No, donât think so. She also pops up in the Pop Song 89 video IIRC. You can see a bit more of her in that.
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As I recall, it was Michaels girlfriend, at the time, or an ex. Donât hold me to that, though.
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Another LMR here, I was 14 in 1991, and it sounded like nothing else Iâd heard. Out Of Time became the first album that I ever bought (ok, ok, weâre not including Pure Soft Metal hereâŚ), and never looked back.
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Another 1991, Losing My Religion story:
In early summer 1991, our class who just graduated from high school went all together for a small vacation in Elba, Italy. Yes the same small island that could not hold Napoleon back from wreaking additional havoc after he got banned to it.
So in this small town on the southern end of the island there was one bar - it was pretty much the only one - where we went to and besides a pool table it also had a jukebox.
Someone - surely not from our group of just graduated high school students - put Losing My Religion on and from that point on I spent most of my pool table money on the jukebox instead and watched the others play pool while listening.
Once getting home from the vacation I immediately grabbed Out Of Time from the record store.
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My sister and I went to see them at The Pier in Raleigh on July 21, 1980. I had no clue who they were and there were maybe 40-50 people there (if memory serves) but they definitely had chemistry from the get-go and got the crowd moving. The Pier was the only place in Raleigh where you could see up and coming bands and we used to go there a lot. I met Michael a couple of years ago and told him about attending; he said he remembered the gig but I think he was being polite. 
I canât tell you how many times Iâve seen them since then; literally lost count.
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1982
Wolves Lower
My college roommate was the program director at KJHK, the college station in Lawrence, KS. He brought home a tape of Chronic Town and said, "âŚcheck these guys outâŚâWolves Lowerâ came on and I stopped what I was doing. âGardening At Nightâ came on and I took a knee. As a music fan, âChronic Townâ changed me.
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Man, WQDR, I havenât thought about that in ages! Thank God for them because Raleigh was a music backwater in the 70s and they were salvation to those of us yearning to be free of junk, mainstream radio.
Arrogance played my prom in 1976; hadnât thought about that one in awhile either.
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Song: Nightswimming
Year: 1993 (age 14)
Where: Summer camp in Northern Idaho, USA
How: as the sun was going down each day, my camp counselor would say âI have to listen to MY songâ and sheâd turn on the van and rewind the tape and listen to just Nightswimming. Being raised on classical music, I was immediately drawn to it because I heard the strings and oboe. She would say, âsuch a beautiful song⌠SUCH a beautiful song.â
But I didnât know who or what R.E.M. was, and going to church school, Iâd been told all rock music was bad. I did remember the album cover, though. A year later, my older brotherâs friends played Out of Time for me and I loved it, and then a couple of months after that I saw a classmate wearing a T-shirt with the AFTP cover on it and I realized it was the SAME BAND and I begged my mom to take me to the mall to get it on cassette tape.
It took something special for music to find me when I was young, and I will always love R.E.M. for wanting to remove barriers for kids like me.
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My sister had a copied tape in about 1989. One side was Inxs - Kick, one side was R.E.M. - Green. I âborrowedâ it one time going to school for my Walkman⌠Green blew me away⌠I was 12. Then found out she had the 7â single âStandâ with the stencil
On the front. So I âborrowedâ that too and still have it!
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The actual first time was probably something stupid, like Everybody Hurts in the SNL skit with Bon Dole on the Real World. But the time I remember is in guitar class, 11th grade, we learned to play The One I Love. Most of my musical taste before that was Weird Al and whatever I could tape off the radio, so it was fun to actually find and explore a band. This coincided with my college search, and every time I went on a tour and we went to the bookstore afterwards, instead of getting some piece of branded memorabilia, I hit the racks looking for REM albums.
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Pretty sure the first time I listened to R.E.M. was on the radio. 7 Chinese brothers on kind of cult night radio show. I was a kid and completely forgot about it, only remembered it years later.
First time they caught my attention was also on the radio, also a night show but a much more mainstream one, and the song was no other than âyou are the everythingâ. I was 12 back then and became obsessed. Since then I feel R.E.M. is a part of me and I canât imagine my life without their music.
When they said goodbye, totally understood, but a part of me died that day⌠no more new song, no more tour to wait for. Glad they are happy with that, but always regret missing their last tour⌠only if I knew, would have cross the ocean to see their last show in Mexico, even if I had to swimm.
Sorry for the long post and for sharing so much.
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I also have a vague memory of hearing Stand as a kid.
The first time I remember taking notice of R.E.M. was the Read poster that I remember seeing at various libraries.
The first time I remember paying attention to R.E.M. musically would have been in 1994 when I first saw the video for WTFK which blew my mind a bit. That inspired me to want to play guitar. True story.
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I was hooked in that time between Out of Time and Automatic, but that Kenneth video inspired me to pick up the bass, too. Still working on the Manuel suit.
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This was my âfirstâ too - thank you for posting the video 
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As a kid of the 80s, my parents didnât believe in Cable but my grandma did. I remember watching (age 10) MTV and the video for Stand came on. It intrigued me. The ambiguous name, the cut of the four of them jumping, the FUN of the song. I must have seen it a lot because it stuck with me. I wasnât able to buy music but a couple years later, AFTP was the first CD I ever bought, and well here I am.
I know Stand can get criticism for being a âdumb pop songâ* but it holds a special place in my heart. I was fortunate to see them play it live in '99 in Cleveland.
*Something Iâve always liked is that the band has never taken themselves too seriously and were never above putting out a song like Stand
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The young woman with the dark blonde curls on the stairs with the same face as Michael is his sister. The darker haired woman hanging on the tree is Caroline Wallner who Michael recently worked with on his latest photo book and she was a girlfriend of his for a couple of years I guess around the time of The One I Love.
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Carolineâs pottery is something else. You can see some of it on her Instagram. Login ⢠Instagram
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