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living in Athens, he realized things weren't as happy there as everyone pretended, and that there was backstabbing going on. In 1993, he said, "Things really turned dark there when R.E.M. got famous, because everyone wanted that fame so bad. Maybe I wanted it too, but I had this musical goal all of my own and wasn't going to go along with the way it was done there." Everybody was telling him that he should be touring and building up a following before doing his record, like R.E.M. had done. However, more than making the record itself and becoming a rock star, Sweet's main motivation was to get money to buy studio gear.
423:
51:
38:, writing and recording three songs together. One of the compositions, "Tainted Obligation", was nearly released on a compilation album in 1986, and later appeared on bootlegs; it was released officially in 2002. Another Community Trolls' song, "Six Stock Answers", appeared in an unreleased indie film featuring Stipe, Sweet and some of their friends.
127:
Sometime in the autumn of 1983, Stipe and Sweet wrote at least three songs together. Of their songwriting process, Sweet has said: " was the real powerhouse behind it. I was pretty tentative in those days. We just sat around, Michael went through the little book he wrote lyrics in, with me just kind
41:
Community Trolls, who may have at times included additional band members, performed in public at least twice. By sometime in 1984, however, Sweet began distancing himself from the Athens music scene, and in 1985 he got a record deal and moved to New York. While some people accused him of using his
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and moved to New York City. He was accused of being opportunistic and using his Athens connections to get a record deal and leave. Sweet maintains that when he went to CBS, he never claimed to have anything to do with Athens, so that nobody could say he used the town. He says that after months of
430:
Although only Stipe and Sweet performed in the studio on "Tainted
Obligation", it is not clear whether other musicians may have sometimes been included in the band. Gray writes that "the line-up of the Community Trolls remains elusive, but Sweet was guitarist and singer". In the book
455:, and performed in New York, Florida and Georgia State to promote it. In the summer and November 1984, the Buzz of Delight recorded more songs, none of which were immediately released. (In 1990, one previously unreleased Buzz of Delight track appeared on the DB Records compilation
95:
R.E.M. put Sweet in touch with Easter, who wrote Sweet a number of long letters, and suggested he move to Athens after graduating from high school. Meanwhile, Stipe really liked Sweet's tape, and he also played it for his sister, Lynda, and friend
78:, "Sitting Still", and became a fan of the band. When R.E.M. performed in Lincoln in September 1982, Sweet went to the show. At that point R.E.M. were still relatively unknown, so there was almost nobody at the concert. Sweet met the band and gave
414:. Sweet performed with members of R.E.M. at least one other time while he was in Athens: When R.E.M. shared a bill with Oh-OK on October 3, 1983, at the University of Georgia's Legion Field, Sweet joined R.E.M. onstage and played guitar.
310:, but ultimately was left off. It was included on a UK cassette advance version of the compilation, but was removed before the album was officially released. In the early 1990s, the song surfaced as "Tainted Obligations" on R.E.M.
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in Athens in
September, 1983. On September 30, Community Trolls played a set between two R.E.M. sets at the Stitchcraft in Athens, performing four songs: "Six Stock Answers", "My Roof to Your Roof", "Tainted Obligation" and
514:. It was originally scheduled to come out in 1998, but its release was delayed until 2006. On March 26, 2011, Sweet and Mills performed the Big Star song "September Gurls" together live at a tribute to Big Star singer
265:
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Two other documented
Community Trolls' songs are entitled "Six Stock Answers" and "My Roof to Your Roof". "Six Stock Answers", whose vocals are by Stipe, was used in an unreleased low-budget forty-five-minute
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that fall, but only one of the tracks from the session, "Tainted
Obligation", has been officially released. Stipe plays accordion on the song, and Sweet acoustic guitar, with vocals by both.
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Sweet began distancing himself from other people in the Athens music scene and in 1984 quit Oh-OK; by 1985, the Buzz of
Delight had broken up. That year, Sweet got a record deal with
263:
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435:, their line-up is described as an "Athens-based, looseknit ensemble, which included Matthew Sweet, featured Michael Stipe's vocals on a handful of tracks".
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photographer Laura Levine, a friend of the members of R.E.M. Those with acting roles included Levine, Michael Stipe, Sweet, Hopper, Lynda Stipe, and R.E.M.'s
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154:
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377:, shows Michael Stipe wearing a skirt and tights flipping placards with the song's lyrics, "Six stock answers to 74,000 questions" repeated ad nauseam.
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Matthew Sweet (pictured here in 2006) moved to Athens, Georgia, to launch his music career in the early 1980s and formed
Community Trolls there
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in August 1983 with him on board. While a member of Oh-OK, Sweet also began collaborating with
Michael Stipe as the band Community Trolls.
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s plot has two rival bands performing on the same night, leading up to the climax question of "Which band is everybody going to go see?"
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Around the time as he was collaborating with Stipe, and while still a member of Oh-OK, Sweet began writing songs for another project,
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has said, "The guy wanted to make records. I don't see anything wrong with that." Years later, Sweet recorded with R.E.M.'s
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Athens music connections to get ahead and then desert the scene, R.E.M. did not hold any hard feelings towards him.
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critic Gavin
Edwards describes the song as "enchanting" and as having "harmonies as pretty as you can imagine".
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104:. All three sent Sweet postcards saying he should come perform in Athens, with Lynda and Linda inviting him to
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463:.) Meanwhile, Stipe continued his work with R.E.M., who were getting acclaim and success with their album
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Michael Stipe (pictured here in 2008) is one of two confirmed members of
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Party Out of Bounds: The B-52's, R.E.M., and the Kids Who Rocked Athens, Georgia
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for Oh-OK there. Sweet told his parents that he wanted to study at the
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1015:"Album Reviews: To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet"
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In 1986, "Tainted
Obligation" was planned for inclusion on the Zippo/
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996:"Indie Rock All Stars Recreate Big Star's Third Live in New York"
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R.E.M., for their part, held no hard feelings towards Sweet.
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980:(CD booklet). Matthew Sweet. Hip-O Records. 314 556 222-2.
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a tape of songs he had been working on. R.E.M. was from
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was the group name of a short-lived musical duo between
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They recorded their three compositions with producer
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To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet
978:
To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet
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To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet
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To Understand: The Early Recordings of Matthew Sweet
518:; Stipe also performed at this concert, singing "
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359:. One scene in the film, a parody of the "
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1080:"Squares Blot out the Sun: Review"
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1098:"REM, Ryan Adams join forces!"
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1116:Schinder, Scott, ed. (1996).
1013:Edwards, Gavin (2002-10-31).
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522:", by Chilton's 1960s group,
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1449:American country rock groups
1061:Michael Stipe: The Biography
908:REM, Ryan Adams join forces!
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328:. In a review of the album,
128:of strumming along behind."
100:, who were both in the band
36:Athens, Georgia, music scene
7:
1341:Time Capsule: Best of 90/00
957:Brown, Rodger Lyle (1991).
939:Reveal: The Story of R.E.M.
418:Possible other band members
361:Subterranean Homesick Blues
10:
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1295:Under the Covers, Vol. 3
1281:Under the Covers, Vol. 2
1267:Under the Covers, Vol. 1
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457:Squares Blot out the Sun
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1316:Wicked System of Things
936:Black, Johnny (2004).
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400:the Velvet Underground
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1037:Gray, Marcus (1997).
976:Calder, Jeff (2002).
511:Big Star, Small World
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243:Community Trolls and
110:University of Georgia
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1366:Son of Altered Beast
316:Stab It and Steer It
139:"Tainted Obligation"
132:"Tainted Obligation"
1423:The Buzz of Delight
1309:Tomorrow's Daughter
445:the Buzz of Delight
147:by Community Trolls
74:". Sweet loved its
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379:Just Like a Movie'
306:compilation album
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72:Radio Free Europe
60:Lincoln, Nebraska
58:As a teenager in
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1307:
1300:
1293:
1286:
1279:
1272:
1265:
1258:
1253:Kimi Ga Suki
1251:
1244:
1237:
1230:
1223:
1216:
1209:
1202:
1118:
1106:. Retrieved
1104:. 2006-05-18
1101:
1087:. Retrieved
1083:
1063:. Portrait.
1060:
1038:
1027:. Retrieved
1023:the original
1018:
1003:. Retrieved
999:
986:
977:
958:
938:
922:Donelan 2011
903:
891:
871:, p. 89
864:
859:, p. 81
852:
841:
812:
800:
788:
776:
764:
744:, p. 74
737:
731:Edwards 2002
726:
677:, p. 21
655:
537:
524:the Box Tops
516:Alex Chilton
509:
495:
487:
480:
474:
470:
464:
460:
456:
449:Soundcastles
448:
442:
432:
429:
411:
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395:40 Watt Club
393:outside the
388:
378:
372:
371:documentary
352:
348:
347:film called
341:
329:
323:
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307:
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294:
255:Audio sample
184:Country rock
153:
126:
116:
98:Linda Hopper
94:
87:
70:version of "
64:Mitch Easter
57:
40:
19:
18:
1189:Discography
886:, p. 8
884:Calder 2002
834:Calder 2002
817:Calder 2002
807:, p. 6
805:Calder 2002
675:Calder 2002
660:Calder 2002
629:, p. 5
627:Calder 2002
610:, p. 4
608:Calder 2002
595:, p. 3
593:Calder 2002
542:Calder 2002
490:CBS Records
308:Don't Shoot
238:Producer(s)
1443:Categories
1428:The Thorns
1391:Girlfriend
1288:Modern Art
1246:In Reverse
1218:Girlfriend
1108:2011-10-01
1089:2012-07-22
1029:2011-10-23
1005:2011-10-01
930:References
896:Brown 1991
869:Black 2004
857:Black 2004
648:Black 2004
520:The Letter
502:Mike Mills
498:Peter Buck
453:DB Records
357:Bill Berry
297:John Keane
245:John Keane
92:magazine.
46:Background
1408:The Specs
1122:. Delta.
793:Gray 1997
781:Gray 1997
769:Gray 1997
757:Gray 1997
719:Gray 1997
577:Cost 1993
482:Reckoning
439:Aftermath
369:Bob Dylan
173:Fall 1983
16:Rock band
1232:100% Fun
1084:Allmusic
1059:(2006).
508:tribute
506:Big Star
320:Chestnut
314:such as
312:bootlegs
170:Recorded
162:Released
68:Hib-Tone
1383:Singles
1323:Catspaw
391:busking
345:Super-8
1204:Inside
1126:
1067:
1045:
965:
946:
466:Murmur
190:Length
76:B-side
28:R.E.M.
1413:Oh-OK
1401:Bands
1211:Earth
846:Mason
530:Notes
212:Hip-O
207:Label
179:Genre
123:Songs
102:Oh-OK
1124:ISBN
1065:ISBN
1043:ISBN
963:ISBN
944:ISBN
473:and
402:'s "
318:and
281:help
276:file
228:and
145:Song
106:open
30:and
1358:EPs
1102:NME
367:'s
26:of
1445::
1100:.
1082:.
1017:.
998:.
914:^
876:^
824:^
749:^
697:^
682:^
667:^
634:^
615:^
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583:^
549:^
526:.
485:.
199:06
114:EP
1393:"
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1172:e
1165:t
1158:v
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1008:.
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952:.
197::
195:3
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