Following a lengthy break, the band recruited multi-instrumentalist Martin McCarrick and guitarist Jon Klein . The quintet recorded a multifaceted album, Peepshow in 1988, with non-traditional rock instrumentation including cello and accordion . Q magazine praised the album in its 5-star review: ” Peepshow takes place in some distorted fairground…
Read More
The band continued as a three-piece, with Wire switching from rhythm guitar to bass, and in 1988 they released their first single, ” Suicide Alley “. Despite its poor recording quality, this single provides an early insight into both Bradfield’s guitar work and Moore’s live drumming. NME gave “Suicide Alley”…
Read More
At the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) 1988 Awards ceremony, Midnight Oil won ” Best Cover Art ” for Diesel and Dust and both ” Best Single ” and ” Best Song ” for ” Beds Are Burning “. A fracas developed between Morris, accepting awards for Midnight Oil, and…
Read More
Something Happens’ first release was the self-released “Two Chances” EP, which attracted the attention of Virgin Records . After initially declining the label, the band agreed to a second proposal and released a live EP, I Know Ray Harman , in 1988.
Woodward left the band in early 1988, reportedly because he believed that the band were moving away from their punk roots.
Following the 1988 American tour in support of Diesel and Dust with Australian band Yothu Yindi , Midnight Oil launched the Building Bridges – Australia Has A Black History album with various artists contributing, including Paul Kelly , Scrap Metal , Coloured Stone, Hunters & Collectors , James Reyne ,…
Read More
Don Gehman was unable to produce R.E.M.’s fifth album, so he suggested the group work with Scott Litt . Litt would become the producer for the band’s next five albums. Document (1987) featured some of Stipe’s most overtly political lyrics, particularly on “Welcome to the Occupation” and “Exhuming McCarthy”, which…
Read More
At the 1988 Brit Awards , at the Royal Albert Hall , the band were given the British Phonographic Industry ‘s Lifetime Achievement Award. The short set they played there was the last time Jones played with the Who until 2014.
All the remaining material from the singles and EPs that had not appeared on these thirteen studio albums was gathered on the two-volume compilation Past Masters (1988).
Frustrated that its records did not see satisfactory overseas distribution, R.E.M. left I.R.S. when its contract expired and signed with the major label Warner Bros. Records . Though other labels offered more money, R.E.M. ultimately signed with Warner Bros.—reportedly for an amount between $6 million and $12 million—due to the…
Read More