Discover

'''Dead Letter Office''' is a rarities and B-sides collection by R.E.M., released in 1987. The album effectively mops up many of the additional recordings R.E.M. made pre-''Murmur'' to ''Lifes Rich Pageant'' that were outtakes or released as flip sides to their singles internationally. Many of the tracks are favorite cover versions indicating the band's disparate influences and musical tastes, including three Velvet Underground covers, and songs by Pylon, Aerosmith and Roger Miller.
Guitarist Peter Buck composed wry, self-deprecating (and, in one instance, apologetic) liner notes to the songs on ''Dead Letter Office''.
The album was initially issued as a 15-song collection on vinyl and cassette, but when its CD edition appeared (now the only available edition of ''Dead Letter Office''), the legendary (and rare) ''Chronic Town'' EP from 1982 was slotted in.
''Dead Letter Office'' originally reached #52 in the U.S. and #60 in the UK.

Contents

Track listing

''The IRS Years'' reissue

Notes

Charts

External links

Track listing

All songs written by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills and Michael Stipe, except as indicated.
# "Crazy" (Randy Bewley, Vanessa Briscoe, Curtis Crowe, Michael Lachowski) – 3:03
#
★ B-side of Driver 8 7 inch & Wendell Gee 7 & 12 inch
# "There She Goes Again" (Lou Reed) – 2:50
#
★ B-side of I.R.S. Radio Free Europe 7 inch
# "Burning Down" – 4:12
#
★ B-side of Wendell Gee 7 & 12 inch
# "Voice of Harold"¹ – 4:24
#
★ B-side of So. Central Rain 12 inch
# "Burning Hell" – 3:49
#
★ B-side of Can't Get There From Here 12 inch
# "White Tornado" – 1:55
#
★ B-side of Superman 7 & 12 inch
# "Toys in the Attic" (Steven Tyler, Joe Perry) – 2:28
#
★ B-side of Fall On Me 12 inch
# "Windout" (Jerry Ayers, Berry, Buck, Mills, Stipe) – 1:58
#
★ Appears on Bachelor Party Soundtrack
# "Ages of You" – 3:42
#
★ B-side of Wendell Gee 7 & 12 inch
# "Pale Blue Eyes" (Reed) – 2:53
#
★ B-side of So. Central Rain 12 inch
# "Rotary Ten" – 2:00
#
★ B-side of Fall on Me 7 inch
# "Bandwagon" (Berry, Buck, Mills, Lynda Stipe, M. Stipe) – 2:16
#
★ B-side of Can't Get There From Here 7 & 12 inch
# "Femme Fatale" (Reed) – 2:49
#
★ B-side of Superman 12 inch
# "Walters Theme" – 1:32
#
★ B-side of So. Central Rain 7 inch
# "King of the Road"² (Roger Miller) – 3:13
#
★ B-side of So. Central Rain 7 inch
# "Wolves, Lower" – 4:10
# "Gardening at Night" – 3:29
# "Carnival of Sorts (Boxcars)" – 3:54
# "1,000,000" – 3:06
# "Stumble" – 5:40
Note that tracks 16–20 were originally released on the ''Chronic Town'' EP in 1982 and added to CD edition of ''Dead Letter Office''.

''The IRS Years'' reissue

On January 26 1993, EMI (which owns the I.R.S. catalogue) re-released ''Dead Letter Office'' with two bonus tracks:
#

"Gardening at Night" (Acoustic version)
# "All the Right Friends"

Notes

¹ Features the backing track of "7 Chinese Bros." with Stipe reading the liner notes from the back cover of a gospel album (''The Joy Of Knowing Jesus'') by The Revelaires.
² Buck says this track was recorded extemporaneously during a recording session while the band was drunk. It consists mostly of Stipe fumbling through the lyrics as Buck and Mills try to arrive at the same key.

Charts

'Album'

Year	Chart	Position
1987	The Billboard 200	52 (14 weeks on chart)
1987	UK Albums Chart	60 (2 weeks on chart)

'Single'

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1987	"Ages of You"	Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	39

External links

★