04.10.1980
USA, Athens, Tyrone's
The 20th Century Boys Vol. 2
good Soundboard

01. Just a Touch [2:18]
02. Nervous Breakdown [1:59]
03. A Girl Like You [2:04]
04. Dangerous Times [2:17]
05. There She Goes Again [2:48]
06. I Can Only Give You Everything [2:37]
07. All the Right Friends [3:45]
08. (Don't Go Back to) Rockville [3:45]
09. Bodycount [5:21]
10. Hippy Hippy Shake [1:34]
11. Action [1:58]
12. Narrator [2:48]
13. Smalltown Girl [2:31]
14. Gardening at Night [3:19]
15. Scherherazade [2:18]
16. Lisa Says [1:34]
17. Mystery to Me [2:11]
18. (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone [2:26]
19. Permanent Vacation [2:01]

Total Running Time: [49:38]

Lineage: presumed first generation cassette (source of 20th Century Boys Vol. 2 CD) > Nakamichi CR-7A azimuth-adjusted transfer (Feb 2008) > Peak 5.2 > FLAC

Notes:
"Bodycount 1980" or so reads the cassette case of what remains one of the best extant R.E.M. live sets from the very early days. This recording first appeared on the vinyl bootleg Bodycount at Tyrone's and later on the famous CD bootleg 20th Century Boys Vol. 2.
 
The original cassette used as the source for 20th Century Boys fell into JEMS' collective lap a while back and to the best of my knowledge this recording has never circulated directly from the tape source (meaning all known copies are derived from the above bootlegs).
 
I call it a "presumed first generation" based on the fact that side two of the tape contains another artist recorded in 1989. I have good reasons (that are not appropriate to share here) to believe both recordings were dubbed from the masters to this cassette by the original taper.
 
The order of the tracks listed above is how they appear on the tape, which is hand-labeled with several of the incorrect titles that first appeared on the bootlegs (e.g. "Narrator" is called "Jaque (sic) Cousteau"; "All the Right Friends" is called "Party Girl"). The track list differs from what's noted at the indispensable setlist resource REMTimeline.com (which has "Nervous Breakdown" first and "Just a Touch" second). The site also lists the set closing with "Gloria-Shakin' All Over-Respect" and "White Tornado," but those tracks aren't on the cassette.
 
The handwritten set list on the cassette case says "Route 66" is the last song after "Permanent Vacation", but only a fragment of the intro (literally someone saying "Route..." before it cuts) survives the recording.
 
The 20th Century Boys Vol. 2 CD omits "Nervous Breakdown" for some odd reason, but it is on this tape in the order noted.
 
Close listening to the tape reveals several cuts and stops so it is difficult to say if this order is accurate or even if all the tracks come from the same show (REMChronicle.com says "Stepping Stone" is from another unknown source). However, sonically they do sound like they come from the same show and the cassette is noted accurately below the set list as "Tyrone's O.C. 10/4/1980." Regardless, I do believe it is the best version of the recording to surface to date and it is two minutes and one song longer than the 20th Century Boys Vol. 2 CD.
 
There are some audio defects, especially in the first 10 minutes or so. Some sound like PA issues; others sound like tape noises. Given that the other side of the tape plays through perfectly, I believe the tape noises must have effected the master when it was being dubbed. The 20th Century Boys Vol. 2 CD has the same flaws.
 
Beyond all of the above, this is an amazing piece of R.E.M. history as the earliest known recording. And the few minor defects aside it sounds fantastic.