#2: Shiny Happy People by R.E.M.

City: Hamilton, ON
Radio Station: CKOC
Peak Month: October 1991
Peak Position in Hamilton ~ #1
Peak position in Vancouver ~ #7
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #10
YouTube: “Shiny Happy People”
Lyrics: “Shiny Happy People”

R.E.M. is a band from Athens, Georgia, formed in 1980. Drummer William “Bill” Berry was born in Duluth (MN) in 1958. His family spent some years variously in Wisconsin and then Ohio, before moving to Macon (GA) in 1972. In high school he met guitar player Mike Mills. Born in Orange County (CA), Mills moved with his family to Georgia when he was six months old. Mills and Berry formed a band called Shadowfax, which later became The Back Door Band. Lead vocalist, Michael Stipe, was born in Decatur (GA) in 1960. Like Mike Mills, he was raised in a military family. When Stipe was in university, he met store clerk and guitar player Peter Buck. The pair formed a band and were later joined by Berry and Mills. Peter Buck was born in 1956 in Berkeley (CA). His family moved to Georgia where he attended public school.

In 1982, the band released an EP titled Chronic Town. It included their debut single “Radio Free Europe”. In 1983, R.E.M. released their debut album titled Murmur. In the following years, R.E.M. developed a strong following on college radio. In 1985 their single “Cant Get There from Here” climbed to #110 on the Billboard Hot 100, and cracked the Top 100 RPM singles chart in Canada. But it was on their fifth studio album release in 1987 titled Document, that the band had a Top 40 hit. “The One I Love” made the Top Ten in Ireland, New Zealand, and the USA, and the Top 20 in Canada, the Netherlands, South Africa and the UK. The next track issued as a single from Document was “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”.

In 1988, R.E.M. released the album Green. From the album came “Orange Crush”, reaching #5 in New Zealand, #15 in Australia, #21 in Ireland, and number-one on both the Billboard Alternative Airplay (8 weeks) and Mainstream Rock (2 weeks) charts. In early 1989, R.E.M. followed up with “Stand”. The single shot to #6 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #1 on both the Alternative Airplay and Mainstream Rock charts in the USA. “Stand” also climbed to #8 in Canada, and #17 in Ireland.

In 1991, R.E.M. had a #4 hit on the Hot 100 with “Losing My Religion”. The single from the Out of Time album repeated the feat of topping the Billboard Alternative Airplay and Mainstream Rock charts. Internationally, the single peaked at #1 in Belgium and the Netherlands, #3 in France and Sweden, #4 in Norway, #5 in Ireland, #6 in Austria and Canada, #8 in Italy, #9 in Denmark, and #11 in Australia and Switzerland. It also won two Grammy Awards in 1992.

A second track from Out of Time, was “Shiny Happy People”. It included guest vocals from the B-52s Kate Pierson.

A featured singer with R.E.M. on “Shiny Happy People” is Kate Pierson. Born in 1948 along the Hudson River in Weehawken, New Jersey, and after earning a journalism degree travelled to Europe. Returning to America, she lived on a farm near Athens, Georgia, and earned a living as a paste-up artist in the type shop of the local newspaper. She was a founding member of the B-52s in 1976, whose hit records include “Rock Lobster”, “Roam”, and “Love Shack”. She continues to perform with the B-52s.

“Shiny Happy People” was written by the R.E.M. bandmates. Pierson interpreted the line “throw your love around” to mean “to share your love and grow your love with others. It’s not mindless at all. It’s a song about spreading love.” The song is an optimistic pop song that includes a waltz-time break and power pop vibes. In 1999, R.E.M. performed this on Sesame Street as “Furry Happy Monsters.” Though some critics suggest the song title comes from government of China posters around the time of the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising, Kate Pierson disagreed. She told a reporter, the song is “supposed to be shiny and happy … So I can’t imagine that R.E.M. was thinking at the time, ‘Oh, we want this song to be about Chinese government propaganda.'”

The song offers images of flowers growing, people holding hands, happy people laughing… The lyrics make this appeal: “Everyone around, love them, love them…. There’s no time to cry, happy, happy. Put it in your heart where tomorrow shines. Gold and silver shine.”

“Shiny Happy People” peaked at #1 in Hamilton (ON), #2 in San Francisco, #5 in Bloomsbury (PA), #7 in Los Angeles, Vancouver (BC), and New York City, and #9 in Tempe (AZ).

“Shiny Happy People” was a Top Ten hit in Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, the UK, and USA. It also climbed to #12 in Finland, and #14 in Austria and Sweden.

Through the 1990s R.E.M. remained popular selling albums that all went platinum multiple times, depending on the country. Automatic For the People included the single “Drive”, which topped the Alternative Airplay charts in the USA. It also was a Top Ten hit in Canada, Greece, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, and Switzerland. “Drive” stalled at #11 in Austria, Finland and the UK, and #13 in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.

A second track from Automatic For the People was “Man on the Moon”. The single topped the pop charts in Iceland, and was a Top Ten hit in Canada, the Netherlands and New Zealand. While a third single from the album, “Everybody Hurts” was a Top Ten hit in Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK, and a #12 hit in New Zealand.

In 1994, the band released Monster. From the album came “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” The single topped the pop chart in Iceland, and reached the Top Ten in Canada, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Scotland and the UK. Subsequent releases from the album, “Bang and Blame” and “Strange Currencies” were both Top Ten hits in multiple countries internationally.

In 1996, New Adventures in Hi-Fi was another international best-selling album. “E-Bow the Letter” and “Bittersweet Me” were both international hit singles. And in 1997, Up featured the single “Daysleeper” which was a number-one hit in Iceland and a Top Ten hit in four other countries. However, in the USA more and more of the band’s single releases were hits on the Alternative Airplay chart. In the 2000s, “Imitation of Life”, “Bad Day”, “Leaving New York” and “Supernatural Superserious” topped the Alternative Airplay charts, while only two of these cracking the Billboard Hot 100 – with the first of these stalling at #83, and the last stalling at #85 (but #1 in Norway). “Leaving New York” reached #2 in Italy, #3 in Hungary, #4 in Spain, and #5 in Croatia and the UK. While “Bad Day” was a Top Ten hit in Belgium, Croatia, Italy, the Netherlands, Scotland, Spain, and the UK, and a #11 hit in Ireland and Norway. While “Imitation of Life” was a Top Ten hit internationally in eight countries.

R.E.M.s last hit single was “We All Go Back to Where We Belong”. While it didn’t chart in the USA in 2011, it climbed that year to #8 in Venezuela.

August 21, 2024
Ray McGinnis

References:
Michael Hann, “Old Music: R.E.M. – feeling gravity’s pull,” Guardian, November 15, 2012.
Michael Hann, “‘I’m a pretty good pop star’: Michael Stipe on his favourite R.E.M. songs,” Guardian, January 19, 2018.
Mike Mills, “Exclusive: Mike Mills on why R.E.M. are calling it quits,” Rolling Stone, September 26, 2011.
“Kate Pierson talks to Adam May,” Al Jazeera, April 30, 2015.
Devon Ivie, “Kate Pierson Still Likes to Think ‘Shiny Happy People’ Was a ‘Little Homage to the B-52’s’,” Vulture, March 11, 2021.

CKOC 1150-AM Hamilton (ON) Top Ten | October 9, 1991