Release date: 14/07/1986 | Length: 1:58 | Release: Fall on Me | SuE: #214

As I will come to later, Fall on Me is R.E.M. fans’ favourite song [citation delivered]. Is it because of Rotary Ten, the b-side? No, no it is not, otherwise Rotary Ten would be R.E.M. fans’ favourite song, and Fall on Me would be languishing at #214.

However Rotary Ten is still a little fun. The instrumental bounces around Mike Mills’ heavy bass plucking and Peter Buck jangles out some dud notes. Buck described this song as being “a movie theme without a movie”, and it would kind of fit a comedy gangster film, from the early half of the 20th century. The ramshackle jazz and blues number was almost certainly devised in a warm-up jam, and was not written expecting anyone to ever write a hundred words about it. Sigh.