The Davidson-R.E.M. Connection

Like many college students in the early to mid 1980s, Davidsonians were fairly obsessed with R.E.M. The weekly campus newspaper, The Davidsonian, featured reviews of every R.E.M. album and local show (see the April 22, 1983, September 21, 1984, and September 21, 1987 issues for examples), and during the Spring 1983 semester, R.E.M. played at Davidson twice.

Interview with R.E.M. at Reflections Studio in Charlotte in the February 4, 1983 Davidsondian - a few days prior to the band's first show on campus.
Interview with R.E.M. at Reflections Studio in Charlotte in the February 4, 1983 Davidsonian – a few days prior to the band’s first show on campus.

R.E.M. played in the College’s 900 Room on February 5, 1983, and by all accounts the show was a major campus success – the room was packed to capacity and students had to be turned away. The band was had been in the area for a few weeks, recording their debut studio album Murmur at Charlotte’s Reflection Sound Studios (R.E.M. would return to Reflection the next year, to record their second album, Reckoning).

Ken Pooley (Class of 1985)'s February 14, 1983 Davidsonian article on the 900 Room show: "All things considered, R.E.M. was possibly the best thing to happen since Davidson best Chapel Hill in 1926 to win the state football championship."
Ken Pooley (Class of 1985)’s February 14, 1983 Davidsonian article on the 900 Room show: “All things considered, R.E.M. was possibly the best thing to happen since Davidson best Chapel Hill in 1926 to win the state football championship.”

After the show, Director of the College Union, C. Shaw Smith (Class of 1939, College Union Director 1953 – 1983, and namesake of the C. Shaw Smith 900 Room) received a postcard from the physical embodiment of Davidson’s connection to R.E.M. – Bertis Downs IV, then a recent Davidson College alumnus (Class of 1978) who began giving legal advice and assisting R.E.M. with contracts as a law student at the University of Georgia, after seeing the band’s second-ever show at Athens’ Kaffee Klub in April 1980. Downs’ father, Bertis Downs III, was also a Davidson alumnus (Class of 1953).

Downs to Smith, March 24, 1983: "Enjoyed seeing you last month - hope to again soon."
Downs to Smith, March 1983: “Enjoyed seeing you last month – hope to again soon.” Downs became R.E.M.’s  manager, taking over from previous manager Jefferson Holt in 1996, in addition to providing legal counsel. He is currently in charge of “orchestrat[ing] the afterlife of R.E.M.” (Bloomberg Business, “R.E.M.’s New Business Plan,” November 26, 2014)
After Murmur was released in April 1983 (and reviewed in the April 22 Davidsonian), R.E.M. returned to the Davidson campus, to play a larger venue – the Love Auditorium, in New Chambers, on Friday, May 6th.

The concert promotion in the April 29, 1983 Davidsonian notes that the February R.E.M. concert was so popular that Concert Chairman Jim Hoskins "had to turn students away. I didn't talk to anyone who didn't like it."
The concert promotion in the April 29, 1983 Davidsonian notes that the February R.E.M. concert was so popular that Concert Chairman Jim Hoskins “had to turn students away. I didn’t talk to anyone who didn’t like it.”
The Davidsonian has a long tradition of tongue-in-cheek humor - this special commencement issue of "The David'sStonedAgain" spoofed the recent R.E.M. feature.
The Davidsonian has a long tradition of tongue-in-cheek humor (still demonstrated today by The Yowl) – this special commencement issue of “The David’sStonedAgain” spoofed the prior R.E.M. feature.

In addition to numerous student newspaper references to R.E.M.’s perfomances and albums, the Davidson College Archives & Special Collections hold a copy of the band’s contract for the May 1983 performance. There are several interesting nuggets to pull out of the contract:

A copy of the show contract, signed April 25, 1983. C. Shaw Smith, as the College's representative, signed after repeatedly correcting references to Davidson College as the "employer" - preferred DC nomenclature is that the College was the "presenter" of bands, not the "employer."
A copy of the show contract, signed April 25, 1983. C. Shaw Smith, as the College’s representative, signed after repeatedly correcting references to Davidson College as the “employer” – preferred DC nomenclature is that the College was the “presenter” of bands, not the “employer.”
R.E.M. makes it clear in their contract - it is not an abbreviation or a word.
R.E.M. makes it clear in their contract – it is not an abbreviation or a word.
C. Shaw Smith is fine with the 8 large towels, but wants R.E.M. to know that "Davidson College provides refreshments as a courtesy - but not by contract."
C. Shaw Smith is fine with the 8 large towels, but wants R.E.M. to know that “Davidson College provides refreshments as a courtesy – but not by contract.”
The stage setup for R.E.M.'s spring 1983 shows.
The stage setup for R.E.M.’s spring 1983 shows.

Unfortunately, R.E.M. didn’t play at Davidson again after the Spring 1983 semester, but we here at Around the D can still be proud of the success alumnus Bertis Downs has found with the band. According to an interview with the Gwinett Daily Post in 2012, Downs’ love of music also fueled his Davidson activities:

At Davidson I had been on the concert committee and had a radio show. I was always interested in music but I was interested more in the business side of music: how does it work? You know, the inner-workings of the business, concerts etc.

Downs also recently wrote a reflection on Davidson College Basketball for the Davidson Journal. Downs remains an employee of R.E.M., and is a retired adjunct professor of entertainment law at the University of Georgia.

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