R.E.M.’s original 1981 “Radio Free Europe” single was released by the independent label Hib-Tone.
The band recorded the song in April 1981 at Mitch Easter’s Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Hib-Tone, an Atlanta-based independent label founded by Jonny Hibbert, issued the single in July 1981 with “Sitting Still” on the B-side.
The first pressing consisted of 1,000 copies, including 600 promotional copies. Demand quickly exhausted that run, so another 6,000 copies were pressed. The limited release attracted strong critical attention and helped establish R.E.M. beyond the Athens, Georgia, scene.
A frequent mistake is choosing I.R.S. Records, because that label released R.E.M.’s later *Chronic Town* EP and much of the group’s early catalog. “Radio Free Europe” was subsequently re-recorded for the band’s 1983 debut album, *Murmur*, but the original single belongs to Hib-Tone.