R.E.M., the alternative rock band from Athens, Georgia, released the 1983 album Murmur. It was the group’s debut studio album and helped turn the emerging Athens music scene into a major force in American alternative rock.
Murmur arrived on April 12, 1983, through I.R.S. Records. Michael Stipe’s enigmatic vocals, Peter Buck’s chiming guitar, Mike Mills’s melodic bass, and Bill Berry’s restrained drumming created a sound that stood apart from the louder hard-rock styles of the period. Producers Don Dixon and Mitch Easter recorded the album in North Carolina.
The album’s lead single was a re-recorded version of “Radio Free Europe,” originally released by R.E.M. as an earlier independent single. Murmur reached number 36 on the Billboard album chart and was later certified gold. Its cover featured kudzu, while the original back cover showed an Athens railroad trestle. The B-52’s and Pylon were also associated with Athens, but neither released Murmur.