REM - Superman live 10/21/86 w/ writer Gary Zekley

[@subwaygoddess1]

I just donated convalescent plasma and a friend said "you are Superman!" So, here I am! Love R.E.M. 4Ever ✌💙

[@chrisbrowne8645]

Love that they performed with the guy who wrote the song

[@sydneyzekley]

Dad immortalized. Thanks for posting this.

[@souldeep69]

Big fan of your dad's for forever, Sydney. Yellow Balloon, Fun n' Games, two of the best Grass Roots hits. Great songwriter. Really good to see him acknowledged and having fun. Glad you got to see it. Zekley/Bottler always meant magic to me.

[@sydneyzekley-p4v]

thank you so very much@@souldeep69

[@lametube01]

He is Superman

[@ineedanewname9595944]

One of my favorite songs!!!! So glad to find it with the original writer! Too cool!!!!

[@mbuchart2927]

Mr. Zekley out-Michaels Michael in showmanship in this performance!

[@countrypaul]

Gary Zekley was totally under-appreciated in his time. Maybe this will help folks remember.

[@Oh_I_Will]

Maybe by you….F-idiot

[@Issicra]

I love the Life's Rich Pageant era.

[@stratboy518]

That’s a man having a blast. Imagine writing this song and decades later the biggest band in America records it. Fuq yeah!! 🤙🏼

[@awbjr9871]

Sounds like a great show. REM from the 80s and 10000 Maniacs with Natalie. Awesome!

[@RFC3514]

I like how seriously Stipe takes his "Superman" mime. "I must raise both arms so that deaf people know who this song is about."

[@Blackscorpion1963]

One of my favorite songs from R.E.M. The groooooooove of this song so rocks. And how about the harmonic vocals? Move it on over Beach Boys...

[@dennisandvicki]

I'd do the happy dance too if I wrote this song. Absolute classic, thanks for posting!!

[@sallybrown4947]

REM didn't write this song. This is nothing but a cover. It came out in 69 by the group Clique.

[@maxc9045]

Love watching old REM footage. Happy days from years gone by.

[@nicoletisha]

One of my favorite R.E.M. songs. This video made me love it more! :D

[@barrybland-hoven4582]

It's not a silly song it is a song about being your own hero. Charting your own path and using your skill and superpowers to overcome obstacles in life.

[@Strudelmill]

Yeah, that's not quite it. Happy Birthday, friend?

[@robmunro1065]

god bless the recording studio

[@auggiepup98]

been rem fan since hs, and i agree the pageant era is the best, went to green tour with my pop, and now my kids are asking me to play "that superman song" again and again...thanks for info on the clique, have to do some long overdue research...how could this song NOT make a person happy?... and i love the spontaneity of live music...fire alarms? awsome, but so true, hilarious...

[@kaisersteev]

everytime I look up a sweet early live REM song it's in my hometown two years before I was born.

[@camlisa100]

Yeah, MS's voice is one-of-a-kind, deep, strong and haunting, but MM's voice makes me happy, it's got a sweet quality. Wished he'd sung lead maybe once per album.

[@Turissss]

I agree with you

[@gregcurtis3829]

A Keith Richards kinda thang

[@JStarStar00]

He did sing lead about one song per album.

[@Groundhog2265]

Saw REM (first time) 1987 Knoxville TN. they played this song. 10,000 Maniacs opened, they kicked ass!

[@denofbob]

I was at this show -- a great moment captured!

[@michaelsix9684]

one of my favorite dance songs, such a great memory

[@OleksiiM]

@TomFromJersey REMs 'Superman' is one of my all-time favorites too!

[@keithm940]

I saw the same leg of that tour in Detroit. It was a great show, but I really only knew RFE, which they did not play. I had a midterm the next day, but I wanted to have some fun my first year at college. This was it.

[@TonyLovell]

A wonderful song, and Gary has an AMAZING voice and panache

[@debby631]

❤2023 still enjoying this jem😊

[@40klad83]

This music was used for the ending theme to a CSI:NY episode. And in this context it is very moving & emotional. It's Det. Flack & other NYPD officer in pursuit & capturing A bad guy, then shifts to the lab, where the CSI crew is analyzing data & collecting evidence. And I thought that was really cool, the Episode is called "Superheroes" , It affected me so much that I found tears rolling down my face!! Thank you REM & Thank you CSI:NY for creating for me a priceless memory.

[@db60014]

I was there that nite. Stipe had the audience all doing his superman arm thing. Then tried faking us out near the end. Great stuff!

[@PARKGRUBBS]

Yes, Gary co wrote and produced the Clique LP. SUPERMAN is the best thing on there and REM did a pretty good cover. Go find the original and listen to it as well.

[@ec1385]

Frankenstein on back-up vocals.

[@subwaygoddess1]

Today is 10/21/21 Happy Anniversary to this performance!! ✌🎵💙

[@ineedanewname9595944]

Thank you for sharing!!!!❤

[@exocet2000]

This is so cool. just having fun.

[@brianmason9361]

EVERY CHRISTIAN LION-HEARTED MAN WILL SHOW YOU. The Bee gees.

[@michaelsix9684]

sure miss this band, the Ramones, the Cars -- really great acts

[@smallchico]

I'm not a big fan of live videos but I love this one because of his enthusiasm

[@TomFromJersey]

@quartzy One of my all-time favorites!

[@SIRROSLYNPARKS]

This is a once in a life Tim Moment ! Wow FKING GREAT

[@soulscanner66]

Dude! I totally, totally "get" your message; awesome!

[@LTF6161]

Wait. Neither of these guys sang lead on the original recordings. Mills sang lead for REM and Randy Shaw sang lead on the B side of Sugar on Sunday for the Clique.

[@galoon]

Absolutely--I first heard REM's "Superman" at my first frat party when I was a freshman in college in 1988! You can hear the '60s sound in it, though--Gary Zekley originally wrote it for the Clique in '69. He had done some writing with Jan & Dean before that.

[@sarahm.5356]

Take a listen to this song, "Every Christian Lion-Hearted Man", by the Bee Gees. It's from their first album, from 1967. m.kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y3zdnHyHpNOZoZo

[@galoon]

@@sarahm.5356 Great song! I'd never heard that one before--interesting how its harmonies and chord progressions in the chorus are similar to Superman. I like the echo too--saved it to my favorites--thanks Sarah!

[@billysings]

I much prefer the original by The Clique from 1969 which is here on KZbin. It certainly works well for R.E.M. and even better for the great sunshine music band from Texas. Also, if you like that pop factor in this song, check the Clique version of "Sugar on Sunday". You will be haunted by its chorus.

[@JStarStar00]

Ironic because late-period (1990s/2000s) Michael Stipe is a dead ringer for ... Lex Luthor.

[@twasbrillig33]

aaha HAHAHA HAHAHAHAHA!! so true!!

[@reallyrarestuff]

And don't forget The Clique's other unknown track "I'll Hold Out My Hand"

[@randyn98]

Why the hell is the camera on Stipe the whole time when Mills is singing lead?

[@Lifeblesser]

Maybe 'cause no one has ever seen Gary Zekley before (unless they were Clique fans)?

[@hsad1234]

Wish Mike Mills sang leaad more often

[@Jenni4Design]

haha, I can remember my little brother running around trying to jump off furniture whenever my Dad played this song

[@die_melonbros9548]

I AM I AM SUPERMAN I CAN DOOOOO ANYTHING AAAAANNNNITHING !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@lostmyshu]

😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍

[@paullagasse5504]

A little smug from mr mills this is the guy who wrote superman...and now were gonna make him rich .really mike ...awesome performance though always loved this song and love Michaels superman moves

[@turntapzap]

Very cool!

[@meatcigars]

Do any of you know that the co-singer is the guy who wrote "Superman" back in the '60s for the band "The Clique"?

[@snidelywhiplash]

He might be a goober, but he wrote the song. It's actually a cover of a song by a band called The Clique.

[@sammytrip]

makes me happy too

[@duanekuiper]

Good times! Freshman year at Wittenberg Univesity-1983-they played -fan ever since!

[@HagerTX]

And if I got a chance to sing on stage with REM, I'd bet I'd spaz out even worse than that guy.

[@MattHazardPS4]

🎸

[@whatdidoursurveysay]

I'll say it. I like R.E.M.'s cover better than the Clique's original. Come at me.

[@todds79jag]

No you’re right ... originals a lil painful

[@reubenlouismusic]

noah hawley's cover throws both the original and this cover out of the window tbh

[@Zenbuck2]

Still like the original best. Love REMs but, the original was grittier and the awesome bass line was more prominent.

[@dynjarren8355]

Too Cool for School! 😮

[@rolando_j_]

Weird video. It's Mike Mills song and the video is on Stipe singing back up. Stipe even said as much before the song started.

[@OleManBourbon]

There was a time when there was no internet. . . good times. . .

[@sexobscura]

and you'd have no KZbin too

[@charliestubbs6151]

@@sexobscura so be it bro

[@REMchout]

It's a pop song...'nuff said.

[@TheProhetess]

yeah, so am I

[@davepaine1166]

That's exactly my That's exactly motherfuking right

[@davepaine1166]

There's no self in US

[@doomrat]

Gary has the ultimate dad dance moves

[@sydneyzekley-p4v]

Gary is my dad. And Yes his dance moves are Epic

[@turksezen]

Nice cover, but I think I like the original version by The Clique better

[@jamfab1]

@harvestdanny I was there too.

[@djtrixen]

@themooddisorders nope but the guy singing with them here did.

[@TimTompkins]

that guys such a goober they're singin w/

[@TomFromJersey]

@quartzy I actually like the lyrics a lot

[@derhajnali6215]

If I could do anything... REunion Member

[@theyoungflyer]

i could kick myself for not going to this show go huskies! ; )

[@atomeyes99]

The 80s were a decade of musicians not knowing what the hell to do with their arms, wasn't it?

[@AngieOwlglass]

[@vegetablehead]

doing research, i have corrected myself. thought gary was a member of the clique. not so. gary died of a heart attack at age 53, ten years after this performance. way too young.

[@鶴見五郎丸]

Gary は、The Clique のメンバーだった人だよね。

[@TomFromJersey]

@meatcigars Yes

[@themooddisorders]

@quartzy We all know REM didn't write this song.

[@RamesesBolton]

Stephen Ireland

[@quartzy4914]

This song is just silliness. It's not very good lyrically, but it has a certain charm.

[@allmenarepirates]

john bonham is the best drummer ever. this song is moving.

[@charliestubbs6151]

i know you posted this nine years ago but huh????

[@Kapricorn1]

this song is the ducking mutts nuts :-D

[@maddymud]

Camper Van blown away? Never. Ever. I saw Camper Van blow that horrible spinner girl, 10,000 morons or something. Yech.

[@bellahoughton84]

"U don't really love that guy you're making with do you?" Ridiculous lyrics for 1986.

[@minimcewen]

I saw them before they were famous playing a small college in Wilmington, N.C. in '85. Stipe was a 'wipe' back then, too. Getting upset b/c people were jeering during one of his prolonged intro's. If he's so 'touchy' perhaps they should have thought twice about playing at college's with drunk college students. Good music: wimpy people.

[@frenchwv]

Bwaahahahaahah!!!

[@jamfab1]

@harvestdanny I was there too.