{"id":155346,"date":"2025-05-02T12:05:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T16:05:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2025\/05\/02\/r-e-m-release-five-track-radio-free-europe-benefit-ep-celebrating-75th-anniversary-of-service-imperiled-by-proposed-trump-cuts\/"},"modified":"2025-05-02T12:05:25","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T16:05:25","slug":"r-e-m-release-five-track-radio-free-europe-benefit-ep-celebrating-75th-anniversary-of-service-imperiled-by-proposed-trump-cuts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cyberlego.com\/web\/2025\/05\/02\/r-e-m-release-five-track-radio-free-europe-benefit-ep-celebrating-75th-anniversary-of-service-imperiled-by-proposed-trump-cuts\/","title":{"rendered":"R.E.M. Release Five-Track \u2018Radio Free Europe\u2019 Benefit EP Celebrating 75th Anniversary of Service Imperiled By Proposed Trump\u00a0Cuts"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\tR.E.M.<\/a> have released a five-track benefit EP featuring three remixes of their landmark 1981 debut single, \u201cRadio Free Europe,\u201d ahead of Saturday\u2019s (May 3) World Press Freedom Day. The collection also features the song\u2019s original b-side, \u201cSitting Still\u201d and instrumental \u201cWh. Tornado,\u201d a cassette-only song that is being issued on digital and vinyl for the first time. The Radio Free Europe<\/em> 2025 <\/em>EP is a commemoration of the 75th anniversary of the Radio Free Europe\/Radio Liberty services (RFE\/RL), the broadcasting groups that have delivered uncensored news, analysis and cultural programming in a variety of languages in places lacking a free press since 1949.<\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\tR.E.M. Stage Surprise Reunion at Athens\u2019 40 Watt Club For Spirited Run Through \u2018Pretty Persuasion\u2026\t\t<\/p>\n<\/h3><\/div>\n

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\n\tThe special package includes a never-before-released 2025 remix of \u201cRadio Free Europe\u201d by the band\u2019s longtime collaborator, producer Jacknife Lee, as well as a 1981 remix of the song by the band\u2019s original producer, Mitch Easter. RFE\/RL currently broadcast in 27 languages to 23 countries to an audience of nearly 50 million people in places where a free press is either illegal or under threat, often serving as the only line to the outside word for people living under onerous government censorship.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWhether it\u2019s music or a free press \u2013 censorship anywhere is a threat to the truth everywhere. On World Press Freedom Day, I\u2019m sending a shout-out to the brave journalists at Radio Free Europe,\u201d said singer Michael Stipe in a statement. The band\u2019s effort comes one day after a federal appeals court in Washington ruled that, for now, the Trump administration can continue to withhold money<\/a> from the RFE\/RL \u2014 as well as Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks \u2014 temporarily reversing two earlier lower-court rulings that stopped the White House from cutting off funds from the outlets as part of its wide-ranging DOGE cost-cutting measures. <\/p>\n

\n\tDOGE boss and Tesla\/Space X CEO Elon Musk has been unequivocal in his disdain for the services, writing in February on X<\/a>, \u201cshut them down\u2026 Europe is free now\u2026 nobody listens to them anymore\u2026 it\u2019s just radical left crazy people talking to themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cRadio Free Europe\u2019s journalists have been pissing off dictators for 75 years. You know you\u2019re doing your job when you make the right enemies. Happy World Press Freedom Day to the \u2018OG\u2019<\/em>\u00a0Radio Free Europe,\u201d added bassist\u00a0Mike Mills in a statement. While the band\u2019s members did not directly reference the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to defund the organizations, RFE\/RL president and CEO Stephen Capus was more direct in his praise for the song and the group\u2019s efforts to help shine a light on the services\u2019 vital work.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cTo me, R.E.M.\u2019s music has always embodied a celebration of freedom: freedom of expression, lyrics that make us think, and melodies that inspire action,\u201d said Capus. \u201cThose are the very aims of our journalists at Radio Free Europe \u2014 to inform, inspire, and uphold freedoms often elusive to our audiences. We hold dictators accountable. They go to great lengths to silence us \u2014 blocking our websites, jamming our signals, and even imprisoning our colleagues.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tIn an interview with CBS Mornings<\/a><\/em> on Friday, Stipe said the band decided to honor the services because \u201cwe love journalism, we love freedom of speech\u2026 and we love the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tStipe told CBS that when he got the call from the imperiled service asking for some help he said there was no hesitation at all. \u201cIt\u2019s important to democracy and a fight against authoritarianism that they remain.\u201d All of the proceeds from vinyl sales of the new remix will go to Radio Free Europe, which is still waiting for its frozen April and May funding as it soldiers on with is rapidly dwindling reserves.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe new EP is being released through Craft Recordings and was overseen by Easter, who first recorded the band at his Drive-In Studio during their first-ever road trip to a professional studio in April 1981; that original session produced \u201cRadio Free Europe,\u201d \u201cSitting Still\u201d and the instrumental \u201cWh. Tornado.\u201d In 2009, \u201cRadio Free Europe\u201d was inducted into the Library of Congress\u2019s National Recording Registry.<\/p>\n

\n\tFans can stream and download the EP today and pre-order a limited-edition 10-inch orange vinyl pressing due to ship on Sept. 12 here<\/a>. You can also click here to make a tax-deductible donation to RFE\/RL here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\tListen to the jaunty Jacknife Lee remix and the full EP below.<\/p>\n

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