I’ve been a fan of the work of the Recycle team (Drew Crumbaugh, Jeb Edwards and Bruce Barlett) since discovering their loving restorations of the Factory Joy Division/New Order single releases and followed the subsequent restoration of The Smiths Rough Trade singles from the start. Their next project would cover the IRS-era singles of REM beginning with a very early demo tape given away by the as-yet-unsigned band to gig-goers. It was rather disappointing to hear that, after no legal problems from the New Order or The Smiths camps, that Universal (who own the rights to the IRS catalogue) had issued a DMCA takedown notice on the first media file posted on the new-born blog.
Understandably Drew is now reluctant to continue with the project. This is a huge shame as this material is long out of print and much would be unlikely to ever see an official release. It’s also worth noting that it is the opinion of many (including members of the band) that their work on the New Order singles was superior to the official re-releases! This is such a lost opportunity for fans of REM…
What is slightly encouraging is that the story has picked up some mainstream media interest, including Spin, Rolling Stone and CNN!