REM was never a band that adhered to a strict formula, but while many of their fans adored the inventive Athens, Georgia quartet for their deep and characterful songwriting, some would be left bewildered by the follow-up to arguably their greatest ever single with a cheery, radio-angled slice of unadulterated pop.
That single, which REM’s frontman Michael Stipe subsequently admitted had been written ‘for children’, was a deliriously upbeat tune titled Shiny Happy People.
With its angular riff, energetic, pogo-inducing beat and irresistible backing vocals from the B-52’s Kate Pierson, Shiny Happy People delighted and appalled listeners in equal measure.
But this buoyant riposte to the existential anguish of Losing My Religion seemed, to some at least, to be a test.
