"There was no real sign that it was abig protest song, so most people listened to it and didn’t realise": The story of the anti-war commentary disguised as a four-minute pop song that set R.E.M. on the path to global success and stardom

REM circa 1988, studio portrait.

It’s Thursday, so it must be Top Of The Pops. On the show this week, June 15, 1989, are a four-piece band from Athens, Georgia whose time seems finally to have come. R.E.M. are here to perform Orange Crush, the first UK Top 40 hit of their career thus far.

The song snaps into action with a quasi-military drum figure and guitar arpeggios. Shirtless in a grey suit and shades, the singer shimmies about with a large bullhorn. The tune itself is a sharp confection of pop weirdness and stomping rock. At the end, presenter Simon Parkin gushes into the mic: “Orange Crush – particularly nice on a hot day!”