Cassette Set: 1981 Demonstration Tape (Cassette - Limited Edition)

Strictly limited to 1,500 copies, exclusive to the R.E.M. webstore. Order limit of one copy per customer, due to the limited nature. 

R.E.M.’s breakthrough debut single “Radio Free Europe” was initially released by a small Atlanta-based record label, Hib-Tone Records. The original recording of the single had different mixes by Mitch Easter, who produced the song, and by label-owner Jonny Hibbert. Although the band preferred Easter’s mix, Hibbert chose his version for the single’s release, on a run of (what was rumored to be no more than) 400 promotional cassette tapes circulated to record labels, journalists and friends of the band as Cassette Set, as well as a 1981 limited pressing 45 RPM single.

While the band re-recorded “Radio Free Europe” for Murmur, their major-label debut on I.R.S. Records, and the original 7” single became a coveted collector’s item, R.E.M.’s Cassette Set has become the stuff of legend since its release.

This re-issue is a direct reproduction of the initially released cassette single, down to the packaging, complete with the inclusion of “White Tornado,” an instrumental anomaly in the band’s catalog, and “Sitting Still” backing “Radio Free Europe.” 

1. Sitting Still (fast "Polka" version, snippet)
2. Sitting Still
3. Radio Free Europe
4. White Tornado
5. White Tornado (take 2, aborted)