Early R.E.M. single, recorded in Winston-Salem, re-released as Radio Free Europe faces potential cuts

The rock band R.E.M. is re-releasing its first single — originally recorded in Winston-Salem — to benefit the song’s namesake organization, Radio Free Europe. 

Musician and producer Mitch Easter says he didn’t know who the four members of R.E.M. were until they showed up at his Drive-In Studio in Winston-Salem in April of 1981. 

But he knew they had a good, if somewhat inscrutable song with “Radio Free Europe,” which would go on to be the band’s first single. 

"I certainly wouldn't have thought that 44 years later I would be talking about that song, you know, and so it's really, yeah, it's just cool," he says. "And so to hear it again, I just think, yeah, I wasn't wrong, they’re really good."

Easter is supervising the new release of the song.

And while he’s excited about that, he’s not happy about the reason. The 75-year-old organization Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty is facing a financial threat. 

The Trump administration says the government-funded news resource is wasteful and is trying to shut off its funding. Last week, R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe said that whether it’s music or a free press, censorship anywhere is a threat to the truth everywhere.

Easter says he hopes the new release will raise awareness of what Radio Free Europe does.

"It's an interesting, very journalistic mission, and unfortunately, we need a version of it for our country now," he says. "But to at least still have that service alive is a representation of when this country was outward-looking and forward-looking in a smart way."

Proceeds from the vinyl sales will go to the organization.

Last week, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore $12 million to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that Congress had appropriated. Lawyers for the service say that without the money, it would be forced to shut down in June.