R.E.M. emerged from Athens, Georgia to become one of the darlings of college radio in the 80s. Many of their early classics barely made it onto the Top 100, but that all changed when "The One I Love" zoomed to #9 in 1987. It would be the first of four top 10 hits for the band, the others being "Stand" (#6), "Losing My Religion" (#4), and "Shiny Happy People" (#10), which was made even shinier with Kate Pierson of the B-52's on backing vocals. The depth of talent in R.E.M. was so great that the band survived the grunge era unscathed, even contributing a staple album to the trend entitled "Monster," which yielded four Top 100 singles. R.E.M. also survived the departure of their drummer in 1997, who left for health reasons. While they never recaptured the chart success of their heyday, R.E.M. continued to release critically acclaimed albums until they decided that 30 years together was enough. I was surprised that many of their well-known songs didn't get what they deserved on the charts - for example, "Fall On Me" only went to #94, "Bittersweet Me" only #46, "Imitation Of Life" only #83, "Supernatural Superserious" only #85 (their last chart appearance in 2008), and even "Man On The Moon" only reached #30. "Man-Sized Wreath" is one of the highlights from the band's underrated 2008 effort, "Accelerate."
Considered one of the godfathers of punk, Iggy Pop (formerly of The Stooges) is well-known despite a lack of chart success. His one and only appearance on the charts finally arrived in 1990 when "Candy" rose to #28. A duet with Kate Pierson of The B-52's, the track is a rare love song from Iggy Pop's prolific history. Surprisingly, popular cuts like "The Passenger," "Lust For Life," and this one never saw any chart action.
