Alias R.E.M.

Hindu Love Gods. In January 1984 R.E.M.'s instrumental axis - guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry - teamed up with singer Bryan Cook (of Athens' Time Toy) to form this casual cover ensemble, whose local club sets consisted of a selection of glam rock covers as well as several early R.E.M. compositions that the parent band no longer performed. Hindu Love Gods also did some recording (with guest Warren Zevon on piano) at John Keane's local studio, with a pair of track - the early R.E.M. original, "Narrator" and a cover of teh Easybeats' "Gonna Have A Good Time Tonight" - eventually released by I.R.S. Records as a 1986 single. A few years later the Hindu Love Gods moniker was revived for Buck, Mills and Berry's one-album collaboration with Zevon.