Jump to content

Orange Crush (song)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Orange Crush"
Single by R.E.M.
from the album Green
B-side"Ghost Rider", "Dark Globe"
ReleasedDecember 1988
Recorded1988
Genre
Length3:51
LabelWarner Bros.
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
R.E.M. singles chronology
"Finest Worksong"
(1988) 		"Orange Crush"
(1988) 		"Stand"
(1989)

"Orange Crush" is a song by the American alternative rock band R.E.M. It was released as the first single from the band's sixth studio album, Green, in 1988. It was not commercially released in the U.S. despite reaching number one as a promotional single on both the Mainstream and Modern Rock Tracks (where, at the time, it had the record for longest stay at number one with eight weeks, beating U2). It peaked at number 28 on the UK Singles Chart, making it the band's then-highest chart hit in Britain, where they promoted the song by making their debut appearance on Top of the Pops.[3]

The video for the song, directed by Matt Mahurin, won the band its first VMA, for Best Post-Modern Video. "Orange Crush" was also the first song to win in the category. The video, shot exclusively in black and white, does not feature the band at all.

The song was placed on R.E.M.'s Warner Bros. Records compilation In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988–2003 in 2003, and a live version appears on the R.E.M. Live album recorded in Dublin in 2005.

The song's title refers to the chemical defoliant Agent Orange manufactured by Monsanto Corporation and Dow Chemical for the U.S. Defense Department and used in the Vietnam War.[4][5][6][7]

Stipe opened the song during the Green World Tour by singing the U.S. Army recruiting slogan, "Be all you can be... in the Army."[8] Stipe's father served in the Vietnam War.[9]

Track listing

[edit]

UK 3" CD W2960CD

[edit]
  1. "Orange Crush" (Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe) - 3:50
  2. "Ghost Rider" (Suicide cover, written by Martin Reverby, Alan Vega) - 3:45
  3. "Dark Globe" (Syd Barrett) - 1:52

Charts

[edit]
Weekly chart performance for "Orange Crush"
Chart (1988–1989) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[10] 15
Ireland (IRMA)[11] 21
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[12] 5
UK Singles (OCC)[13] 28
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[14] 1
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[15] 1

Certifications

[edit]
Certifications for "Orange Crush"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[16] Gold 15,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "R.E.M. Release Live Version of "Orange Crush" From 'R.E.M. at the BBC'". September 20, 2018.
  2. ^ Hughes, Rob (June 18, 2018). "Orange Crush: How REM wrote the song that kickstarted their career". loudersound.
  3. ^ Gittins, Ian (2007). Top of the Pops: Mishaps, Miming, and Music - True Adventures of TV's No. 1 Pop Show. London: Random House. p. 126. ISBN 9781846073274. Retrieved April 9, 2014.
  4. ^ DeCurtis, Anthony (April 20, 1989). "R.E.M.'s Brave New World". Rolling Stone.
  5. ^ "We pick R.E.M.'s top five political songs". EW.com.
  6. ^ "...the barbed-wire edge of "Orange Crush." This song, about the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam,..." "R.E.M. FINALLY EMERGES AS HARD-EDGED, FEROCIOUS" Boston Globe, April 10, 1989 Archived October 19, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Guitarist Peter Buck has said that "Orange Crush," the first single from "Green" (Warner Bros., all formats), is about Agent Orange..." "Records;Uninspired Folk-Rock Routine Releases From R.E.M. and the Bangles" Washington Post, Nov 9, 1988 Archived October 21, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Gray, Marcus (March 21, 1997), It Crawled from the South: An R.E.M. Companion (Paperback) (2nd ed.), Da Capo Press, p. 57, ISBN 0-306-80751-3
  9. ^ Bergeron, Ryan (June 24, 2015). "5 songs you didn't know were about the Vietnam War". CNN Entertainment. Cable News Network, Turner Broadcasting System. Retrieved June 28, 2017.
  10. ^ "R.E.M. – Orange Crush". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  11. ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – R.E.M.". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  12. ^ "R.E.M. – Orange Crush". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved September 10, 2022.
  13. ^ "R.E.M.: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  14. ^ "R.E.M. Chart History (Alternative Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  15. ^ "R.E.M. Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved August 7, 2017.
  16. ^ "New Zealand single certifications – REM – Orange Crush". Radioscope. Retrieved December 30, 2024. Type Orange Crush in the "Search:" field.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Orange_Crush_(song)&oldid=1266259103"