more renown, 1987’sDocumentwas deemed R.E.M.’s
first mainstream success.Documentreached the top
ten in large part because of the breakthrough singles
“The One I Love” and “It’s the End of the World as
We Know It (And I Feel Fine).” Heavy airplay on top
40 radio, coupled with frequent rotation of the vid-
eos on MTV, moved R.E.M. closer to superstardom.
The band’s most successful album up to that time
was also the last it would record with I.R.S. Records.
Green, released in 1988, was the first album of R.E.M.’s
record deal with Warner Bros. No longer darlings of
college radio, R.E.M. moved to the corporate label,
signaling major changes for the band. Every single
was played on commercial radio and had an accom-
panying video on MTV. Also, although the band had
toured extensively since its formation, theGreentour
marked the first time that R.E.M. played in larger sta-
diums instead of concert halls. R.E.M. returned to
the studio in 1989 to begin work on what would be
one of their most successful commercial albums,
1990’sOut of Time.
Impact Although R.E.M. began the 1980’s in rela-
tive obscurity, by the end of the decade the band had
laid the groundwork for its continued success and
was poised to become one of the greatest rock bands
of the later twentieth century.
Further Reading
Fletcher, Tony.Remarks Remade: The Stor y of R.E.M.2d
ed. New York: Omnibus Press, 2002.
Rolling Stone.R.E.M., the “Rolling Stone” Files: The Ul-
timate Compendium of Interviews, Articles, Facts, and
Opinions from the Files of “Rolling Stone.”New York:
Hyperion, 1995.
Matthew Schmitz
See also MTV; Music; Music videos; Pop music.
Retton, Mary Lou
Identification American gymnast
Born January 24, 1968; Fairmont, West Virginia
Retton captured American’s attention by becoming the first
American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in gym-
nastics.
In 1981, Mary Lou Retton, age thirteen, competed
regionally and nationally in gymnastics while train-
ing in Fairmont, West Virginia, a coal mining town.
Recognizing Retton’s potential, Bela Karolyi, coach
of the 1976 Olympic gold medalist Nadia Comaneci,
offered to train Retton for free at his gym in Hous-
ton, Texas. Only fourteen years old, Retton moved
to Texas without her family on January 2, 1983. By
the end of the year, she had achieved the number
one senior-class ranking in the nation. Although a
broken left wrist prevented her from competing
in the World Championships that year, she won
the American Cup, the U.S. Gymnastics Federation
American Classics, and the Chunichi Cup in Ja-
pan—the first American woman to do so.
In May, six weeks before the 1984 Olympics in
Los Angeles, doctors determined that Retton would
have to undergo arthroscopic surgery to repair dam-The Eighties in America Retton, Mary Lou 823
Mary Lou Retton competes on the balance beam at the 1984 Sum-
mer Olympics.(Hulton Archive/Getty Images)