The Ghost of RubangB on 22 July 2008
One of REM's biggest influences was a band called The Soft Boys, particularly their 1980 album Underwater Moonlight. But my recommendation is the debut solo album by Robyn Hitchcock (their singer/songwriter/guitarist), 1981's Black Snake Diamond Role, or his acoustic album from 1984, I Often Dream of Trains.
He's got a lot of live videos on YubeTube.
