This article is from the R.E.M. FAQ, by Ron Henry (rgh3@cornell.edu) with numerous contributions by others.
This is an urban legend which even the band are weary of denying. The topic
has also been the subject of many flame wars, and most newsgroup members
don't want to hear any more about it. On AOL in August 1994, Stipe said
this about the so-called countdown theory:
"the countdown is a silly coincidence. i swear it. pb [Peter
Buck] sez were going into neg.#;s next, so there. i did put the
#7 on each record for a while but started getting strange mail in
volumes about it and so we quit. no reason for 7, it was just a
cool typo thing [like typefaces on fables]."
 
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