REM film sex shop comeback video

A crowd gathered outside the New York sex shop to see REM

US rock band REM have filmed part of the video for their new single in a sex shop in New York.

The group, fronted by Michael Stipe, performed by the bookstands at Babeland on the city's Lower East Side.

Employee Jamye Waxman, writing in the store's online blog, said a band member told her it was "the best sex shop I've ever been in".

REM, who are preparing to release new album Accelerate on 1 April, also filmed at a nearby Italian restaurant.

'Private serenade'

The adult shop was called by a location scout several hours before the band turned up in the evening, according to Ms Waxman.

"We spent some time straightening up and pondering if REM would really stop by, and several hours later we got the answer we'd been hoping for," she wrote.

She added that their performance of next single Supernatural Serious for the film shoot, which lasted half an hour, was like "our own private serenade".

Ms Waxman added that REM were asked if they would like to perform at the shop's 15th anniversary party after being presented with T-shirts, but "said they were busy".

The band, whose last album Around The Sun came out in 2004, are scheduled to appear at the South by Southwest music festival in Texas ahead of their new release.

REM, who formed in Georgia in 1980, have scored a series of hit albums, including Automatic For The People and Out of Time.