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Interview from Sanity's (record store) free magazine. November '98. Brisbane, Australia Interview: Jenny Raine speaks to Bono about the tracks that appear on U2's first Best of CD U2 1980-1990 U2 began as a gang of teenagers. This year they signed a new deal with PolyGram for a reported A$50 million. Next year, The Million Dollar Hotel, a black comedy co-written by Bono goes into production, with Mel Gibson as a detective investigating the murder of a billionaire's son. Bono might get a minor role, and U2 will contribute to the soundtrack. But, although turning 37 this year, Bono still needs his gang. "The older I get, the more I need it," he says, seated in the Factory studio, set amidst the warehouses of Dublin's dying port. "People in their '30s and '40s want to be stress-free. They get rid of all the elements and people in their lives who give them grief. But you can't do that in a band. You argue, you scream, you have to convince the other person your viewpoint is the right one. Losing that tension would stop you being sharp." Bono laughingly admits he's not as good a rock star as Michael Hutchence and Liam Gallagher "because they have fun with it. I didn't do that until a few years ago when I invented (characters like) MacPhisto. I've just learned to become a singer too. I can't listen to the first three albums because of that. As is well known, I was almost thrown out of U2 in 1977 because they felt I couldn't sing. But I loosened up and discovered new voices. U2 saved me, I couldn't have done anything else. I was a petrol station attendant once and I was rotten at that!" The new U2 CD The Best of 1980-1990 celebrates the first flush of success for a band, that from the beginning, sensed it would make a mark. Pouring his heart and soul into music was the way 16-year old Paul Hewson came to terms with his mother's death two years before. The music of David Bowie, T-Rex, Patti Smith and punk gave vent to his feelings of loss and rebellion. Their first singles gained atmosphere from gloom merchants Joy Division, using their producer Martin Hamnett and writing "A Day Without Me" for singer Ian Curtis, when he committed suicide. "I Will Follow", the earliest track from the new Best Of set was about the death of Bono's mother. "Gloria" expressed his strong Christian beliefs, with Latin phrases to press his message. "I didn't sit down intentionally to write it," Bono says. "It just came out. Our manager Paul lent me some ancient Gregorian chant records and I learned how the Latin phrases worked so effectively." The song remains a live standout: on the Zooropa tour. Adam thumped out his base solo as glass 'shattered' behind. By 1982, heavily influenced by the Clash, Bono was writing political songs. However, the lyrics to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" were actually begun by The Edge while Bono was away on his honeymoon. The guitarist who was in his seaside holiday home writing songs, was inspired by how the friendly and humorous Belfast people were being torn apart by their religious problems. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" referred to two incidents - a football match in Dublin 1920, and the streets of Derry in 1972 - when British soldiers opened fire on unarmed civilians. It was not an angry condemnation but, like "New Year's Day" asked for understanding and forgiveness. "How long must we sing this song?" "The song's not specifically about those two incidents," points out the singer. "We borrowed the title to convey the power of the song. We were really nervous the first time we played it in Belfast. We told the crowd, this is about what's happening here. If you don't like it, we won't play it again. But they just went wild for it." Onstage, Bono would parade around with a white flag, to denote something with no colours or symbols of the Irish and English flags which caused divisions. During their US tour that year (on which they sometimes did seven encores!) U2 got involved with the Peace Museum, set up in Chicago to educate people about non-violence. Exhibits include antiwar placards and posters, recollections of survivors of atomic blasts in Nagasaki and Hiroshima (called Unforgettable Fire) and civil rights advances by American civil rights leader Dr Martin Luther King. This inspired two songs about King. The best known was "Pride (In The Name Of Love)". Dr King, a man of peace and non-violence, was a natural hero for four intelligent Irish men trying to make sense of the bloodshed and religious bigotry in their land. Says Bono: "The Edge came up with the riff during a soundcheck in Hawaii six months before. In the studio "Pride" didn't fall together well at first. We recorded it many times, sped it up, slowed down, with overdubs. One day we came back from lunch and just nailed it. The album was to be finished in July but we kept being delayed. We started to panic because we had an Australian tour in September. So for the last two weeks, we worked 20 hours a day. On the final three days, we went into the studio on Friday at 10am and came out on Monday at midday! We were so exhausted. We gave the tapes to the record company and headed for Australia." "Pride" featured Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders on backup vocals. It gave U2 their first British Top 5 in 1983, and it reached No. 33 in America. The track was one of the highpoints of The Unforgettable Fire (along with "Bad" about smack addiction), an album which came into the UK charts at No. 1. U2 were at the peak of their popularity. Time magazine dubbed them "rock's hottest ticket". They starred on Amnesty's Conspiracy Of Hope tour, and their performance of "Bad" at Live Aid was arguably the show's highpoint as Bono leaped from the stage and dance-embraced a girl. Aside from Bob Geldof, Bon (and wife Allie) were the only participants of Band Aid or Live Aid to volunteer for charity work in Ethiopia. In 1984, U2 music had started to change. Bono struck up a friendship with Bob Dylan after joining the encore at Dylan's show at Shane Castle, in Ireland. Dylan admitted how much he liked Irish folk music. This stunned Bono. Like most people of their age, he saw roots music as old fashioned and hicksville. "In U2, only Adam had any appreciation for roots music. On tour, it was usually reggae music, y'know, Aswad or Black Uhuru, blasting out of his room. The others took a while to get used to U2's new direction. Larry is a 'pop song' man, he likes his music simple. So he liked the directness of the blues. The Edge's head was very much into post-1976 European music like Can and Kraftwerk, and back to Eno's bands. But he liked the spontaneity of roots music." Bono began to hunt down old blues discs and duetted with Irish folk band Clannad. It was a learning experience for Bono on a personal level. He had found it difficult to reconcile his Christian beliefs with being in a rock band. But music from the Deep South had much Biblical imagery, and even spirituality when talking dirty. The 4-million seller The Joshua Tree contained three classics, "With Or Without You", "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "Where The Streets Have No Name". The latter song was either about the ghost towns of the USA or towns of highland Ethiopia - "Show you a place high on a desert plain / Where the streets have no name" - where streets are numbered, not named. How did Bono react to reviews which suggested they were turning into a dance band? "Well, we'd always been seen as an anti-dance band. Which is silly because early rock and roll was dance music. But people used to say U2 were more a band you fell over to, which was very funny. I remember we were in a club once, in America, and this discussion came up. By coincidence, "Out Of Control" came on. Having had a few drinks at this stage, I lurched on to the dancefloor. Not only did everyone leave the floor, but I couldn't dance to it either." U2 faced the problem: having become the biggest band in the world, where did they go? To redefine themselves. "It was easier for me because I'm more natural about being in the public eye. But The Edge and Larry are a lot more reserved, and they found it very uncomfortable. But at least there were four of us, so we could lean on each other. It must have been terrible to be, say, Dylan or Springsteen and carrying the weight of that level of success. I mean, who would you talk to about it?" How did their lives change? "On two levels. You read about how you drive around town in a hearse, which is not true, or you threw a tantrum in a record store because they didn't have a record I wanted. Sad thing is your parents read it and they get annoyed with you. Our neighbours never bothered us. But you'd get calls from around the world at all hours, or my wife would be hanging out the clothes and people would be peering over the fence. You walk out the front door still in pyjamas to get a bit of sun, and a group of French fans are standing in the garden, applauding you. Or people have arrived from Japan or Australia just to say hello." "But the harder responsibility is when fans write to you, to solve their problems. They don't trust their parents, and they think their teachers are assholes. Do you tell them you're an ordinary person with insecurities?" "But we learned that many acts, when they get to that level, take their eye off the music. They get caught in all the other silly distractions that success brings. We could've either broken up then or poured our confusion into the music." The change started with Rattle & Hum, a ragbag rummage of studio and live tracks where they paid tribute to blues, soul, gospel and rock and roll. It was to be their most criticised record, even though it sold 14 million around the world. "As Larry says, it was a mistake but it was a mistake that had to be made," Bono agrees. "We wanted to be spontaneous and loose, like a punk band. We didn't realise that U2 had become so big that we were not allowed the luxury of that." Four tracks from the Best Of sets comes from Rattle & Hum. "Desire", their most throwaway single yet, took a riff inspired by Bo Diddley and The Stooges on "1969". Capturing the joy of discovering southern music was "Angel Of Harlem", cut in Memphis, and a tribute to jazz-blues singer Billie Holliday. It is supposedly Bono's favourite U2 track. "When Love Comes To Town" was a duet with blues guitarist B.B.King. "All I Want Is You", with exquisite strings arrangement, is gorgeous pop, with Bono yelling "I want to take you higher".

*** Von der Offizielle Schmudo Seite http://www.smudo.com/ Geschrieben von Schmudo Die fantastischen Vier - Mit U2 Auf Tour Jawohl - auf Tour sind wir gewesen mit U2 - durch f�nf St�dte gings: K�ln, Mannheim, Leipzig, N�rnberg und Hannover. Und es war gut. U2 sind prima Gastgeber gewesen, auch wenn uns das U2-Managment mit G�stem�glichkeiten ziemlich kurz gehalten hat (ein Gast pro Fantie, also das mu� man sich mal vorstellen). Vor unserem ersten Konzert in K�ln kamen die vier U2s an unseren Backstagecontainer um sich artig vorzustellen und uns zu begr��en und viel Gl�ck zu w�nschen usw - also das war schon erstaunlich. Nach einer halbe Stunde Konzert von uns legte Howie B (aktueller U2-Produzent) noch ein paar Scheiben auf und dann war der Hauptact auf der B�hne. Wer vor Ort war, hat die ausladende B�hne gesehen, u.a. mit einem langen Steg auf der rechten B�hnenseite, auf der U2 eine Reihe Songs spielte. Auf dem N�rnberger Konzert haben wir Vier scherzhafterweise bemerkt, da� uns U2 ja verboten h�tte auf diese sog. B-Stage zu gehen, und das N�rnberger Publikum nahm das nat�rlich f�r bare M�nze und schrieb mir den eMail-Postkasten voll mit Gl�ckw�nschen, da� wir uns trotz des Verbotes auf den B�hnenausleger gewagt h�tten - nat�rlich quatsch. Wie gesagt, U2 sind gute Gastgeber und wir durften hinter und auf der B�hne (fast) �berall hin. Obiges Bild zeigt mich eben auf dieser B-Stage mit der U2-B�hne im Hintergrund. In meinen Ohren stecken Ohrst�psel (kann man hier auch gut sehen). Die haben wir f�r die U2-Tour erstmals benutzt. Fachjargon: In-Ear-Monitoring. Da man so eine Riesenb�hne mit herk�mmlichen Monitorboxen kaum beschallen kann (geschweige denn in wenigen Minuten auf- und abbauen; als Vorgruppe wichtig) mu�ten wir uns was einfallen lassen, damit wir auch h�ren k�nnen, was wir da oben so spielen. Vorher dachte ich immer, da� es tierisch nervt, solche St�psel w�hrend des Konzertes im Ohr zu haben, aber es ist superklasse. Wochen vorher wurden Abdr�cke von unseren Innenohren gemacht und die Dinger sitzen gut und bequem und die Kopfh�rerchen da drin bringen den Sound klasse r�ber - nie mehr missen m�chte ich dieses tolle In-Ear-Schnickschnack - vielen Dank an dieser Stelle an die Firma Sure, die uns die Dinger netterweise zur Verf�gung gestellt hat. Und ein superextradankesch�n an Wolfgang. Er sprang die ersten drei Konzerte vor U2 ein, weil unser Hausschlagzeuger Florian Dauner in seinem jugendlichen Eifer sich beim Rumschlawinern einen Drummer-Arm gebrochen hat. Wolfgang hat in nur 48 Stunden alle Notwendigkeiten erlernt, um die Handvoll Songs vor U2 mitspielen zu k�nnen. Und als Studiomusiker gleich mal vor zigtausend Leuten spielen und dann noch neues Material - also echt - der Wolfgang hat uns gerettet. Hier sind man die vier Empf�ngerteile, die uns den In-Ear-Inhalt senden. Auf den kleinen Displays haben unsere Techniker unsere Namen programmiert - dieses Ger�t und noch eine Menge anderes Zeug steht zusammen mit der Crew, die den ganzen Kram bedient unter der B�hne, damit f�r U2 oben genug Platz ist. Au�erdem sind im B�hnenboden kleine Guckl�cher (�hnlich wie die f�r die Souffleure im Theater) aus denen die Mischer auf die B�hne spechten k�nnen um zu sehen, was da vor sich geht. Dort standen bei unserem ersten Auftritt auch U2 selbst um uns zu beobachten. Das war eine ganz sch�ne �berraschung, wie ich da so zum ersten Mal auf so einer Riesenb�hne stehe mit In-Ear-Monitoring und superaufgeregt auf der B�hne und rappe und schwoofe und schau so auf den Boden und da steht Adam Clayton und swingt vor sich hin im B�hnenboden und guckt zu. Auf der Tour selbst begegneten wir U2 (da wir gemeinsam in den gleichen Hotels n�chtigten) zwei Mal im Hotel in Bergisch-Gladbach. Einmal am fr�hen Morgen sitze ich gem�tlich auf der Fr�hst�cksterasse in der Sonne und trinke Milchkaffee und Bono setzt sich dazu und palavert ein wenig mit mir. Schleppt mich dann mit in den angemieteten Studiobus um mir die aktuelle Singleversion von "Please" vorzuspielen, die sie auf Tour mischen. Am Abend sind wir alle in der Hotelbar abgest�rzt. Eine exklusive Aufnahme von Bono und mir, wie wir betrunken Arm in Arm einen BeeGee-Titel singen gibts auf unserem brandneuen Longformvideo "Nur F�r Erwachsenen" zu bestaunen.

Wie kam das ? Jau, Mensch. Schon im M�rz auf der letzten Tour wurden wir vom U2-Tourmanager f�r Deutschland angefragt, ob wir Lust h�tten, bei U2 auf der Pop-Tour als Vorgruppe mitzureisen. Nach einiger Diskussion haben wir Vier zugesagt. Also zack, CDs und Infos usw. ab nach Irland zu U2 und deren Management. Wochenlang, monatelang nix mehr geh�rt. Der BRD-U2-Tourmanager, wie auch unser Tourmanager, wie auch wir selbst haben uns die Sache schon abgeschminkt, als mir Matthias Opdenh�vel (VIVA-News) br�hwarm erz�hlte, da� er am Wochenende (1.6.) nach New York fliegt, um dort U2 zu interviewen. Ich empfahl Matthias die kritische Frage, wer denn nun als Support in Deutschland dabei sein wird. Matthias ruft am Montag - frisch zur�ck aus New York - bei mir an und meinte das Bono doch tats�chlich sagte: "...kann ich das hier vor aller Welt sagen ? Support f�r die Deutschlandtour werden Die Fantastischen Vier sein". Also das mu� man sich mal vorstellen. Zack Anruf beim Booker f�r U2 und der wei� von nix, ruft auf der Insel an und die wissen auch nix. Da ist Bono wohl etwas voreilig gewesen. Drei Tage sp�ter wird die Aussage auf VIVA gesendet und Peng, da steht das Telefon nicht mehr still und seit 9.6. ist es nun auch vom U2-Management best�tigt. Sp�t aber wahr. Wer wissen will, wie es bei der Tour so war, findet hier ein paar Worte dazu.

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