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The Story of U2 - Part 1

The story of U2 began at Mount Temple School in north-east Dublin in the autumn of 1976. Larry Mullen advertised on the school notice board asking if anyone wanted to join a band. Those who responded, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, included Paul Hewson, Dave Evans and his brother Dick, and Adam Clayton. These five agreed to start up a band, calling themselves Feedback. Larry himself was a competent drummer and Adam had a bass guitar, but the other roles were not yet settled.

The band was allowed to rehearse in a classroom at Mount Temple, although their initial efforts were fairly haphazard, and with no recognized vocalist. Paul Hewson did not see himself as a singer, but he was a natural actor and his vocals were better than his guitar playing, so he became the "front man" for the band. Paul Hewson belonged to a "clan" of local teenagers who called themselves Lypton Village. They all invented nicknames for each other. Paul adopted the name Bono Vox, usually shortened to Bono. Dave Evans, although not a member of the "Village", was called The Edge, a reference to the shape of his chin and his guitar playing style.

MORE... The Story of U2 - Part 1

The Story of U2 - Part 2

In January 1980 U2 won five categories in the Hot Press readers' poll. But without a record deal they could not afford further overseas tours. So Paul McGuinness arranged an Irish tour that ended in the National Boxing Stadium in Dublin, and a new single, Another Day, was planned for released by CBS Ireland. Meanwhile, Island Records were debating whether or not U2 were worth backing. One of the first to be convinced was Bill Stewart, and he and other Island executives attended gigs in Belfast and Dublin to take a further look at the band. They all came away impressed with what they saw, so Bill Stewart agreed a deal for four albums, with finance up-front to cover recording and touring costs.

U2's first recording for Island was the single 11 O?clock Tick-Tock, produced by Martin Hannett, noted for his work with Joy Division. The single was released in May 1980, and attracted rave reviews but disappointing sales. Neither did the relationship with Hannett take off, partly because the producer was affected by the suicide of Ian Curtis. So Island asked Steve Lillywhite to produce U2's next single, A Day Without Me, intending that he should also produce their debut album if things worked out.

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The Story of U2 - Part 3

In March 1981 Boy was released in the US, and U2 began their first major American tour. The audience took to them as readily as those in Europe. During a break from the tour U2 recorded another single, Fire, with Steve Lillywhite, and plans were made for a second album. These plans were disrupted when a briefcase containing Bono's lyrics went missing, but work on the album went ahead in May, with Steve Lillywhite again producing.

The second album, October, began like the first with a power-driving track, Gloria, which was released as a single. This and other tracks on the album reflected the strong Christian beliefs held by Bono, Edge and Larry. The Edge in particular had some difficulty in reconciling these beliefs with the life of a rock band, but fortunately he decided that the show must go on, and October hit the British album charts.

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The Story of U2 - Part 4

As 1984 arrived U2 were looking to go forward, rather than simply rework what they had done before. For their next album they wanted a new producer, and got together with Brian Eno, noted for his work with Roxy Music and Talking Heads, and Daniel Lanois, a Canadian sound engineer. They started working on the album at Slane Castle, about 30 miles north of Dublin.
While rehearsals for the album were getting under way, Paul McGuinness was successfully negotiating a more lucrative deal with Island Records. The new contract not only gave the band a better financial deal in terms of royalties and promotion costs, but it also gave them full creative control.

The title of the new album, The Unforgettable Fire, was inspired by an exhibition which commemorated the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The first glimpse of the new material came when Pride was released as a single and rose to number 3 in the UK charts. This was U2's best single yet, both a massive rock anthem and a moving tribute to Martin Luther King. The album itself came out in October and duly topped the UK chart.

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The Story of U2 - Part 5

At the start of 1986 U2 went back to work on their next album. The gestation process took longer than planned, with the album finally coming out in March 1987. Again Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois were producing, this time with Lanois having the higher profile. While working on the album, U2 also joined the Conspiracy of Hope tour, which celebrated the 25th anniversary of Amnesty International.

When The Joshua Tree finally saw the light of day it proved to be well worth the wait. What is probably their greatest album was released alongside a stunning single, With Or Without You, which ensured that U2 dominated both the singles and the album charts. Tracks like Where The Streets Have No Name and Bullet The Blue Sky are the most memorable, but The Joshua Tree has strength in depth: every track holds the attention. Now top of both UK and US charts, U2 also made the cover of Time Magazine.

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The Story of U2 - Part 6

U2 collected two Grammy awards in 1989 to go with two won the previous year. The Lovetown tour followed, covering Australia, New Zealand and Japan. At the end of the year U2 played a few dates in Europe. The show in Dublin on December 31st celebrated the start of a new decade and was broadcast throughout Europe.

In 1990 U2 took some time off from the road and started planning their next album. Work on the album was hampered when a demo tape of the new songs was stolen. Although this delayed the release date, it was taking a long time anyway as the band were again trying to find material which would take them in new directions. Some of the album was recorded in Berlin, the home of Zoo Station!

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The Story of U2 - Part 7

In February 1992 U2 started on their massive Zoo TV project. For more than two years, and in several stages, they toured the world with a show that added a stunning visual experience to the music. In 1992 the show visited the US (twice) and Europe, and featured in a major TV spectacular (the stage set was a TV spectacular in itself). In the Autumn of 1992 the Outside Broadcast leg of the tour concentrated on open-air venues.

Closer to home, a night club called The Kitchen opened in the Clarence Hotel in Dublin, which U2 owned. The Kitchen was partly responsible for bringing the band into closer contact with dance music. During a break in early 1993 they also wrote and recorded some consistently good material for a new album, Zooropa. Numb (released as a video single), Stay and Lemon had the most exposure, but sadly my favorite track, The First Time, got almost no exposure at all.

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The Story of U2 - Part 8

1996 was spent developing yet another album and yet more changes of direction and emphasis. As with Achtung Baby, the first single from the new album (in this case Discotheque) brought more questions than answers. The album itself was released in March 1997, and this too dispelled any doubts created by its lead-off single. This time the evolutionary process leans towards techno and dance influences. One story is that techno samples were introduced to take the pressure off Larry who had injured his back.

As with all U2 albums, Pop contains a mix of the brash and the beautiful, the loud and the lyrical. I am left with a feeling, however, that some of the brash bits don't work as well as their predecessors. But when critics complain that their music "doesn't sound like U2" the band's response is "but we are U2". The band chose to use each album to explore and extend their own musical inclinations rather than to trade on their past success. Mark Ellis (aka Flood), who had been involved in the production of several earlier albums, took the lead role on Pop.

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