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Jupiter9
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How dare you, they are good Oirish Catholics <_<

 

 

Do all families in Oirland jump into big beds to pray? :o I've visited loads of times. I could have joined in. :(

 

The Alarm with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales: Exclusive: U2 pay tribute to Mike Peters and The Alarm

 

U2 pay tribute to their old friend Mike Peters during a concert with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, marking 30 years since the release of The Alarm's debut, Declaration.

 

 

 

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01xnkp6

Edited by Sydney

Flashback: U2 Cover Neil Young's 'Southern Man' In 1987

 

This wasn't one of the group's finest moments

 

 

ByANDY GREENE APRIL 22, 2014 3:10 PM

When the four members of U2 first began gigging around Dublin as Feedback in 1976 they barely knew how to play their instruments, let alone write original songs. That meant their show was devoted entirely to the hits of the day, which meant covering Peter Frampton, the Bay City Rollers, Thin Lizzy and the Eagles. "We were," Bono has often said, "the world's worst cover band."

 

20 Insanely Great U2 Songs Only Hardcore Fans Know

 

It took about four years of steady work and plenty of disastrous early attempts (check out "Cartoon World" for proof), but U2 eventually became incredible songwriters. By 1980 their shows were almost 100% original songs, but every once in a while they'd sneak in a cover. Neil Young's "Southern Man" slipped onto the setlist in 1982, and for reasons that remain baffling it kept popping up again and again through the 1980s. They even played it the week The Joshua Tree hit shelves in March of 1987 when they appeared on The Old Grey Whistle Test, opting to skip new originals like "Where The Streets Have No Name," "With or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For." (Bono also changed the name of a character in the song from Lilly Belle to Billy Joe.)

 

Judge for yourself how successfully they handle the song, but there's probably a reason the group hasn't resurrected it once in the past twenty-seven years. Oddly enough, it wasn't even their craziest TV song selection of the era. A few months earlier, midway through recording The Joshua Tree, they went on Irish TV and played their in-progress (and ultimately discarded) song "Womanfish." "We agreed to do that in a moment of dementia," the Edge said years later. "We hadn't shot ourselves in the foot for a while, so with two songs half written we decided it was the perfect time to go to the nation to showcase our 'new direction.' It was dreadful, the worst in a long line of ropey TV appearances."

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/f...2#ixzz2zgWD6pjS

Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

 

 

Bono and the Irish Part II

 

The 80’s ended with Bono declaring that U2 needed to “go away and dream it all up again”. I don’t remember that statement being viewed as being very significant at the time, but hindsight has seen it take on much more significance than perhaps it merits. The backlash from Rattle and Hum no doubt played a part in needing to “go away”, but I think that 12 years of constant recording and touring may also have played a big part. Either way, U2 needed to figure out their next move.

 

Ireland was on something of a high in 1990. The national football had qualified for the world cup finals for the very first time. The tournament was held in Italy, and we had drawn Egypt, Holland and the old enemy, England in our group.

As was the tradition, the team recorded a song. A song that in 1990 Ireland, at least, was the greatest sound any Irish person had ever heard. This song also proved to be the first u2 related music of the 90’s, as Larry was given writing production credits. Ireland went football crazy in June 1990. We beat England 1 – 1, drew with Egypt 0-0 (in what was probably the worst game of football EVER) and a 1 – 1 with Holland was enough to qualify Ireland for a last 16 match against Romania in Genoa. Another 0 – 0 draw played out and the game went to penalties. Each team scored their first 4 penalties. Then Up stepped Daniel Timofte to take Romania’s last penalty. He hit it well but Ireland’s ‘keeper, Packie Bonner, leapt like a salmon and pushed the penalty aside. Mayhem ensued, but Ireland still needed to score their final penalty. The job was entrusted to David O’Leary, a veteran defender nearing the end of his career. What happened next is part of Irish history

 

1990 home comingThe penalty win over Romania led to Ireland being drawn in a quarter final showdown with the host country and one of the best teams on the planet, Italy, at the Olympic stadium, Rome. Italy won the game 1-0 and Ireland was out, but it didn’t matter. Something had changed within the Irish people. Suddenly there was a confidence, a belief that we were no longer the also rans. The football team came home to a hero’s welcome with over a million people cramming the streets of Dublin to welcome them back. I don’t know if what happened during the summer of 1990 had any direct effect on U2, but when Achtung Baby landed over a year later, in November 1991 it was obvious that these boys had found their mojo. The album was (almost) universally revered and praised. The songs seemed to be a million miles away from all that I had previously loved about U2, but upon closer listening they proved to be among the most raw and honest of U2’s career, they were just dressed up differently. There were none of the obvious stadium rock anthems that had become the staple of u2 in the 80’s, but it didn’t matter. This was better, better than everything that went before. Then came “The Fly” video complete with the new image. Leather clad, bug eyed, cigarette smoking, ass-shaking ROCK STARS. Ireland was on the up and U2 were leading the way, but it would be almost 2 years and another album before we got to see u2 live again in Ireland.

 

I don’t recall much anti-Bono/u2 feeling at that time in Ireland. It was a time when Ireland was going through a huge change. No longer was the church the dominant entity it had been – the first of the sexual abuse scandals was being uncovered – so we were almost without identity. We knew that we didn’t want to go back, but weren’t sure how to go forward. By the time ZooTV made it to the RDS arena at the end of August 1993, Achtung Baby was an old album and Zooropa too new for any but fans to be familiar with it. My recollection of those RDS shows is one of…not disappointment, per se, but something just didn’t click. The RDS is a terrible venue for a concert. The sound is appalling. Perhaps that played a part, but it is telling that as Achtung Baby is generally regarded as being U2’s finest hour, the RDS shows were the smallest venues and lowest attended U2 concerts in Ireland in over 30 years. With attendance at just over 30,000 per night. I remember leaving the RDS after the 1st show and being struck with how subdued the throng of people was. I know my own wife didn’t care for ZooTV (but she’s not a fan) Maybe we just didn’t “get it”. There was a sense that we ‘missed’ ZooTV. Despite the supermodel girlfriends, the belly dancers, and the calls to presidents, ZooTV sort of passed Ireland by.

 

1994 USABy the mid 90’s it was not a story anymore that U2 were the biggest band on the planet, and they had long since stopped making the news for their conquests. A new generation of music fans was growing up to the sounds of the ‘Madchester’ scene; The Stone Roses, The Happy Mondays, and, in America, the birth of grunge with Nirvana. Once again the Irish football team had qualified for a world cup finals, this time in the USA 1994. A tournament I was lucky enough to attend. (I’m somewhere in that picture) U2 were “old guard” now, dismissed as ‘a good commercial band’ but not relevant to the teens of 1994 Ireland. Ireland didn’t need U2 to represent them anymore. Ireland and the Irish had a new identity. The football fans were feted around the world as being the best. Never caused trouble. They drank beer, they sang songs, they supported their team , then they went home….eventually.

 

The iamspamspamaminightclub, owned by Bono and Edge, opened in the basement of the Clarence hotel on Valentines night 1994. It was supposed to be the new glamorous hang-out for the supermodels and movie stars that now frequented Dublin. It was a terrible place. I ventured into it many times (in the vain hope of meeting Bono and Edge!! Never happened) the music was non-stop dance music, the beer was over-priced, and glamorous it was not. It did give us an inkling of what U2’s next direction would be. Bono and Edge’s fascination with dance music! When Pop was released in 1997, the initial view in Ireland (and elsewhere, I presume) was “What the f*** is that noise?” It wasn’t quite dance, It wasn’t quite rock, and it wasn’t quite finished. U2 had pretty much disappeared from the radar of the Irish people. They were just another band. There wasn’t a feeling of u2 putting Ireland on the map anymore. Ireland was firmly established on the map now. Riverdance, The Commitments, The Cranberries, My Bloody Valentine, Ash, My Left Foot. All raised the profile of Ireland. Bono’s philanthropy went unnoticed and U2 barely got a mention other than withering put-downs. It was upon this backdrop that Popmart arrived in Lansdowne Road on the 31st of August 1997. Emerging from the bowels of the stadium, making their way through the crowd “New York, London, Paris, Munich, everybody talk about pop music…” U2 were home. Lansdowne Road went wild. (It is still my wife’s favourite U2 show, but she’s not a fan… :/ ) It was huge, yet very very intimate, just like all the best U2 shows. We left the stadium on a high, the exact opposite to the atmosphere following ZooTV. People were bouncing out of the stadium. I could hear people asking “is tomorrow night sold out??” Everything was positive. Of course, when we arrived home on 31st of August, 1997 news started to come through from Paris about a crash involving Princess Diana. We all know what happened thereafter

 

The concert the following day was a strange one. We were Irish, Diana was a British Royal, but it was all everyone was thinking about, talking about. Bono dedicated MLK (I think it was MLK) to Diana and said that he couldn’t believe how much it was affecting him (or words to that effect) The concert was as good as can be expected and for the most part, what the whole world outside Lansdowne Road was talking about, was blocked out. The show ended, off U2 went and off we went. Popmart was a great success, but Pop was considered a failure (by U2 standards), and so, just like the 80’s, the 90’s ended with U2 on some unsteady ground and unsure of where they were headed. The decade kind of petered out for U2 (in Ireland at least). No fanfare, no promises of going away and dreaming it all up again. What might u2 do next? Would u2 even come back? No one, it seemed to me, cared too much.

 

http://u2radio.com/live/2014/04/26/bono-an...-irish-part-ii/

 

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From

 

http://www.rte.ie/ten/news/2014/0511/61658...ed-to-be-in-u2/

 

 

Ronan Keating wanted to be in U2

 

Sunday 11 May 2014

 

 

 

http://img.rasset.ie/00083888-630.jpg

 

Keating: "I wanted to be in Oasis or Blur or U2"

 

Boyzone star Ronan Keating wanted to be in "Oasis or Blur or U2" when he was growing up.

 

Speaking to Australian website news.com.au, Keating said: "When I was 16, I didn't want to be in a boy band. I wanted to be in Oasis or Blur or U2."

 

The Life is a Rollercoaster singer added: "But as you get older, you realise this is all fun and you shouldn't take yourself so seriously."

 

Keating said that he considers his Boyzone bandmates to be like family: "Boyzone are my brothers. We're men now - fathers. It's not about making money and that whole game anymore. We enjoy being together, having a laugh, and being the band we need to be."

  • Author

I think Ronan should have replaced Bono for a couple of gigs. And Bono could have joined Boyzone!

 

What a missed opportunity! :lol:

  • Author

From

 

http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/mu...2-30276168.html

 

 

Horan worth cool €17m – but he's still playing catch-up with U2

 

 

SAM GRIFFIN – UPDATED 15 MAY 2014 11:11 AM

 

ONE Direction singer Niall Horan's bank balance now reads a cool €17m.

 

 

The pop star is chasing the elite of Irish entertainment – although he still has a way to go to catch Bono and his U2 bandmates.

 

The latest annual survey of the biggest earners in the music business in Ireland and Britain makes positive reading for seven Irish representatives who have accumulated a €1bn fortune between them.

 

Horan is now in joint fourth in the under-30 category of the Richest Young Musician list.

 

The Music Millionaires List of more seasoned industry players suggests that U2 have suffered a dramatic €110m dip in combined wealth – but in reality the drop is a result of the retirement of manager Paul McGuinnness who now appears on the list in his own right.

 

He ranks in 32nd position and is worth €125m.

 

http://cdn2.independent.ie/incoming/article30276029.ece/97e5d/ALTERNATES/w620/graph-rich.jpg

U2's Bono celebrates 54th birthday with star-studded bash

 

 

Stars including Pharrell Williams and Jared Leto turned out to celebrate rock legend Bono's 54th birthday on Saturday.

 

The U2 frontman gathered his friends and family at his manager Guy Oseary's sprawling mansion in Los Angeles for the big bash.

 

The party served as a double celebration for Bono's family - he shares his birthday with daughter Jordan, who turned 25.

 

They were treated to surprise performances by Happy hitmaker Williams, Jon Batiste, Herbie Hancock and rapper A$AP Rocky, who personally sang 'Happy Birthday' to Jordan, according to Us Weekly.

 

Master illusionist David Blaine also made a splash at the party, wowing the crowd with underwater tricks.

 

An insider tells the magazine that Charlize Theron and her boyfriend Sean Penn gave Bono a bizarre gift by hiring a performer who transforms his body into characters with shaving cream. Theron was unable to attend the party as she was hosting U.S. sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live in New York.

 

Bono continued his birthday celebrations the following day, when he joined George Clooney and fiancee Amal Alamuddin for lunch in Malibu, California to celebrate their recent engagement.

 

 

torontosun.com

Roy Orbison's sons create new song by their father

 

Roy Orbison's sons have used new technology to record a song by their late father and claim it brought them closer together.

 

 

The 'Oh, Pretty Woman' hitmaker, who died in 1988, recorded a track called 'The Way is Love' on a boombox and his sons Alex, Roy Jr and Wesley have been able to work on the song together, which will now feature on a 25th anniversary re-issue of Roy's last album 'Mystery Girl' from 1988.

 

Alex told BANG Showbiz: ''My mom felt very strongly about the song and she tried to do something with it forever.

''We found the [original] tape in a giant pile we were going through and it's such a beautiful song with a strong message.

''It really did feel like we were recording with my dad, which I never got to do before he died. We made sure everything was perfect and layered all of the tracks.

''Looking at the finished product, I think he'd definitely be proud of what we've done.''

 

Alex, who thinks there could be more tracks they want to work on in the future, claims being in the studio with his brothers brought them closer together.

He said: ''My dad had brothers himself and he had said, 'Sometimes you don't get along but at the end of the day you have to hug and love each other'. We came together as brothers over this.''

A documentary entitled 'Mystery Girl: Unraveled', executive produced by Alex, Roy and Wesley and directed by Alex, also features new interviews with Billy Burnette, John Carter Cash, Mike Campbell, Steve Cropper and more, along with never-before-seen interviews with Bono and the late Barbara Orbison.

 

 

Alex said: ''We feel like one of the goals of the documentary was to show the recording process was like but also what my dad was like.

''You get to see a bit of his personality and his sense of humour. His laugh and things that are so endearing to us. We had great archive footage and it was a goal for us to show the man behind the sunglasses.

 

''He had such a dark ominous look at times, the songs were so heart-breaking and people assumed he was somber and morose, but he was such an upbeat, kind and gentle soul.''

Roy Orbison's re-release of 'Mystery Girl' is out now.

 

Contactmusic.com

  • 2 weeks later...

U2's Bono and Edge to join board of Fender guitars

 

http://i59.tinypic.com/1zm0ako.jpg

 

U2's Bono and The Edge are set to be appointed to the board of electric guitar giants Fender.

 

The company – creators of the iconic Stratocaster and Telecaster ranges – is nearly 70 years old and is seeking to reinvent itself for the digital age.

 

According to The Irish Times, part of Fender’s plans include naming Bono and the Edge from U2 to its board, both brought in by Fender’s majority owner, TPG Growth.

 

“I believe that guitars are here to stay and, far from digital technology being their death knell, I think it throws up some new ways to power creativity and give people greater access to the huge potential of the electric guitar,” the Edge wrote in an email.

 

Artists as diverse as Hank Marvin from pioneering British rockers, The Shadows, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton and Status Quo have had career-long associations with either the Strat or the Tele.

 

The Edge also noted that while recording several of U2’s greatest hits, including Sunday Bloody Sunday and Pride (in the Name of Love), he used classic Fender guitars.

 

 

rte.ie

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