News: August 2007 Archives

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August 26, 2007

Follow the Bouncing Bono

by Braden Towne, Crawdaddy Magazine

Only four years into their musical career, U2 found themselves at an artistic crossroads. Firmly established as a powerful rock 'n' roll combo by the live set Under a Blood Red Sky, the little Dublin four-piece could merrily continue pounding out spare populist anthems like their preceding efforts. Or they could consider the success of their recent EP the curtain drawn on the first act of a decades-spanning epic and lock themselves in a castle to create an atmospheric masterpiece that would find them heralded as the greatest band of the '80s and beyond.

When Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois assumed the controls for the sessions that would ultimately yield The Unforgettable Fire, the path chosen was resolutely the latter. It may seem outrageous to claim that such a plan was in place when recording began, but with an auspicious degree of talent gathered in a monument to Anglo-Norman nobility, the topic of conversation must have turned to global domination at least once.

Never at a loss for words, here Bono shares the intimate details of the recording process for their seminal work, the finer points and perils of live performing, and the beginning of a creative partnership with a legendary producing duo that would last for five more records, over nearly 10 years. Though political awareness and activism have always been a part of the U2 platform, it's refreshing to hear the inexhaustible singer talking about music for a change.

If there's a word that describes Bono it is energy. And his enthusiasm for life and art is always evident. For a dose of inspiration, tempered with some moderately convincing humility, let Bono bend your ear.

Lisa Robinson interviews Bono, 11/19/1984

Posted by Jonathan at 03:21 PM | Comments (0)

August 19, 2007

Bono's Inspiration

ROCK star Bono's life changed forever when he met passionate Australian nurse Sue Germein.

The U2 frontman has revealed that the Australian woman's heartfelt commitment to social justice inspired him to become a champion against global poverty and the spread of AIDS.

"She was the woman that got me fired up about these issues," said Bono.

"She had a huge impact on me. Her passion changed my life."

The social worker and one of the world's biggest rock stars met on a plane flight over Ethiopia in 1985.

Sue Germein, raised on a sheep farm, was working with a World Vision emergency medical team when asked to join an tour of the famine-ravished country with "an Irish couple".

"I had nothing else to do so I went along," Sue, now 51, said.

"Boarding the plane I met the couple. The man introduced himself as Bono and his wife as Ally.

"As we went along Bono began chatting away, telling me he was a singer with a band called U2 and that he had only recently been in Adelaide. I had no idea who they were.

"He was very charismatic, a great story teller and so much fun.

"He had been asked to do the original Live Aid concerts, but he wanted to understand the cause he was supporting before he did, so he organised a tour of Ethiopia.

"I began telling him about my experience with the Flying Doctors and the reasons I was in Ethiopia, my concerns, what I hoped to achieve. I explained the severity of the situation to him.

"He was genuinely caring. He wanted to know more and was very curious. His eyes were sincere. His sincerity is what struck me most."

Bono, Ally and Sue struck up an instant friendship.

They spent the next three days together, talking of how they could help change the world. They still talk regularly.

"I'll send him cards at Christmas and vice versa, or he'll send me a note to say 'hi', or 'congratulations' for something like a birth," Sue said.

"Whenever he comes to Australia he makes sure we have tickets for his show. Last year he sent tickets for myself, my husband and my four kids.

"He wanted to meet the whole crew so we went to see him before the show. My kids were really embarrassed, they thought he wouldn't know me.

"Sure enough, he came backstage and jumped on me, giving me a big hug. The girls all got kisses and my son a high five.

"They thought that was pretty cool. We spoke for half an hour or so and caught up and we actually delayed the show's starting time."

Sue and her family sat next to Bono's older brother, Norman.

"I introduced myself and all he said was 'You're the one. You're the reason why my brother's here'. All I could say was 'I don't think so'."

Sue, a humble woman, said her influence on the rock star has been exaggerated. But it is clear her quest to make the world a better place started at a young age.

She first recognised the injustices of the world when she was a schoolgirl on South Australia's Yorke Peninsula.

"I went to a school that had quite a large proportion of Aboriginal students. I noticed that while we were out playing during recess, the Aboriginal children were inside working.

"I thought to myself 'hang on a minute, something isn't right here'," she said.

A secondary school study tour to Papua New Guinea increased her passion for justice.

"The poverty definitely struck me in Guinea. What amazed me was that in spite of this, the people were still remarkably happy. I admired that.

"It did make me realise how lucky we were in Australia and that maybe we could help."

She studied general nursing and midwifery at Adelaide's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, then joined the Royal Flying Doctor Service and later volunteered to nurse in Ethiopia after being touched by a documentary on the nation gripped by famine, drought and disease.

"Life was tough there," she said.

"Sometimes you would be feeding a little baby and it would die in your arms. You could tell who would live and who would die.

"The dying ones have no light left in their eyes. . . no hope."

Tim Costello, the CEO of World Vision, first heard of Sue's extraordinary influence on Bono at a dinner party with some of world's most famous musicians.

"There I was, having dinner with Bono, Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, Peter Garrett and U2's chaplain," said the Rev Costello.

"It was quite a night. Bono, being Irish, was the life of the party, singing and story-telling all night. He loved talking politics and theology in particular and at times the dinner conversation became very serious.

"It was the story of meeting Sue that he was at pains to tell me," he said.

"He turned to me during dinner and asked 'do you know Sue? You have to meet her'.

Then Bono told how Sue had changed his life.

"Bono went to great lengths telling me about the Australian nurse who had opened his eyes to poverty," said Mr Costello.

"Her compassion and commitment had a lasting effect on the man, who today, is the world's leading voice for the poor.

"It was clear from the way he spoke about this woman, and the fact that he'd stayed in touch with her after all these years, that she was someone he greatly admired and someone I should take the time to meet," he said.

"When I met Sue I understood why. She is still amazingly passionate and committed to justice issues.

"Her picture album of a young Bono and dying kids from this time still produces tears and great anger at suffering and injustice.

"She has been an advocate for the poor and inspired many people through her passion and relentless pursuit of social equality."

Posted by Jonathan at 10:30 PM | Comments (0)

August 05, 2007

The Edge: The Music He Loves

The Edge Talks About U2, Philanthropy and His Biggest Musical Influences

ABC News Nightline, August 03, 2007

By Nicholas Rozon

Back in 1976, the Edge (then known simply as David Evans) teamed up with a few boys from Dublin to form the Larry Mullen Band. Never heard of them? That's because the name only lasted a few seconds.

They soon re-emerged as Feedback, which spun into the Hype, but it wasn't until the quartet decided on U2 -- a name they agreed they hated least -- that the group solidified and began their meteoric rise to the top of the charts.

Years later, the Edge is a guitarist and songwriter for what is undisputedly one of the biggest rock bands in the world, and one that has gone far beyond the world of rock to make a serious impact on global events.

"For a growing number of rock 'n' roll fans, U2 have become the band that matters most, maybe even the only band that matters," declared Rolling Stone in 1985, when they were already one of the world's most popular acts.

Punk Rock Passion

So what songs and artists does this legend listen to the most? For the Edge, it's a variety, ranging from songs by patriarchs of rock like Bob Dylan and the Beatles, to less mainstream acts like the Rebirth Brass Band. But each one is connected to some time or place in his life.

In 1975, the Edge was just 14 years old. He was a year away from meeting his future band mates and had yet to record such hits as "Sunday Bloody Sunday," "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and "With or Without You."

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, a New Jersey girl named Patti Smith busted the world of punk rock wide open. Her debut album, Horses, redefined the genre by fusing rock 'n' roll and punk rock with spoken poetry. The album experienced only modest commercial success but its impact on the rock world was tremendous.

More than 30 years later, the opening track, Smith's cover of the Van Morrison song "Gloria," remains on the Edge's playlist -- a song he says was one of U2's earliest muses.

"That changed everything for me at the time because we were starting to play as a band," said the Edge. "The ideas...we're a band who loves to mix it up with the sexual, the spiritual, whatever, the political, and there in that song she did that so incredibly."

Rock 'n' Roll Roots

Within a few years U2 encountered international acclaim. They had become well known for their powerful live performances and in 1983 won the BRIT Award for best live act. But four studio albums had come and gone and the group had yet to have a No.1 record outside of the U.K.

After the release of their fourth album, The Unforgettable Fire, in 1984, the band began exploring blues, country and gospel music. Their relationships with rock legends such as Van Morrison, Keith Richards and Bob Dylan had inspired them to explore the roots of rock 'n' roll.

During the recording sessions of U2's fifth album, The Joshua Tree, the Edge found inspiration in the form of another debut record -- the Band's Music from Big Pink released in 1968. The album's hit single, "The Weight," made famous by the classic film Easy Rider, particularly stood out for the Edge.

"We were first exploring American music and hearing their work, really delving into it -- it was mind blowing for me," he said. "And that I will always associate with a particular summer up in the hills in Dublin."

The Joshua Tree was a monumental hit. It was a No. 1 record around the globe and went on to become a multiplatinum album, selling over 10 million units worldwide. Suffice to say, the record solidified U2's position as both creative and commercial juggernauts.

Success

Success carried the Edge to nearly every point on the globe. In 20 years of traveling he has accumulated an extraordinary wealth of stories, from nearly having the group's only set of guitars stolen within their first few hours in New York in December 1980, to dancing on top of the bar with Bono in pre-Katrina New Orleans.

"I'd always had amazing times there," he said of New Orleans. "And I remember with Bono one night ending up in some tiny little club in an area of the city I'd never been to, dancing on the bar to this little five-piece funk outfit that didn't have any guitars. It was all brass, drums and whatever. And we were just completely blown away -- that music which was so amazing was totally unknown to us. It was like -- it was like discovering, you know, jazz for the first time or something."

New Orleans definitely left its mark, and now the Edge's playlist is peppered with many of the bands he first encountered around the town with his band mates.

"The Dirty Dozen and the Little Rascals...Joyful music like 'Do Whatcha Wanna' by the Rebirth Brass Band is just this killer groove and just this amazing, joyful feeling," he said. "All these brass bands that are playing music which has incredible sense of rhythm and joy, all the things I look for in great rock 'n' roll."

Music Rising

Now the Edge and other heavyweights of the music industry have started a charity effort to rebuild the musical community left devastated by Hurricane Katrina. The primary goal of the charity, called "Music Rising," is to get these musicians back to work.

"We're using music as a way to try and get these areas kind of to -- to give them a leg up," he said. "And music is a great way to do that because it's really the spirit of that city and that part of America."

The charity is not the only thing that has tied the Edge with New Orleans. U2's performance with Green Day of "The Saints are Coming" at the reopening of the Superdome in September 2006 is now one of the more remarkable moments in the histories of both the band and the city. Regardless of the performance, though, the Edge claims the song would have earned a spot on the playlist on its own merit.

"'The Saints are Coming' was one of my favorite songs as a 16-year-old -- maybe 17 when that came out," he said. "This was very exciting to hear this band, the Skids, and their first album."

Reflecting back on his time in Louisiana, the Edge said that New Orleans music is a very unique aspect of the culture in that it continues to help victims of Katrina "celebrate being alive after everything that had happened."

"There's a strong case to be made that there on the streets of New Orleans was the beginning of that integration of African and Western music which begat jazz, begat R&B, begat rock 'n' roll," said the Edge. "So, you know, I wouldn't be here...if it wasn't for this very unique part of America and these little flukes of history and circumstance. And it's still all there. That's the amazing thing."

Posted by Jonathan at 04:42 PM | Comments (0)

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