Seventeen years later, now established as the pre-eminent live act in rock'n'roll, they would return to play two sell-out shows themselves, later released on a live DVD, U2 Go Home'.īack in the 1980's, the nine-month tour following the release of 'The Unforgettable Fire' took in 54 US dates and led to the band's unforgettable appearance at Live Aid in July 1985. Three years before the band had played support to Thin Lizzy at the annual Slane outdoor show. 'People thought we were the future of rock'n'roll and they went, 'What are you doin' with this doggone hippie Eno album?' 'We owe Eno and Lanois so much for seeing through to the heart of U2.' 'In America there was such a backlash when we put out The Unforgettable Fire,' remembers Bono. as well as a whole lot more experimentation. The Unforgettable Fire, recorded in a the ballroom of Ireland's Slane Castle, spawned one of U2's most iconic tracks in Pride (In The Name of Love).
It was also the end of a chapter for the band and the beginning of a quarter century of studio collaboration with Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.
War featured hit singles New Year's Day (the video shot in the snow in sub-zero Sweden) and Two Hearts Beat As One while the live album Under A Blood Red Sky released that November, cracked the US Billboard Top 30. Boy, their debut album, was released five months later - promoted by another single, I Will Follow, October, a year later and by May 1983, they had their first UK number 1 album with War, culmination of a trio of albums produced by Steve Lillywhite. U2's first single, 11 O'Clock Tick-Tock, was released in May 1980. 'Everyone in the world passed on U2 before we finally found a home at Island Records.'
'I was amazed at the quality and talent and ambition of these four musicians and yet we couldn't get a record deal.'recalls McGuinness. They would wait until the following year to sign a long-term deal with Chris Blackwell's Island Records. music was more about energy and trying to say something and not necessarily about great musicianship.'Īfter a brief period being managed by Adam, they had met up with Paul McGuinness but an early Irish release in 1979, the 'U23' EP on CBS, proved a one-off.
'And realizing that actually not knowing how to play was not a problem. 'I suppose a watershed moment would have been seeing The Jam on Top of the Pops, 'remembers `Edge. Inspired by punk, but insulated from the standoffish cool by the Irish Sea, Feedback had become 'The Hype' and then 'U2' and were soon building a local reputation based on the passion of their performances. The four teenagers, who initially called themselves 'Feedback', rehearsed in Larry's Dublin kitchen, Bono on vocals, The Edge on guitar, Adam Clayton and Larry making up the rhythm section of bass and drums. Edge remembers reading UK music papers NME and Sounds every week and then hearing about this 'wild kid called Paul Hewson.' "A band before we could play" was how Bono put it in early interviews. Deep and fat and satisfying.'įrom the beginning, U2 were marked out by their passion. Adam Clayton had discovered rock'n'roll as a thirteen year old, buying his first acoustic guitar and then talking his parents into buying him a bass guitar.
U2 formed in 1978 after Larry Mullen pinned a 'musicians wanted' ad to the notice board at Dublin's Temple Mount School.