alt.music.u2 FAQ, Part 4/5
stu...@juno.com
Alt-fan-U2-archive-name: fan/U2-faq/part4
2.4 ZooTV - Achtung Baby and Zooropa
2.4.1 What characters does Bono use in shows?
[M] Bono has played three different characters on stage. They are The
Fly, the Mirrorball Man, and Mr.
MacPhisto. The Fly is supposed to represent the typical "rock star" with
his black, shiny leather clothes and his
bug-eyed glasses. His excess and posing for the cameras is to make fun
of the way rock has become impersonal
and fake. The next character is the Mirrorball Man, who is a Television
Evangelist. He wears shiny, sparkling
clothes that look like, what else, a disco ball.
The last character, who was seen in the Sydney concert, is Mr. MacPhisto,
an aging thespian/rock star. Both the
Mirrorball Man and Mr. MacPhisto are representations of, if not the
devil, then very evil characters. The
Mirrorball Man was only seen in the US and MacPhisto was created for the
rest of the world. This was done
because it was felt that European and worldwide audiences would not be
able to relate to the evangelist
character.
2.4.1.1 Who's in the picture on MacPhisto's dressing table in the Sydney
video?
[CB] Mario Lanza.
[MJS] I second that. Mario Lanza was an American opera-style singer in
the 1950. He had no formal training
but sang in a light operatic style in several MGM musicals. He was
touted as "the American Caruso." In fact,
Mario was a truck driver from Philadelphia and could handle neither the
stress of fame nor MGM's insistence
that he sing like Caruso but weigh only slightly more than his leading
ladies. He died of a heartattack in his mid
30's. Bono said in an interview with Spin magazine that Mario Lana's
singing impressed him as a child.
2.4.2 What is Automatic Baby? Will there be an album?
[SL] In January 1993, when the USA were celebrating the inauguration of
Bill Clinton's office, there were
several 'Rock&Roll Inaugural Balls'. On the 20th, REM's Michael Stipe and
Michael Mills joined U2's Larry
and Adam in a performance of "One". This is recorded and some bootlegs
actually include this rather unique
reunion. The union of these artists was immediately labeled 'Automatic
Baby' (as in 'Automatic for the People'
and 'Achtung Baby', their latest albums).
[SS] The song has/will be released officially on various discs
including the Childline disc.
2.4.3 Who is Wim Wenders?
[SR] Wim Wenders is a German movie director. He started working with U2
for his movie called "Until The
End Of The World" whose soundtrack includes the U2-song of the same name.
I think Wim and the boys
became friends and their meet is probably due to the fact that the band
stayed in Berlin during the recording of
Achtung Baby. However the next WW movie, called "Faraway, So Close" also
includes the U2 song of the
same name.
[SL] Wim also directed the video for "Stay", and the images of Bono
climbing up some statue are an allusion to
the movie "Faraway, So Close" which is a follow-up to "Wings of Desire"
[MPZ] Wim Wenders will be directing "The Million Dollar Hotel", which
Bono wrote the screenplay for.
2.4.4 Who is Charles Bukowski?
[JC] The movie 'Barfly' with Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway is based on
the life of Charles Bukowski.
I've only watched a half hour of it. It depicts the lives of two
alcoholics, Rourke playing the Bukowski role.
Despite his alcoholism, Bukowski was somewhat of an 'urban poet' and
some of his work was published. For
more answers, see the movie.
[RA] Charles Bukowski was an internationally famous contemporary poet and
prose stylist. He was born in
Andernach, Germany, and came to the US at the age of 13. He has published
45 volumes, both novels and
poetry. Unfortunately, Mr. Bukowski passed away a couple months ago at
the age of 74. He wrote with a very
raw and honest style. A good sampling of Bukowski's work can be found in
"Septuagenarian Stew: Stories and
Poems" or "Love is a Dog From Hell", both published by Black Sparrow
Press.
2.4.5 Who is William Gibson, and what is Neuromancer?
[IM] In case you don't know this yourself, Bono based a lot of stuff
from Zooropa on this person's work.
William Gibson wrote a book called Neuromancer which is about cyberspace
and virtual environments. (This
might explain the Virtuality helmet that appears on the inlay card of
the Zooropa CD.)
2.4.6 What's all this fuss about the 'Lemon' video?
The video is a takeoff on an old experiment using motion photography
[pa...@aol.com] The photographer is Edward Muybridge who did hundreds of
motion studies during the late
1800's. This started as a bet between two rich guys and Muybridge was
hired to settle the bet with his invention
of a series of many still cameras set up with wire triggers rigged to
expose film as a horse ran past. The
resulting set of time-lapse prints formed the first 'photo flip book'.
He proved that a horse indeed has all four
legs in the air at a point during a run. If you look up these photos at
your local library you will see where the
styling for parts of the Lemon video came from.
2.4.7 What does Vorsprung durch Technik mean in Zooropa?
[MJS] It is a German phrase meaning roughly "lead by/through
technology." A more elegant translation is "A
step ahead through technology." It was an advertising slogan used by a
German car company, Volkswagen or
Audi, just like many of the other phrases in the song.
2.5 Beyond the Zoo
2.5.1 Passengers
In 1995 U2 and Brian Eno collaborated to produce an album of
"soundtracks," songs and instrumentals for
motion pictures. A few of the movies described in the linear notes
actually exist. The rest likely are the result
of large quantities of demon alcohol.
2.5.1.1 Who's C.S.J. Bofop? etc.
[Under construction]
2.6 Pop Goes U2
[Under construction]
3.0 The Spoils of Success
3.1 Awards
[MJS] This area is still under construction.
3.1.1. Grammy Awards
1987: Best Album - JT; Best Rock Group Vocal - JT
1988: Best Rock Group Performance - Desire; Best Music Video, Short Form
- Where the Streets Have No
Name
1992: Best Rock Group Performance - AB
1993: Best Alternative Album - Zooropa
1994: Best Music Video, Long Form - ZooTV Live From Sydney
3.1.2 Brit Awards
3.1.3 MTV Awards
1985: Nominated: Best Group Video - Pride
1987: Nominated: Best Video, Best Group Video, Best Overall Performance,
Best Director, Best Editing, Best
Cinematography - WOWY
Won: Viewer's Choice - WOWY
1988: Nominated: Best Video, Best Group - WTSHNN, ISHFWILF; Best Concept
- ISHFWILF; Best Stage
Performance - WTSHNN
Won: Best Video From a Film - WLCTT
1992: Nominated: Best Group, Best Editing - EBTTRT
Won: Best Special Effects - EBTTRT
1994: Nominated: Best Video MTV Europe - Stay
3.1.4 Rolling Stone Magazine
[MJS] Rolling Stone Magazine's Music Awards are given annually, based on
a readers poll and a critics poll.
The top 5 picks are listed for each category, but I've only listed U2
wins here. If you want to see each U2
placing in the awards, check out U2: The Rolling Stones Files.
1985: Readers Picks - Band of the Year; Best Performance at Live Aid;
Critics Picks - Band of the Year
1987: Readers Picks - Artist of the Year; Best Album - JT; Best Single -
WOWY [Streets and Still Haven't
Found came in 2nd & 3rd];Best Band; Best Male Singer - Bono; Best
Producer - Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno;
Best Songwriter - Bono; Best Video - Streets [WOWY was #2]; Best Album
Cover - JT; Best Live
Performance; Best Guitartist - The Edge; Best Bass Player - Adam Clayton;
Best Drummer - Larry Mullen Jr.;
Sexiest Male Rock Artist - Bono
Critics Picks - Artist of the Year; Best Band; Best Producer - Daniel
Lanois; Best Guitarist - The Edge
1988: Readers Picks - Artist of the Year; Best Album - R&H; Best Single
- Desire; Best Band; Best Male
Singer - Bono; Best Songwriter - Bono; Best Video - Desire; Best Album
Cover - R&H; Best Bass Player -
Adam Clayton; Best Drummer - Larry Mullen Jr.
1991: Critics Picks -Comeback of the Year; Best Drummer - Larry Mullen
Jr.;
1992: Readers Picks - Best Single - One; Best Band; Best Male Singer;
Artist of the Year; Best Album - AB;
Best Songwriter - Bono; Best Album Cover - AB; Sexiest Male Artist -
Bono; Best Tour - ZooTV; Best
Drummer - Larry Mullen Jr.; Comeback of the Year;
Critics Picks - Best Band [tied w/REM]; Best Tour - ZooTV; Worst Tour -
ZooTV
3.1.5 Other Awards
[MJS] Under construction.
3.2 Tours
3.2.1 The Measure of Success?
Strictly looking at the numbers, in the US the band's ZooTV tour was the
4th highest grossing of all time. The
1987 JT tour is in 13th place.
1985: 18th highest of the year, 30 cities
1987: Top grossing, 79 shows in 50 cities
1992: Top grossing, 73 shows in 61 cities
3.2.2 Injured in the cause
[MJS] Think touring is easy? HA!
3.2.2.1 How did Bono get that scar on his chin?
[MJS] During the rehearsals for the JT tour, Bono fell while carrying a
light up some stairs on stage. I believe
this was in Arizona, but I'm not positive so I'll look it up. I have
heard Bono say in an interview that the scar
got him a lot of sympathy during the tour.
3.2.2.2 How did Bono break his arm?
[MJS] He didn't. He popped part of his collarbone out of socket at RFK
stadium in Washington, DC when he
fell on a wet stage. Unfortunately, this was not properly diagnosed until
a week later in Boston. He had to wear
a brace and sling for the remainder of the US tour and could not play
guitar. He later said at a press conference
that "the others find it a real pleasure" that he couldn't play in
concert.
[MPZ] In reference to Bono's shoulder dislocation in 1987, I was at their
9/29/87 concert at Madison Square
Garden in NYC and Bono most definitely played guitar for a couple of
songs in the latter part of the concert.
He made a show of ripping off the sling and said something to the effect
of how he wasn't supposed to be
playing, but that he was going to do it anyway. He did look like he was
in pain a little while he was playing
though. This concert was about ten days after he suffered his injury.
4. Discography
[MJS] With a great deal of sadness, I will be retiring this section of
the FAQ after this version. There are other
(and better) sources of this info widely available on the web. Thanks to
everyone who contributed to this
section over the years. The final version of it will be placed on the
Wire FTP site.
4.1 What studio albums have been released?
Boy: I Will Follow \ Twilight \ An Cat Dubh \ Into The Heart \Out Of
Control {LP}\ Stories For Boys \ The
Ocean \ A Day Without Me \Another Time, Another Place \ The Electric Co.
\ Shadows And Tall Trees
[Steve Lillywhite \ November 1980]
October: Gloria \ I Fall Down \ I Threw A Brick Through A Window \
Rejoice \ Fire{LP}\ Tomorrow \
October \ With A Shout \Stranger In A Strange Land \Scarlet \ Is That
All? [Steve Lillywhite \ November 1981]
War: Sunday Bloody Sunday \ Seconds \ New Year's Day \ Like A Song...\
Drowning Man {LP}\ The Refugee
\ Two Hearts Beat As One \ Red Light \Surrender \ "40" [Steve Lillywhite
\ February 1983]
Under A Blood Red Sky [mini-album]: Gloria \ 11 O'Clock Tick Tock \ I
Will Follow \ Party Girl {LP}\
Sunday Bloody Sunday \ The Electric Co. \ New Year's Day \ "40"
[Jimmy Iovine \ November 1983] [U2's only commercial live album]
The Unforgettable Fire: A Sort Of Homecoming \ Pride (In The Name Of
Love) \ Wire \The Unforgettable Fire
\ Promenade {LP&Tape} 4th Of July \ Bad \ Indian Summer Sky \ Elvis
Presley And America \ MLK
[Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois \ September 1984]
Wide Awake In America [mini-album]: Bad (live) \ A Sort Of Homecoming
(live) {LP}\The Three Sunrises \
Love Comes Tumbling [U2 except A Sort Of Homecoming produced by Tony
Visconti \ May 1985]
The Joshua Tree: Where The Streets Have No Name \I Still Haven't Found
What I'm Looking For \ With Or
Without You \Bullet The Blue Sky \ Running To Stand Still {LP&Tape}\Red
Hill Mining Town \ In God's
Country \ Trip Through Your Wires \One Tree Hill \ Exit \ Mothers Of The
Disappeared
[Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno \ March 1987]
Rattle And Hum: *Helter Skelter \ Van Diemen's Land \ Desire \ Hawkmoon
269 {LP}\ *All Along The
Watchtower \ *I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For \ =*Freedom For
My People \ *Silver And Gold \
*Pride (In The Name Of Love){LP&Tape}\ Angel Of Harlem \ Love Rescue Me \
When Love Comes To Town
\ Heartland \LP\ God Part II \ ==*The Star Spangled Banner \ *Bullet
The Blue Sky \ All I Want Is You
[Jimmy Iovine \ October 11, 1988]
[*live][The 1st 30 sec. (approx.) of guitar on Watchtower is NOT live.]
[=*performed by Sterling Magee and Adam Gussow] [==*recording of Jimi
Hendrix]
Achtung Baby: Zoo Station \ Even Better Than The Real Thing \ One \Until
The End Of The World \Who's
Gonna Ride Your Wild Horses \So Cruel {LP&Tape}\ The Fly \ Mysterious
Ways \ Tryin' To Throw Your
Arms Around The World \ Ultra Violet (Light My Way) \ Acrobat \ Love is
Blindness
[Brian Eno & Daniel Lanois]
Zooropa: Zooropa \ Babyface \ Numb \ Lemon \ Stay (Faraway, So Close!)
{LP&tape}\Daddy's Gonna Pay For
Your Crashed Car \ Some Days Are Better Than Others \ The First Time \
Dirty Day \ The Wanderer
[Flood, Brian Eno, & The Edge]
[July 5, 1993 \ Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Europe] [July 6, 1993 \
US, Canada]
Pop: [To be released March 4, 1997]
[CL] Incidentally, the first U2 release was U2:3, an Irish-only EP which
had Out Of Control,
Stories For Boys, and Boy/Girl. The first two songs were later redone and
put on the Boy album.
4.2. Contributions to Tributes or Charity Compilations
Band Aid
7'/12': Do They Know It's Christmas (Mercury, Dec 84)
Notes: With Bono and Adam, among the huge number stars who recorded this
to raise money for Ethiopia.
Artists United Against Apartheid
7'/12': SunCity (EMI, Nov 85)
Notes: Bono sings on the track "Sun City" and also plays "Silver & Gold"
(written by himself), together with
Keith Richards and Ron Wood.
Various
Greenpeace Rainbow Warriors (1989)
"Pride (In the Name of Love)"
Various
Earthrise (1990)
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
Various
Peace Together (1993)
"Satellite of Love" U2 with Lou Reed
4.3 Solo projects/collaborations.
Once again, the volume of information requires some sort of
categorization. The entire section is under going
re-construction.
4.3.1 Solo
The Edge - LP: Captive (Virgin, Sep 86): Original soundtrack, written by
The Edge, with Michael Brook.
The track "Heroine" is sung by Sinead O'Connor, and Larry plays the
drums. Also released as a single (7'/12')
4.3.2 Collaborations
[UNDER CONSTRUCTION]
[MJS] This is now defined as U2 or members thereof, singing on playing on
the work of another.
Special thanks to Matt McGee for alerting me to the U2 Collaborations
list compiled by: ULISSE PEROTTA
Jah Wobble - LP:SnakeCharmer (Island, Apr83): Edge plays the guitar on
the tracks "Snake Charmer", and
"Hold On To Your Love". The latter was also written by the Man himself!
Clannad - LP: Macalla (RCA, Nov 85): Bono sings with Maire O'Brennan on
the track "In A Lifetime", also
released as a single.
T-Bone Burnett - LP: Behind The Trap Door (Demon, Nov 85): Bono co-wrote
"Having A Wonderful Time"
Paul Brady - LP: Back To The Centre (MCA, Apr 86): Larry plays the drums
on the track "Airwaves"
Christy Moore - 7': Let's Make It Work (??? 1986): Larry plays the drums.
Robbie Robertson - LP: Robbie Robertson (Geffen 1987): U2 plays "Sweet
Fire Of Love" and "Testimony"
Various Artists - LP: A Very Special Christmas (A&M, Oct 1987): Charity
record. U2 plays the song
"Christmas (Baby, Please Come Home", by Phil Spector.
T-Bone Burnett - LP: Talking Animals (CBS, May 1988): Bono co-wrote
"Purple Heart".
Folkways - LP: A Vision Shared (CBS, October 1988): A tribute to Woody
Guthrie and Leadbelly. U2 plays
"Jesus Christ", by Woody Guthrie.
Roy Orbison - LP: Mistery Girl (Virgin, Jan 1989): Bono wrote "She's A
Mystery To Me", produced it with The
Edge. Also released as a single (7'/12')
Melissa Ethridge - LP: Brave & Crazy (Island, Oct 1989): Bono plays the
harmonica on "Royal Station".
Daniel Lanois - LP: Acadie (Opal, 1989): Larry and Adam play on "Still
Water" and "Jolie Louise". Bono sings
background on "Still Water."
The Call - LP: Red Moon (MCA Records, 1990): [MK] Bono sings backup on
"What's Happened to You."
Neville Brothers - LP: Brother's Keeper (A&M, 1990): Bono and Cyril
Neville co-wrote "Jah Love".
Various Artists - LP: Red Hot & Blue (EMI 1991): A tribute to Cole
Porter, to raise money for the AIDS
research. U2 plays "Night And Day"
Bono, Gavin Friday, Maurice Seezer - LP: In The Name Of The Father
(Island 1994): Original movie
soundtrack. There's also a CD-single with the title track, with guest
vocalist Sinead O'Connor.
[MJS] Flyer - Nancy Griffith (1994): Adam and Larry play on 4 tracks -
These Days in an Open Book, Don't
forget about Me (also remixed by Larry); On Grafton Street (also remixed
by Larry); This Heart (also remixed
by Larry).
[PG] Larry contributed to 'Put 'em under pressure' by the Irish National
Soccer Team, for the world
championships in Italy, 1990.
Original Soundtracks 1 - Passengers
Brian Eno, Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge and Larry Mullen Jnr, with
Luciano Pavarotti, Howie B, Holi
4.3.3 Written Expressly For . . .
4.4 Soundtracks
Movie; song; date
They Call It an Accident - October [1982]
The Last American Virgin - I Will Follow [1982]
The Courier - Walk to the Water [1987]
Until the End of the World - Until the End of the World [1990]
Faraway, So Close - Stay (Faraway, So Close) and The Wanderer [1993]
Reality Bites - All I Want Is You [1993]
Pret-a-Porter - Lemon Remix [1994]
Threesome - Dancing Barefoot [1994]
Blown Away - [JH] With or Without You and I Still Haven't Found What I'm
Looking For [1994]
Johnny Mnemonic - Alex Descends Into Hell [1995]
Batman Forever - Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me [1995]
[RH] Heat - Always, Forever, Now (The Passengers) [1996]
5. Books, videos, bootlegs
5.1 What books are there on U2?
[AC] STORIES FOR BOYS, Dave Thomas, (Proteus Books, 1985) since revised
to include The Joshua Tree.
An interesting biography. A bit brief at times. Colour. Includes a
discography and a list of common bootlegs
available at the time (now very outdated).
THE U2 FILE: (Hot Press, 1985). Assorted articles/interviews from the
Irish music magazine Hot Press Very
good. Colour. Includes a discography.
[P] This book was also published in the U.S. by Harmony Books, also in
1985, and under the title "U2: In the
Name of Love." It's the same book, though. Inside, it says: "Published in
Ireland as 'The U2 File.'
ANOTHER TIME, ANOTHER PLACE, Bill Graham, (Mandarin Paperbacks, 1989).
Covers U2's early days,
during 1977/78/79. By the man at Hot Press who supported U2 from the
very beginning. He is an 'insider'
when it comes to U2. There's some very strange photos in this book! Get
it for a laugh - I swear you won't
recognize U2 in some of the photos. Black and white.
UNFORGETTABLE FIRE - The Story of U2, Eamon Dunphy (Viking, 1989). The
official biography of U2.
Very detailed, especially when dealing with pre-1984 U2, which is good
because it's hard to find info about
this period. Some of the stuff in this has been questioned by the band as
to it's authenticity, but overall, a must
for anybody who's really interested in U2 as people. Black and white.
TOUCH THE FLAME: Geoff Parkyn (1987). A well put together biography. Has
a 'time line' type thing which
lists important U2 events, month by month, year by year. Includes a
discography along with small colour
pictures of many album and 7" and 12" single sleeves. Colour.
THREE CHORDS AND THE TRUTH: Niall Stokes, (Omnibus Press, 1989). Picks up
from where The U2 File
stops. More interviews and articles from Hot Press. By another insider
and U2 friend from Hot Press. Colour.
[NE] OUT OF CONTROL: A Guide To U2 Bootlegs: (Rock Bottom Press, March
1993)
[MJS] RATTLE AND HUM: The Official Book of the U2 Movie, Peter Williams
and Steve Turner (Harmony
Books, 1988) Details and background on the making of the movie.
OUTSIDE IS AMERICA: U2 in the U.S.: Carter Alan, (Faber and Faber, 1992).
Just what it says, the story of
U2 in America, from their first tour in 1980 to Zoo TV Inside Broadcast.
Carter, musical director of
WBCN-FM in Boston and a longtime U2 booster, clearly loves the band,
unfortunately whoever edited this
book didn't bother with fact checking so there are a few blatant errors.
Worth reading. $13.95 US.
U2 THE EARLY DAYS, Bill Graham, (Dell Publishing) Tales of U2 before
they had a recording contract. A must for fans.
BONO IN HIS OWN WORDS, Dave Thompson, (Omnibus Press) Snippets of the
wisdom of Bono from his
many interviews. Not for the feint of heart.
BURNING DESIRE, Sam Goodman, (Castle Communications, 1993) Pictures and
plenty of them, mostly in
color.
U2, Mark Taylor (Orion, 1993) A CD-sized book that does little aside from
proving that poor coiffure decisions
have plagued the band for decades. Includes an interview CD as well.
ISBN 1-57899-008-4
U2, Jackie Shirley (Longmeadow, 1993) Lovely pictures, godawful prose. I
suspect "Jackie Shirley" is a
pseudonym, nobody can be shameless enough to put their real name on this
dreck.
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