Adam's run-in with the garda (1985)

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WalkOn21

WalkOn21

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I was just reading Neil McCormick's 1987 article on the "Unforgettable Fire" biography and came across this:

No mention is made of what must have been a crucial incident in Adam's life (and which received extensive national newspaper coverage), when on January 10th 1985, he knocked down a policeman and dragged him for 40 yards behind his car. (Clayton, who according to the Irish Evening Press told the Garda to "stop messing and f--k off", was disqualified from driving for two years).

While Adam's arrest for drug possession in 1989 is well-known and he talks about it quite openly in interviews, this one's new to me and I was kinda shocked tbh.

Does anyone have more information on this particular incident? I've tried Googling but the only thing it gives me is the McCormick article.
 
Holy crap! Knocking down a policeman and dragging him under the car rates pretty high in badass rockstar antics! Good old Adam!:D This is the first I've heard of this...so if it really happened maybe the legendary U2 PR machine somehow managed to brush it under the carpet and keep it hidden :hmm:
 
:cute:

But seriously, never hear of this incident either. If it wasn't written by McCormick, I would ask "You sure you have the right Adam?" :lol:
 
I thought I read something about this in U2 at the End of the World, but I could be mistaken.
 
WalkOn21 said:
I was just reading Neil McCormick's 1987 article on the "Unforgettable Fire" biography and came across this:

No mention is made of what must have been a crucial incident in Adam's life (and which received extensive national newspaper coverage), when on January 10th 1985, he knocked down a policeman and dragged him for 40 yards behind his car. (Clayton, who according to the Irish Evening Press told the Garda to "stop messing and f--k off", was disqualified from driving for two years).

While Adam's arrest for drug possession in 1989 is well-known and he talks about it quite openly in interviews, this one's new to me and I was kinda shocked tbh.

Does anyone have more information on this particular incident? I've tried Googling but the only thing it gives me is the McCormick article.
Click to expand...


Never heard of it and Neil McCormick did not include it in U2 by U2. Strange that he criticizes Dunphy for not including it in the 1987 book and then does not include it in U2 By U2 which came out in 2005. Perhaps there was an incident of some type, but he got the details in this HOT Press article wrong.
 
Quite intriguing, really, that no one seems to know more about this particular incident. U2's PR machine must have been working overtime covering this up. :hmm:

Of course, there's always the possibility of the article being wrong, but since it was written by Neil McCormick I don't think that's very likely.
 
WalkOn21 said:
I was just reading Neil McCormick's 1987 article on the "Unforgettable Fire" biography and came across this:

No mention is made of what must have been a crucial incident in Adam's life (and which received extensive national newspaper coverage), when on January 10th 1985, he knocked down a policeman and dragged him for 40 yards behind his car. (Clayton, who according to the Irish Evening Press told the Garda to "stop messing and f--k off", was disqualified from driving for two years).

While Adam's arrest for drug possession in 1989 is well-known and he talks about it quite openly in interviews, this one's new to me and I was kinda shocked tbh.

Does anyone have more information on this particular incident? I've tried Googling but the only thing it gives me is the McCormick article.
Click to expand...

What a drag.
 
I guess there are really no other documented sources, hence the abundance of ba-da-bum jokes.

Unreal to think how much Adam has evolved. Is this really the same man in the same lifetime?
 
The McCormick article mentioned "extensive national newspaper coverage". I presume that Irish newspapers have archives; subscribers may even have the option of accessing them online.

I don't live in Ireland myself and I'm not a subscriber to an Irish newspaper, but someone else may.
 
I dunno. The Neil McCormick of today is a different person than the Neil McCormick of the 80s. His love/hate relationship was excessively strong then, and while I haven't read it in a while, I've always felt his trashing of Dunphy's book was quite excessive. There's quite an undercurrent of backstory with 1980s Neil and U2. While I don't doubt that the Adam incident happened, I also wouldn't doubt that there was a tad bit of hyperbole in some of the things Neil wrote, both about that and in the rest of his critical article.
 
Utoo said:
while I haven't read it in a while, I've always felt his trashing of Dunphy's book was quite excessive.
Click to expand...

That is a fair assessment. I think that maybe at the time everyone was waiting to write a book and when someone did, everybody piled on and cried foul. That critique really only serves as a vehicle for showing off is journalistic and critical skills. There is actually bile on the pages.
 
WalkOn21 said:
The McCormick article mentioned "extensive national newspaper coverage". I presume that Irish newspapers have archives; subscribers may even have the option of accessing them online.

I don't live in Ireland myself and I'm not a subscriber to an Irish newspaper, but someone else may.
Click to expand...

The Irish Times has back issues on its website right back to 1859, although subscription is required to view the full articles (and I am not a subscriber)

But, intriguingly, when I searched for "Adam Clayton" within the date range 1/1/1985 to 31/12/1985, this is among the headlines that came up (for Saturday January 12th 1985: )



The Irish Times - Saturday, January 12, 1985 - Page 008

(See the top left, where the headline appears to read "U2 member accused of drunk driving", alongside a photo of what looks like Adam.)


BTW, the incident is referenced in a book by Damian Corless called "Gubu nation: grotesque unbelievable bizarre unprecedented happenings in Ireland" published in 1984.

As this is the only other time I have seen reference to it in print, my guess is Corless basically lifted the anecdote from McCormick's review of UF.

BTW, Corless's book also details a motoring mishap of Bono's, though fortunately without the booze and altercations with policemen.

If the full story as related by McCormick is true, Adam could easily have gone to jail. Lucky man.
 
Huh, it is referenced in a book published in 1984, before the incident?

Thanks for doing the search. Very informative :D
 
financeguy said:
The Irish Times has back issues on its website right back to 1859, although subscription is required to view the full articles (and I am not a subscriber)

But, intriguingly, when I searched for "Adam Clayton" within the date range 1/1/1985 to 31/12/1985, this is among the headlines that came up (for Saturday January 12th 1985: )



The Irish Times - Saturday, January 12, 1985 - Page 008

(See the top left, where the headline appears to read "U2 member accused of drunk driving", alongside a photo of what looks like Adam.)
Click to expand...

Very interesting. :yes: Thanks for the effort.:up:

Now let's see if someone with an Irish Times subscription comes by. I'm not U2-obsessive enough to buy a newspaper subscription just to read a tiny article about Adam drink-driving.
 
I know this is an old thread, and many of you probably have clarified the speculation as true.

But for those of you who have not, here is Adam Clayton's appearance on the Late Late Show from May 2014. He speaks of the Walk in My Shoes charity he is working with, to help people struggling with mental health disorders.

He also speaks very openly about his own trouble with depression and alcoholism, and he goes on to mention waking up and reading the headline "U2 bassist drags Gardai 40 feet" as the worst day of his life!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdGeCqgZ6N0

So I guess its fair that this story has not been so well know by the public as I'm sure U2 and Adam wanted it to go away as fast as possible.

I'm glad to see Adam in good health and happy these days, he has always struck me as the coolest and most down to earth member of U2!
 
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