Well, its the 30th anniversary of the Joshua Tree's release today. March 9, was a Monday back in 1987. I actually in the United States, it might have been released the following week based on when it first entered billboards charts. I think the international release was March 9, while the U.S. release may have been Tuesday March 17, 1987.
In any event, I think this was my first real introduction to U2. I saw the video for With Or Without You in early 1987. At most at that time, I only new about 3 U2 songs, Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Years Day, and Pride(In The Name Of Love). That would change over the course of 1987 as the band got blanket airplay across radio and MTV in the United States. U2 were every where you looked or listened in 1987.
Another vivid memory I have is being at a grade school track meet and after the races I was in were finished wondering out onto farm land near the track and finding friends laying on their backs in shoulder high grass with their eyes to the sky listening to their walkmans with the Joshua Tree playing. Not a cloud in the sky, sunny, wind blowing, the tall grass swaying and the sound of friends blasting the Joshua Tree on their walkmans. This was mid-April 1987.
Another memory is being on a 3 week road trip with my family in the summer of 1987 and it seemed like every radio station you would turn to would be playing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" as we traveled throughout the South Eastern United States including a one week stop at Disney World.
I was late compared to my classmates in starting to buy music. I purchased a few vinyl singles in 1986. First few albums in 1987/1988. But it was not until late 1988 when I got my first Compact Disc player that I really started to buy lots of music. I purchased my first U2 albums in 1989, War, Unforgettable Fire and Under A Blood Red Sky. I did not purchase Joshua Tree until its 3rd anniversary in March 1990. A bit odd I know. I was just starting to get into and listen to music and think the fact that the Joshua Tree was everywhere, so much in your face on MTV and radio delayed my purchase of it. By March 1990 it had receded from the airwaves a little bit and that's when I purchased it.
It would not be until 1992 that I would get to see U2 live. I was maybe a little too young and lived to far away from a major city to see them in 1987. By 1992 I had all the albums and as amazing as Achtung Baby and ZOO TV were, some of the biggest highlights for my friends and I who had now been listening to U2 for years was to finally hear and see Joshua Tree songs performed by the band in concert live in front of us. An Amazing experience.
So this summers Joshua Tree Tour will be special because many of us were old enough to remember and enjoy the listening to the songs on the radio or on MTV back in 1987 but were not yet old enough to go to concerts like the Joshua Tree Tour in 1987. So this years tour will be an opportunity to try an experience something that many of us may have missed back in 1987, but knew about at the time.
So anyways, Happy Birthday Joshua Tree!
In any event, I think this was my first real introduction to U2. I saw the video for With Or Without You in early 1987. At most at that time, I only new about 3 U2 songs, Sunday Bloody Sunday, New Years Day, and Pride(In The Name Of Love). That would change over the course of 1987 as the band got blanket airplay across radio and MTV in the United States. U2 were every where you looked or listened in 1987.
Another vivid memory I have is being at a grade school track meet and after the races I was in were finished wondering out onto farm land near the track and finding friends laying on their backs in shoulder high grass with their eyes to the sky listening to their walkmans with the Joshua Tree playing. Not a cloud in the sky, sunny, wind blowing, the tall grass swaying and the sound of friends blasting the Joshua Tree on their walkmans. This was mid-April 1987.
Another memory is being on a 3 week road trip with my family in the summer of 1987 and it seemed like every radio station you would turn to would be playing "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" as we traveled throughout the South Eastern United States including a one week stop at Disney World.
I was late compared to my classmates in starting to buy music. I purchased a few vinyl singles in 1986. First few albums in 1987/1988. But it was not until late 1988 when I got my first Compact Disc player that I really started to buy lots of music. I purchased my first U2 albums in 1989, War, Unforgettable Fire and Under A Blood Red Sky. I did not purchase Joshua Tree until its 3rd anniversary in March 1990. A bit odd I know. I was just starting to get into and listen to music and think the fact that the Joshua Tree was everywhere, so much in your face on MTV and radio delayed my purchase of it. By March 1990 it had receded from the airwaves a little bit and that's when I purchased it.
It would not be until 1992 that I would get to see U2 live. I was maybe a little too young and lived to far away from a major city to see them in 1987. By 1992 I had all the albums and as amazing as Achtung Baby and ZOO TV were, some of the biggest highlights for my friends and I who had now been listening to U2 for years was to finally hear and see Joshua Tree songs performed by the band in concert live in front of us. An Amazing experience.
So this summers Joshua Tree Tour will be special because many of us were old enough to remember and enjoy the listening to the songs on the radio or on MTV back in 1987 but were not yet old enough to go to concerts like the Joshua Tree Tour in 1987. So this years tour will be an opportunity to try an experience something that many of us may have missed back in 1987, but knew about at the time.
So anyways, Happy Birthday Joshua Tree!
I was 14 when JT was released and U2 toured for it. I was old enough to go, but I wasn't doing well in school, so I wasn't allowed to go. This tour will finally make up for that. It's tough for me to realize that JT is 30 because it means I'm kinda on the older side. 
