Top Of the pops

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TOTP didn't cut the song. . .the band did.




Bono's voice back in October wasn't that good. Did you hear the first performance of Vertigo? Bono had a pretty tough time signing it, especially the last chorus (though his wavering voice actually sounded pretty damn cool). I think that Bono knew that he wouldn't be able to sing it, so they just played a cut version of it. Bono didn't even sing the falsetto line during the chorus, and the vocal tape played the wrong line as Edge sang the 2nd (last) chorus. I don't think that was TOTP's doing.
 
discothequeLP said:
TOTP didn't cut the song. . .the band did.




Bono's voice back in October wasn't that good. Did you hear the first performance of Vertigo? Bono had a pretty tough time signing it, especially the last chorus (though his wavering voice actually sounded pretty damn cool). I think that Bono knew that he wouldn't be able to sing it, so they just played a cut version of it. Bono didn't even sing the falsetto line during the chorus, and the vocal tape played the wrong line as Edge sang the 2nd (last) chorus. I don't think that was TOTP's doing.

Correct on all counts. Some people here actually think U2 has no hand in what will be aired from their performances and the editing job. If anything, U2 has such good management and control over their image that nothing will be released without their approval.

Rest assured whatever version of TOTP came out was fully with the approval and support of U2, whether you like it or not. Besides, the "opera" part won't quite fit radio play or airplay as it is too strong and sticks out like a sore thumb that doesn't belong -- to the average teeny bop radio listener at least. But to us U2 fans, it is one of the best moments.

Cheers,

J
 
boystupidboy said:
aaaaarrrrrrrr boy am i glad i missed it,my missus would have been used as a punchbag for the rest of the night:wink:
:wink:

I havent seen it yet....not looking forward to coming bk off my hols and seeing an EDITED version of the song:madspit:
 
For God's sake quit complaining everyone.

Wether Jick is right, and U2 edited the performance (remember U2 appears to be very sensative about what they release to the public of their live stuff), or the band simply played the radio version.

Whether you like it or not, Top of the Pops is a television show. Things need to be edited down to fit everything within a certain segment of time. Sometimes' full version is 5:08 long, in TV terms that is an eternity, for a kiddie music show that is slightly longer than that.

If U2 allowed the "opera" section cut out of the radio single, you can sure bet yourself that they would allow the opera section cut out for a TV appearance.
 
Jick am sorry U2 didnt edit this at all, infact TOPT did edit it, "due to the new busted segment" you could hear the band building uoti to the part then all of a sudden went to the next verse, Jick get off your hight horse, stop being such a twat. and get real
 
KUEFC09U2 said:
Jick am sorry U2 didnt edit this at all, infact TOPT did edit it, "due to the new busted segment" you could hear the band building uoti to the part then all of a sudden went to the next verse, Jick get off your hight horse, stop being such a twat. and get real


There is no need for name calling here. Please don't do it.
 
It was bloody awful. Why in the hell do U2 go on shit programmes like TOTP and CDUK?????? All it ever is, is a karaoke perfomance with the band miming the music and then to top it all they butcher 2 and a half minutes from the song and the best 2 and a half minutes as well. Don't go on that SHIT tv programme again!
 
rjhbonovox said:
It was bloody awful. Why in the hell do U2 go on shit programmes like TOTP and CDUK?????? All it ever is, is a karaoke perfomance with the band miming the music and then to top it all they butcher 2 and a half minutes from the song and the best 2 and a half minutes as well. Don't go on that SHIT tv programme again!
Woah, easy there :ohmy:

U2 does shit programs like TOTP and CDUK because they help inform people who aren't huge U2 fans that the band has a new single out. Said people will be interested, or reminded, buy the album if they don't have it, and might go to a show or something.

Despite your personal feelings of artistic betrayal, music (and specifically its promotion) is as much business as art nowadays, sorry to break it to you.
 
KUEFC09U2 said:
Jick am sorry U2 didnt edit this at all, infact TOPT did edit it, "due to the new busted segment" you could hear the band building uoti to the part then all of a sudden went to the next verse, Jick get off your hight horse, stop being such a twat. and get real



what are you talking about? have you even watched the video? It's totally obvious that U2 cut the performance, not TOTP. Edge sang the wrong falsetto part ("hard to let go" instead of "mirror"). Also, notice the red background when they close up on Bono when the sings the first "sometimes you cant make it . . . ." it's red. Then when he sings the 2nd "sometimes you can't make it . . . " it's still red. If a segment had been inserted, the background wouldn't have been the same. This isn't TOTP's doing, it's the band's. Bono could barely sing that day, not Vertigo, not the falsetto on SYCMIOYO, and definitely not the "siiing" or "fake it" parts of SYCMIOYO.
 
Even if it was the perfect performance I would expect people in this forum to be complaining about it so there is no real shock in that, I have never seen a forum filled with such nit picking people it is amazing U2 has any fans at all.
 
rjhbonovox said:
It was bloody awful. Why in the hell do U2 go on shit programmes like TOTP and CDUK?????? All it ever is, is a karaoke perfomance with the band miming the music and then to top it all they butcher 2 and a half minutes from the song and the best 2 and a half minutes as well. Don't go on that SHIT tv programme again!

Maybe because TOTP is broadcasted in over 50 countries worldwide and therefore reaches millions of viewers???

And believe me: nothing on TOTP gets shown without the permission of the artist.
 
Yahweh said:
Even if it was the perfect performance I would expect people in this forum to be complaining about it so there is no real shock in that, I have never seen a forum filled with such nit picking people it is amazing U2 has any fans at all.

Can you really say there was any credibility of their totp performance. In my eyes that butchered karaoke version will not have done the single sales any good at all. Now if they showed the Jonathan Ross performance, now thats a different matter cos that was a great performance. Jesus, I can not believe any true U2 fan can find a shred of credibility in that performance. It was embarrasingly bad!
 
Yahweh said:
Even if it was the perfect performance I would expect people in this forum to be complaining about it so there is no real shock in that, I have never seen a forum filled with such nit picking people it is amazing U2 has any fans at all.
WELL SAID!!!!!I'm in full agreement with you there but i'm not going down that road again(see my 'fuck it' thread for that)
 
Yahweh said:
Even if it was the perfect performance I would expect people in this forum to be complaining about it so there is no real shock in that, I have never seen a forum filled with such nit picking people it is amazing U2 has any fans at all.

If you think it's bad here, have you checked out the forum at U2.com?
 
It seems like there was something else going on than Bono not being able to sing the part that day. I don't think that it was edited out by TOTP, but I think that the decision was by the band to not include the part..but why?

The notion that he wasn't able to hit the notes doesn't work for me. It wouldn't have been that complicated for the vocals to be switched to a pre-recorded track for the '..when I sing' part, a la the live 'woo-hoos' on Elevation, and then back to a live mic for the rest. Every other aspect of the performance - other than the vocals was on tape. It wouldn't be that out of the ordinary to do this, they already use plenty of instrumental 'sweetening' of the sound live.

The idea that I have is that the band chose not include that section because it IS the emotional climax of the song, and there's no way that they could pantomime it. For the band to decide that in order to decrease the running time they would remove that section makes no sense.

If they did want to bring the time of the song down, they would have taken out the second verse - as in the MTV edit of the Brooklyn Bridge performance.

I speculate that the band intended to give the audience a teaser of the song, while still maintaining the emotional power of the true version by not playing on muted drums, or through amps which volume is set to zero.

There is no way that the band could think that that the TOTP version of the song was just as good as the album version. It would be like One without 'Love is a temple, Love the higher law' and the last verse - or WOWY without the emotional relase of the 'Whoa whoa's' at the end.

In the Rolling Stone cover story article, Adam spoke of how there is a kind of formula to the great U2 songs - a build up of musical tension, followed by the emotional release - and SYCMIOYO follows that classic style. That's what makes it so great.

With that said, that performance on TOTP reeked. There will be no rescue of that dog. The band should have stayed home that day - blame it on acid reflux of something.

Thanks for your time!
 
*sigh* I'll just post my previous response again for bedouin...


U2 does shit programs like TOTP and CDUK because they help inform people who aren't huge U2 fans that the band has a new single out. Said people will be interested, or reminded, buy the album if they don't have it, and might go to a show or something.

Despite your personal feelings of artistic betrayal, music (and specifically its promotion) is as much business as art nowadays, sorry to break it to you.
 
Canadiens1160 said:
*sigh* I'll just post my previous response again for bedouin...


U2 does shit programs like TOTP and CDUK because they help inform people who aren't huge U2 fans that the band has a new single out. Said people will be interested, or reminded, buy the album if they don't have it, and might go to a show or something.

Despite your personal feelings of artistic betrayal, music (and specifically its promotion) is as much business as art nowadays, sorry to break it to you.

Well said.

Also, it was clearly edited because the drums suddenly get louder in the last chorus.
 
Opera fans will get their fill of Bono doing his best operatic impression with the song's actual video anyway. It was edited out of the TOTP version because the band said so. That should close the door on this and time to move on and find another topic to nitpick about.

Cheers,

J
 
i know come on guys... i really didnt start this thread to have a go at the band.. i did it to have a go at totp, it WAS edited, and as people have said you can quite easily see that by the way the drums are loader in the last part.
 
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