(02-13-2005) U2 distance themselves from Blair - itv*

[HelloAngel]

U2 distance themselves from Blair


U2 have distanced themselves from Tony Blair after he came on stage to one of their hits at Labour's spring conference.

The Prime Minister entered to the strains of Beautiful Day at the gathering in Gateshead. But the band were at pains to stress it was no indication of their own political leanings.

Lead singer Bono has appeared alongside Mr Blair and chancellor Gordon Brown to help their push for greater help to developing countries.

And in a speech to Labour's annual conference in September he hailed them as the "Lennon and McCartney" of the developmental campaign.

However, a spokeswoman for the band said: "We are flattered they like our tune but this is not an official endorsement of the Labour Party.

"We reserve the right to fall in and out with any political party and their policies. Mind you, every piece of airplay helps."

http://www.itv.com/news/entertainment_920438.html

 

[Bono's shades]

WTF? It sounds like the band is saying, "We don't endorse you, but hey, we don't mind the free promotion of our song."

 

[TC2290]

WTF? It sounds like the band is saying, "We don't endorse you, but hey, we don't mind the free promotion of our song."

What's wrong with that? Absolutely nothing. They can't stop the song being played and if they did ask for it not to be played, how utterly anal would that be.

 

[dano]

That part about the every bit of airplay helps sounds like a Bono quote from the Achtung Baby era...sometimes I miss the joking, irreverant, ironic Bono.

 

[Bono's shades]

It's not being anal. It seems to me an artist should be allowed some say in how their music is used. I'll bet Tony Blair's people would stop using the song if U2 respectfully asked them not to.

 

[Jamila]

This article says that a spokeswoman for the band made this statement - not Bono or the Edge.

Who is this spokeswoman and is she representing the band members or PM?

This might make a big difference because what Bono or the Edge might personally feel may be different than what this spokeswoman and/or PM might say.

Again, I'm not sure why this has to be an issue surrounding U2 at this time when there are so many other controversies unfortunately surrounding them.

Plus, Bono needs the support of Tony Blair and the British government right now in order to advance aid and fair trade for Africa.

I NEED SOMETHING OTHER....

 

[verte76]

What's wrong with political meetings using their songs? It's clear enough that they don't endorse everything Blair has done. Larry and Bono both demonstrated against the invasion of Iraq the same day I did, when the demonstrations were held all over the globe. They are still pissed off about the nuke at Sellafield, and they don't mind saying so. So what if the politicians want to play a song that happens to be very popular? They said very forthrightly that it was not an endorsement.

 

[jedi Larry]

This is nothing different than Reagan using Springsteen's "Born in the USA" for his own advantage in the '84 elections. It's what politicians do.

And U2, like Brooooce, have publicly commented that someone playing their song does not = an endorsement.

Everything's okay.