Sad Eyed Lady
The Fly
Well, this is long but I'm trying to be as detailed as possible. My father worked as a Customs Agent at JFK Airport in NY during the summers for many, many years. One night in 1987 he came home from work and was telling me about "some band" that came through. He semmed very nonchalant about it so I didn't pay much attention because I thought it was noone of interest if that was his attitude about it. Also, I was only about 10 at the time.
He was telling me how these boys were well-dressed and very good looking - "especially the one I talked with the most - the one with the ponytail...." He said they answered everything with "Yes sir/No sir" and were "very good boys. The one with the ponytail was a very good boy...." He said that they laughed at his dumb jokes and were very polite and courteous. I asked him what band it was and he said, "....they had these beautiful Irish accents. That one I talked to the most - his name was Bono or something (he pronounced it Bo-no, not Bah-no!)." At this point, my 10-year-old jaw hit the floor! My whole family, except for Dad apparently, was very into music so I knew who they were at the time. I promptly ran out to the car to see if Dad had brought Bono, Edge, Larry or Adam home for me but no such luck....
The only reason he remembers or knew to tell us who they were was that afterwards a young female Customs Agent came up to him and said, "Do you know who that was?!," and he said, "No," and she said, "U2!!," and he said, "Me who?! What the hell are you talking about?!" I recently got curious and "interviewed" Dad for more details....
He said they came in on a commercial B.O.A.C. flight (now British Airways) from England at about 7:30 at night. They came to his line and were standing in this order:
Bono ("very, very sharp looking young man with a ponytail. Beautiful features. He did most of the talking.")
Larry ("Blond Elvis-looking one. I don't remember him too well but he was good looking and didn't really say anything.")
Adam ("Quiet.")
Edge ("The little guy on the end with black hair. He was very bubbly - funny, snickering, wise comments and would make little plays off of words....")
When they came up this is kind of how the conversation went:
U2: "Hello mate," and then Bono asked if he wanted to look through his bag and offered it up. Then he pointed out to my father the other guys, saying they were all together and he could check through all their bags. My father noticed Edge carrying a guitar case and asked about it.
Edge: "Do you want to look at my instrument?" Dad: "Which one?" They all laughed.
Dad: "Do you carry anything that shouldn't in there?"
Edge: "No. Never," and my Dad didn't search any of their stuff (Adam breathes a sigh of relief - LOL).
Dad: "You must be in a band - so that's the nature of your business here?"
Bono: "Yes....and to have fun."
Dad: "Are you big?"
Bono: "We hope to be. We're kinda big in our home country."
Edge: "Are the American girls nice?"
Dad: "Yeah, some of them. What have you heard?"
Edge: "We've heard mixed reviews."
Adam: "What's Las Vegas like?"
Dad: "Oh, you'll like looking at the girls there."
Edge: "OKAY!"
That's all he remembered about their conversation - I think they were messing with him a bit with the American girls thing because they'd been to the US before and Dad said he thinks they had some inside jokes going on because one of them (Bono or Edge mostly) would say something and they'd try to hold back laughing - like they didn't want to be rude. He wished them luck and told them he hoped they made it big. Dad said there was a guy to meet them there who had some kind of literature or press thing on them....Bono told the guy, "Give him whatever he wants. He was nice...." The guy offered but my father politely declined. That's when the young Customs Agent came up and freaked out and my father got some stuff for her.
Now, this is strange - my dad said that they didn't have a ride to where they had to go - Philadelphia. He said they had to catch a ride with a stranger. I don't know but that's what he recalled. He said they had a great attitude - mellow and loose, like, "We'll get somewhere, somehow....," just happy to be there. Very courteous, polite, gentlemanly....just "good boys."!
Someone suggested to me that maybe Adam asked about Vegas because they were going out that way to film the video for "Still Haven't Found...." which was the first single off Joshua Tree.
I told my Dad about getting psyched to go and see them this past summer and he jokingly said, "Tell Bono I said 'hi'." When I met Bono, I told him how my father had met him and that he kept saying "what a good boy" you were. Bono seemed shy about it - kinda like ssshhhh - don't let that get around and blow the rock-and-roll-egomaniac-image here, and said, "Tell your Dad hi....and that I'm still a boy."
So, that's my father's story! Again, sorry so long but hope you liked it....
He was telling me how these boys were well-dressed and very good looking - "especially the one I talked with the most - the one with the ponytail...." He said they answered everything with "Yes sir/No sir" and were "very good boys. The one with the ponytail was a very good boy...." He said that they laughed at his dumb jokes and were very polite and courteous. I asked him what band it was and he said, "....they had these beautiful Irish accents. That one I talked to the most - his name was Bono or something (he pronounced it Bo-no, not Bah-no!)." At this point, my 10-year-old jaw hit the floor! My whole family, except for Dad apparently, was very into music so I knew who they were at the time. I promptly ran out to the car to see if Dad had brought Bono, Edge, Larry or Adam home for me but no such luck....
The only reason he remembers or knew to tell us who they were was that afterwards a young female Customs Agent came up to him and said, "Do you know who that was?!," and he said, "No," and she said, "U2!!," and he said, "Me who?! What the hell are you talking about?!" I recently got curious and "interviewed" Dad for more details....
He said they came in on a commercial B.O.A.C. flight (now British Airways) from England at about 7:30 at night. They came to his line and were standing in this order:
Bono ("very, very sharp looking young man with a ponytail. Beautiful features. He did most of the talking.")
Larry ("Blond Elvis-looking one. I don't remember him too well but he was good looking and didn't really say anything.")
Adam ("Quiet.")
Edge ("The little guy on the end with black hair. He was very bubbly - funny, snickering, wise comments and would make little plays off of words....")
When they came up this is kind of how the conversation went:
U2: "Hello mate," and then Bono asked if he wanted to look through his bag and offered it up. Then he pointed out to my father the other guys, saying they were all together and he could check through all their bags. My father noticed Edge carrying a guitar case and asked about it.
Edge: "Do you want to look at my instrument?" Dad: "Which one?" They all laughed.
Dad: "Do you carry anything that shouldn't in there?"
Edge: "No. Never," and my Dad didn't search any of their stuff (Adam breathes a sigh of relief - LOL).
Dad: "You must be in a band - so that's the nature of your business here?"
Bono: "Yes....and to have fun."
Dad: "Are you big?"
Bono: "We hope to be. We're kinda big in our home country."
Edge: "Are the American girls nice?"
Dad: "Yeah, some of them. What have you heard?"
Edge: "We've heard mixed reviews."
Adam: "What's Las Vegas like?"
Dad: "Oh, you'll like looking at the girls there."
Edge: "OKAY!"
That's all he remembered about their conversation - I think they were messing with him a bit with the American girls thing because they'd been to the US before and Dad said he thinks they had some inside jokes going on because one of them (Bono or Edge mostly) would say something and they'd try to hold back laughing - like they didn't want to be rude. He wished them luck and told them he hoped they made it big. Dad said there was a guy to meet them there who had some kind of literature or press thing on them....Bono told the guy, "Give him whatever he wants. He was nice...." The guy offered but my father politely declined. That's when the young Customs Agent came up and freaked out and my father got some stuff for her.
Now, this is strange - my dad said that they didn't have a ride to where they had to go - Philadelphia. He said they had to catch a ride with a stranger. I don't know but that's what he recalled. He said they had a great attitude - mellow and loose, like, "We'll get somewhere, somehow....," just happy to be there. Very courteous, polite, gentlemanly....just "good boys."!
Someone suggested to me that maybe Adam asked about Vegas because they were going out that way to film the video for "Still Haven't Found...." which was the first single off Joshua Tree.
I told my Dad about getting psyched to go and see them this past summer and he jokingly said, "Tell Bono I said 'hi'." When I met Bono, I told him how my father had met him and that he kept saying "what a good boy" you were. Bono seemed shy about it - kinda like ssshhhh - don't let that get around and blow the rock-and-roll-egomaniac-image here, and said, "Tell your Dad hi....and that I'm still a boy."
So, that's my father's story! Again, sorry so long but hope you liked it....
