Some doubts about the guys...

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VicksSs

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Here r some doubts I've been gatherig by reading band bios, etc on their early days

If anyone wants to post their own, it's alright! :wink: So here they go:

Is is true that Bono was a punk at school? In what sense?
Is it true that Bono had several grl at a time or changed girlfriends quickly before going out with Ali?
Is it true that he didn't know how to sing/play guitar when he entered the band?
Was Adam called Sparky?
Did Edge make guitars with his brother?

If anyone has pictures, better, as usual! :happy:
 
VicksSs said:
Here r some doubts I've been gatherig by reading band bios, etc on their early days

If anyone wants to post their own, it's alright! :wink: So here they go:

Is is true that Bono was a punk at school? In what sense?
Is it true that Bono had several grl at a time or changed girlfriends quickly before going out with Ali?
Is it true that he didn't know how to sing/play guitar when he entered the band?
Was Adam called Sparky?
Did Edge make guitars with his brother?

If anyone has pictures, better, as usual! :happy:
Okay, in order:
No, he was just pretending so as to get attention at school.
According to legend, yes, but he was just a young lad so he should have been seeing several girls and not being exclusive with one. That is until he met the right one - Ali, of course!
Yes. Some people may say this is still true, at least for the guitar part.
Don't know. I always thought the Sparky thing was just a joke, not his real nickname.
Yes.
 
Everyone always exaggerates Bono's poor guitar playing, listening to the radio broadcast of The Fly he was quite spot-on and was really rocking :up:
 
Is is true that Bono was a punk at school? In what sense?

He wasn't very academic/studious, he dressed kinda wacky...I think he was more of an artist that could have had a lot of academic potential if he'd focused more. I think he also had (has?) some trouble w/ built up anger and aggression.

Is it true that Bono had several grl at a time or changed girlfriends quickly before going out with Ali?

Yes, but this was when he was 12-15 so of course kids are really into "relationships" at that point...hook-ups are a big drama...you know. It's not like a 13 year old can be THAT bad of a player! From most accounts it sounds like he was pretty much obsessed w/ Ali:

"He could often be found hanging out in our common room because [Bono] was engaged in a vigorous,amorous pursuit of Alison Stewart, one of the most beautiful and universally admired girls in our year. Alison had thick, black hair, smooth, olive skin, dark, warm eyes and deliciously curled lips. Being a hormonal charged 15 year old boy, I could not help but notice this things. She was also smart, kind, good-humoured, strong-willed and, frankly, way out of my league. Actually, at that stage, you felt you might have half a chance. Alison had a sort of aura of impermiability about her. I never really felt she belonged in the same world as an ungainly youth like me. On principle, I was against older boys going out with girls in our class, since their seniority and bullish air of experience seemed to grant them unfair advantage, btu Alison and Paul seemed to fit. He wooed her over the course of a long year, until, when you saw them nestle intimately among the stark arrangement of chairs and lockers in the common room, it became apparent they were an item." - Neil McCormick

Is it true that he didn't know how to sing/play guitar when he entered the band?

Not sure. I remember reading once that Bono's dad would yell at him to go study and instead he'd find Bono playhing guitar in his room, but I'm not sure if this was before or after the band started.
 
Edge and his brother did make a guitar when they were teenagers. According to Edge and other's own admissions, it never sounded any good. It was broken on stage at one point.

There is a picture of Adam with the broken guitar, I don't have it off hand.
 
VicksSs said:
Is it true that he didn't know how to sing/play guitar when he entered the band?

Well, Bono couldn`t really sing or play when he entered the band. He wanted to play the lead guitar, but Edge had to take over because Bono wasn`t good enough. Her couldn`t really sing either, but beacuse of his leader abilitys and self-assurance, he became the front figure.:wink:

Hey Vicky!:wave:
 
Re: Re: Some doubts about the guys...

lovebono said:


Hey Vicky!:wave:

:wave: hey Mars!! :wink:

Hey thnks about these answers, they were really useful to me :happy:. I guess the guys had really nice lives, in spite of the hard moments like Bono's mum dying and Larry too, but well, I guess some days are better than others :wink: . BTW, I'd love to make guitars!!

And anyone has that pic of Adma with the broken guitar? I'd really appreciate if someone posted! :lmao:
 
Re: Re: Re: Some doubts about the guys...

VicksSs said:


And anyone has that pic of Adma with the broken guitar? I'd really appreciate if someone posted! :lmao:

Here you go. :D

adam0009.jpg
 
I have never seen the broken guitar /Adam pic before!!!!:ohmy: Thank you !!!! Edgette:applaud: :bow:
 
VicksSs a good book about the early years is Killing Bono/Bono is my Doppelganger (sp)

Great book really funny and it gives you a lot of insight into who they are there are a few pictures too:)
 
VicksSs said:

Is is true that Bono was a punk at school? In what sense?

He at least dressed like one. I've read a story (wish I could remember where) that Bono was the first punk at mount Temple. He came to school one day as a punk with a chain from his nose to his ear and other punk-style clothes. Apparently, his dress-sense made one of the younger students cry.


Is it true that he didn't know how to sing/play guitar when he entered the band?

Yes. Larry once said: "Then Bono arrived, and he meant to play guitar, but he couldn't do that very well, so he started to sing, and he couldn't really do that either, but he was just so charismatic that he was in the band anyway."

Was Adam called Sparky?

Yes. Bono confirms this in Bono on Bono. He also mentions Larry was sometimes called Jamjar.


Sorry, no pics of anything. :shrug:

:wink:
 
redkat said:
VicksSs a good book about the early years is Killing Bono/Bono is my Doppelganger (sp)

Great book really funny and it gives you a lot of insight into who they are there are a few pictures too:)
It's an okay book, but just in case 'VicksSs' doesn't know, it should be mentioned that 'Killing Bono' is NOT about U2 or even that much about Bono. It's written by Neil McCormick who went to school with Bono, Ali, Edge, Adam and Larry. He does tell some pretty good anecdotes about U2 and it is interesting to get a peek at the band's beginnings from someone who was there. But this book is primarily about McCormick's own struggles to make it as a singer and how that correlates to his former classmates becoming superstars. Honestly, I didn't really care for the book. I grew tired of McCormick's mocking of U2 when it suited him, but then getting pissed when they dissed him such as when he didn't get the very best backstage passes or when U2 chose not to release his band's single on their label. I found it very telling that, at one point, Ali tells Bono to be careful what he says to McCormick indicating that she didn't completely trust him. A wise woman, that Ali. Plus, I know that the music industry is tough, brutal even, but I have to believe that if McCormick and his band were as great as he repeatedly says they were, then they would have made it no matter how many bad breaks they got.

'VicksSs' - the book I would recommend, if you don't already have it, is 'U2 At The End Of The World' by Bill Flanagan. It's primarily about the ZooTV tour, but it also includes a lot of background on the band. Great book.
 
Re: Re: Some doubts about the guys...

Meghan said:
He at least dressed like one. I've read a story (wish I could remember where) that Bono was the first punk at mount Temple. He came to school one day as a punk with a chain from his nose to his ear and other punk-style clothes. Apparently, his dress-sense made one of the younger students cry.

:lol:! I didn't know that about the clothing thing! I'm trying to picture Bono with a chain from his nose to his ear :huh:...LOL, very strange look. I'm rather glad he dropped that-that kind of thing just isn't attractive to me, personally (but whatever floats other people's boats, you know :)).

Angela
 
Zootomic said:

It's an okay book, but just in case 'VicksSs' doesn't know, it should be mentioned that 'Killing Bono' is NOT about U2 or even that much about Bono. It's written by Neil McCormick who went to school with Bono, Ali, Edge, Adam and Larry. He does tell some pretty good anecdotes about U2 and it is interesting to get a peek at the band's beginnings from someone who was there. But this book is primarily about McCormick's own struggles to make it as a singer and how that correlates to his former classmates becoming superstars. Honestly, I didn't really care for the book. I grew tired of McCormick's mocking of U2 when it suited him, but then getting pissed when they dissed him such as when he didn't get the very best backstage passes or when U2 chose not to release his band's single on their label. I found it very telling that, at one point, Ali tells Bono to be careful what he says to McCormick indicating that she didn't completely trust him. A wise woman, that Ali. Plus, I know that the music industry is tough, brutal even, but I have to believe that if McCormick and his band were as great as he repeatedly says they were, then they would have made it no matter how many bad breaks they got.

'VicksSs' - the book I would recommend, if you don't already have it, is 'U2 At The End Of The World' by Bill Flanagan. It's primarily about the ZooTV tour, but it also includes a lot of background on the band. Great book.

I actually disagree. I thought it was one of the best books I've read about the music business, and coincidentally about U2. Neil's role with the book was to write about his history from his viewpoint, how he was a schoolmate with Bono and how that friendship fared as Bono got famous and he didn't. ie the backstage pass story illustrates how you might think your friendship doesn't change with fame, but fame will distance you. And Neil's role with the book was not to glorify Bono anyway. Neil knew Bono when he was a "dumpy Irishman from the Northside" to quote Dave Fanning, and that's the reality of what he is, no matter how famous he is or will become.

PS The answers to the original questions can all be found in the Eamon Dunphy book, which is quite good on their early history, if total and utter shite on their music. :wink:

You'll find the story of when Bono turned up at school dressed as a punk, with the chain supposedly piercing his mouth - Ali dumped him! :lol:
 
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blueeyedgirl said:
Neil's role with the book was to write about his history from his viewpoint, how he was a schoolmate with Bono and how that friendship fared as Bono got famous and he didn't.
I completely agree, which is why I don't think the book should be recommended to someone who is interested in getting some early background on U2, which is why I brought it up in this thread. Killing Bono is about Neil McCormick, a guy who happened to go to school with U2. It is not about U2.
 
Sorry I haven't posted for a while, the thing is I got quite late today (I do every Wednesday:madspit: )

Hey about the books, thanks A LOT redkat, Zootomic, bueeyedgirl and everyone else!! This is particularly useful becuase a friend of Dad's is going to the US in a while and I want a U2 book, but never got the chance of getting one :(, so your "reviews" :) are very useul for me to decide!! :wink:

And :lol:... Adam's picture! Edgette, thanks for that!! :) (I feel like I've won an award, thanking so much :D)

Oh, and another thing... Bono with a chain going through his ear to his nose... :S ... heh! :ohmy:
 
Man, I've gotta keep an eye out when I'm out shopping around for books again-this "Killing Bono" one sounds interesting, and then there's the "In Conversation" one, which sounds like a good read, too...

blueeyedgirl said:
You'll find the story of when Bono turned up at school dressed as a punk, with the chain supposedly piercing his mouth - Ali dumped him! :lol:

LOL, aw :hug: :bono:.

But hey, it all worked out for them in the end, so...:).

Angela
 
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