Have we forgotten? It's been 25 years of U2

[Foxxern]

Yes, it's absolutely true. 25 years ago this month, the band now known as U2 got it's start. That month, Larry got bored and figured he'd try to start a band. So he posted a note at Mount Temple for a meeting at his place. Never mind the fact that there were originally seven boys at that first meeting. And never mind that the ones who stuck around longer had no songs and little playing experience. They somehow, against all odds, managed to become the biggest band in the world. Paul Hewson, that kid who couldn't do anything else, would become singer. Adam Clayton and his long Afghan coat would become bassist, with Dave Evans able to play a little guitar, and the kid who started it all, Larry Mullen, stuck behind the drum set. For the time being, they would just call themselves Feedback. Later they would move on to The Hype, until U2 really stuck as a name.

It's been a grand ride from the streets of Dublin, to the stage at Wembley for Live Aid, to the roof of a Los Angeles building, to a war-weary Sarajevo, and seemingly back home again to play at Slane. Somewhere along the way they managed to sell around 100 million albums, and play to millions of people live around the world. They met with athletes, writers, politicians, and other rock stars. They cried, argued, laughed, screamed, and got drunk at least a few times. If such a thing could ever happen again in a million years, I wouldn't believe it. Now that's a hell of a 25-year story.

Opinions, responses?

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Change is the only constant

 

[Bonochick]

That was said very nicely.

I would just like to say that I didn't give a two damns about music until I heard my first U2 CD. Now, I absolutely love music...not just U2 music either...and I couldn't imagine my life without it. Bono inspired me to sing...to write lyrics and poetry...which are my favorite pasttimes.

Thanks, U2...for everything.

 

[mocool12]

Awesome. Happy 25th Anniversary U2!! Thanks for being around this long and accomplishing what you have. You've given so much to us, and I'll always be grateful for it.

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"All right I'll eat your- eat your shorts?!!"

 

[popkidu2]

We've been so busy w/ the deathbears and "who's a whore?" questions, we forgot about U2!!!!

Wow!

Sit back for a moment folks and actually process this fact. 25 years. They've been together as long as I have been alive. I was born the same month, in the same year, that U2 formed. And I haven't accomplished half of what these guys have accomplished. None of us have.

In 25 years, they've gone from boys to men. They've carried their message of hope and love and peace and angst and everything else across the world many times over.

They've become wealthier than they could have ever have dreamed when they first met.

And yet they still push on, still keep searching for the dream, still find a way to be inspired by some mythical force that we can't even hope to understand.

As a band, they have altered the face of rock forever. They have changed how stadium rock shows will be viewed. The 1960's rock activism, rooted in the hippie story tellers strumming their acoustic guitar, is not lost on this band. They just amplified the sound and screamed across the world. In a time when being an activist was not "rock", they did it, and have continued to do it. Mixed medias at times, but they have never shied away from their messages.

Pushing the envelope, they have defied critics, continuing to create their own sounds. They haven't gone against the mainsteam, they've fucked with the mainstream, mocked the mainstream, given it the finger and run off laughing. Gospel singers in disguise, U2 has made it cool to be uncool.

And their still pushing the edge (no pun intended). Who knows what they will do next. Yet one thing is certain. They don't rest, and they won't ever stop. Sure, they may cut back on the music they make, the performances they do, but whenever they, U2, get together in a room, they will push themselves and those around them to continue to create that magic that makes their music unique, that thing that is U2.


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To use the old hippy saying, it ain't where you're from, it's where you're at. And right now. If you're listening to this CD, you're already watching the sunset in your mind, feeling the heat on your skin and whilling away the hours. Simply chilled. Best way to keep it, really. -Matthew Kershaw - Ibiza Sunset.

 

[NicaMom]

Happy 25th Anniversary U2!!!
You've come a long way!

Cheers!

Thank you for the Amazing Music, for giving us Soul and for the Beautiful Memories, you're unforgettable.

[This message has been edited by NicaMom (edited 10-02-2001).]

 

[unforgettableFOXfire]

WooHoo!!!

Now, just as much as ever, U2 rules as the greatest rock and roll band in the WORLD


*goes to party by doing some english homework

*

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Thank you U2 for giving me lots of wonderful music and for being the 4 greatest rock and rollers on earth!!!!

Rock on, guys!!

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"I suppose I do everything in extremes-laugh a lot, cry a lot, fight a lot, make love a lot, eat too much, drink too much, try too much, cry too much. Pass the onion..." -Bono

~April~(AIMOPLemonGirl)

*~The Official POP_Whore of Interference~*

 

[mikal]

Woohoo! Drink one to that!

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13 MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SicilianGoddess]

Awesome Foxxern, thanks for posting this. I have loved U2 for 15 years and its not long enough!!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY !!!!

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I Hear Voices, Ridiculous Voices

 

[SkeeK]

Curses for missing the first 8 years of U2's career due to being unborn!

They certainly have staying power no?

 

[STING]

The first day of U2 or Feedback was on a Saturday at Larry's parents house. I know it was the fall, but I don't know if it was actually during October. It might have been the last Saturday in September 1976. But it was on a Saturday in the fall of 1976. I got that from a really long interview tape from 1982. It was great and very informative about U2s early days with interviews with the band, their parents, friends, teachers at Mount Temple, Journalist and others.
25 years since Feedback, 20 years since the start of the October Tour, a little over 15 years since the Amnesty 86 tour, almost 10 years since the release of Achtung Baby, 5 years since what became the postponed release date for POP, almost a year since the release of ATYCLB!

 

[z edge]

Definitely the most gracious band as well as best band on the planet. They seem to care as much or more about us than we do them. They feed off of our energy and love for them with 'mad ambition' and great songs. Amazing, I actually have posters of them over my bed-chicks dig that

 

[DebbieSG]

A quarter of a century! Some will say there have been miss-steps, but what a magnificent ride they have taken us on! The music industry goes through its trends and U2 just keeps barrelling through it all, producing the best rock and roll by a country mile. No fan will deny the music speaks to the soul and expresses the yearnings of the human heart. So universal. They're great and getting greater, because they care about each other, the fans, the world, the music and they are just plain fine musicians. They can reach out to a concert audience like no other. It's utterly amazing. We are so lucky to have them filling our ears and minds. God bless!

Happy 25!! Keep kickin'!

 

[~LadyLemon~]

I will drink to that!!

U2 has brought so much happiness to my life.
Their music makes me smile, dance, cry, laugh, and just rock out. Here's to another great 25 years!!!

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Goonies never say die!

 

[scatteroflight]

25 years...that is amazing. They were together three years before I was born. I'm pretty sure that out of all the major bands in rock history, they are the only ones who have stayed together that long without ever breaking up and never had different members. I haven't always agreed with what they've done...like much of the mid 90's...but I respect their urge to experiment and I realize that even some of the stuff I didn't like was a sign that they didn't want to stagnate. Without that mid 90's period I'm not so fond of, who knows, they might not be together now, and they might not have released one of my favourite records in ATYCLB. Thanks, guys, for all the pleasure and beauty you've brought into my life.



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"I am so amazingly cool you could keep a side of meat in me for a month. I am so hip I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis." -Zaphod Beeblebrox

 

[follower]

Yes, 25 years. And I missed the first 9, not because I hadn?t been born yet, like SkeeK, in fact I was already a grown-up when U2 and their oustanding music arrived in my country and in my life, in 1985. I have been with them since their beginning here. And most important than that, they have been with me, always, whether is a moment of joy or sorrow, I have always found shelter in their songs and message. Couldn?t expect more than music. Thanks U2.

 

[melon]

25 years of U2.

Been a fan for 14 years.

How fun is that?

Melon

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"He had lived through an age when men and women with energy and ruthlessness but without much ability or persistence excelled. And even though most of them had gone under, their ignorance had confused Roy, making him wonder whether the things he had striven to learn, and thought of as 'culture,' were irrelevant. Everything was supposed to be the same: commercials, Beethoven's late quartets, pop records, shopfronts, Freud, multi-coloured hair. Greatness, comparison, value, depth: gone, gone, gone. Anything could give some pleasure; he saw that. But not everything provided the sustenance of a deeper understanding." - Hanif Kureishi, Love in a Blue Time

 

[MysteryGirl]

WOO HOO!!! Time flies when you're having fun. They'll be winning new 15-year-old fans, 25 years from NOW!! U2 is the new Fab Four. Boys to MEN!! Eat your hearts out, all you boy bands! HEH!

:::wonders how many current "boy bands" will be around in year 2026:::

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"You're dangerous...'cause you're honest"

 

[cass]

Cheers U2, couldn't have done it without you, seriously. Thanks.
We're celebrating 30 years in the business(silly business, monkey business?) this week end. I remember hearing Mick Jagger had turned 50 and thinking, that is fecking old. No it's not!!! Just getting warmed up

Here's to another 25 and the continued health and happiness of Larry, Adam, Edge and Bono.....slainte

 

[raincloud]

Wow 25 years...I was blind for 23 of them...now I see the light and have alot of catching up to do...

Thanks, U2, for all of the stories, pictures and life changing music.

Any less of a band wouldn't warrant the obsession that I see in so many of us...including me!!

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"you know we got a stormy kind of love..."

 

[mbi16]

In days where couples can't stay together for more than 5 years, to see 4 guys still hanging on after 25 years is beyond amazing. I'm only 19 and though I have listened to their music since birth it has only registered lately. I've missed enough to feel deprived but knowing how long they've been together only brings hope for the future that I will not miss. Words can't express how their music have touched me, and many others.

Congratulations to guys, and "keep on rockin in the free world"

 

[Saracene]

I missed the first 5 years, reason being not living in the world yet. I've spent the next nineteen years being blissfully unaware of the band and their music. All I can say is, I'm very happy that my favourite band is still together and kicking ass in their fourties. Cheers!

 

[truecoloursfly]

25 years...!
April, that is one beeyootiful quadruple portrait.
I remember when the Stones hit 20 years -- I was just barely out of high school, a big fan of vintage Stones and early rock 'n' roll -- it was a milestone but only because the band was legendary (and still working) rather than really current, right? 25 years now of U2?? That (mostly) scrawny Irish new wave outfit? Bizarre.
They've never ceased to seem current, and never given up relevance ...18 years they've lived in my heart, lit my way, cried and screamed for me, they've simply always been there, all four of them -- I can't imagine my questing twenties without JT, my marriage (or navigating its disintegration) without Achtung Baby, my whole spiritual life without Bad!... or this year without Elevation. Every year, I discover them all over again, something I'd missed before. They showed me how to be in spiritual pain and in joy, they show me how to mourn and to pray and to dance my ass off. I wish someday I could tell them what this music has been in my life; I love what Bono said about U2 being music, while U2 plus its audience is a culture...Wow. Maybe they know already. If the Ramones taught them that their life could be something meaningful in the great wide world, maybe they know what their music is to us. 25 years. My mentors, brothers, friends. God, be gentle with them: they are dear to us. Happy Anniversary, fellas. The world is better for having you in it.

Deb D

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***the goal is Soul***

 

[christiana]

Wow!!!

*opens a bottle of champagne*

Thanks to U2, they give me so much fun if this few years. Although I have missed so many years of them, it's still great to have them once in my life...

 

[dream wanderer]

I had heard of U2 in the early 80s...they piqued my interest...when I first saw the "Pride in the Name of Love' video.....well...just one look..one listen...I was hooked before the video was finished.
That has never happened again with any other band. I have other favorites...but I had to 'grow' into them..
U2 was love at first sight...and listen..

dream wanderer

 

[Foxxern]

*Shameless bump*

Well, in case anyone missed it and wants to wish U2 a happy 25th. Also if they have any other experiences to add. All of your stories are great.

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Change is the only constant

 

[PopTart Pamela]

Iwas blind for 22 years and now I have to live with the fact that i will never see them in concert, unless a miracle happens !!
Maybe it is a miracle, the they came together and brouhgt us so much joy. I know they hace changed my life in a most remarkable way.

God bless you and thanks so much for the first 25 years ! - stay well and keep playing.

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and on the eighth day God created U2

 

[Achtung Bubba]

Ahem.

U2 was born March, 1978, not October, 1976.

Not to make insensitive comparisons to the incendiary issue of abortion, but -- like the issue of "When does a human life begin?" -- we have the much less vital question: when was U2 born?

We have two obvious events to pick as the birth of U2, where the dates are confirmed by U2.com:

* October, 1976: Seven Dublin boys meet in Larry Mullen's kitchen, the result of the historic bulletin board announcement. Of the seven, five decide to form Feedback: Larry, Dave and Dik Evans, Adam Clayton, and Paul Hewson.

* March, 1978: Feedback has since changed its name to The Hype, Dik Evans wants out, and friend Steve Averill suggests they drop the name "The Hype". The end result is that The Hype perform a farewell show in Howth; apparently, halfway through, Dik leaves and the Hype becomes U2.

I believe March, 1978 is the legitimate birthdate of U2, for three reasons:

1. Personal preference. I was born in March, 1979, and the March '78 birth would make U2 one year to the month older than me, and that's just cool.

2. Nomenclature. The name "U2" simply wasn't used until March '78. This isn't a minor difficulty like the difference between "The Smashing Pumpkins" and "Smashing Pumpkins"; the band used two unrelated names before settling on "U2."

3. Dik Evans. I believe this is the most important case to be made for the March '78 birthdate: Dik Evans didn't leave the band until that month. IF one suggests U2 was born in 1976, then one HAS to include the Edge's brother as a band member and acknowledge that he left U2 in 1978. As a result, U2 and its fans would HAVE to drop the assertion that U2 hasn't changed its line-up in its 20+ years of existence.

I would rather not drop that distinction, so I suggest that March 1978 is the true date of birth.

And, to continue the parallels with the issue of human birth, I also suggest that October 1976 is the month of conception -- not birth.

So, great sentiments in this thread, but I suggest that we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the conception of U2 -- wait a year and a half for the birthday party.

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- Achtung Bubba

[This message has been edited by Achtung Bubba (edited 10-04-2001).]

 

[raincloud]

Originally posted by Achtung Bubba:

I was born in March, 1979, and the March '78 birth would make U2 one year to the month older than me, and that's just cool.

[/B]

Me too!! March 12 for me...what day for you? that's cool...

And...you make some good points...lets celebrate AGAIN in a year and a half!

*raincloud uses ANY reason to celebrate!

*


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"you know we got a stormy kind of love..."

 

[Achtung Bubba]

March 26th.

(And I'm all for celebrating -- but not celebrating the 25th birthday; not yet, anyway.)

[This message has been edited by Achtung Bubba (edited 10-04-2001).]