Zoo T.V. and my Senior Thesis

[Lancemc]

Well, it's my senior year of high school and the time has come to begin working on my Senior Thesis paper. The quest for a suitable and interesting thesis topic has lasted a week already, and I haven't had much success in finding one. However, since there isn't much a know more about than U2, and U2 is my favoritest thing in the whole wide world, and since I already own a buttload of source material (Books, magazines, videos, music etc.) I figured a U2-centric topic would be my best bet.

Sooooo, what about U2 would make a good thesis? I was thinking about the great influence they've had on society, but that's pretty huge considering how long they've been together making music.

Anyway, I am currently considering doing my thesis on how The Zoo T.V. tour revolutionized the mainstream stadium concert experience. Cool eh? I think so.

So, how does one write a 4000 word thesis paper on Zoo T.V.?

Here are points I'd like to address in my paper.
- The revolutionary use of technology in the show, including the T.V. and commercial broadcasts, use of video in the actual performance, live Sarajevo video feeds, etc.
- The Stage design itself including the use of the video screens and such
-Comparison and contrast of typical stadium concerts before and after Zoo TV's influence.
-Modern examples of it's lasting effect (VMA's and televised live performances specials)
-Example of artists BEFORE Zoo T.V. who may have "prophesized" or introduced similar idea on a smaller/less accessable scale

...and I'm sure a bunch mroe stuff I'll come up with.


Anyway, the reason I'm posting this here is, I'd like to utilize all your expert knowledge about Zoo T.V. and maybe you could help me find some more sources I'd need.

Some stuff I know I'll need right away (I'm not asking for the information from you guys, just if you could suggest sources to find this information):
1. Technical specs of the tech. used in the show.
2. concert attendance and financial stats.
3. Maybe you could just suggest some example of what I should look at for my before and after comparisons. I'm sure there are a lot of example I don't know off the top of my head.
4. Anything Else I should/could use in this paper.

Any advice you guys could offer for this project would be incredibly helpful. Also, if you guys simply think it's a shitty thesis topic and I'll never be able to reach 4000 words with this info, tell me that too,


But yeah, once I get a rough draft done I'll be sure to post it here on Interference if you guys are interested in reading it! It really should be a fun assignment if I can do it right and not loose myself in the scale of it all (I've never had to write such a long paper before hno:.

Thanks in advance,
Lance McCallion

 

[Ellay]

What would be intresting would be to talk about longevity.

How is it that U2 have last so long, when many of todays acts have such a short shelf live.

The Zoo TV era was such a huge re-invention of their 1980's image. The risk of alienating their original fans was massive, but it was gamble they had to take.

Let's not forget that Zoo Tv was criticised as well as being praised. Mainly by people who didn't understand the parody.

 

[doctorwho]

I think what Ellay wrote is also critical in any discussion of the whole ZOO TV era, both the music and the concerts. U2 had a massive selling album with JT. While R&H had its critics, it too spawned hits, reached #1 and sold tons. After R&H, U2 could have coasted. When the grunge era hit in '91/'92, a long-haired Bono screaming out songs analogous to "God Part II" would have blended right in. If this scenario occurred, some - albeit precious few - might even have said that U2 helped launch the whole grunge movement with their late 80's songs and this is why they were such a big hit still.

However, as we all know, U2 did not follow trends or fashion. Admittedly, they were interested in the industrial sounds occurring at the time - and those sounds were incorporated into their work - but in a more "rock-oriented" way. U2 stepped outside themselves in every sense. Even with more U2 sounding songs, like "One", U2's image at the time was so vastly different that it could have been rejected. Instead it was embraced.

To me that's a fascinating aspect. Why did U2 change? What did they have to gain? What did they have to lose? And why was it accepted? We can all spout off short answers to those questions here in this forum, but a good thesis would really explore this.

The key is to make sure your audience - i.e., the teachers reviewing your work - know what a "U2" and a "ZOO TV" are. So don't assume anything when writing. Good luck!

 

[1stepcloser]

wasn't Zoo TV the first ever tour to use a B-stage?

 

[ahmad]

You know, I sort of recommend not doing a senior thesis on something directly related to U2. I remember writing a ton of papers on the lyrics to some of their songs, and I did just fine - but in retrospect, wish I had branched off and looked and new stuff, just so I could have learned more than I already new. Is there a topic tangentially related to ZooTV that interests you? What about an artist like Wim Wenders? Or the Emergency Broadcast System (if that's what their name was)? Or how about looking at music or culture that emerged right after the collapse of the Second world (USSR)? It'd be really interesting to read about Berlin, and how it was affected by the fall of the wall - or about the conflict in Sarajevo... so, that's my two cents. I just know from experience, that these assignments are best when you take on something you don't know a whole lot about, but are interested in. It's a "textual" journey.

If you write about ZooTV, I think it would be really interesting to historicize that period - not just for the band, but for commercial music in general. You touch on the links to Sarajevo, but also, I'd recommend looking at ZooTV in the post-Cold War context. Achtung Baby is loaded with allusions to Berlin. Flanagan talks a lot about it.

Hope that helps.

 

[Anu]

If the Zoo era is your focus, Flanagan's book is indispensible. But for a more condensed and more academic take on the whole period, see

Time to Heal, "Desire'' Time: The Cyberprophesy of U2's "Zoo World Order'', by Robyn Brothers

(It can be found in the book *Reading Rock and Roll*)

see
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/catalog/data/023111/0231113986.HTM

What a great project!!! I'd actually be interested in reading it as it evolves. Is this due in May or June or December or January or what?

 

[Ellay]

What made me laugh about Zoo TV was that Bono was critisised by many for acting like a rock star. - Brilliant irony.

 

[DubbalinGirl]

I don't think that the tour angle is a great sell to your teachers. I think something more relevant today, maybe how the band has changed the face of charity and social awareness over the years. You have Band Aid, Live Aid, Live 8, Conspiracy of Hope, Amnesty International, Stop Sellafield, the post 9/11 concert and the changes to the tour to acknowledge that event and DATA and then all of Bono's solo work. They've made it cool to care, at least to a demographic which tends not to care since the 60s anyway. And they are an example of using celebrity for the good. You just need to spin it more academically so it doesn't sound like you're just singing their praises but really proving they have made a positive difference.

 

[Miricale_Drug]

If you wanted to expand from ZOO TV, you could have how U2 have for many years been at the centre of show development, and the showmanship they use:

Examples and Ideas
- Bonos climbing on everything and interaction with crowd via white flag etc in war era

- ZOO TV with the first ever B STAGE

- Popmarts big screen

- Elevation the first tour to use a circular walk.

 

[tommycharles]

There was a dissertation done at a university in the U.S. not too long ago about how ZOOTV/Popmart/Elevation changed the concert industry... I can't remember the name of it but that may be worth tracking down.

I totally agree on picking something you *don't* already know loads about, though. Certainly you could incorporate Zoo into the paper, but I think the post-Cold war idea would be great... you could talk about the Trabants, the cross-into-a-swastika, using Triumph of the Will in the opening screens... there's a wealth of stuff there.

Oh, and to echo what others have said, start out by reading U2 At the End of the World, by Bill Flannagan.

 

[ahmad]

The story of the trabants would be an interesting topic. It's a car that epitomized East Germany, the old social order, and still there's a good deal of nostalgia about it. There's some really interesting stuff about East/West Berlin out there. If you needed a hand, I could email you some references.

Does anyone know - there's a word in German that actually means nostalgia for the East - or it was reinterpreted that way, some years back...?

 

[Lancemc]

You all certainly gave me a lot to think about. I see what you are saying about choosing something I know less about. Not sure I will though.

And regarding needing a more academic thesis for my teacher, that's not a problem at all, he's a Bruce Springsteen nut like I'm a U2 nut so we are always talking about the latest concerts and albums and stuff. We're both big music geeks.

 

[LyricalDrug]

Cool topic idea. I'd go a step further, and make the focus of your thesis "How U2's Zoo TV tour influenced the presidential election of 1992"

Remember, U2 used to bash the White House and call George every night. Bush even mentioned U2 on the campaign trail. And then U2 met Clinton in Chicago, and he also called into their talk radio show to say hello and say he was a fan.

U2's Zoo TV was also a reaction, in part, to the television coverage of the first Gulf War.

Bill Flanagan's "U2 Until the End of the World" book covers this topic in good detail. Also, I wrote a paper on this topic for a political science class at Berkeley back in '95, and got an A

Good luck!

 

[Lancemc]

That's a very cool idea Lyrical Drug. I own and have already read Bill Flanagan's book. It was really the main inspiration for this topic.

I'll definitely talk about the election, but I'm glad you reminded me about the Gulf War thing, I nearly forgot about that.

 

[forty]

Lancemc, I would love to read the final thing when you're done. I have a few video clips of Zoo-era documentaries that would maybe help? (For quotes and stuff, etc.).

(BTW, great avatar! )

 

[BonoIsMyMuse]

I wonder how difficult it might be for you to find information about the technical aspects of the tour? A slightly different spin on your topic might be to examine U2's humanitarian efforts since Zoo TV? Bono's calls to George H. Bush to his meetings with George W. Bush. The evolution of One to the One Campaign? It seems to me like you might have an easier time finding resources for that. Think about the significance of U2's 2002 SuperBowl halftime performance and the post 9/11 leg of Elevation.

I'm starting to think about the paper I would write now, so I'll shut up. Just keep in mind that if you want to use this paper in the future (for college applications, etc.), you'll want to appeal to a larger audience than just U2 fans. Pose an argument about U2 that even a non-fan will buy, and the paper will have much more resonance.

Hopefully your thesis will be more organized than my post

 

[Liesje]

I agree with what a few others have said - that "ZooTV" in general might not be very thesis-worthy. A good thesis has a new idea and argues something...so you have to find something about ZooTV worth arguing. You present your thesis and then the rest of the paper answers the "so what?" in response to the thesis. It might make for a better paper to think of something that ZooTV applies to or is an example of, rather than just a report on some aspect of the tour.

Personally, I think the whole live video feed from Sarajevo angle would be cool. I don't think anything like that was done before and has been done since, and it's certainly more controversial than discussing lighting technology or B-stages, IMO.

 

[U2girl]

I think you could, bring up their political awareness; from War tour waving the white flag, JT Reagan/IRA rants, Zoo TV Sarajevo link ups, Popmart Pinochet speeches, Elevation setlist changes on the third leg, human rights message on this tour - and in particular their social activism.

Supporing Greenpeace and Amnesty international, taking part in charity shows, donating money from show/compilation proceeds to charity, and Bono's drop the debt/donate aid work of the last 8 years. From Live Aid to Live 8.

 

[Lancemc]

Good ideas from everyone, and I think you for them. I think it might be a cool idea to go more in depth into the whole humanitarian activism from that time period, but then I have a new question to ask myself, and that it "What exactly is my thesis statement?"

I mean, I'd love to write about this topic, but what specifically about the Sarajevo feeds, the Bush phonecalls, the Clinton election, the Greenpeace and Amnesty international protests and Sellefield, and then how "One" became an anthem for justice? Like I said, this is a wonderful idea, and I thank you for the suggestion, but I can't uite pin down a specifc thesis statement that I should argue?

Any ideas about that?

 

[Liesje]

You don't want to pick your topic based on how easy the thesis will be. Sometimes you have to start writing, or write an outline of points you're going to discuss, and then see where that all points to and work out a thesis.

"Throughout the past two decades, U2 has continuously transcended the decadent rock & roll stereotype by successfully integrating powerful humanitarian themes into their music and concerts....."

So that still might need a little work, but it's a statement that would need to be argued (what are the humanitarian themes and what makes them successful/not cheesy?)

 

[Lancemc]

Hmm, thanks a lot Liv. You make some great points. I think you are right about letting the thesis come to me with more research. I can see where you are coming from with that example statement though. Not sure it's exactly where I'm headed, but it's good inspiration.

 

[U2girl]

You could also talk about U2 going against virtually every rock band stereotype:

- having the same line up for 25 years (more, since they were playing together before they made Boy)

- the bond of friendship between them (Bono talking with Larry after Larry's mother died, Bono letting Edge choose between the band and religion after the Shalom days, Adam being best man on Bono's wedding as reconciliation after the whole faith/band dilemma for the other 3 members, Edge living in - I think - Adam's house when he was going through the divorce, Adam's re-hab in Larry's house and Larry and Edge carrying Bob Hewson's casket, Edge and Larry and Bono all have houses in France)

- not blowing it by arguing about money and/or ego

- not giving into the drugs, which ruin so many bands

- all being in long-time relationships (and having families apart from Adam)

- still being popular and critically acclaimed into their third decade of career

- not losing the above despite trying out several musical directions

- unlike most of rock bands, they use their fame to promote various charities and engange - especially Bono - in social activism

- creating and surviving the huge re-invention with AB/Zoo TV era

- unorthodox topics in their lyrics for a rock band

 

[Ellay]

Good ideas from everyone, and I think you for them. I think it might be a cool idea to go more in depth into the whole humanitarian activism from that time period, but then I have a new question to ask myself, and that it "What exactly is my thesis statement?"

I mean, I'd love to write about this topic, but what specifically about the Sarajevo feeds, the Bush phonecalls, the Clinton election, the Greenpeace and Amnesty international protests and Sellefield, and then how "One" became an anthem for justice? Like I said, this is a wonderful idea, and I thank you for the suggestion, but I can't uite pin down a specifc thesis statement that I should argue?

Any ideas about that?

Don't believe that rock 'n' roll
Can really change the world

(God part II)

 

[Anu]

As a professor who wishes one of his students would write a U2 paper, I give this thread an A.
I think what remains fascinating about Zoo is the parodic protest within the protest. The band bashed big culture commercial excess by becoming it, like the snake that eats its tail, like a hall of mirrors that folds into itself.
Bono's critique of spectacle was spectacle.
Check out Guy Debord and Jean Baudrillard to learn a little about the radical theories that informed such mockery as meaning.
Anu

 

[DubbalinGirl]

[B"What exactly is my thesis statement?"

Any ideas about that? [/B]

How has U2 used their fame and celebrity to ignite awareness among its fan demographic with respect to human rights and equality issues?