If you’re reading this on the day I posted it, June 5th 2021, imagine please that it’s tomorrow.....
Exactly 40 years ago today, June 6th 1981, I interviewed U2’s Bono for the second issue of my fanzine Stringent Measures. I was just out of my teens, as the band themselves were, and re-reading the interview/article the other week for the first time in years, though it reeks of youthful - naive, even - enthusiasm, and though I can’t imagine the likes of Rock’s Back Pages clamouring for its inclusion in their library, I didn’t find myself cringing as much as I might have feared. Readership at the time would have been limited as I think we printed only a couple of hundred copies of the fanzine and it hasn’t been reproduced anywhere in full in the intervening 40 years.
Until now.
(Fanzine cover, “corrected” by Bono and signed by rest of band a few months later at Warwick University)
EXCLUSIVE
BONO VOX INTERVIEW
On the steps outside the stage door of Aylesbury Friars, at about 7 o'clock (tick tock) on June 6th, after the soundcheck......
Waiting patiently outside the back door to the Civic Centre, as Bono walked out in to the unloading bay, I seized my chance and pounced, shaking him by the hand and asking him if he'd mind answering a few questions. Clad in torn sweat shirt, pedal pushers and flip-flops, apologising for smelling, he indicated he didn't, and we moved outside to commence the interrogation. I had a few prepared questions, but seeing as he answered most of them without me asking, much of it was spur of the moment stuff. Anyway, this is what the 20 minute chat brought to light....
SM - The only real article I read about the US tour was in Hot Press, where the writer followed you around. What was the reaction from the music press in America, indeed is there a national music press?
BONO - In America, no. There's the Rolling Stone which is middle-aged music press, in fact middle ages is not a bad term for it. But there are some nice people in the Rolling Stone however, as I found out and they're very good writers. It is not at all like this country. But they covered us and heralded us as the next big thing….it's like every state is like a different country and if you're not played on the radio or you're not in there, they'll not have heard of you and that's why we were touring, we played everywhere.
SM - Again, in the Hot Press, the writer indicated that success in the Mid-West is perhaps harder to come by than on the West Coast. Did you find you went down well with the crowds there?
BONO - Sort of cowboys and indians territory but I like that 'cause it felt more like we were pioneering in a way because nobody else bothers to play there, and I like people and that's the reason we play at all and they don't have to be dressed in a certain way……it's hard to say about people like that, they just follow their instinct, and that's the way I like them……if they didn't like us, they were going to tell us, but they did like us and they did tell us, and they bought a lot of records.
SM - So you enjoyed the tour and it wasn't too much of a slog?
BONO - Yes, I loved it, but there's one thing, like a lot of bands have a condescend ing attitude about the US when they go over there, but my attitude is this, if you don't want to go there don't. I'm really into the Jam, in fact they were in Vancouver when we were there, but if they don't like America why do they go and play there? We went to the US because we wanted to be there and it opened itself up for us and I enjoyed playing there…Austin, Texas it was like the Beatles, weird.
SM - What about the all important "airplay in the USA", did you get any?
BONO - Yes we did, and it's a case of just knocking on doors, and if you're not on the radio they don't hear about you, it's as simple as that. I mean, they came down to the concerts, but we couldn't get people under 18 in to hear us, so the only way they were going to hear us was on the radio and gladly, they did.
SM - What about record sales? How did the album sell in America? Do sales worry you?
BONO - Well it got to 63 in the Billboard charts which can't be too bad. Sales interest me in that they're an indication of how many people are interested in U2.
SM - What about the lack of chart success in this country especially after your number ones in Eire?
BONO - Well basically that's more to do with the record company than the people who bought the singles, because actually a lot of people bought them, but there was a lot of trouble with EMI who distribute Island Records, because of people going on strike and whatsoever. "I Will Follow" was number 70 and going up, but then it got stood on by EMI in terms of the Christmas rush preparing for Sheena Easton and all that, so obviously it doesn't matter to us 'cause a lot of people bought the album and I can name a lot of bands who's album was in the top ten that we were outselling, and you can say why or how and the word “hype" is a popular word at this stage.
SM - What are relations like between you and the record company?
BONO - Well we didn't want our records hyped and Island couldn't even if they'd wanted to, because they are a third party. Our relation with Island is fantastic, like a record company is a factory, and factories are made up of people and we just find the people in the place really good, and we bring them on to our side, and we welcome them.
SM - You're going into studios in Dublin to record the next album; have you got all the songs worked out?Presumably you'll be playing quite a bit of new stuff tonight?
BONO - Yes, it's going to be released in October and we will be playing some new songs tonight but they may not be on the album. I mean we'd bagged about 20 songs for the next album but none of them worked out, so tonight will be a shambles in terms of new material.
SM - Returning to the USA, are you returning to the USA?
BONO - Yes, we're going back there in November for a five week tour and we're touring in Britain in October, and probably about four places in Ireland, but we may not do that till Christmas,
because we're doing a major open-air festival there in August, called Slane Castle and that's a big event that will draw from all over the country so we may delay our Irish tour till Christmas. We'll be touring Europe as well.
SM - You played Aylesbury once before supporting Rory Gallagher. Why him?
BONO - Well we did it for a laugh more than anything else. Somebody said how about playing at Aylesbury with Rory Gallagher and we all went ho, ho, ho and then we said, hold on a second, why not? Let's see how our music affects a completely different audience. It wasn't that we needed the gig. Now we look a bit funny at it but we enjoyed it, but I've always said that I like to play the people face to face so that they can make up their own minds, rather than playing to a set audience.
SM - What about making a video, any plans for one?
BONO Yes we're going to be working on one, but we won't make videos like other people make videos, in that we're not going to (rolls eyes a la Adam Ant) make videos. Everybody's doing that and it soon wears off after a while. The thing about the next period in U2, is that we've learnt a lot, we've all grown up. Most of the songs on the album were written about 2 and a half years ago, it's 2 and a half years later and there's going to be a big change in the next album and I can see a realism creeping into our work. In a video I'd prefer to see them watching the Edge eating a sandwich or Larry tuning his drumkit, less obvious art. I think we're going to cut in two the mask that is around at the moment. I mean Adam (and the Ants) has made a lot of great singles, but we're going to try and cut under him in a real way.
SM - Apart from the Jam and Adam and the Ants, what other bands do you like?
BONO - To be honest, I couldn't listen to an album of Adam and the Ants, and I like such a wide variety of music that it would give the wrong impression to pick out anyone in particular, but I've been listening to a lot of Tamla Motown 4 track stuff, ‘cause I'm interested in 4 track because it's so cheap. Also we've been listening to some disco groups for the rhythm section. But I make no rules. I'm a great fan of Frank Sinatra (….said in all seriousness)
SM - What can you tell us about this mysterious single "Pete the Chop" I saw advertised in the music press?
BONO - That was a lie (laughs). The record company were hoping that we'd release this astonishingly commercial song we have called "Pete the Chop" which is about the perfect human being and it's the perfect pop song about the perfect person, written about a real person - but we thought that if it was released it would give people the wrong impression about U2, although we know it would have been a hit. The next single is out in 2 weeks time called "Fire" which we'll be playing tonight.
The conversation now turned to the two dates they played in Coventry in particular the first one at the General Wolfe, which Bono remembered for a couple of people in the audience shouting "This is what we want!"(They were behind me that night) and for someone at the front who started bashing him on the toes. He also went into the cafe over the road where he played Space Invaders with some black kids and had a cup of tea, finding the whole set-up really incongruous. The conversation continued.
BONO - I come from an area not unlike that (Foleshill, Coventry, an area with a lot of immigrants), a closed area, but of course there's not many black people in Ireland, in fact there's only one, Phil Lynott, but I enjoyed that night.
SM - I saw you again about six months later at the Lanchester Polytechnic in Coventry, and in the meantime I'd got to like the records and the suchlike...
BONO - Yeah, it takes a while.... (laughs fill the air!)
SM - Going back to the General Wolfe, I went away not terribly impressed with the vocals, perhaps because of the mix.
BONO - It could well have been my voice. The adrenalin has always been a problem, in that ever since we were 18 and playing in pubs in Ireland and all our audience that were our own age were locked outside and the adrenalin used to beat, I'd kind of go “spaar" and just wouldn't play and people would say they're a load of.…it wasn't that we were no good, it was just that the adrenalin keeps pumping and it suddenly takes away from the subtlety, so suddenly my voice will go from just talking naturally to (mimics high pitched squawking) and off it goes.
SM- Presumably, you didn't have any training as a singer?
BONO - No, well actually I was in a choir that sang medieval songs which I still love. Mind you I heard a song….I never talk about other groups, so I don't know why I'm talking about other groups now, but I heard a song called "Mandolin" by Spandau Ballet and it was a laugh (imitates plummy pseudo-medieval vocal style of Spandau Ballet lead singer). It was that type of thing I sang, but real.
SM - How did you start playing?
BONO - Playing? I still can't play (He later confounds this by playing guitar on a new song during the set they played). The others, we were at school and that's why we left school.
SM - You're all quite young aren't you? But it doesn't seem quite right with a big American tour behind you and the like.
BONO - I'm 21, Adam's 21 and…it's a really good fanzine (as he flicks through a copy of Stringent Measures 1 - yes he really said that)…whatsisname the Edge is 19 and Larry's 19. I don't know whether to take that last remark as a compliment. But no, if you look at the US, there's no band that's reached no.63 in the charts for like a million years who's our age. There is none. If you think about it the Ramones anybody who's come from the US, Talking Heads, even the...what's the group with the spectacles..the Fleckies..something like that, came over here on Stiff(I still don't know who he meant). Anyway no US band, they're all ancient, they're all 30 years old, Blondie, Talking Heads whatever and it frightens them to hell when they see us go on stage, especially Larry who looks the youngest.
SM - What about the American support bands who played with you; any of them any good?
BONO - Some dreadful and some interesting. The explosion that was here in '76 is just happening over there and it's happening in a different way. I rather like the way it's happening.
A rapid interchange of questions and answers ensued as he told us how he'd met “Bruce Springbean” the night before, staying in the same hotel, and how uncool he was. "If you see him you'll love him, he will make you laugh and cry." Bono's real name, it turns out is Paul David Hewson (not Houston as others have said, notably the NME) & The Edge's is David Howell Evans, and the fact that his second name is Howell (pronounced Howl) got out in the US “where they made a great thing of it, but they love the Edge 'cause they love guitar playing”. And so the interview drew to a close, as Bono signed a couple of record sleeves for me, and I thanked him for a really great 20 minutes or so, and he turned and raced back towards the hall.
What a charmer, one of the best.”
In the same edition of Stringent Measures I also “reviewed” the Aylesbury Friars show.
“This was a real night out, an event. First of all, it was the Friars 12th birthday party, then of course it was the make or break World Cup qualifying match for England in Hungary. There was also a U2 interview to get (see elsewhere) and a chance to see, for the third time, the greatest group in the world. Add to that my keenness to see Altered Images, and you can see the potentially great night I had in prospect. So, after securing an interview with Bono, we moved into the civic centre. I'd read in a number of adverts for the gig that there was to be a TV room where the match was to be shown. So let's consider that first of all. I got in just as Hungary scored their equaliser in the first half, at which time the crowd gathered around the set started to disperse. Half-time saw the inevitable rush to the bar to get drinks, and we went for a walk around this impressive building. Upon returning to the box, we learnt that England had made it 2-1 through Brooking - the room was electrified with an already expectant crowd’s excitement. Perched on a table at the back of the room, as cries of “Come On You Whites” filled the air, England were awarded a (doubtful) penalty. The cheers that met this decision were deafening - it was rather like being at the equivalent of an indoor Wembley Stadium. As Keegan stroked the ball past an almost stationary 'keeper, (a few cliches just for Peter) the roof almost lifted off. From then till the end, every England move was met by cheers, and as the game ended, with the score 3-1 to England, with the whole place almost bubbling over with excitement, time for one final cheer, and almost on cue, Altered Images hit the stage in the main hall. I'd decided to watch them from the comfort of the balcony for two main reasons; one, to really listen to them and appreciate a band I knew little of apart from the debut "Dead Popstars "single, and two, to preserve my energy for U2. With the Banshee punks pogoing (yes, it still goes on) down the front, and with Clare dressed in Shirley Temple-type loose hanging white dress really playing up to the image of innocent little schoolgirl, and the other four members suitably fashionably dressed, they played a really excellent set. The old surging drum sound and the soaring guitars combined well with the interesting and distinctive vocals, as they produced in particular a truly agressive rendition of "Sentimental". Plenty of energy and pose, they came back to do three encores. An interesting set, played to the full by a young band who will do really well. 45 minutes later, U2 finally come on stage. Coated in streamers and wearing funny hats (provided by the management) we, the audience, gave them a rousing welcome. Now don't ask me what order they played their songs in. I was too busy dancing with the music. Bono announced that their own instruments were stranded at Heathrow Airport due to the Customs Officers strike, so they were using borrowed gear. This was occasionally apparent as The Edge's guitar didn't quite reach the peak, but a small thing like that wasn't going to spoil the evening. They played a few new numbers early on in the set including the new single due for release 19th June, "Fire" which features some brilliant drumming by Larry. They played two great encores, "I Will Follow", "Stories for Boys" and "Out of Control" were magnificent. They left the stage, down came the balloons, end. What a great night!!!”
Adam Sweeting also reviewed the show in the 13 June 1981 issue of Melody Maker:
“They’d just flown in from the States, seen Springsteen the previous night, and gave Aylesbury a taste of what it's like to be totally wired and on top of the world.
Patchy in places, lacking the soaring completeness I'd felt when I last saw them at the Lyceum in London, U2 still offered searing glimpses of the future they're mapping out for themselves. With their own instruments still held up in customs at Heathrow, they crashed through a concentrated set of old favourites plus a couple of new numbers. It was brave, foolish and thrilling.
Months in the States has stripped U2 of some of their former aerodynamic grace, substituting instead an almost ruthless bluntness. In 'An Cat Dubh'/'Into The Heart', Bono's singing felt rushed and hoarse.
On the other hand, 'I Will Follow' was brilliantly concentrated, Larry's walloping percussion taking its lead from Edge's scalding guitar riff. 'The Electric Co.' was even better, a blinding rush of speed, blazing guitar, and fevered singing. It wasn't all serious. In the middle of 'Boy Girl' Bono launched into 'I'm A Believer. Then he left the band to play while he prowled the front of the stage, foraging for a cigarette.
Stealing Springsteen's trick of flinging a glass of water over himself, Bono grabbed a guitar to sing 'When I Fall Down', which wasn't special, then previewed the imminent single 'Fire', which was.
They finished with a surprisingly ragged 'Out Of Control', then came back for 'Twilight'. The stage lights died and the band vanished, but made a hasty return as The Edge started to play. U2 are great, and everybody knew it.
© Adam Sweeting, 1981
The night’s set-list, below, was notable for being the first of only two occasions where the band played the never recorded song “Carry Me Home”.
- Carry Me Home
- Touch
- 11 O'Clock Tick Tock
- I Will Follow
- I Fall Down
- An Cat Dubh / Into the Heart
- Fire
- Another Time, Another Place
- The Cry / The Electric Co.
- Things To Make And Do
- Stories for Boys
- Boy-Girl
- Out of Control
- encore(s):
- I Will Follow
Brilliant stuff.
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