Speaker 1: We're totally booked in rock and roll.
Speaker 2: I think I'll leave you. You're reading little hands this.
Speaker 1: It's time to rock and roll band roll up, I
Speaker 1: Totally booked. Welcome back to Booked on Rock, the podcast
Speaker 1: for those about to read and rock. Find the podcast
Speaker 1: at booked on rock dot com. Every episode there in
Speaker 1: both audio and video. Exclusive video segments from each episode,
Speaker 1: links to all of the social media sites and the
Speaker 1: latest rockbook releases. Also check out the book down Rock
Speaker 1: YouTube channel at bookdown Rock. If you like what you see,
Speaker 1: click the like and subscribe buttons. That goes a long
Speaker 1: way to support the podcast. Aaron SAMs is the author
Speaker 1: of the brand new book YouTube Song by song. Over
Speaker 1: forty years since their formation, YouTube is one of the
Speaker 1: biggest bands in rock history, with an estimated one hundred
Speaker 1: and seventy five million records sold worldwide. They've earned more
Speaker 1: Grammy Awards than any other band, with twenty two. This
Speaker 1: book guide's the reader through the band's fifteen studio albums,
Speaker 1: eight of them number one, and over seventy singles, including
Speaker 1: several hits along the way, and there are many of
Speaker 1: the eighty four singles released. YouTube has two number ones,
Speaker 1: four top tens and ten Top forty singles. A lot
Speaker 1: of ground to cover with Aaron. Was a great discussion YouTube,
Speaker 1: one of my favorite bands. I was looking forward to
Speaker 1: this one. We cover YouTube's music from the beginning right
Speaker 1: up through their most recent release, Atomic City. I put
Speaker 1: together a playlist of you two, which you could find
Speaker 1: on the show notes page. The book is You Two,
Speaker 1: song by song. The author is Aaron Sam's Aaron. Nice
Speaker 1: to meet you. What's up? Nice to me?
Speaker 2: How are you? Oh?
Speaker 1: I'm good. I'm looking forward to talking to YouTube, one
Speaker 1: of my all time favorite bands. So this I was
Speaker 1: looking forward to so much. By the way, is it
Speaker 1: Aaron or do I know you go by aj on
Speaker 1: social media?
Speaker 2: Either one works cool?
Speaker 1: Cool? All right, So you can't pick a better person
Speaker 1: to write this book. I don't think you've been a
Speaker 1: fan of the band for over forty years now? Is
Speaker 1: that true?
Speaker 2: Its forty years last year? Okay picked up under a
Speaker 2: blood red sky back in nineteen eighty three and haven't
Speaker 2: looked back ever since.
Speaker 1: You've traveled the world to see them live in Tokyo, Istanbul.
Speaker 1: This is according to the website that you created. I
Speaker 1: believe YouTube Songs dot com.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, I've been all over from one end of
Speaker 2: the world to the other, nothing to pick out a
Speaker 2: spot on their tour and go do some tourism while
Speaker 2: I'm there.
Speaker 1: And you keep notes, and you have kept notes on
Speaker 1: those shows or on YouTube's discography since what nineteen eighty nine?
Speaker 2: I've been keeping notes on the discography specifically since about
Speaker 2: eighty eight eighty nine. They're all stashed in the back
Speaker 2: of a book about Rattling Home Wow.
Speaker 1: And that that's what led to the website Youtubo Songs
Speaker 1: dot com.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Back in about ninety five final class project for
Speaker 2: a little computer class. We had to pick a topic
Speaker 2: and create a web page. And the props that'd pick
Speaker 2: a topic you really enjoy. So YouTube floated to the
Speaker 2: top of the list, and I took my discography notes
Speaker 2: that I've been working on for years and turned it
Speaker 2: into a little website.
Speaker 1: When did that site launch? What year?
Speaker 2: Nineteen ninety five?
Speaker 1: Ninety five, okay, five.
Speaker 2: Years before you two had their own website.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's right around the time when Pop came out.
Speaker 2: Yeah, when Pop came out, I did a little PopMart
Speaker 2: site for most of that tour. Following this tour city
Speaker 2: by city and tracking, the setlists and so on, so
Speaker 2: a little different that year, but went back to the
Speaker 2: discography and the collecting site shortly thereafter.
Speaker 1: How did you Become a fan?
Speaker 2: A friend of mine was down at his place and
Speaker 2: his older sister had under a blood red sky playing
Speaker 2: and I heard forty at the end of that, and
Speaker 2: I actually heard the crowd singing along to it. And
Speaker 2: it was the first live piece of music I can remember.
Speaker 1: Here how long to sing this song exactly.
Speaker 2: I was a bit of a music fan at that point.
Speaker 2: I've been buying cassettes at that time other artists, but
Speaker 2: it was the first live recording, and I was well
Speaker 2: when I heard that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I saw them once and only once in two
Speaker 1: thousand and one All that you Can't Leave behind tour,
Speaker 1: and it's one of the best shows I've ever seen.
Speaker 1: What is the best show that you've ever seen? How
Speaker 1: many we'll start with that. How many you two shows
Speaker 1: have you been to?
Speaker 2: I've seen somewheres around one hundred shows.
Speaker 1: Wow, Okay, so I guess it's kind of hard. Is
Speaker 1: there one or two that you that you think about
Speaker 1: when you'd think best, best of the best shows. I've seen.
Speaker 2: Some of them. I can't not mention because of the atmosphere.
Speaker 2: I saw them at the Apollo Theater in New York.
Speaker 2: That is gonna have to be at the top of
Speaker 2: the list. I saw them filming the video for the
Speaker 2: Blackout in Amsterdam, so again small club. There was maybe
Speaker 2: two hundred and fifty people there. So those sorts of
Speaker 2: night are hard to match. Some of the bigger shows
Speaker 2: are just as amazing, though. Seeing them at Croke Park
Speaker 2: in Dublin at home, Oh wow, eighty five thousand people
Speaker 2: standing behind you, it's just goosebumps. Aaron Sunday, Bloody Sunday
Speaker 2: in that atmosphere, it's just incredible.
Speaker 1: Have you gone to the recent shows at the Sphere?
Speaker 2: I have. I saw six shows at the Sphere, three
Speaker 2: in October and three in February.
Speaker 1: So how are you feeling about that? Because Larry Mullen Junr.
Speaker 1: Is still not und right.
Speaker 2: I am a Larry Mullen fan. I go and I
Speaker 2: watched Larry from the start of a show to the
Speaker 2: end of a show. I drum along with him. That's
Speaker 2: my jam when I'm at a show. I really thought
Speaker 2: I was gonna mind the Las Vegas thing because he
Speaker 2: wasn't there. They had somebody in there that was really good.
Speaker 2: Wasn't the same on drums, but he did the job,
Speaker 2: and he did it well, and he was fun to watch.
Speaker 2: He was great with the crowd, he was great with
Speaker 2: the fans. He went out of their way to say
Speaker 2: thank you to us every time he spoke. So it
Speaker 2: was really good that way. So I got over it
Speaker 2: pretty quickly.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the only time, the only other time
Speaker 1: YouTube played without all the original members was maybe one
Speaker 1: show where Adam Clayton had had some issues with alcohol
Speaker 1: and then he was He didn't show that mid nineties.
Speaker 2: There were a few shows early on the Edge missed
Speaker 2: a couple. Larry missed a couple, but that was back
Speaker 2: in the seventies, okay, before anybody even knew them, and
Speaker 2: then Adam had the issue in Sydney. They were filming
Speaker 2: those shows in ninety three, and they did a show
Speaker 2: in Times Square without Bono, Bruce Springsteen and Chris Martin
Speaker 2: from Coldplay and Carrie Underwood. I think it was filled
Speaker 2: in on vocals.
Speaker 1: Okay. I got to have you talk to my older
Speaker 1: brother because he got a chance to see YouTube around
Speaker 1: eighty eighty one. It's whenever they played They played a
Speaker 1: university here in Connecticut, New Haven, Connecticut, small little.
Speaker 2: Venue, Toad's Place.
Speaker 1: It wasn't Toads. It was a college. It was I
Speaker 1: could we could look it up. He I just remember
Speaker 1: him telling me that he saw the band. They went
Speaker 1: out back behind the venue and he saw them getting
Speaker 1: in getting into their wasn't even like a limo. It
Speaker 1: was like a van or whatever at the time, and
Speaker 1: then they were they were just just starting.
Speaker 2: So you said you've seen them once with Hartford.
Speaker 1: That was Hartford. Yeah, Harford Civic Center two thousand and one.
Speaker 2: That is probably one of my favorite shows that really. Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's the one that was attached to them, all right, yep, Yeah,
Speaker 2: I had a great time that night. They were on
Speaker 2: fire back for that round of shows. They were getting
Speaker 2: ready to tape the show in Boston a few nights later.
Speaker 2: So I'd done Albany, Hartford and then the four in Boston.
Speaker 2: Incredible shows.
Speaker 1: So you were at that show too, Yeah, that was
Speaker 1: the Boston show. I remember they turned that into a
Speaker 1: radio special and then well TV and radio special and.
Speaker 2: They released it on home video as well.
Speaker 1: Right, right, that was a great tour, great tour. So
Speaker 1: so I'm speaking to one two expert that is for
Speaker 1: sure you know you're you two. So yeah, this had
Speaker 1: to have been a fun book to work on. All
Speaker 1: the songs, the whole discography.
Speaker 2: It was a bit daunting to fit all that.
Speaker 1: Into one book, I would think, so.
Speaker 2: For the book is part of the series Fontell has
Speaker 2: the song by song series, so they go out each
Speaker 2: book is about a different artist. I went out and
Speaker 2: did a little research and pulled down a couple of books.
Speaker 2: I think I had looked at Madonna and Abba. There
Speaker 2: was one other that I had looked at, and my
Speaker 2: first thought was, how am I going to fit you
Speaker 2: Two's catalog into something this size? So it was a
Speaker 2: bit of a challenge.
Speaker 1: Fifteen studio albums.
Speaker 2: Right, fifteen albums, a lot of singles that I want
Speaker 2: to fit in there, B sides, a lot love ground
Speaker 2: to cover in their forty year career.
Speaker 1: Great job, And what I did was I decided to
Speaker 1: just kind of pluck out a few a song or
Speaker 1: two from each of these albums as we go throughout
Speaker 1: and get your thoughts on those. What's in the book
Speaker 1: as well, because there's some great, some great information behind
Speaker 1: the scenes of how the songs were made or what
Speaker 1: they're about. So I always find that stuff fascinating. So
Speaker 1: we'll start with that debut album, which is Boy Has
Speaker 1: released October twentieth, nineteen eighty in Europe March third, nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty one in the US, produced by Steve Lilly White
Speaker 1: who produced the first three albums, and that cover image.
Speaker 1: That boy on the cover is Peter Rowan, who is
Speaker 1: a neighbor of Bono's and the little brother of Bono's
Speaker 1: good friend is a Guji pronounce Gujie googie googie. Okay, yeah.
Speaker 1: So the opening track I Will Follow and that's when
Speaker 1: they still perform live to this day, didn't chut in
Speaker 1: the US, but charted in Ireland at sixty nine, Australia
Speaker 1: at seventy one, New Zealand at thirty four. Who is
Speaker 1: this song about? I Will Follow?
Speaker 2: Bono has revealed more recently that he believes the song
Speaker 2: was written for his mother. His mother had passed when
Speaker 2: he was in his teens, and in the last five
Speaker 2: years or so, Bono's revealed that it's kind of fry
Speaker 2: to his mother beyond the grave, saying I want to
Speaker 2: follow you to wherever you are.
Speaker 1: And didn't he say it was initially a song he
Speaker 1: wrote as a suicide note.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so, so the suicide note was original, his original
Speaker 2: take on it all. Then he started talking about his
Speaker 2: mother beyond the grave, so it's kind of him as
Speaker 2: a young boy wanting to follow his mother to the grave.
Speaker 1: I guess I hadn't listened to this album until I
Speaker 1: really got into the entire YouTube catalog, which was early
Speaker 1: two thousands, And there's not a bad song on this album.
Speaker 1: And the one two combination of nkot Dub into You,
Speaker 1: into the Heart is one that I love it. So
Speaker 1: what is nkot dub about. It's Gaelic for the black Cat.
Speaker 2: It's Gallic for the black Cat, and it's a song
Speaker 2: that Bono wrote when he was separated from Ali and
Speaker 2: he he's claimed it's about temptation and relationships, and perhaps
Speaker 2: he went out to destroy his own relationship.
Speaker 1: They are together still today.
Speaker 2: And they got back together after that song came along,
Speaker 2: So whatever he was up to or whatever he was doing,
Speaker 2: he came back to it. But that's one of the
Speaker 2: reasons it's been tied into the Heart over the years.
Speaker 2: Into the Heart was kind of him and Ali coming
Speaker 2: back together.
Speaker 1: I think, Yeah, do you have a favorite from this album.
Speaker 2: Favorite from Boy out of Control. It was written by
Speaker 2: fifth birthday and can't go wrong with that. Bono wrote
Speaker 2: it on his birthday. We sure a birthday.
Speaker 1: Oh that's cool. His eighteenth birthday may have seventy eight. Yep, wow, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm looking at here is as one of the songs
Speaker 1: that you two recorded with SHASD Whaley for their first
Speaker 1: release three Yeah.
Speaker 2: They had a brief contract with CBS Records in Ireland,
Speaker 2: and CBS sent in one of their A and R
Speaker 2: guys to record a three track single with them. So
Speaker 2: over the long weekend in August seventy nine they recorded that.
Speaker 2: So probably are about this point in time.
Speaker 1: Out of controls about waking up on your eighteenth birthday
Speaker 1: and realizing that you're eighteen years old and the two
Speaker 1: most important decisions in your life have nothing to do
Speaker 1: with you being born and dying. That's a quote from Bono. Hey,
Speaker 1: what do you think of his book? By the way, I.
Speaker 2: Enjoyed his book. I think I enjoyed the book tour
Speaker 2: a little bit more than the book itself. He did
Speaker 2: a little tour where he told some stories from the
Speaker 2: book and sang a few songs. And turned it into
Speaker 2: a little bit of a production that really helped. I
Speaker 2: enjoyed the book up until probably the two thousands, when
Speaker 2: he got into some of the aids in Africa and
Speaker 2: a little bit more of the politics, and some of
Speaker 2: that left me a little cold. I wasn't as enjoying
Speaker 2: that side as much. I wanted a little bit more
Speaker 2: of the rock and roll stories and that sort of thing.
Speaker 1: So, Yeah, and that's something that he's faced. He admitted
Speaker 1: that that he knows that some of the fans don't
Speaker 1: prefer that he'd get too politically involved, but that's something
Speaker 1: that he has a passion for. Yeah, it's kind of
Speaker 1: a divisive topic, I guess. So to me, it doesn't
Speaker 1: matter if the songs are great, I'll go I'll go
Speaker 1: see the concerts. But you know, some people they just
Speaker 1: don't want to hear any of that in concert.
Speaker 2: I don't mind the politics. They've certainly brought it up
Speaker 2: over the years, and a lot of the songs have
Speaker 2: it woven into them over the years, but reading about
Speaker 2: meetings with Secretary of the State and prime ministers and
Speaker 2: presidents leaves you a little cold after a few a
Speaker 2: little while.
Speaker 1: Yeah, October released October twelfth, nineteen eighty one, and during
Speaker 1: the tour in the US, Bono had lost his briefcase
Speaker 1: holding all his notes and ideas for the new album.
Speaker 1: Caused him to start again developing songs in rehearsal, and
Speaker 1: this album includes the singles Fire and Gloria, both top
Speaker 1: ten and Island. Glory is misleading, right, It's not a
Speaker 1: love song? What is it actually about?
Speaker 2: Gloria is glory to God. First real hint of them
Speaker 2: bringing the religion into the picture was with the October album.
Speaker 2: It's there a little bit on Boy, but October they
Speaker 2: hit you over the head with a little bit more.
Speaker 2: He brought some Latin lyrics to try and hide it
Speaker 2: a little bit in Gloria, but it is It is
Speaker 2: more a love song to God than anything else. At
Speaker 2: the time, three of the members of You Two had
Speaker 2: hooked up with a religious outfit in Ireland and were
Speaker 2: It was an interesting time. I think the band almost
Speaker 2: broke up over some of the religion aspects. The Larry
Speaker 2: Bono and the Edge were getting more and more religious.
Speaker 2: Adam was going more and more in a different direction
Speaker 2: and it really became a bit of a sticking point
Speaker 2: for them.
Speaker 1: It's interesting because you two is one of those bands,
Speaker 1: same lineup from day one for a very long time.
Speaker 1: But there were a few times, maybe three times during
Speaker 1: their career where they had thought about calling it quits.
Speaker 1: I know during the octoone Baby recording they felt like
Speaker 1: things went work can out. I believe there was another
Speaker 1: time right where they thought maybe we should split up.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there's been a couple of times over the years.
Speaker 2: The October album. Bono covered it during his book tour.
Speaker 2: He said that they got together and they went to
Speaker 2: the manager and said, God is telling us that we
Speaker 2: should pull the plug on the band. And their manager
Speaker 2: looked at them and said, and what is God telling
Speaker 2: you to do with the contracts you signed? So they
Speaker 2: quickly learned that they had contracts that they had to
Speaker 2: fulfill and they weren't getting out of it that.
Speaker 1: Quickly, and eventually they'd start making the labels quite a
Speaker 1: bit of money. Didn't start that way though, at least
Speaker 1: here in the States. Boy in October solid placings on
Speaker 1: the charts right in Ireland, but in the US still
Speaker 1: hadn't caught fire, But that was coming. Boy reached number
Speaker 1: sixty three on Billboard October one, oh four, but that
Speaker 1: changes with war Or, released on February twenty eighth, nineteen
Speaker 1: eighty three. Peter Rowan, once again featured on.
Speaker 2: The cover, was the big breakthrough for break Through.
Speaker 1: First number one in the UK, not Michael Jackson's Thriller
Speaker 1: off the top spot. Not too shabby, and then in
Speaker 1: the US reached number twelve.
Speaker 2: Sat outside the top ten. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is thanks to the singles New Year's Day, Sunday,
Speaker 1: Bloody Sunday, heavy airplay on radio and MTV and TV was.
Speaker 2: There around then. You had a bunch of good looking
Speaker 2: young guys that were doing videos. They knew what to
Speaker 2: do to get the songs played. New Year's Day. Why
Speaker 2: to catch a song? It's it's still one of my favorites.
Speaker 1: And I want to ask about the video because that's
Speaker 1: a great there's some great stories on that which, by
Speaker 1: the way, New Year's Day was the highest charting single
Speaker 1: at that time, number fifty three. And we can't forget
Speaker 1: about two Hearts Beat as One too. It's another great song.
Speaker 1: But New Year's Day inspired by the solidarity movement in
Speaker 1: Poland unfolding as you two was recording the album, and
Speaker 1: I want to ask you about the video. Where was
Speaker 1: this filmed? And can you tell the story behind the
Speaker 1: band members riding on horseback? Or so we thought?
Speaker 2: The band wanted something cold and snowy, and I guess
Speaker 2: they were playing into the pool and wintertime theme. So
Speaker 2: they went to Sweden. They took the band to Sweden.
Speaker 2: They filmed I forget the name of the town right now,
Speaker 2: but little lakeside resort type area, and they were in
Speaker 2: the snow. They were cold, they were miserable. They had
Speaker 2: a little campfire belt, but they couldn't stay warm. So
Speaker 2: the next day they packed up and went home. And
Speaker 2: apparently the band on horseback is actually a bunch of
Speaker 2: locals that they hired to film. The rest of the.
Speaker 1: Video were the teenage girls? Am I wrong?
Speaker 2: Teenage girls? Yeah you are?
Speaker 1: Yeah, what an iconic video. Such a great video. My
Speaker 1: underdog picked by the way, Surrender from this album, which
Speaker 1: I didn't realize, was about a trip Bono took New
Speaker 1: York to New York City.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it was written about New York. I forget
Speaker 2: the exact story with Surrender, but something about tossing yourself
Speaker 2: off the building and maybe a touch of suicide in
Speaker 2: that one as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he would.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it seemed to be a topic that Bono came
Speaker 2: in and out of quite a bitter in the early years.
Speaker 2: Day Without Me also apparently touches on suicide on Boy
Speaker 2: Bottle Leader said it was related to Ian Curtis, But
Speaker 2: he wrote the song before Ian Curtis from Joy Division
Speaker 2: had killed himself, So I'm not sure where the original
Speaker 2: inspiration came from.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and then from All that you Can't Leave behind
Speaker 1: Stuck in a moment you can't get out of is
Speaker 1: Michael Hutchins. But his suicide. Does Bono talk in his
Speaker 1: book at all about depression? Did he battle depression at all?
Speaker 2: And he doesn't seem to dis And I've never heard
Speaker 2: it brought up, And I don't know that he actually
Speaker 2: got himself to that point where he considered it. Other
Speaker 2: than what he has spoken about in relation to I
Speaker 2: Will Follow. He certainly had friends along the way that
Speaker 2: had walked down that path.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and he would revisit that New York theme with
Speaker 1: All that you Can't Leave Behind the song New York.
Speaker 2: Yeah, New York comes in and out quite a bit
Speaker 2: in their lyrics. City of Blinding Lights is also has
Speaker 2: some ties to New York and being the first band
Speaker 2: to play in New York's Madison Square Garden after nine eleven.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that that goal of coming to the to
Speaker 1: the US, that was big for them. Of course, the
Speaker 1: Joshua Tree when you when you get to.
Speaker 2: That, Yeah, Angel Carlemks spoke to New York for the
Speaker 2: first time here in Billy Holiday on the radio. There's
Speaker 2: a lot of New York stuff.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Some of the songs on Songs of Innocence tie into
Speaker 2: New York too, some of those early shows.
Speaker 1: Yeah, let's get to the Unforgettable Fire, released October one,
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty four, much of it recorded at slain Castle
Speaker 1: in Ireland. Have you been? I have not. Okay.
Speaker 2: I bought tickets to go see them at slain Castle
Speaker 2: and that would have been that two thousand and one
Speaker 2: Elevation tour, but my mother had gotten six so I
Speaker 2: decided to stick close to home. And that's a bit
Speaker 2: of a reoccurring theme, canceling concerts to stick close to
Speaker 2: home for me.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So slain Castle is still on your your bucket list, then.
Speaker 2: I'll get there someday. There's still rumors you too will
Speaker 2: go back there and play again. So next time they play,
Speaker 2: I will be going.
Speaker 1: There are actually two castles on that album cover, Moydrum
Speaker 1: Castle near Floan, which is on the front, and then
Speaker 1: is it boy, this is a pronunciation carrago gonell castle.
Speaker 2: I'm not gonna.
Speaker 1: Carrago gonell castle. Apologies to those who are listening in
Speaker 1: Ireland right now, right near Clarina. And that's on the back. Yeah.
Speaker 1: So the album debuted at number one on the UK
Speaker 1: Album's Charts, number twelve here in the States on the
Speaker 1: Billboard two hundred. Brian Eno brought in to pursue a
Speaker 1: new direction now so this and you can hear it
Speaker 1: in the production and they scored their first top forty
Speaker 1: single in the US with Pride in the Name of Love,
Speaker 1: which reached number thirty three. Most know that this song
Speaker 1: is about Martin Luther King Junior, but I don't think
Speaker 1: many know Bono intended it to be about somebody else.
Speaker 1: This I found it interesting. Can you tell us who
Speaker 1: that was? And what led Bono to changing his mind
Speaker 1: and focusing on MLK Junior instead.
Speaker 2: Bono claims that the song was originally written about Ronald Reagan.
Speaker 2: Wow and thembivalent attitude in America meant as the sort
Speaker 2: of pride that won't back down, and that wants to
Speaker 2: build nuclear arsenals. So originally The Unforgettable Fire had that
Speaker 2: tie into the nuclear bomb and the bombing of some
Speaker 2: of the Japanese cities during World War Two. So I
Speaker 2: certainly understand where Bono probably got into the nuclear talks
Speaker 2: that were ongoing in the eighties, right, Reagan in the
Speaker 2: forefront of all that. So happily he switched to a
Speaker 2: different topic and wrote one of their probably biggest songs.
Speaker 2: It's one of the songs that they still play live,
Speaker 2: still gets a huge response. I don't know if they
Speaker 2: would have gotten that had they stayed with the Ronald
Speaker 2: Reagan subject matter over the years.
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, Yeah, he felt like he was giving Reagan
Speaker 1: too much importance, and that's why he made that change.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a good change. It was a good switch.
Speaker 1: Podcast. We'll be back after this, be right back with
Speaker 1: a snack.
Speaker 2: Jack Go Go Away.
Speaker 1: Another song on The Unforgettable Fire called Bad and this
Speaker 1: song about the heroin crisis in Dublin among my favorites.
Speaker 1: I'm sure many YouTube fans feel the same. It's a
Speaker 1: standout song for you too, because it's it's the performance
Speaker 1: of that song at live AID in nineteen eighty five.
Speaker 1: That pushes you two into the spotlight and they become
Speaker 1: huge stars as a result of it.
Speaker 2: If you on a moment where I tipped from casual
Speaker 2: fan to hardcore fan, it was sitting on my grandmother's
Speaker 2: couch watching Live Aid. Wombono hopped into the audience.
Speaker 1: Wow, what a performance that.
Speaker 2: Moment right there, I was hooked. I had to know more.
Speaker 2: I want to know who these guys were. I had
Speaker 2: picked up a couple of things from them, but that
Speaker 2: was the moment where I went from I kind of
Speaker 2: like them to who are these guys? I need everything
Speaker 2: they've put.
Speaker 1: Out right, I believe. There's an interview with Bono at
Speaker 1: Live AID, which I thought was funny. He actually introduces himself.
Speaker 1: You know, He's like, because people, it's a lot of
Speaker 1: people that may be watching me and I know, so
Speaker 1: he's like, my name is Bono and from the band
Speaker 1: you too. It's just like insane to think about that,
Speaker 1: because you know, they just became a household name and
Speaker 1: it was really because of them.
Speaker 2: They were still working on it. Yeah, Actually they were
Speaker 2: supposed to play Pride in the Name of Love that night.
Speaker 1: That's that was to follow bad, I think, right, they
Speaker 1: cut it out.
Speaker 2: So they had to cut it out because of Bono's
Speaker 2: run down into the audience.
Speaker 1: Which he felt bad about afterwards.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he thought he had screwed the whole thing up.
Speaker 2: And so many people were sitting at home thinking this
Speaker 2: is great. Who is this guy and why is they
Speaker 2: pulling some girl out of the audience, and that that
Speaker 2: whole thing mad made my day watching that.
Speaker 1: That is what I think. One of the things I
Speaker 1: love about you too is is Bonos. It's like a
Speaker 1: fearlessness on stage, like he'll do things like that. It
Speaker 1: just he just goes somewhere and I don't even think
Speaker 1: he even plans on it most of the time.
Speaker 2: But I don't think sometimes he realizes he's done it
Speaker 2: until he's about.
Speaker 1: It after Yeah, it's like he's in his zone. It's
Speaker 1: just it's just magical, magical.
Speaker 2: I was at the opening of the Elevation tour in
Speaker 2: Fort Lauderdale and he just decided he was going into
Speaker 2: the audience off the tip of the heart and just
Speaker 2: jumped off and went for a walk about and and
Speaker 2: it was crazy to actually see that. You didn't know
Speaker 2: where he was. Security was trying to figure out where
Speaker 2: he was going, what he was doing, and he did
Speaker 2: that for the next night as well, and I managed
Speaker 2: to put myself right in his path that night and
Speaker 2: got a high five as he was wanting running by.
Speaker 1: That's so cool man, very Springsteen. It reminds me a
Speaker 1: lot of Springsteen's like that too, just passionate on stage.
Speaker 2: Bono gets that energy built up and he just has
Speaker 2: to let it go sometimes.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And that performance sets up the next album, which
Speaker 1: is an album called The Joshua Tree, a little old
Speaker 1: album called the Joshua Tree. This is This is still
Speaker 1: my personal favor and I love octun Baby, but this
Speaker 1: is right at the top for me. Released March ninth,
Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven, first album to reach number one in
Speaker 1: the USA, reached number one in the UK. Record stores
Speaker 1: opened at midnight to meet demand. With or Without You
Speaker 1: and I still haven't found what I'm looking for. Number
Speaker 1: one singles where the streets have no name, Number thirteen
Speaker 1: in God's Country just missed the top forty number forty four.
Speaker 1: You know and Lenoir are back to produce on this.
Speaker 1: We haven't talked about the edges of amazing guitar works,
Speaker 1: so let's talk about With or without You, because he
Speaker 1: saves this song from being abandoned.
Speaker 2: Yeah was it? And sure was it Bono's friend Gavin Friday.
Speaker 1: Let's see, because I think it was that. I think
Speaker 1: it was that risk.
Speaker 2: At one point they talked about walking away.
Speaker 1: From that song right with or without You? Let's see.
Speaker 2: A breakthrough came when the Edge was given a prototype
Speaker 2: infinite guitar, right Gavin Friday and Bono took it away
Speaker 2: to work on it when the band was ready to
Speaker 2: abandon the song. Yeah, it was Gavin that it convinced
Speaker 2: Bono to take it away and work on it a
Speaker 2: little bit further. But in the meantime Edge was noodling
Speaker 2: around with this infinite guitar. There was only two or
Speaker 2: three of those guitars created. Canadian came up with that
Speaker 2: invention and and somewhere along the way, Bono brought back
Speaker 2: what he had been working on. Edge brought back what
Speaker 2: he had been working on. They smashed it all together.
Speaker 2: Help came with or Without You, which I don't think
Speaker 2: he could go anywhere. Is in nineteen eighty seven and
Speaker 2: not hear that song on the radio.
Speaker 1: Yeah, another song almost lost where the streets have No Name?
Speaker 1: And this time it was engineer Pat McCarthy stepped in
Speaker 1: to save this one.
Speaker 2: Yeah, brian Ino was getting ready to throw that one
Speaker 2: into the garbage and when the engineers rescued it that
Speaker 2: day and said no, no, well we're going to pull
Speaker 2: that aside. And the band worked on that and worked
Speaker 2: on it, and they thought they had something special there,
Speaker 2: but they couldn't get to the finish line. But eventually
Speaker 2: they got there. I'm so glad they did because if
Speaker 2: there's a moment in their live show that I never
Speaker 2: want to do without, it's being able to turn around
Speaker 2: when the lights come up during where the streets have
Speaker 2: no name, but looking at the faces behind you, it's
Speaker 2: pure joy in the audience when that song is being performed.
Speaker 1: It's goosebumps, you know, goosebumps. What was the did they perform?
Speaker 2: That?
Speaker 1: Wasn't at the super Bowl? Just following nine to eleven?
Speaker 2: They did that at the super Bowl. Guy behind me
Speaker 2: at my first show in Edmonton in ninety seven tapped
Speaker 2: me on the shoulder and he said, when the lights
Speaker 2: come on during the streets, look behind you. I have
Speaker 2: to say that was the best advice I ever got.
Speaker 2: I still to this day, just look around the arena
Speaker 2: or the stadium or wherever I happen to be, and
Speaker 2: just look at the audience enjoying that song. It's rare
Speaker 2: to see that many people that happy all at one time.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Joshua Tree. I remember getting it this Christmas vacation week.
Speaker 1: I was in college and I got a gift certificate
Speaker 1: to Strawberries Records, and I went and got tattoo you
Speaker 1: from the Stones and Joshua Tree. There's a third one,
Speaker 1: I think two, But because I kept thinking this would
Speaker 1: been in the early nineties, I'm like, I keep hearing
Speaker 1: everything about Joshua True and I know the hits, I
Speaker 1: know the singles, but I got to hear this whole thing.
Speaker 1: You know. It was just one of those moments where
Speaker 1: you just like Mesmeriz, you know, just turned the lights
Speaker 1: down it playing, just yeah, just amazed at what I
Speaker 1: was hearing. It's the songs that were the songs that
Speaker 1: weren't the hits are I love every bit as much
Speaker 1: as the ones that were.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the Joshua Tree came out while I was in
Speaker 2: high school and small town maybe five hundred people. My
Speaker 2: graduating class had less than thirty people in it, so
Speaker 2: no one knew who you two were. There was me
Speaker 2: and one other girl at the high school that were
Speaker 2: YouTube fans, so we would just talk for hours. And
Speaker 2: Joshua Tree was one of those albums I got into
Speaker 2: while it was fresh. I was there while it was
Speaker 2: coming out, and I think that might have been the
Speaker 2: first album that I got into while the band were
Speaker 2: promoting it, rather than looking back on something they had
Speaker 2: released years earlier.
Speaker 1: Rattling Homi is interesting. Over ten nineteen eighty eight, it's
Speaker 1: released and it's a combination of new material and live performances.
Speaker 1: It's released as the soundtrack to the film of the
Speaker 1: same name. This is kind of divisive. Where do you
Speaker 1: stand on Rattling Hume? This differing opinions among YouTube fans.
Speaker 1: I think I.
Speaker 2: Really like the music. I probably could have done without
Speaker 2: the film. The live performances in the film are amazing,
Speaker 2: but I don't know. Being in a small town, there
Speaker 2: wasn't a theater nearby, so I did Rattle and Hum
Speaker 2: without all the movie. Fuss. I didn't see Rattling Hum
Speaker 2: until probably two or three years later.
Speaker 1: Okay, So to.
Speaker 2: Me, Rattle and Hum was just more live music and
Speaker 2: some great songs, and I really bypassed the rattle and
Speaker 2: hum film aspect, probably until it showed on TV a
Speaker 2: couple of years later.
Speaker 1: Well, it's a great gospel version of I still haven't
Speaker 1: found what I'm looking for.
Speaker 2: What the new voice is the freedom? Yeah, You're out
Speaker 2: in New York. They were actually approached to do a
Speaker 2: single of that song back when they released the initial
Speaker 2: single in nineteen eighty seven. You two was going to
Speaker 2: do a double release and release a gospel version of
Speaker 2: the song at the same time.
Speaker 1: Well, they had hits off this one too, The Desires
Speaker 1: number three, Angel of Harlan number fourteen, and a couple
Speaker 1: more singles When Love Comes to Town with BB King.
Speaker 2: That's such a great song.
Speaker 1: Great song, and All I Want Is You is among
Speaker 1: my favorite.
Speaker 2: All I Want to Use is You is one of
Speaker 2: my faves as well. I love how they ended that.
Speaker 1: Yeah Jimmy Ivy, credited as producer, reached number one in
Speaker 1: the US and UK, but again mixed reactions from critics
Speaker 1: and fans. So I think that's why that was part
Speaker 1: of the decision that went into Octune Baby. Correct. It
Speaker 1: was like, let's go, let's try something different. Now, I
Speaker 1: think we went a little too far in that direction.
Speaker 1: Let's try something new.
Speaker 2: We went a little too far with rock and roll
Speaker 2: in the US sound. Let's head to Europe.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, which we get to tune Baby.
Speaker 2: Yeah, not one of my favorites.
Speaker 1: Really. Wow.
Speaker 2: It was my first year at university and I was
Speaker 2: off listening to strange, weird dance music and Actung Baby
Speaker 2: just left me a little bit cold.
Speaker 1: That is shocking. That is shocking. Wow.
Speaker 2: Okay had some great songs, some of them are favorites
Speaker 2: of mine. I was really into some of what they
Speaker 2: did with the singles. There was a remix of even
Speaker 2: Better Than the Real Thing that I played constantly. It
Speaker 2: never came out of the stereo, that Perfecto remix.
Speaker 1: So it had its moments.
Speaker 2: But yeah, there was a remix of Mysterious Ways that
Speaker 2: really got my attention as well, and the one single
Speaker 2: with Satellite of Love and Lady with the spinning ad
Speaker 2: that caught my attention. So there I was all over
Speaker 2: Actung Baby. I just never listened to the album.
Speaker 1: What about the boot There was a famous bootleg that
Speaker 1: got circulated for many years. The songs that were some
Speaker 1: of the songs that were ditched. Some of the songs
Speaker 1: had pieces of what we would end up hearing.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was stolen from their hotel room. As the
Speaker 2: story somebody made one of the cleaning crew made off
Speaker 2: with the tapes or something. Now rough rough versions of
Speaker 2: some of what we heard on that final album, But
Speaker 2: I do admit I do like some of that early
Speaker 2: early stuff even better than the real thing was in
Speaker 2: there in an early form, and Salame, which they released
Speaker 2: as a B side, eventually was in.
Speaker 1: There were these songs that were these the songs though
Speaker 1: where they finally they got because there was a point
Speaker 1: there were they were getting frustrated and they kind of
Speaker 1: gave up and said, this isn't going to happen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was the song. It was the Frustration that
Speaker 2: got released, the Frustration that made its way onto bootleg
Speaker 2: and you can hear it in some of those some
Speaker 2: of those songs there. If you go back, there's I
Speaker 2: think seven CDs worth of material, and some of it
Speaker 2: it's just the same song over and over and over again.
Speaker 2: They were beating themselves over the heads with it and
Speaker 2: not getting anywhere.
Speaker 1: They started recording I think is as early as eighty
Speaker 1: nine or so, wasn't it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they had done some even some of the footage
Speaker 2: of Rattle and Home. They're playing songs for Iovine, some
Speaker 2: of the stuff they had worked on back during the
Speaker 2: Rattle and Home sessions.
Speaker 1: Yeah, then they scrapped it and then it was I
Speaker 1: believe the song won. It was that the first. That
Speaker 1: was the first they said okay, we're onto something here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that was the breakthrough. That was the one where
Speaker 2: they finally they figured it out and they pulled it
Speaker 2: together and the band, I don't know if I want
Speaker 2: to say it was easy for them, but they got there.
Speaker 2: They they were able to pull that song together easier
Speaker 2: than any of the other material they were working on,
Speaker 2: and they packed up. They left Germany.
Speaker 1: At that point, right.
Speaker 2: I always hear about the German roots, But a lot
Speaker 2: of that album was recorded when they got back home
Speaker 2: to Dublin.
Speaker 1: Yes, yes, because it was in Germany that they were
Speaker 1: getting frustrated.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they had the breakthrough moment before they left, but
Speaker 2: they brought it home to Dublin and finished it off
Speaker 2: on Home Home Turf.
Speaker 1: You know what's interesting. The lead single was the Fly,
Speaker 1: which I love that song, but it was an interesting
Speaker 1: choice as a lead single because I would think maybe
Speaker 1: like Mysterious Ways or even better than the Real Thing
Speaker 1: would have been a logical choice that took them down
Speaker 1: that path of some really strange first singles. Right.
Speaker 2: If you think about what they've released over the years,
Speaker 2: the odd ball song is typically the first one out
Speaker 2: of the gate. Next album was Numb Yeah, Verdigo wasn't
Speaker 2: the obvious single for that album either.
Speaker 1: I don't think it's kind of a gutsy call.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Beautiful Day. Beautiful Day was the obvious song that Yeah.
Speaker 1: Disco tech, Disco Tech. Yeah.
Speaker 2: There were stronger songs on pop than.
Speaker 1: Yeah, which we're getting close to talking about. Octune Baby
Speaker 1: ninety one should go into the numbers a little bit
Speaker 1: here debuted number one in the US number two in
Speaker 1: the UK. Recorded with Daniel lin Watt and Brian you Know.
Speaker 1: Linn Wah acted as the primary producer, working full time
Speaker 1: with you while Eno would join them for a week
Speaker 1: at a time each month. Mysterious Ways and one or
Speaker 1: top ten, even better than the Real Thing and Who's
Speaker 1: Going to Roger wild Horse's top forty and the title
Speaker 1: of the album This is fairly well Known, was taken
Speaker 1: from the movie The Producers. The phrase heard in the
Speaker 1: film was used by sound engineer Joe o' hurley. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so that's whe they came up with that name. And
Speaker 1: let's see, you two were hoping to catch some excitement
Speaker 1: in Germany. We talked about that. Just got some notes here.
Speaker 1: The studio had been where many of their idols had recorded.
Speaker 1: That's right, David Bowie recorded that studio a deep pop
Speaker 1: and the city was going through reunification. But they found
Speaker 1: the city cold and couldn't find their their path in
Speaker 1: the studio. And that's where, like you said, they head
Speaker 1: back to Ireland and on the verge of breaking up.
Speaker 1: I mean that's yeah, that was.
Speaker 2: The second big breakup. I think it came really really
Speaker 2: close at that point.
Speaker 1: Imagine if that happened. I mean, because they became huge
Speaker 1: in the nineties.
Speaker 2: Well that's just actung baby. You look back and you
Speaker 2: can't imagine the nineties without it, right. Oh, we were
Speaker 2: really close not even having a U two anymore at
Speaker 2: that point.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Aaron SAMs is the author of the new book
Speaker 1: Youtwoe Song by song out now through font Hill Media,
Speaker 1: so you can find it wherever books are sold online
Speaker 1: and Amazon and all the usual places. So You two
Speaker 1: is arguably the biggest band in the world. By this
Speaker 1: time early nineties, and that is evident by the numbers
Speaker 1: for the next album, which was ninety three Zoo Ropa.
Speaker 1: The album reached number one in seventeen countries, including both
Speaker 1: the UK and the US, and it's got the single's
Speaker 1: numb Lemon Stay So Far Away, So Close and the
Speaker 1: track Numb that took people by surprise. Who am I listen?
Speaker 1: That's not Bono?
Speaker 2: Is that?
Speaker 1: No? It's not Bono? That is that is the Edge, Yeah,
Speaker 1: the Edge, but Bono was supposed to do the lead vocals.
Speaker 1: He took a crack ad it a few times.
Speaker 2: They had a couple of different songs during Acting Baby.
Speaker 1: It was.
Speaker 2: Developed as down all the Days. It's actually on one
Speaker 2: of the box sets you can hear Bono singing the
Speaker 2: original planned version of numb Wow. So it's out there,
Speaker 2: but it wasn't working. It was one of those songs
Speaker 2: they were struggling with and the Edge took it away
Speaker 2: and came back with this spoken word piece that just
Speaker 2: worked over top of it and they ran with it.
Speaker 2: And interestingly enough, the backing vocals, it's Larry Mullen has
Speaker 2: has a big piece of the backing vocals there. You
Speaker 2: don't hear his voice in many songs, so it's interesting
Speaker 2: that it's the Edge and Larry that kind of took
Speaker 2: that song away and made their own.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I remember hearing that that summer of ninety three.
Speaker 1: What a choice for a lead single. I mean that,
Speaker 1: I love the title track, the opening track, slow fading
Speaker 1: boom boom boom boom boom, boo boo boo boo, boom
Speaker 1: boom boom. It just hypnotic.
Speaker 2: I I had had a little vacation from you two
Speaker 2: at that point, really Actung Baby. I hadn't listened to
Speaker 2: a lot of it, and there were a couple of
Speaker 2: singles that I listened to now and then, but Zopa
Speaker 2: head And although I was off investigating other music when
Speaker 2: Actung Baby came around, you two kind of met up
Speaker 2: with my investigations and hit me full force with Zoopa.
Speaker 2: It's exactly what I was listening to. I was listening
Speaker 2: to a lot of industrial rack. I was kind of
Speaker 2: in a German place. Nine Inch Nails was on my
Speaker 2: listening playlist at that point in time, I think, and
Speaker 2: some German industrial bands ministry a lot of stuff like that.
Speaker 2: I found you two just pulled it all around and
Speaker 2: just went for it. I really loved that album. It's
Speaker 2: still one of my favorite U Two albums.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think the band as a whole, but
Speaker 1: definitely Bono and The Edge. They were always on the
Speaker 1: edge of pop culture musically, like they even on pop
Speaker 1: I remember Bono was talking about just looking at the
Speaker 1: top forty charts and seeing who was there, and he was.
Speaker 1: They wanted to kind of stay ahead of the curve,
Speaker 1: really not keep up with the others, but kind of
Speaker 1: look forward to what's coming next in the two thousands,
Speaker 1: and that was a pretty gutsy move on their part.
Speaker 1: But they also Oasis was a huge influence on Bono.
Speaker 1: I think at the Edge too.
Speaker 2: Brett Roth was having it stay in the Sun. Right
Speaker 2: around then they were Oasis was big, and you had
Speaker 2: a lot of acts coming out of Manchester that were
Speaker 2: starting and to hit some success again, and it was
Speaker 2: just an interesting era. I'm really glad You Too went
Speaker 2: down that road and I played around with it. That
Speaker 2: nineties You Two stuff some of my favorite You Two stuff.
Speaker 1: They've done podcasts. We'll be back after this. I had
Speaker 1: author Jeff harkness On who wrote a great book. Maybe
Speaker 1: you've read it. You should if you Haven't yet. Forty
Speaker 1: Foot Lemon, The Complete Story of You two'es Pop and
Speaker 1: Pop Marked. It's an excellent book.
Speaker 2: I have that on my Amazon list this morning.
Speaker 1: Actually, yeah, I'm sure Jeff's listening to this episode. He
Speaker 1: is a huge You two fan, and he is a
Speaker 1: fan of pop as am. I probably like half the
Speaker 1: half the tracks I am a fan of and I
Speaker 1: think I'm with you. I'm glad that they went with
Speaker 1: this that whether it worked or didn't, it's something that
Speaker 1: they really wanted to do. It's just something artistically they
Speaker 1: felt they wanted to do. And it was an initially
Speaker 1: announced to be released in October of ninety six, but
Speaker 1: it was delayed. They had trouble finishing the song. It's
Speaker 1: kind of similar not to him Baby, right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they struggled with pop. They weren't quite sure what
Speaker 2: they were doing with it in places, and end of
Speaker 2: the day, they weren't really happy with the final mixes
Speaker 2: and they were still tweaking and playing with things. I
Speaker 2: think You Too were a little bit ahead of their
Speaker 2: time with pop. I think that album stands up better
Speaker 2: than any of us remember it. If you go back
Speaker 2: and listen to it. That is an incredible piece of work.
Speaker 1: I remember Bono talking this is maybe twenty years ago,
Speaker 1: fifteen years ago. He wanted to re release it.
Speaker 2: I think they had something there that they didn't know
Speaker 2: at the time how good it was. I'm a big
Speaker 2: fan of pop and the whole tour, the culture that
Speaker 2: surrounded it, the merchandise they put out, the fun they
Speaker 2: were having with the videos. I just love that whole
Speaker 2: period of You two.
Speaker 1: Yeah, talk about pressure too, right. They had the tour
Speaker 1: booked ready to start April of ninety seven, so.
Speaker 2: They were still mixing the album.
Speaker 1: They're still mixing it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they were supposed to be in rehearsals that ORR
Speaker 2: really suffered because of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: They got them off on a rough foot in Las
Speaker 2: Vegas and the critics just savaged them for not being ready.
Speaker 1: Yeah, but the album debuted strong number one in twenty
Speaker 1: nine countries including the UK and US. Yeah, and Disco Tech,
Speaker 1: who number ten single Steering at the Sun number twenty six.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think they're singles. They should have mixed that
Speaker 2: one up. I think Disco Tech maybe they should have
Speaker 2: released it as a second single and put one of
Speaker 2: the more U two sounding songs up front. I think
Speaker 2: it would have turned around that campaign.
Speaker 1: For them in the States, and Larry wasn't too fond
Speaker 1: of the album as a whole, right he was and
Speaker 1: digging they were.
Speaker 2: Larry had back problems, so Larry was on the sidelines
Speaker 2: for most in the recording of that album. He came
Speaker 2: in at the end and re recorded a bunch of
Speaker 2: stuff they had put together, but that one was probably
Speaker 2: a hard one for him because he wasn't around for
Speaker 2: the bulk of the original recording sessions.
Speaker 1: I love MOFO. That's a great one.
Speaker 2: I have a MOFO T shirt that I almost wore
Speaker 2: tonight for this.
Speaker 1: You could have won.
Speaker 2: It the Las Vegas one instead.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, oh that's cool. That's from the YouTube Vegas show. Okay, yeah,
Speaker 1: that's from the Spare show. I'm wondering what that was. Okay, cool, Well,
Speaker 1: so they did. There was a reaction that the band
Speaker 1: had to the the lack of I mean, I hates
Speaker 1: said it's not a failure of pop because it did
Speaker 1: really well, but you know where I'm going. I mean,
Speaker 1: there was there was some push back there. So I
Speaker 1: think that leads to all that you can't leave behind, like, Okay,
Speaker 1: let's pull it back a little bit. Let's let's make
Speaker 1: sure we don't entirely lose our fan base.
Speaker 2: And I think that's what they did. Pop was so
Speaker 2: out there, they took some risks, they pushed the envelope,
Speaker 2: but I think they decided he didn't really work for us,
Speaker 2: and let's pull back and let's get it back to
Speaker 2: four guys in a room again.
Speaker 1: But it worked two times before, right, Joshua Tree, when
Speaker 1: they made that shift, and sound did just fine, and
Speaker 1: and our tune Baby was a drastic change, but.
Speaker 2: And it worked for them again. All that you Can't
Speaker 2: Leave Behind is probably going to be in the long
Speaker 2: term looked as one of their big three albums. Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 2: October thirtieth.
Speaker 1: Yeah yeah. You're saying, if you have to pick a third,
Speaker 1: is this top top five U two in your opinion?
Speaker 1: All that you Can't Leave behind?
Speaker 2: My opinion, none of those albums.
Speaker 1: No, I know because I read about you. Yes, I had.
Speaker 1: There's an interesting I think I have it in my
Speaker 1: notes here. I was gonna ask about your favorite U
Speaker 1: two albums.
Speaker 2: You can ask that one later. Yeah, Critically and popularity,
Speaker 2: I think all that you leave behind or all that
Speaker 2: you can't leave behind has to be the third album.
Speaker 2: Some would make the case that it would be How
Speaker 2: to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb because of the Grammy Awards,
Speaker 2: but I think All that You Can't Leave Behind is
Speaker 2: the more successful of the two albums.
Speaker 1: Yeah Yeah reached number one in thirty two different countries,
Speaker 1: including the US and UK. Album won Best Rock Album
Speaker 1: at the two thousand and two Grammy Awards. Talk about
Speaker 1: the lead single, Beautiful Day, number twenty one in the US,
Speaker 1: number one in the UK. Interesting things here, It almost
Speaker 1: didn't make the album one and two. There was a
Speaker 1: different title which you can hear the edge singing under
Speaker 1: Bono's vocals.
Speaker 2: Yeah. The song was originally developed under the title Always,
Speaker 2: which you two and their Infinite Wisdom released the same
Speaker 2: day they released Beautiful Day. That's the b side the
Speaker 2: Beautiful Day. They released another version of the song that
Speaker 2: went on to become a Finnish song, and you hear
Speaker 2: hints of Beautiful Day again in Get Out of Your
Speaker 2: Own Way. Always went on to become the backbone of
Speaker 2: Get Out of Your Own Way in twenty eighteen.
Speaker 1: Interesting.
Speaker 2: They really liked the ideas in there, and they've spun
Speaker 2: it off in a couple of different directions over the years.
Speaker 1: And we did talk about stuck in a moment you
Speaker 1: Can't get out of, and that was about Bono's friend
Speaker 1: Michael Hutchinson in excess how he took his life and
Speaker 1: he was so affected by that, so he wrote the
Speaker 1: song about him, but also talk about there's an unreleased
Speaker 1: version recorded with Mick Jagger.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Mick Jagger and his daughter, I think it was.
Speaker 1: Is this out there at all? In any bootleg?
Speaker 2: It is not. The studio recording that they did is
Speaker 2: not out there. Mick Jager has joined them in concert
Speaker 2: to do it, and that was done at one of
Speaker 2: the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame anniversary celebrations. Wow,
Speaker 2: that's that's been released. But the actual studio version with
Speaker 2: Mick Jagger on backing vocals doesn't ever come out.
Speaker 1: Wow, that's in.
Speaker 2: The archives that I hope we get to hear someday.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because they've they've released quite a quite a bit
Speaker 1: of stuff that I would think is from their archives.
Speaker 1: You know, a lot of those deluxe editions and things
Speaker 1: like that, you think it'd be in there. Yeah.
Speaker 2: The deluxe edition of All That You Can't Leave Behind
Speaker 2: was a bit disappointing because there were only three unreleased
Speaker 2: pieces of music in there, and they were all remixes
Speaker 2: that just didn't make the cut in two thousand.
Speaker 1: Well tell me, is there anywhere I can find I
Speaker 1: love on Elevation. I love the version that's on the album,
Speaker 1: but the one that was for the video had at
Speaker 1: the end a little heavier. The edge is riff. It's
Speaker 1: the two Mader version and I cannot find that. You
Speaker 1: think it's on Spotify. I was trying to find it.
Speaker 2: It should be released as a single on Friday.
Speaker 1: What okay? What am I missing?
Speaker 2: YouTube's currently going through a little bit of a program
Speaker 2: where they're re releasing old singles.
Speaker 1: Oh cool, and.
Speaker 2: They've were Elevation should be the one that comes out
Speaker 2: on Friday. I'm hoping the tomb Raider version is in there.
Speaker 2: It wasn't on that big box that they did.
Speaker 1: Isn't it awesome? Kicks ass man? I love that.
Speaker 2: I know it should be out on Friday, though I
Speaker 2: would expect, so keep an eye on streaming services.
Speaker 1: Then, very nice, good timing. I'm glad, I asked. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so no one knows, Yeah, no one knows. Okay, So
Speaker 1: this album puts them back in the driver's seat. And
Speaker 1: then they returned with O four's How to Dismantle an
Speaker 1: Atomic Bomb. There was something about long album titles. They
Speaker 1: were into. The record labels must have hated it, right,
Speaker 1: It's like you got to get something a little more catchy, something.
Speaker 2: I call it atomic Bomb and I write it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, number one and thirty four different countries.
Speaker 2: Yeah, if you want to follow up on the success
Speaker 2: of an album, atomic Bomb was the way to do it.
Speaker 2: Grammy awards and charts and sales, and that Vertigo tour
Speaker 2: just sold like crazy.
Speaker 1: Yeah. No, here's another thing I didn't know until I
Speaker 1: read your book. They started recording with a twenty piece
Speaker 1: orchestra with a producer by the name of Chris Thomas,
Speaker 1: but then those were scrapped.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Chris Thomas, famous first work with the Beatles.
Speaker 1: Wow, okay again, question are these songs out there?
Speaker 2: They are not out there. Very few of the songs
Speaker 2: that they worked on with Chris Thomas ever saw the
Speaker 2: light a day. They did a big box set with
Speaker 2: Apple on iTunes, the Complete U two and it was
Speaker 2: like a crazy amount of songs and you could only
Speaker 2: get it through iTunes, and you could only get the
Speaker 2: bonus stuff if you bought the whole thing. A couple
Speaker 2: of the early demos were on there, but not the
Speaker 2: orchestra stuff. So the orchestra stuff still remains unreleased, and
Speaker 2: I'm really interested if they're going to pull that out
Speaker 2: this fall for the twentieth anniversary of that album.
Speaker 1: Yeah. The question also is are they fully mixed? Where
Speaker 1: they done to completion? Do we even know.
Speaker 2: No idea where they got to in some of that?
Speaker 2: There were other songs that were cut off that album
Speaker 2: right at the last minute. There's a song that fans
Speaker 2: go on and talk about all.
Speaker 1: The time, Mercy, Mercy, Okay, Mercy.
Speaker 2: It's only ever been released as a live track and
Speaker 2: it was recorded many years later, but there was an
Speaker 2: original version recorded for Atomic Bomb. It was cut like
Speaker 2: right before the final mix of the album was done.
Speaker 2: They decided the album was too long and they hacked
Speaker 2: the song off the end. Best song they've done in years.
Speaker 2: I love that song.
Speaker 1: Really, Okay, I gotta look for that Mercy there.
Speaker 2: There is a studio version of it that leaked, and
Speaker 2: it's the original studio version because they were passing out
Speaker 2: copies of the album to let friends listen to, and
Speaker 2: the albums that they were passing out had mercy on
Speaker 2: the end of it, and then they chopped it at
Speaker 2: the last minute. Stupid move. Wow.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, some great, great pieces of trivia. On Vertigo.
Speaker 1: It had several working titles Hard Metal Jacket, Full Metal Jacket, Shark,
Speaker 1: Soup with the Hell, and and then I don't even
Speaker 1: know how to pronounce this correctly, Sopa do t baron.
Speaker 2: I believe that shark's soap in Spanish.
Speaker 1: Oh, I gotcha.
Speaker 2: Yeah, they were playing with the Spanish thing there quite
Speaker 2: a bit. Ramone went on to become the Miracle of
Speaker 2: Joey Ramon.
Speaker 1: Jorm Okay and a Native Son was another title, and
Speaker 1: there they're said to According to your book, they're said
Speaker 1: to be over seventy five recorded versions of this song,
Speaker 1: seventy five.
Speaker 2: Steve Lilywhite did a podcast a few years ago and
Speaker 2: he said he came in and Bono brought out the
Speaker 2: song that he just loved, and he looked at Bonn
Speaker 2: and he said, are you going to be able to
Speaker 2: sing that live? And Bono was like, no, Well back
Speaker 2: to the drawing board.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's in your book too. Wow.
Speaker 2: It's it's interesting some of those songs they've teased and
Speaker 2: played with and I'd argue that what they've what they
Speaker 2: play live now is the best version that.
Speaker 1: They've got of that song of Vertigo.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but it would be interesting to hear some of
Speaker 2: those earlier versions.
Speaker 1: I think what's interesting from reading the book too, is
Speaker 1: just you just get a feel of this is something
Speaker 1: I was already pretty much aware of, but it just
Speaker 1: it's solidified the the the fact that the work ethic
Speaker 1: of you two and and the perfectionism and the you know,
Speaker 1: if it's just not right, we're going to start again.
Speaker 1: You know. They just they're not just gonna just Okay,
Speaker 1: we got enough songs, Let's just throw a few more
Speaker 1: tracks on there. Here's your album, and let's tour.
Speaker 2: I think we'd have a lot more albums if they
Speaker 2: weren't perfectionists.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah, they.
Speaker 2: Just And sometime I wonder if what they had two
Speaker 2: or three months before the end of the album sessions
Speaker 2: isn't the better album.
Speaker 1: Sometimes Yeah, all right, now, here's here's where we get
Speaker 1: to your favorite U two albums. And this is shocking,
Speaker 1: not as shocking as your statement on Octune Baby, but
Speaker 1: this is this is I'm actually I'm with you on
Speaker 1: this one. Actually, by the way, but According to Youtuo
Speaker 1: songs dot Com, You're a big fan of the Unforgettable
Speaker 1: Fire Zuopa and the next album we'll talk about, which
Speaker 1: is two thousand and nine's No Line on the Horizon.
Speaker 1: I love this album.
Speaker 2: I love this album. Yeah, there is a joy in
Speaker 2: the music on this album that I just find gets
Speaker 2: under my skin. I could listen to this if I
Speaker 2: was on a desert island and had to pick one
Speaker 2: album to take with me. It's gonna be my remixed
Speaker 2: version of No Line on the Horizon, because I do
Speaker 2: have a version where I've rearranged it and taken a
Speaker 2: couple of things out and moved them around. So okay,
Speaker 2: there are a few choices I make that, but overall
Speaker 2: it's my favorite. All the songs end up in there.
Speaker 2: But I've got a different version of I'll Go Crazy
Speaker 2: that I put on my copy.
Speaker 1: What a great song, What a great song. But here
Speaker 1: we go again. Initial recording with Rick Rubin in two
Speaker 1: thousand and six, it was shelved.
Speaker 2: The only thing that came out of those sessions were
Speaker 2: The Saints Are Coming with Green Day and Window in
Speaker 2: the Skies. Both of them are on a best of
Speaker 2: package that they put out, but there's a whole album
Speaker 2: of Ruben tracks that they've never gone back to that
Speaker 2: they keep threatening to go back to.
Speaker 1: And what they just just weren't feeling the chemistry with
Speaker 1: Rick just you weren't feeling it. Because this is an
Speaker 1: interesting ACDC had the same issue with Rick Rubin. They
Speaker 1: when they worked with them, they just didn't.
Speaker 2: My understanding is Rubin expects you to show up and
Speaker 2: have songs, and he's going to record them and make
Speaker 2: them the best damn songs ever. You two walk in
Speaker 2: with nothing and expect to fiddle around in the studio
Speaker 2: and get help in creating songs and putting ideas together.
Speaker 2: Rubin wasn't ready to go that far back in the
Speaker 2: process with them, from what I understand, So he wanted
Speaker 2: them to come a little bit more ready to record.
Speaker 2: And they showed up with a bunch of sketches and
Speaker 2: they were looking for more of a Brian Eno treatment
Speaker 2: and they didn't get it.
Speaker 1: Well, they brought him back in, him and Brian and
Speaker 1: Daniel Lenoi. Yeah producers. Yeah, they came back in.
Speaker 2: They not only came in as producers with no line
Speaker 2: on the horizon, they're credited as co writers all.
Speaker 1: Right now, is that a first? They hadn't done that before.
Speaker 2: They hadn't done that except for Passengers our Eno and
Speaker 2: Howie Be and Pavarotti get some credit.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: That was released under her separate name. It wasn't released
Speaker 2: under You Two. This is the first time they brought
Speaker 2: somebody in as like songwriters with them.
Speaker 1: Get on Your Boots magnificent one of my all time
Speaker 1: favorite You two songs, and I'll Go Crazy if I
Speaker 1: don't go crazy Tonight the three singles. Yeah, and this
Speaker 1: was supposed to be double album too.
Speaker 2: It was Songs of a Cent was what the second
Speaker 2: half was turned into. And we still haven't had a
Speaker 2: release of that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: You talked her a book about the album title. How
Speaker 1: Bono came up with that title No Line on.
Speaker 2: The Horizon looking out across the water from his house
Speaker 2: in Dublin, couldn't see the difference between sky and water.
Speaker 1: No Line on the Horizon, and that album cover very
Speaker 1: simple but so beautiful. I love that. And that's my
Speaker 1: an artist, I guess, a fairly well known artist, I
Speaker 1: think according to your book.
Speaker 2: Yeah, he's well known for those seascapes. He actually did
Speaker 2: one of them in the town that I grew up
Speaker 2: in So there's a touch of Sugimoto in ganesh at Home.
Speaker 1: Cool Cool. That's what's the name of the artist, Sugimoto. Okay, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm with you man. It's a great album. It came
Speaker 1: at a time where things were starting to change as
Speaker 1: far as the radio, the way songs were distributed, the
Speaker 1: way things were promoted. Just the album did well, but
Speaker 1: not like previous You two albums, and I remember just
Speaker 1: being surprised by that. They they tried tried like hell
Speaker 1: to get it out there as much as they could,
Speaker 1: but it just didn't seem to to have.
Speaker 2: I think the record industry went right and YouTube went left. Yeah,
Speaker 2: they just didn't quite hit what was getting the attention
Speaker 2: at that point in time. And they tried hard. They
Speaker 2: had appearances on the Grammys, they pushed out remixes, they
Speaker 2: they tried to bring that campaign around, but that album
Speaker 2: got away from them. I think.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I do remember being at the movie theater and
Speaker 1: they had I'll go Crazy if I don't go Crazy
Speaker 1: Tonight on one of the trailers, and I remember thinking, yeah, man,
Speaker 1: they're they're working it, you know, getting that music out,
Speaker 1: because you had to be creative in ways to get
Speaker 1: it because it used to be just mtvvh one, get
Speaker 1: your Videos on, get the Radio Play Tour.
Speaker 2: They loaned that one out to BlackBerry for an ad
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 1: That's what it was. Maybe that's where we were playing
Speaker 1: that Blackberriod.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and they used that song for a couple of
Speaker 2: things along the line. But they really tried to get
Speaker 2: it out there. But I think they stumbled a bit
Speaker 2: with Get on Your Boots. That wasn't a song that
Speaker 2: really caught the attention of even YouTube fans tend to
Speaker 2: write it down as a least favorite song. And I
Speaker 2: actually kind of like it. And one of the things
Speaker 2: that I actually love about the book and going through
Speaker 2: and looking up all these songs, I had never really
Speaker 2: figured out what Get on Your Boots was about. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and then I found it was an interview in French,
Speaker 2: was in a French magazine and Bono was talking about
Speaker 2: being in the south of France and he went to
Speaker 2: the funfair with his wife and his daughter. He took
Speaker 2: the kids to the fair and they were there when
Speaker 2: the jets went I started flying overhead, going into Iraq
Speaker 2: from the UK. And that's the whole backbone of Get
Speaker 2: on Your Boots. It was get on your boots, were
Speaker 2: going to war, rockets said the Funfair and the planes
Speaker 2: going overhead. So it kind of added a layer to
Speaker 2: that song. But I never really got and I wouldn't
Speaker 2: have picked up if I hadn't gone rooting around for
Speaker 2: some odd interview in some French magazine from ninety seven.
Speaker 1: Podcasts we'll be back after this.
Speaker 2: We'll be back with the Magic Tones for the Armada
Speaker 2: rooms to our disco swing party after this shortbreak till then,
Speaker 2: don't you go change it.
Speaker 1: Another interesting aspect of this album is a moment of
Speaker 1: surrender in terms of promotion or in terms of just
Speaker 1: how that album was heard by a mainstream audience. I
Speaker 1: remember Rolling Stone had that as like the song of
Speaker 1: the year or something like that, and that song wasn't
Speaker 1: played on the radio once, which was so you know,
Speaker 1: that just said so much. It was like if Rolling
Speaker 1: Stone in the past had a YouTube song that was
Speaker 1: like the song of the year, it would have been
Speaker 1: one of those songs that was all over the place.
Speaker 1: You know, it was on the radio, it was on
Speaker 1: television everywhere, and I thought that was strange too.
Speaker 2: Moment of surrender. I struggled to get into Moment of Surrender.
Speaker 2: But it was one of those tour stops that was
Speaker 2: promoting that album. I was in Dublin and my friend
Speaker 2: Emma was beside me and she just closed her eyes
Speaker 2: when Moment of Surrender started and I watched the tears
Speaker 2: start coming down her cheeks. And it was the first
Speaker 2: time I think I stopped and listened to the song
Speaker 2: and it's it's become an absolute favorite, but it takes
Speaker 2: me back to that night in Dublin under the stars
Speaker 2: listening to that song. Wow, just one of those personal moments.
Speaker 1: Well, here's just a quick statement. This is from Wikipedia.
Speaker 1: Although it was not released as a single, Rolling Stone
Speaker 1: named Moment of Surrender the best song of two thousand
Speaker 1: and nine.
Speaker 2: They also listed it in their top five hundred Songs
Speaker 2: of all Time.
Speaker 1: List YEP at one sixty.
Speaker 2: Yeah, which is as the first song that most people
Speaker 2: have never heard.
Speaker 1: Isn't it? Yeah? So let's move on now. Next three
Speaker 1: albums twenty fourteen Songs of Innocence, twenty seventeen Songs of Experienced,
Speaker 1: twenty twenty three Songs of Surrender. So the first two
Speaker 1: comprised of originals or the last they reworking of previous songs. Now,
Speaker 1: by the way, I think song with Songs of Innocence,
Speaker 1: the one that was forced onto the iPods. That was
Speaker 1: where that was a big right I'm.
Speaker 2: Gonna tell my iPods story.
Speaker 1: Oh go ahead, but that's the one right songs one. Yeah.
Speaker 2: I'm a bit of a techie guy, so I saw
Speaker 2: that Apple could force stuff onto your phone. I turned
Speaker 2: all that off. I made sure Apple wasn't putting anything
Speaker 2: on my phone. So when you two forced that onto
Speaker 2: everybody's phone, I couldn't get it. I was in a panic.
Speaker 2: I spent three hours on the phone with Apple's technical
Speaker 2: support try and get that.
Speaker 1: You were the reverse because all you ever here was
Speaker 1: people pissed off. I don't want this on my phone.
Speaker 2: I was. I was in a panic trying to get
Speaker 2: that album. I could not get it for the life
Speaker 2: of me. And it was because I didn't trust out Apple.
Speaker 2: I figured, what are they going to put on my phone?
Speaker 2: Are they going to download some crap something? So I
Speaker 2: turned it all off. The biggest YouTube in the world
Speaker 2: learned my last.
Speaker 1: Yes, did you think that was an obnoxious move? Or
Speaker 1: you know that was all the kids like? You know,
Speaker 1: come on, don't force me to listen to it. What
Speaker 1: was your position on that?
Speaker 2: I think that, yeah, it was it was obnoxious what
Speaker 2: Apple did. Apple shouldn't have done that. I don't think
Speaker 2: you too realize that's what they were going to do.
Speaker 2: And there's been some interviews since then that have suggested
Speaker 2: that they thought you were going to have to opt in,
Speaker 2: which I think would have been the better solution, but
Speaker 2: certainly got attention. And now it's the one thing you
Speaker 2: hear about you two, no matter who's talking about, it's
Speaker 2: always that damn album.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So now my question for you, though, is there
Speaker 1: a connection between the three albums? Is the songs of
Speaker 1: part of the three titles for a reason? To me,
Speaker 1: it's here's here's my here's my limited YouTube knowledge assessment
Speaker 1: of these Okay. To me, it's a journey through the
Speaker 1: band's childhood on the first one, adulthood on the second,
Speaker 1: and then on the last. To me, it's a band
Speaker 1: no longer constantly determined to push forward as much but
Speaker 1: embracing their past. Is that? How did I do?
Speaker 2: I think you're looking at a path. I think there's
Speaker 2: connecting tissue between what will probably be five songs of albums.
Speaker 2: There's two more to come from what I understand.
Speaker 1: Oh, that was gonna be one of my questions. Yeah,
Speaker 1: what's next?
Speaker 2: I don't I don't think we have the full picture yet,
Speaker 2: But I think innocence was their early days up until
Speaker 2: Josh Wittree. I think experience is looking back when they
Speaker 2: hit that crazy peak in adulthood, fame going around, Actung Baby,
Speaker 2: all of that chaos and craziness that followed them, the supermodels,
Speaker 2: the parties, all of that. I think surrender, like you said,
Speaker 2: is looking back and coming to terms with their whole career.
Speaker 2: Alder men, kind of looking back at their body of
Speaker 2: work and maybe a bit of maturity.
Speaker 1: Yep, because I should mention I don't think I mentioned
Speaker 1: it too. They're reworkings of previous songs. Those first two
Speaker 1: original Yeah, yeah, these are reworkings of previous songs.
Speaker 2: And then we don't know the titles of the next
Speaker 2: two for sure. But Songs of a Cent keeps getting
Speaker 2: brought in, so and that's said to be a song
Speaker 2: of him and spiritual songs. So I think that's going
Speaker 2: to be more a older man looking towards his end.
Speaker 1: Hmmm, Okay, okay, I think.
Speaker 2: It's going to be a very different album for you too.
Speaker 2: I would almost argue that that might actually be them
Speaker 2: looking to close or cap off their career at some point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it sucks to think of that, but hey,
Speaker 1: we just got the new Steven Tyler could he can't
Speaker 1: sing anymore, so he said, that's it Aerosmiths. They're done,
Speaker 1: and that's where we're at right now.
Speaker 2: But you got a few things before they get to
Speaker 2: that point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was gonna tell you how much how much
Speaker 1: longer do you think they have? Do you think they can?
Speaker 1: I mean, we've got we've got people like Springsteen and
Speaker 1: Bob Dylan or we're doing it now into their seventies
Speaker 1: up right up through hitting the eighty Mark Stones guys
Speaker 1: right away, late sixties and what are the early sixties, mid.
Speaker 2: Six Midsith Adams sixty five now, so you're heading retirement
Speaker 2: age for most of us. They're getting older. I think
Speaker 2: Bono will continue on in some shape or form even
Speaker 2: after you two may retire, But I don't know. I
Speaker 2: think you two have a couple of good albums left
Speaker 2: in them and maybe a couple of more tours, and
Speaker 2: then they'll probably start looking at doing less and less.
Speaker 2: It's been seven years now since the last album of
Speaker 2: new music.
Speaker 1: It's been that long, Yeah, twenty seventeen. Time flies. Yeah,
Speaker 1: well you did want to mention too, the Atomic City single,
Speaker 1: because that's the very latest that we've gotten from them. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I forget is that in the newest? Is that
Speaker 1: in the book?
Speaker 2: It's in the final printed copy of the book. It
Speaker 2: was the last minute request I caught when that they
Speaker 2: were doing a new single to celebrate the Las Vegas
Speaker 2: Sphere shows, so ask the publisher if they could make
Speaker 2: room for one last song. So it's just a brief mention,
Speaker 2: but the book is complete. It has everything up to date,
Speaker 2: including Atomic Cities.
Speaker 1: How nice is that? So? Atomic City? What's it about?
Speaker 1: And what is your opinion of the song?
Speaker 2: A touch of a love affair with Vegas, a little
Speaker 2: love letter to them. There's references to Lady Luck and Sinatra.
Speaker 2: Some of that. The atomic side goes back to the
Speaker 2: atomic bomb testing in the desert outside of Las Vegas,
Speaker 2: so there's a lot of that. I think it was
Speaker 2: really done specifically for those shows that they were doing
Speaker 2: in Las Vegas as a way to promote them and
Speaker 2: to get it out there, and it was a way
Speaker 2: to remind people that hey, even though we're showing up
Speaker 2: on stage with a temporary drummer, here's Larry Mullen and
Speaker 2: the first person we're going to show you on stage
Speaker 2: with us, that's Fear, is Larry Mullen in the Atomic
Speaker 2: City video.
Speaker 1: And there is there's a call back to a Blondie
Speaker 1: song called Me Right. There's like a post punk yeah.
Speaker 2: Blondie and Giorgio Moroder co writing credits on this song.
Speaker 2: It's one of the few times You two has put
Speaker 2: a co writing credits.
Speaker 1: So so You Two is alive and well and we're
Speaker 1: looking forward to what's coming next. And in the book
Speaker 1: is out now You two, song by song. It's out
Speaker 1: through front Hill Media. You can find it wherever books
Speaker 1: are sold and Aaron where can people find you online
Speaker 1: if you want to plug the YouTube song site as well.
Speaker 2: We've been working on a little fan site called YouTube
Speaker 2: song dot com since nineteen ninety five. It's probably the
Speaker 2: oldest continual operated YouTube website under on the Internet these days.
Speaker 2: So there's a team of about half dozen of us
Speaker 2: that put in a few hours a week keeping it up.
Speaker 2: News shows big focus on collections and collectibles.
Speaker 1: So I love it so there was a time when
Speaker 1: people were going to that website and you can hear
Speaker 1: the modem like the old dial up, the old dial
Speaker 1: up trying to get to the website. It goes back
Speaker 1: that far.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's it's been around longer than you two have
Speaker 2: had their own website and operations.
Speaker 1: So that's awesome. Yeah, and if any anywhere people can
Speaker 1: find you, I know you're on x or Twitter or
Speaker 1: whatever we call it.
Speaker 2: I'm on Twitter. We've got a site account, YouTube songs,
Speaker 2: and I'm also on there as YouTube wanderer.
Speaker 1: Yes, you two wonder at you two wonder?
Speaker 2: Yeah, call back to one of my favorite songs, the
Speaker 2: one they did with Johnny Cash.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we did an excellent job on the book, and
Speaker 1: I'm so glad we were able to make contact and
Speaker 1: I was able to get you on the show because
Speaker 1: this is you two man, The're right up there in
Speaker 1: my top five. So I was, yeah, looking very much
Speaker 1: forward to this interview. And again, congratulations on a great book.
Speaker 1: Thank you for that.
Speaker 2: I'm glad you enjoyed it. And I really tried to
Speaker 2: put together something that didn't just stick to facts and figures.
Speaker 2: I wanted a little glimpse into where these songs ended
Speaker 2: up in the world. Who has called them favorites, what
Speaker 2: fans have taken and done with them. So it's a
Speaker 2: little bit of love affair with the songs, and I.
Speaker 1: Think it's a great series front Hill Media has. I
Speaker 1: think it's great as now we go into the next
Speaker 1: into the future with generations of fans that will discover
Speaker 1: these bands. It's a great way to to just to
Speaker 1: get an idea of the body of work from these
Speaker 1: from these bands, these great artists. You know, especially as
Speaker 1: the years go on, you know they're not gonna be
Speaker 1: wrong forever.
Speaker 2: I went picked up the Abba book when I was
Speaker 2: writing mine just to have a look through at what
Speaker 2: they had done. I learned a lot about Abba I
Speaker 2: wouldn't have known otherwise. So I hope the YouTube book
Speaker 2: brings a few people into the band, but may have
Speaker 2: missed out on a few things along the line.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you could read it from start to finish, or
Speaker 1: you can just if you're listening to a YouTube song
Speaker 1: and you're curious about it, you just flip through and
Speaker 1: find the entry and read about it. That's what I
Speaker 1: love about these books. It's great, so great. Yeah, thanks
Speaker 1: again erin Thank you.
Speaker 2: That's it.
Speaker 1: It's in the books.