U2-A Diary

Here are some unanswered questions that I jotted down over the past few months while re-reading the books on my U2 bookcase.

BILL FLANAGAN – U2 AT THE END OF THE WORLD

I have the UK hardback version, so my page references will be wrong for those of you with any other version.

1.) Pg. 31-32 talks about Paul McGuinness going to Eastern Europe to buy the Trabants for Zoo TV. This had to be sometime in 1991, but I’d like to at least narrow it down to a specific month if possible.

2.) Pg. 35 talks about a dinner meeting they had with Alain Levy, the top dog at Polygram. Would be nice to have a date on this.

3.) Pg. 42 – Edge talks about seeing The Jam in Dun Laoghaire in 1980, but gives no date. This page talks about a “UK Tour” from October 26 to November 19, but there are other UK dates scattered throughout the year. I’d love to have an exact date on this. I emailed the site and never got a reply.

4.) Pg. 105 – mentions Bono meeting T-Bone Burnett in 1985 and writing a song together (“Having a Great Time, Wish You Were Her”), but I need at least the month they met and/or recorded.

MARK TAYLOR – U2

This is one of those CD-sized books that came out in the 90s. It’s actually pretty good for what it is. I don’t have page numbers for these references, but….

5.) The book says Paul Hewson started a disco club at Mt. Temple called “The Web.” Say what? I’ve found no other info. on that.

6.) It also says Bono wrote two songs in October, 1985, when he was doing the Sun City stuff — “Silver and Gold” and a tune called “This I’ve Got To Stop.” I’ve found no other info. on the second song.

HANK BORDOWITZ – THE U2 READER

This book is a collection of news articles covering U2′s history.

7.) On pg. 105, Howie B makes a comment about Edge attending cooking classes “every Monday at 4 o’clock.” This would’ve been in August, 1996, during the Pop recording sessions. I’d love to know if Edge really took cooking classes, or was Howie B just making a flip comment?

8.) On pg. 257, there’s mention that Bono attended a concert in Dun Laoghaire by The Damned. As best I can tell, this should be late 1980s or early 1990s.

That’s enough for now………thanks in advance for any help! Previous calls for help that have now become mysteries can be found in this post.

(I’m starting a new category called “Unsolved Mysteries” so I don’t have to keep repeating the same unanswered questions over and over each time I post a new list of questions.)

This is the current list of “unsolved mysteries,” or questions that I’m unable to answer, even with the sensational help of my wonderful blog readers. Each of these questions has been mentioned already in the Calls for Help category. So, at the end of each one, I’ll include a link to the original post where we probably already discussed the question/mystery to some degree in the comments.

I’ll update this post as mysteries are solved and/or added.

1. Sometime after The Joshua Tree came out, Sony put the advertisement at right in some Irish/UK music papers. Sony never asked permission and U2 forced them to pull the ad quickly. I’d like to get at least the month in which this started appearing. (original discussion)

2. There are many articles online that reference the fact that U2 “swept the competition”, winning five awards in the 1979 Hot Press Reader’s Poll — which would’ve been published in January, 1980. But I can find no record of what those 5 awards are. I have an e-mail in to my contact at Hot Press, but some backup help would be appreciated! (original discussion)

3. According to this article, Larry played drums on June 1, 2006, at a going away party for a guy named Stephen Galligan. No disrespect intended, but who is Stephen Galligan? (original discussion) Solved by Donal! Thank you!

4. Still don’t have a date for the famous “$23 million offer for ‘Streets’” story that I mentioned in this post. Probably never will get that answer. (original discussion)

5. Still don’t have the date that Waterboys singer Mike Scott married Irene Keogh. Edge and Adam attended. (original discussion) Solved thanks to Chris!

6. Did Bono and Garry Kasparov ever have the chess match they were supposed to have in 1993? (original discussion)

7. Still don’t have when and where Dick Evans was born.

8. Still don’t have the exact date Mt. Temple opened in 1972.

9. Still on the hunt for the exact date of the “Two Hearts Beat As One” video shoot. March 1983, which every source claims, seems kinda impossible considering the band’s tour schedule that month. (original discussion)

10. In this 1986 article on @U2, Edge talks about going to Paris to see some of the Heroine film. (see the COLLABORATING sub-heading) He also says “Bono and Adam were on their way back from picking up some awards in Italy.” Earlier in the article, he mentions “it wasn’t until September last year” that he was able to start work on this soundtrack. So I’m guessing this meeting in Paris and the awards in Italy were around September, 1985. Except I have no information at all on any Italian awards U2 won at that time. Help??? (original discussion) Solved thanks to Loris and Marco!

11. Exact date that Bono and Edge (with Harry Crosbie) purchased the Clarence Hotel? I’ve narrowed it down to November, 1992, but would love an exact date. (original discussion)

12. Which year did Bono go to Cork with Ali and her family, bet on a horse race, and win big to help a friend pay for his wedding? The story is told in Michka Assayas’ book, but no date is given. (original discussion)

13. Pg. 31-32 of U2 At the End of the World (UK hardback edition) talks about Paul McGuinness going to Eastern Europe to buy the Trabants for Zoo TV. This had to be sometime in 1991, but I’d like to at least narrow it down to a specific month if possible.

14. Pg. 35 of U2 At the End of the World (UK hardback edition) talks about a dinner meeting they had with Alain Levy, the top dog at Polygram. Would be nice to have a date on this.

15. U2 by Mark Taylor says Bono wrote two songs in October, 1985, when he was doing the Sun City stuff — “Silver and Gold” and a tune called “This I’ve Got To Stop.” I’ve found no other info. on the second song.

16. On pg. 105 of The U2 Reader by Hank Bordowitz, Howie B makes a comment about Edge attending cooking classes “every Monday at 4 o’clock.” This would’ve been in August, 1996, during the Pop recording sessions. I’d love to know if Edge really took cooking classes, or was Howie B just making a flip comment?

Replies are welcome in the comments!

Okay, last week I promised a new set of questions, so here we go!

1.) Issue 7 of Collectormania says that Larry performed four songs with Nanci Griffith when she played the Point Depot in Dublin in October, 1994. I can’t find any confirmation or an exact date.

2.) U2 performed on an RTE TV show called Pop On the Box early on. According to this video, it was sometime in 1979. I would love to get closer on the date. Even knowing the month would help. (And BTW, that song is also known as “The Magic Carpet.”)

3.) There are many articles online that reference the fact that U2 “swept the competition”, winning five awards in the 1979 Hot Press Reader’s Poll — which would’ve been published in January, 1980. But I can find no record of what those 5 awards are. I have an e-mail in to my contact at Hot Press, but some backup help would be appreciated!

4.) Here’s a tough one: In Bill Graham’s book, U2 – The Early Days, he says that Edge enrolled briefly at the College of Technology on Bolton Street in Dublin in September, 1979. But, a Seventeen magazine article (that’s included in the U2 Reader book) says Edge was supposed to enroll, but never did. I e-mailed the school (which has a new name now, I recall) about a year ago and chatted with someone about it, but they weren’t very interested in digging through the enrollment records looking for a “Dave Evans.”

I would love to get an accurate answer on this, because this is a key time for U2. U2-3 is just about to come out, and the band’s parents are telling the boys it’s time to get an education or get real jobs. Knowing if Edge actually started going to this school would shine a new light on how desperate they were for U2-3 to succeed.

5.) What day was the Zoo TV Live from Sydney home video (VHS) first released? I have one source saying May 17, 1994. And another source says April, 1994.

6.) According to this article, Larry played drums on June 1, 2006, at a going away party for a guy named Stephen Galligan. No disrespect intended, but who is Stephen Galligan?

That’s all for now, but there’s always more to come…. thanks in advance for the help on these!

Do you remember that photo of a big sign advertising U2 and The Blades at the Baggot Inn on August 21, 1979? You probably saw it in the U2 LIVE book.

Well, the things you stumble on while researching a book on U2′s history:

The Blades have a MySpace page.

If you’ve ever wondered what they sound like, you can hear a couple tunes. A bit “poppy,” but not too bad, I must say. Frankly, every bit as good as U2 were at that point. :)

And yes, I emailed them to see if it’s an actual band member running that page, or a fan. If it’s a band member, that might make for a fun conversation…

First, an update: I’m done going through the Best of Propaganda book. I actually ended up using the @U2 News database, where we’ve posted more from the magazine than they had in the book! Thanks to everyone who helped in this previous question — after reading the various articles, I took some pretty good guesses on what month each issue came out.

I’m not at home at the moment, so don’t have access to my U2 bookcase, but I think U2 by U2 is the only book that’s left to go through. I’m not gonna mark that one up, I don’t think.

Okay, now on to the current list of unresolved questions….

1.) Still don’t have a date for the famous “$23 million offer for ‘Streets’” story that I mentioned in this post. Probably never will get that answer.

2.) I will probably also never get even a rough idea of the date when the Sony Walkman/Joshua Tree print advertisement started showing up. That ad can be seen in this post.

3.) Don’t have the date that Waterboys singer Mike Scott married Irene Keogh. Edge and Adam attended.

4.) Still don’t have the date of the video shoot for “Two Hearts Beat as One,” which seems unlikely to have happened in March, 1983, as all the sources suggest. But … GOOD NEWS! … I’m in contact with Meiert Avis and hope he can help!

5.) No clue on the Italian awards U2 won in 1985, nor the meeting in Paris about the Heroine soundtrack, all of which is mentioned in this article.

6.) Don’t know the exact date U2 recorded their parts for The Simpsons. I’ve contacted Fox TV public relations, but they’re not being very helpful.

7.) Did Bono and Garry Kasparov ever have that chess match? It’s one the all-time mysteries. I think they never squared off, but there’s no evidence either way that I can find.

8.) Still don’t have when and where Dick Evans was born.

9.) Still don’t have the exact date Mt. Temple opened in 1972.

That’s all for now, but I will post a new list soon — hopefully next week — with additional calls for help!