U2-A Diary

There’s a wire service story running today about the death of Rob Partridge. It’s short, and I don’t think that URL will work forever, so I’m going to reprint it below in its entirety:

Man who signed U2 dies from cancer

The music PR who got U2 their first record deal has died after a two-year battle with cancer.

Rob Partridge signed the band to Island Records in 1980 when they were unknowns struggling for recognition. He remained the band’s publicist for many years and a friend of frontman Bono.

As Head of Press and later Media Director for the label, he dealt with artists like Bob Marley, Grace Jones, Tom Waits and Marianne Faithfull.

I don’t think that story really does justice to how important Rob Partridge was in U2′s development.

When I was researching U2 – A Diary, I spent a lot of time digging into the band’s early years — the late 1970s and early 1980s. That’s one of those gray periods with a lot of uncertainty about what exactly happened, when things happened, and how they happened. I managed to find some new articles and made some contacts with people that helped a lot.

At almost every turn, Rob Partridge’s name came up.

The short obit above talks about how he got U2 signed to Island Records, and that’s true. You may remember U2′s late 1979 tour of London clubs. It was pretty much their first and last chance to get a record deal from one of the major UK-based labels. This is the two-week tour that I describe on ppg. 25-26 of the book. It’s when they were called “Capital U2″ at one concert, “V2″ at another, and “The U2′s” at another. Edge cut up his hand two days before the first show. Only nine people showed up for one club date. And whenever record label execs announced that they were coming to a show, U2 were terrible. When it was just an audience of fans, they supposedly played terrific shows.

Here’s the diary entry for the final gig of that London tour:

December 15
- Windsor Castle, London. U2 wraps up its brief, inconsistent tour. Luck hasn’t been on their side: U2 thinks they’ve played their worst shows with record executives in the crowd, and great shows when almost no one is watching. The band is unaware that Rob Partridge of Island Records caught one of the good shows, and is spreading the word to others at the label.

Somewhere on that tour, Rob Partridge showed up unannounced at a gig and caught U2 at its best, while the other (announced) record execs caught U2 at its worst. It’s not at all a stretch to say that U2 wouldn’t be around today if not for Rob Partridge seeing one of those good shows. No other label was beating down U2′s door, and they were ready to throw in the towel after the early 1980 tour of Ireland — the one that ended with Island signing U2 to a major contract.

I knew Rob would have some amazing stories to tell about those days, so I tracked him down in July, 2007, and sent him an email asking for an interview. He wrote back, told me he was in treatment for cancer, and asked if I could check back with him in a couple months. I said I would and offered to say some prayers for his health. I waited until November of last year to try him again, but never got a reply. It’s one of my few regrets about researching the book that we never connected, but he obviously had far more important things to focus on.

Rest in peace, Rob Partridge … one of the most important people in the U2 story.

If you haven’t purchased U2 – A Diary, and are planning to do so at Barnes & Noble’s web site, they’re running a special for the next week: 15% off any single item.

Here’s the coupon link.

You need to use coupon code M8H7N3F to get the discount. Just letting you know….

I was all set to do another book giveaway contest this week here on the blog, but since it’s Thanksgiving week here in the U.S., and people are busy/distracted/traveling/etc. … doing a contest now doesn’t seem like the best idea.

So, heads up that I’ll do a contest next week here on the blog. This will be the contest where you don’t need to have a web site or blog to win. :)

Good reviews are always fun to read, and it’s especially nice when people you know and like — and whose opinions you respect — have good things to say about U2 – A Diary. My friend Todd Mintz, himself a big music fan, bought a copy of the book and wrote a review today that praises the book, as well as all of you who helped research and write it here on U2diary.com:

McGee (and all the other fans / contributors at U2Diary.com) have put together an incredible historical document on one of the most important rock bands ever and if you have any interest / like for U2, this is an essential book to own.

Todd also picks up on the 100% objective voice with which I wrote the book — there’s no editorializing. I’m surprised earlier reviews haven’t discussed that, and wonder if future reviews will mention it. We’ll see.

I’m not even sure this is their formal book review, but Goldmine magazine said some awfully nice things this week about U2 – A Diary:

Painstakingly researched and lovingly compiled, as only a passionate fan like author Matt McGee could, “U2 A Diary” is a thorough, comprehensive look at the history of one of the biggest bands in the world.

As the title indicates, the book is organized in diary form, and it trudges through the mountains of U2 minutiae with the nimble, sure-footed nature of a Sherpa. Incredibly detailed, and brimming with insights, “U2 A Diary” is a book to get lost in, as it traces the majestic trajectory of one of the few bands that still matter today.

I did an email interview with the writer, Peter Lindblad, a little while ago, and the quotes above are part of the first article/post from that interview. Peter says they’ll be publishing the rest of the interview in the near future.

Anybody gotten lost in the book yet? :-) It is quite lengthy. Heck, I’ll be impressed if anyone has even finished reading it at this point!