U2-A Diary

Many months ago, a U2 fan named Tim sent me a clip of Bono singing “The First Time” on an acoustic guitar. Well, I assume it’s him playing (and not Edge) because he says, right in the middle of the clip, something about having a hard time singing when he’s playing guitar.

Tim thinks this clip is from a Mexican radio station appearance when the band made its first visit to Mexico City in November, 1992. But I can’t find any evidence to support that.

Here’s the audio. If you know anything about this, please leave a comment below. Thanks!

Update: I understand some people are unable to listen to the audio clip. I’ll try to figure out why. It may be a problem with the upload/hosting service.

If you’re a big iPad user, or iBooks reader on your iPhone, you may already know this. Me? I just discovered tonight that U2 – A Diary is available in Apple’s iBooks store. The cost is $14.99, which is probably a little higher than I’d expect — but less than the “new” price at most places that are selling the print version.

The iBooks store offers a sample, too, which can be downloaded for free. (see it above in my library) The sample is the start of the book up through about page 24, which tells the story from the beginning (195) up until late 1979. It’s a pretty good sample of material, but it’s a bit light on images.

So … if you haven’t read the book yet, or if you’ve read it but you also want a digital copy for your iPad or iPhone … check it out in the iBooks store. And let me know what you think about reading digital copies of books.

Here are a couple pages of the sample.

In addition to three years of new material (2008-2010), the second edition of U2 – A Diary will have an appendix in the back with new information that was missed in the original book.

That appendix will also include corrections of what was published in the first book. And I’m hoping to find some U2 fans to help make sure any and all mistakes are corrected.

My idea: a group reading project!

I don’t think I’ll have time between now and the end of January to re-read all 336 pages of the first book. But if there’s a group of us re-reading the book, it’s a more doable project.

What I Need

- about 10-20 people who will volunteer to re-read a portion of the first book

- you’ll be looking for mistakes, misspellings, typos, and anything else that needs to be corrected

- you’ll make a list of what you find and send me that list via email when you’re done

- your deadline will be December 31, 2010

What You Need

- a copy of the first edition of U2 – A Diary — the primary, English-language version

- a good grasp of the English language

- a good/deep knowledge of U2 facts and information

How to Help

- to volunteer, use the Contact Page to send me your name and email address (so I can reply)

- if there’s a specific section of the book you want to help with, like “1980 and 1981″, let me know when you send the email and I’ll do my best to assign you that section (but no promises)

After That…

- I’ll collect emails for a couple days and then send you an email with your assignment (if I somehow get a TON of replies on this, I might send you a “thanks, but I have enough volunteers” message)

- I’ll add the corrections to the book update, be eternally grateful, and list your name in the new “Acknowledgments” section

———

Sound good? If you have any questions, leave a comment below. But don’t leave a comment to volunteer for the group reading — I need you to contact me via email if you want to help. Thanks in advance!

One of my big regrets from the first book is that I have no mention of this in it:

I’m sure most (if not all( of you are familiar with that video of the Dalton Brothers accepting three awards on behalf of U2. But I have no idea what date it happened, what awards show it’s from, nor where U2 are.

On the last question, there’s a poster on the wall behind them that references U2′s Lovetown shows in Melbourne in early October, 1989. And if they’re accepting awards for “Song of the Decade,” “Album of the Decade,” etc., then that timing would make sense. I’m willing to bet they’re in Melbourne at this time.

But what awards show is it? It looks like the “trophy” in front of Dan Lanois is a pair of copper boots. And I can’t quite read the graphic on-screen in the lower left; it seems to say “New Music …” something. ??

Anyone have more details on this?

Quick heads up for those of you who are on Twitter:

U2 – A Diary is also on Twitter!

You can follow progress on the book here: @U2diary.

I’ll be sending out tweets when new blog posts are published here and generally using it to help keep you updated on how the work is going, as well as asking for help when needed, too.

(There’s also a Facebook group for the book, but I don’t use it much….)