10 Comments

Great playlist! I saw U2 on their first US tour as the opening act for J. Geils - 1983 or 4. They blew J Geils away and Bono even crowd-surfed all around the venue during their last encore.

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I've never seen them live, but I had a good friend in high school who got me into them in around 83/84. It was great being a fan when there were relatively few of us. It's good to remember they were once really cool - and Bono hadn't yet promoted himself to Messiah.

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Haha! He did elevate himself in his own eyes for sure! The second time I saw them was in Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, AZ during the Joshua Tree tour (with BB King.) It was a huge production unlike the meager opening act when Boy was their only album. Still a great show. Rattle and Hum grew out of that tour. Glad you got on board when they were still cool!

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That’s right: U2 used to be kind of cool! Thanks for the reminder

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You're certainly welcome! Honestly, I grieved when they became mainstream. My friend had given me the Joshua Tree LP (yep - vinyl, though God knows where that is now) in a rather solemn moment - he was off to college, I had two more years of high school left. And it wasn't going to be mainstream, you know - just the next-album-follow-up to The Unforgettable Fire .... But all of a sudden the cheerleaders were singing it on the school bus. Tragic.

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When I was in college in the upper peninsula of Michigan in 1983 a couple of friends of mine were in a band, mostly doing covers, and one night I got to join them at a house party and sing "I Will Follow." Still gives me chills. I hate to thing what it did to those who had to listen.

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Would love to see an edition on holy artifacts!

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Great suggestion! Watch this space ...

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Home territory. Great stuff, Bryan. Look forward to Joyce. ☘️

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Thanks, Adrian! So glad you like it. Not sure when Joyce will appear, but ... probably in Volume 3.

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