U2NEWS: October 11, 1998 Part III


Who needs bathrooms? ([email protected])
Sun, 11 Oct 1998 11:32:59 -0600


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>From MTV Online:

Bono Explains "Sweetest Thing" As Boyzone-Flavored Video Debuts
U2 returned to the MTV airwaves Monday with the premiere of "Sweetest
Thing," the band's latest video for a track from its upcoming greatest
hits compilation.
As we previously reported (see "U2 Joined By Boyzone For 'Sweetest
Thing' Video"), the clip for the song features fellow Irish music
posters Boyzone, although the vocal group does not actually turn up on
the song.
"U2: the Best of 1980 to 1990," the band's first greatest hits
collection, features well-known gems like "Pride (In the Name of Love),"
"With or Without You," and "Sunday Bloody Sunday." The album also
carries "Sweetest Thing," a previously unrecorded song that frontman
Bono wrote for his wife Ally more than a decade ago.
"It was written during the album sessions for 'The Joshua Tree,'" Bono
explained, "and it was Ally's birthday and I didn't make it [home] for
the birthday. So, I wanted to write her a little sweet song, but it
ended up a little bit sour as all the best love songs are. I was like,
'I can't write just straight love songs, they make me want to
throw-up.'"
Longtime U2 fans may recognize the young man on cover of the upcoming
compilation. It's Peter, the younger brother of a friend of the band
whose photo graces the covers of two of the band's earliest efforts,
"Boy" and "War."
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Macintosh users can find the ST video in QuickTime Format here:

                http://student-kmt.hku.nl/~allard/sweetest.html
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Condensed from The Irish Times:

ALL GROWN UP

He may look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but
Tim Wheeler of Ash has done more in the past
five years than most people do in a lifetime. He
talks to Kevin Courtney

<snip>

[Guitarist Charlotte]Hatherley made her d�but with
Ash when they headlined last year's V97 festival in
Leeds, and she quickly went from temporary recruit
to permanent draftee. Tim has had plenty to keep his
mind occupied since then: the band were special
musical guests at a Star Wars prequel party thrown by
George Lucas, and in May this year they played a
high-profile show in Belfast's Waterfront in support
of the Good Friday Agreement; Wheeler, Hamilton,
McMurray and Hatherley were joined on stage by
heavyweight guests U2, John Hume and David
Trimble. How grown-up is that?

"That was amazing. I'm very proud we did that,"
beams Tim. "It was just a week before the
referendum, and there was a lot up in the air at that
time. There was a lot of tension, and the news was
focused on the 'No' campaign. I think it was Bono
and John Hume who came up with the idea to do a
gig just to emphasise the positive." And what was it
like being on stage with the old boys of Irish rock,
not to mention the grizzled leaders of Northern Irish
politics? "It was cool. We played for 45 minutes, and
then Bono and The Edge came on and we played
Don't Let Me Down by The Beatles. I got to play
guitar on One, which was great. I wasn't a big fan of
U2 when I was younger. I was more into heavy
metal, but I've always liked that song."

Younger fans might sneer at Ash for getting into
dadrockers like U2, but Ash have always been about
great pop songs; the new album is still firmly rooted
in punk, metal and classic pop, and the current
single, Jesus Says, draws on Tim's passion for The
same influences which would have driven a young,
glory-hungry Bono years ago.

"Young" isn't the currency the band is trading with
any more, but nor is "mature". "I don't like to use the
word `grownup' with this record, because I think that
sounds boring. There's stuff on it that's quite
passionate. It's darker and more heavy. I think it's
just a move on somewhere."
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Taken from a WIRE post by Reno:

There's a special on Luka Bloom on TV some days ago. Luka is an Irish
singer/songwriter who developed his own typical sound while he lived in
New
York for three years in the late 80s. Resulting from this, there are
subtle
rap-influences in his music, which is very Irish folks music
nevertheless. I
saw him play in Galway while I was in Ireland a few weeks ago.. I
noticed
these influences were very obvious, not only because he sang LL Cool J's
"I
need love" accompanied on guitar, but rather by the endless loops he
plays.

While he discusses what he loves about Irish music, and its
characteristics
that automatically set a mood (a drone?) he elaborates on what he tries
to
create by playing the guitar.

"What I try to do with my guitar, is to try to find a way to create a ..
it's like a canvas for a painting. It's to find a way.. I sort of
modelled
myself with U2 actually <laughs> I'm honest about it! I listen to the
way
Adam plays, the bass and it's very simple, but it's very strong. It's
very
beautifull, clear.. a very defined bass sound. And then the Edge's very
high
ringing guitar things... I sort of modelled my guitar playing with
*that*.

He concludes that he tries to paint a picture with his guitar, that
creates
an atmosphere and the mood, over which he writes a song. Noteworthy is
to
mention that U2's music in the early 80s is defined as very spherical..
cinematic :)
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Prarit.....

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