When did U2 form as a band? What has their journey to fame been like?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
U2 formed in the late 1970s and continued producing music for the following four decades. In his memoir Surrender, <\/em>Bono discusses the history of the band and how they grew to what they are today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Read on to learn about the early days of U2 and how their band has developed over time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n When did U2 form? U2 first appeared on the music scene during the late \u201970s heyday of punk rock, hard on the heels of bands like the Sex Pistols and the Ramones. In his memoir Surrender<\/em>, Bono writes that he remembers feeling particularly energized by the raw simplicity of the Ramones\u2019 music\u2014in fact, U2 won their first TV gig by performing a Ramones song as their audition.<\/strong> However, Bono felt they were a stronger band whenever they played songs they\u2019d written themselves. They did so in rehearsals, first in their school\u2019s music room and later in a shed at the cemetery where Bono\u2019s mother was buried.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: The punk rock movement began in the 1970s as a back-to-basics reaction against the overly slick pop music of the era<\/a>. Though its flagship bands were certainly the US\u2019s Ramones<\/a> and the UK\u2019s Sex Pistols<\/a>, the trappings and attitude of punk rock can be traced back to 1967\u2019s The Stooges<\/a>, led by front-man Iggy Pop<\/a>. Punk rock features short, simple, fast-paced songs with minimal production values<\/a>\u2014music that can be played on the instruments available to high school and college students practicing in their family\u2019s garage<\/a>\u2014or, in the case of U2, a shed. Beyond its simplicity, punk rock in the \u201970s became known for tackling political topics with an anti-establishment mindset<\/a> that mainstream music steered away from.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 1979, Bono and Ali<\/a> traveled to London to give copies of U2\u2019s first demo tape to record companies and music journalists. They did this mostly by pretending to have appointments just to get their foot in the music industry\u2019s door, and their work was rewarded with positive write-ups in several music magazines. U2 followed up with a tour of London clubs, which met with mixed results\u2014Bono writes that music critics seemed to enjoy the band\u2019s music, but record company scouts always caught their worst shows.<\/strong> In the end, U2 returned to Ireland without the record contract they\u2019d hoped for.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: The period in which Bono writes that U2 tried to break into the music business is sometimes referred to as the Album Era of rock<\/a>, when 12-inch long-playing records (LPs)<\/a> were the dominant format of the recording industry, as opposed to 7-inch \u201csingles\u201d<\/a> with one song per side, which were popular in the 1950s. A standard record deal for a band like U2 would have granted royalties of about 10% of the wholesale price of each album sold<\/a>. At the time, a recording contract was essential for musicians to reach a wide audience, but with the birth of digital music and streaming<\/a>, artists can now distribute music online without a corporate intermediary<\/a>, upending the business model that U2 grew up with.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the start of 1980, Bono felt like a failure, and the other band members questioned whether they should keep going or find \u201creal jobs\u201d instead. However, the band didn\u2019t give up. On the strength of their positive reviews for shows in London, they went on tour in Ireland with their last show\u2014offered for free\u2014at the National Stadium in Dublin. Bono recalls that he and the band gave their all during that final performance.<\/strong> As luck would have it, a representative from Island Records was there, and he offered U2 a record deal on the spot\u2014a contract that would lead to their first album, Boy<\/em>, as well as their first music video, filmed for the song \u201cI Will Follow<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: The performance at Dublin\u2019s National Stadium that Bono says won the band their recording contract wasn\u2019t just free for in-person attendees, but was also broadcast on the radio<\/a> and later circulated as a bootleg recording<\/a>. Island Records, the label that signed U2, began in 1959 by producing albums by Jamaican reggae performers<\/a> before branching out into other musical genres. Before adding U2 to their roster, Island\u2019s other famous artists included Cat Stevens<\/a>, King Crimson<\/a>, and Bob Marley<\/a>. Though U2 would temporarily leave Island Records in 2006<\/a>, citing a lack of care and attention by the company\u2019s management, they returned to Island in 2013<\/a> and have remained with the record company ever since.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instead of being a musical flash in the pan, U2 would persevere and succeed as a band for over four decades. <\/em>Bono argues that he\u2019s persisted for that long because he\u2019s driven by the need to express himself through music, even though he questions himself and sometimes feels like a fraud. Bono describes the anxiety he feels as a performer and songwriter, the value of music as a means to send a message, and the ugly business aspects that artists must consider when protecting their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bono struggled with self-doubt<\/a> throughout his musical career.<\/strong> On U2\u2019s first record, he was anxious about the lyrics, which he felt were all less than what they could have been. His anxieties emerged during U2\u2019s early shows\u2014did he really fit in with the angry, rebellious British music scene of the time? After every concert, the band held a meeting to discuss what went right and wrong. In his memoir, Bono chides himself for berating his bandmates, though they often did the same to him regarding his on-stage antics. Bono admits to being an overly showy performer, partly to draw attention<\/a> to himself and partly to hide behind a mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: The self-doubt, insecurity, and general feelings of not fitting in that Bono describes in U2\u2019s early days are hallmarks of what psychologists call impostor syndrome<\/a>, a form of anxiety that many people experience after achieving success but not feeling <\/em>successful<\/a>. People in the creative arts are especially prone to impostor syndrome<\/a>, both because their work is open to public judgment and because of how easy it is to compare your own work to others you admire. For some, like Bono, impostor syndrome can manifest as perfectionism<\/a>\u2014a feeling that nothing is ever good enough and can be made to be better.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bono\u2019s always considered his chief songwriting talent to be finding the primary musical line and highlighting the central message of a song.<\/strong> One example Bono gives is that of \u201cSunday Bloody Sunday<\/a>,\u201d which the band wrote as a protest song against Ireland\u2019s political violence. Because Bono feared the song might be co-opted by the rebel groups they were protesting, he\u2019d shout \u201cthis is not a rebel song\u201d and rip an Irish flag onstage. While this angered some groups within Ireland, it made the message of the song very clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: Despite being inspired by a specific historical event, the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1972<\/a>, the song\u2019s continued relevance to modern political violence has kept \u201cSunday Bloody Sunday\u201d alive<\/a> in the public consciousness. By infusing political messages in his lyrics, Bono joins a long and storied tradition of blending rock music and politics, from the counterculture movement of the 1960s<\/a> to later artists such as N.W.A.<\/a> and Rage Against the Machine<\/a>. In general, songwriters such as Bono come across as more authentic in their political messaging when they have a personal understanding of the issues they address<\/a>, such as U2\u2019s up-close experience with sectarian violence.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to protecting the meaning of their music, Bono also writes about the importance of protecting the music itself. In their original record contract, U2 accepted less pay and royalties in exchange for retaining full copyright of their music.<\/strong> Though beneficial for artists in the long run, this sort of deal isn\u2019t the industry standard\u2014many artists give up their copyright protection in exchange for higher upfront profits and end up regretting it later in life, when their record companies profit off their songs with only a pittance going to the artists. Bono\u2019s regret later in his career is that he hasn\u2019t been able to use U2\u2019s influence to improve the legal landscape for musicians in general.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: While Bono laments that U2\u2019s copyright deal hasn\u2019t served as a model for other artists, contemporary pop star Taylor Swift<\/a> has adopted a game-changing approach to reclaiming copyright<\/a> that may benefit other musicians as well. At the age of 14, Swift signed a deal that gave her record label the rights to her first six albums<\/a>. When that company was sold in 2019, the rights to her music went with it<\/a>. Swift was never given the chance to buy back her original recordings, but since she\u2019d retained the copyright to the composition <\/em>of her songs<\/a>, Swift has begun rerecording and reissuing her older albums under her new record label, with the addendum \u201cTaylor’s Version<\/a>\u201d to each album\u2019s title to let fans know which edition they\u2019re buying.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n For good or ill, the side of the music business that the public is most aware of is the fame and recognition that comes with success. For Bono, the first decade of U2\u2019s rock stardom\u2014a time he equates to U2\u2019s \u201cteenage years\u201d as a band\u2014opened his eyes to a much wider world. He describes the joys of connecting with an audience<\/a> during a live performance, the privilege of seeing the world from a rock star\u2019s perspective, and how this experience culminated in the recording of U2\u2019s breakout album, The Joshua Tree<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n U2 embarked on their first European tour, and Bono describes how every show was a communal experience in which the audience played as big a role as the band.<\/strong> U2 was catching the energy of the punk rock movement, but where punk was cynical at heart, U2\u2019s early music was a celebration of innocence. Bono says that in the magic of a great concert, he wouldn\u2019t just lose himself in the music; he\u2019d enable the audience to do so as well. It was more than just playing well on stage\u2014when the band could truly connect with the crowd and spark the current of excitement running through them, everyone in the room would have a heightened experience almost like a shared state of flow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: The heightened \u201cflow state\u201d that Bono mentions was first identified by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi<\/a>. When in flow<\/em>, you become fully engrossed, lose track of time, and lose yourself in the process, exactly as Bono describes. While fans may be aware of the differences between a band\u2019s live performance and a studio recording, from the musician\u2019s point of view, each requires a different skill set<\/a>. Live performance requires improvisation and showmanship, whereas recording focuses more on composition and musical precision.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to the joy of live performing, Bono recalls the childlike excitement of traveling the world for the first time<\/strong> and experiencing the best that Europe had to offer\u2014all at the record company\u2019s expense. After Europe, the band toured the United States, which overwhelmed Bono with its diversity and size. To make an impact in the US, where they\u2019d yet to have a hit song, the band strategically bypassed college music venues, where the crowds were essentially transient, in favor of playing for local audiences where they might build a following in America\u2019s heartland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: While Bono discusses touring in a generally positive light, that isn\u2019t the experience of all performing artists. In The Woman in Me<\/em><\/a>, singer Britney Spears describes her concert tours as particularly grueling. According to Spears, there were many times in her life when she should have slowed down and pulled back from the concert circuit to tend to her physical and mental health, but the pressures of the music industry wouldn\u2019t let her. Spears also observes that male performers, such as those in U2, are afforded more leeway and freedom from scrutiny<\/a> than female artists when they go on tour.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n U2 toured and recorded throughout the 1980s, producing four more albums after Boy<\/em>, including their landmark 1987 album The Joshua Tree<\/em>. Bono says that the songs on the album reflect his Irish view of America and its dualities\u2014the imaginary land of opportunity and promise versus the real-world place with its problems and its dark side, as shown most clearly in the song \u201cBullet the Blue Sky<\/a>.\u201d Bono says that recording the album was a joyous time for the band, and The Joshua Tree<\/em>\u2019s <\/em>success rocketed U2 to a new level of superstardom.<\/strong> After finishing the tour that coincided with the album, the whole band moved to Los Angeles for a time as a way of celebration\u2014their last wild, youthful party before it was time to finally grow up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Shortform note: U2\u2019s fascination with the US has continued to the point that in 2018, Forbes Magazine<\/em><\/a> suggested that U2 was perhaps the best American <\/em>rock band<\/a>. In 1987, when U2\u2019s popularity in the US skyrocketed, they caught the attention of the mainstream news media<\/a>, not just the music industry press. In an echo of the 1960s\u2019 \u201cBritish Invasion,\u201d<\/a> when the Beatles and the Rolling Stones took over the American airwaves, U2 influenced many bands that followed<\/a> and opened the door for other Irish artists<\/a> such as the Cranberries<\/a>, Snow Patrol<\/a>, and the Corrs<\/a>.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When did U2 form as a band? What has their journey to fame been like? U2 formed in the late 1970s and continued producing music for the following four decades. In his memoir Surrender, Bono discusses the history of the band and how they grew to what they are today. Read on to learn about the early days of U2 and how their band has developed over time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":119025,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[586,39,33],"tags":[1340],"class_list":["post-118791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","category-history","category-people","tag-surrender","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nU2\u2019s Early Days<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The Art of Music<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Rock Stardom<\/h3>\n\n\n\n