The Sell Out (Part 5)

Q: "Will success spoil U2?"
A: "I certainly hope so."   - Bono in interview (1981)

I had to post that today, and this photo (from May 29th, 1981 at the New York Palladium - Bono with a lucky fan).  It has just been announced that U2 will not tour North America this year.  Bono has injured his back and will not be able to play his role as frontman.  He should take a break.  As a nominee for the Nobel Peace Prize who has also been married to the same woman for almost thirty years, he deserves some sort of rest.

I have never seen the band live (it is either see them live or eat for a month and I have often chosen the latter).  I was a fan of the group by the age of seven when I first saw them on the former CITY-TV program called "The New Music" and Bono made his comment on fame with a smile and a laugh.  I could not hold that against him.  No one I knew had heard of the band and they would not be global superstars for at least another six years.  But I was hooked.

Now, dear web surfer, you know that I love the Who (a band that U2 has cited as an influence) and that I feel bad about their particular career arc.  With U2, it is not the same sort of love, but there is affection there and I felt bad when I heard about the tour cancellation.  This is a band that had no choice but to become bigger than the post-Punk/New Wave environment that they grew in, otherwise they would have ended up as just another noise among many other noises.  Selling out for arena rock actually made them seem taller and better in the media's eye.

No wonder I still like them (even if the albums now suck)...