Deseree Stukes ([email protected])
Tue, 8 Sep 1998 12:19:26 -0400
Clinton Booked By Bono
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The Prez meets U2.
What a life. When U2 isn't busy meeting with US President Bill Clinton,
they're signing deals to make themselves bazillionaires. U2 met with
President Clinton and his wife last week during the President's historic
trip to Ireland in the US Ambassador's residence in Phoenix Park on
Friday (Sept. 4), just before Clinton left Dublin. The BBC didn't report
what was discussed during the tete a tete, but knowing Bono, there
likely was some political agenda.
The President did tell reporters aboard Air Force One that, during their
visit, U2 had presented him with a book about the history of Ireland's
capital city. Clinton said he'd keep the new book alongside a book Bono
gave him in 1995 by William Butler Yeats, Clinton's fave Irish writer.
Bono humbly inscribed that book with the words, "This guy wrote some
good lines, too." U2's association with Clinton goes back to 1992, when
the band supported him in his successful run against George Bush.
After meeting with the President, members of U2 whipped out their pens
and affixed their John Hancocks to a $50 million deal with PolyGram for
three "best of" albums, with the first being released November 2, right
in time for holiday gift giving. Imaginatively titled The Best of U2,
Volume One, 1980-1990 the initial disc will contain fifteen tracks from
U2's earliest years. A set of U2 B-sides from the 80s will also be made
available for your purchasing pleasure.
Marc Marot, Managing Director of U2's label Island, told the BBC, "This
is an enormous opportunity for retailers to make a fortune." To say
nothing of U2's fortunes. Other musicians, such as Madonna and Janet
Jackson, have signed deals worth more than $50 million; however, those
contracts were for new material, not previously recorded songs.
In their approximately 20-year recording career, U2 has released ten
albums and sold more than 87 million records world wide.
-Sheril Stanford
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