Who needs bathrooms? ([email protected])
Sun, 22 Nov 1998 11:15:10 -0600
How many copies of the "Best Of" album did you purchase?
You can vote at:
http://www.members.home.net/u2-news/poll.html
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U2-NEWS Poll Results:
Question: If U2 were to do a "Best Of" tour, I'd most like to see:
Bono with that nerdy "Live Aid" hair (108) 34%
The Edge do that nerdy 80's guitarist rock-out thing(a la Rattle and
Hum) (129) 41%
Adam Clayton do that nerdy 80's bassist rock-out thing(a la Rattle
and Hum) (78) 25%
Total of 315 Total Votes.
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(Prarit's note: Please note that this is a RUMOUR, and I have not
attempted to verify any facts in this post.)
Posted by anonymous at http://www.frenz.com/wwwboard/index.html
on November 18, 1998 at 15:39:26:
I just heard from an Irish music industry insider (who knows the
peole[sic] concerned directly) that it is almost certain that Bono has
recently started work with Andy White on some new songs that will
most probably be used for the next ALT project. Now that would be an
Irish supergroup....Andy, Liam and Tim (yeah he's not Irish but his
Mum is :) and.....BONO too!!!!!!!!!!!! You heard it here first! (I work for
a major record label in Dublin, so I'm sorry I can't disclose my name
.....but the person who told me this was fairly certain this was going
to happen.)
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>From Oh Yeah magazine(Thanks to James):
Brian Eno has predicted that "joy" will be the overriding theme of the next
U2
album. The producer, who has been involved on best-selling U2 albums such
as
'The Joshua Tree' and 'Achtung Baby', has begun working on the new project
in
Dublin with the band and his sometime partner Daniel Lanois.
His remarks came to light during a talk in Belfast on Wednesday, November
18,
as part of the Belfast Festival at Queens's University. Eno was accepting
written questions from the floor. One of these wanted to know if U2 had any
ideas or themes for the new album.
"It's too early in that project to say what new ideas are coming up." he
said.
"The only thing that is appearing as a theme, as an idea, is an attempt to
do
the most difficult thing in music, which is to create joy. That is
extremely
hard.
"It's actually dead easy to make melancholy. It's easy to make energy, its
easy to make cleverness, it's easy to make intrigue, it's easy to make
glamour. But it's very very hard to make joy. To make music that really
grips
you and lifts you in some way. That's hard. So that's what we're trying to
do
in some way."
This view is in line with a recent statement from The Edge, who told NME
that
"this is going to be an optimistic record".
Eno stated that the band's last studio album, 'Pop' was "overwrought" and
too
dependent of the superficial aspects of technology. This idea was also
suggested byThe Edge, who recently explained to NME the difference between
the
new regeime and the 'Pop' sound, which was created in association with
producer Flood and DJ Howie B.
""If there's any difference between our attitude going into 'Pop' and our
attitude going into the new one, it's probably how we want to make this one
more band-centred. And if we're gonna use technology, we'll use it as an
ajunct to the band's feel and the band's sound."
Brian Eno also said that his most memorable moment with U2 was during the
band's visit to Sarajevo, during the Popmart tour in 1997.
"It was probably the most moving show I'd ever been to. It was absolutely
heart-breaking."
He remembered how U2 had dedicated a song to the UK soldiers, who had been
very demoralised at this point. "The whole audience applauded the peace
keeping force," he remembered. "These troops were in tears. The crowd just
applauded on and on.... it's a stupid thing that pop music lets people take
their defences down."
-------------
Condensed from Wall of Sound:
Chart Watch: Alanis, R. Kelly, Springsteen, 'N Sync
Alanis Morissette has done it again. Last week, her Jagged Little
Pill follow-up, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, sold nearly half
a million copies. While she didn't fare nearly as well number- wise
this week, selling just over 268,000 copies, it was still enough to
earn her another trip to the top spot on the SoundScan charts. R.
Kelly's double album R. was a close runner up, selling roughly
215,000 copies. Celine Dion, with whom R. Kelly duets on "I'm Your
Angel"�a song that appears on each singer's album�moves up a
spot from last week to No. 3, while Jay-Z dips to No. 4 and U2 to
No. 5.
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Condensed from E! Online:
Alanis Holds Off R. Kelly
by Jeffrey Jolson-Colburn
November 18, 1998, 3:10 p.m. PT
At first glance, it looks like U2 was knocked out of its No. 2 bow by
Celine Dion and Jay-Z. However, Best of U2 1980-1990 with a
bonus disc of rarities and B-sides sold 136,000 units, and the
same greatest hits package minus the extras sold 29,000
(presumably to those fans who wanted to save a couple of bucks
and take their U2 neat). So altogether, U2's new offering sold 165,000
in both configurations.
-------------
Condensed from JAM!:
Celine keeps Alanis out of top spot
By JOHN SAKAMOTO Executive Producer, JAM!
Celine Dion's new holiday-themed collection sold a robust 32,500
copies in its second week of release to take the top spot on the
SoundScan Canada album charts this week and keep Alanis
Morissette in the runner-up position.
Sales of Morissette's "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" took
the traditional second-week dive of most major albums, selling less
than half of its first-week total (30,173 copies, compared to 71,235
in its debut week).
In fact, Morissette came within 1300 copies of conceding the No. 2
spot to the week's highest new entry, MuchMusic's latest thump-
thump compilation, "Muchdance 1999".
Last week's No. 1, the limited-edition two-CD best-of by U2,
slipped to No. 4 on sales of 24,241 copies. However, if you add in
sales of the single-CD version of that album -- which sold
another 20,650 copies in its first week of availability -- U2 would
still be at the top of the Canadian charts by a substantial margin.
-------------
John Hlavaty's Chart news:
Canada:
The two versions of "The Sweetest Thing" charted separately
in Canada. Had they charted together, the song may
have been the #1 song for the last several weeks.
Despite charting separately, "The Sweetest Thing - Part 1"
still debuted at #1 in Canada several weeks back. "The
Sweetest Thing - Part 2" debuted the same week at #3.
Last week, Part 1 dropped to #3 and Part 2 dropped to #4.
This week, Part 1 held steady at #3, but Part 2 jumped UP
to #2!
This gives U2 two top 5 singles for 3 consecutive weeks.
What's even more interesting is that these singles
are simply variations of each other!
If anyone is interested, Nanda Lwin has written
some interesting tidbits about U2's chart success at
http://www.canoe.ca/JamMusicCharts/home.html.
Below is an excerpt:
>Chart Talk
>
>By NANDA LWIN -- Jam! Showbiz
>
>SUPERSTAR WEEK: In what could be the most spectacular week for new
releases in
>recent memory, three albums by superstars crash atop the SoundScan albums
chart. The
>latest from U2, Alanis Morissette, and Celine Dion enter at Nos. 1, 2, and
3 respectively
>making this week the first time ever that the top three are occupied by
debuts. U2's "The
>Best Of U2: 1980-1990" is the new No. 1 making it the Irish band's fifth
chart-topping
>release. It is fitting that U2 should be the act to outdo the competition
to enter at the top. Five
>years ago, U2's "Zooropa" became the first album ever to debut at No. 1.
"The Best of U2"
>is the third U2 title to accomplish such a feat in the past five years.
>RECORD-BREAKING: With U2 at the top with its fifth chart-topping title,
the band is
>now tied with Tragically Hip as the act with the most No. 1 albums. "The
Best Of U2: 1980-
>1990" joins the group's other No. 1's: "The Joshua Tree", "Rattle and
Hum", "Zooropa",
>and "Pop". Four other acts (Celine Dion, Madonna, Phil Collins, Bryan
Adams) are right
>behind U2 and Tragically Hip with four chart toppers each. If that wasn't
enough, Collins
>and U2 are related to each other in another way. With Collins' "Hits"
falling out of the top
>spot, this week marks the first time in history that a No. 1 greatest hits
package is replaced
>by another one. In two weeks' time, we will see if Mariah Carey's
collection of hits, "#1"
>will replace U2 at the top making it three consecutive greatest hits
albums.
>CELINE'S CHRISTMAS: Debuting below Alanis Morissette is Celine Dion whose
>latest offering rewrites chart history. "These Are Special Times" enters
at No. 3 becoming
>the highest-charting Christmas album ever. "Noel" by Marie Michele
Desrosiers previously
>held the record as the biggest seasonal title stopping at No. 10 in
December 1996. Dion's
>high debut also means that "Special" is only the second time Christmas
music has reached
>the top 10. The next highest-charting entry after "Noel" was 1987's "A
Very Special
>Christmas" which charted at No. 14.
(NOTE: The U2 connection in the above passage is that U2 did a remake of
"It's
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" on the "A Very Special
Christmas".
This week's Canadian album charts have yet to come out.
Ireland:
U2's "Best Of" is #1 for the second week in Ireland. Unlike
the U.K., (where the "Best Of + B-sides" charted at #2 and
the "Best Of" without the b-side charted at #8), only
one version of U2's "Best Of" is on the charts (at least
for now).
One wonders if the U.K. charts combined the sales
of the two versions of U2's "Best Of" would they be
greater than the #1 album (George Michael's "Best Of"
album).
Here are the top five singles in Ireland this week according
to Chart-Track/IRMA:
TW LW Song Artist
1 3 Believe Cher
2 5 Stand By Me 4 The Cause
3 4 I Don't Want to Miss a Thing Aerosmith
4 2 The Sweetest Thing U2
5 1 Irreplaceable Kerri Ann
-------------
Remember that article at Fallout Jr's site called "Before They
Went To Hell" from two weeks ago? Well, it turns out that
John Hlavaty, who allows U2NEWS to contribute his chart news
to the digest, appears in Fallout Jr.'s Reader Response section.
To view his response go to the following link. It's the second
response about U2:
http://www.fallout-magazine.com/loveletters.html
-------------
>From The Belfast Telegraph:
Rushdie to give Belfast Festival reading
By Neil Johnston
CONTROVERSIAL novelist Salman Rushdie, who has been living
under a death threat for nine years, is to appear at the Belfast
Festival, it was announced today.
He will read from and discuss his work at a special closing event
in the Festival's literary programme.
The details of what will be Rushdie's first Festival appearance
were only announced today as security surrounding the writer
remains tight.
A fatwa, or death sentence, was imposed on him in 1989 by the
late Ayatollah Khomeini over his novel The Satanic Verses, which
Iran considered to be a blasphemy against Muslims.
But recently the threat against him was eased slightly when the
Iranian Government announced that it would do nothing to threaten
his life and disassociated itself from the offer of a reward to his
killers.
This has enabled the 51- year-old India-born author to make more
public appearances than before, although his personal security has
been maintained in case of a murder bid by Muslim extremists.
"We are delighted to have such an acclaimed writer on our
programme this year," a Festival spokesman said today.
"But we are only announcing it now because we were under an
obligation not to say anything about it until ten days before the
event."At Rushdie's Festival reading in the Elmwood Hall on
Saturday, November 28 he will be joined by the Dutch novelist
Cees Nootebaum and their conversation will be chaired by Irish
writer Colm Toibin.
Tickets for the event are available from the Festival box office
(tel 665577).
� Copyright Belfast Telegraph Newspapers Ltd.
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Condensed from The Irish Times:
(re: article on Boy George )
George also confessed to feelings for U2's Larry Mullen jnr. "I really
fancy the drummer from U2," he once said. "I'll stay home with him
any night." Larry's views on the matter are unrecorded, but George's
feelings are unlikely to have been reciprocated.
-------------
Condensed from Rolling Stone:
Really Random Notes on U2, Motley Crue
While still not saying whether U2 will defect to Interscope or not, Island
Records' U.K. managing director Marc Marot told Billboard Bulletin that the
deal -- alleged or otherwise -- would only apply to North America.
He also confirmed that discussions between the Irish superstars'
representatives and Interscope have taken place, but says that nothing has
been decided. As a caveat, Marot added that U2 is signed to Island U.K. for
the world, and they would remain there -- any deal for North America would
strictly be a licensing arrangement.
-------------
The Best of is #1 in Brazil, where the 200,000 numbered copies(I
still have not recieved official confirmation that these are an
official product -- everything that I've read, leads me to believe
that numbered copies only appeared in Canada) have sold out
quickly. Another 100,000 unnumbered copies have been ordered
with the authorization of Polygram.
-------------
The reviews from the Baltimore Sun and Consumable Online have
been added to the Best of Reviews file available at:
http://www.members.home.net/u2-news/gh_reviews.html
-------------
>From Dotmusic:
Internet auction for Bono's lyrics
Sound Republic, whose partners include entrepreneur Robert Earl,
will host this year�s Hits Under The Hammer gala auction for the
Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy and Norwood Ravenswood
charities. Hits Under The Hammer is hoping to raise more than
�500,000 with what it claims is the first exclusively international
auction of hit song lyrics.
Set to take place on March 24 next year, around 40 items will be
available at the venue, while another 100 songs will be auctioned
via the internet (www.icollector.com). Recent contributions include
Bono�s original lyric sheet for U2�s The Sweetest Thing and Alanis
Morissette�s for Thank U. Hits Under The Hammer has also signed
a publishing deal with Sanctuary Publishing for a book titled The
Story Behind The Song to be published next autumn featuring
songwriters� stories about why they wrote particular hits.
-------------
The ST #1 single is currently #3 , and ST #2 is currently #2 in
Canada.
-------------
>From NME:
U2: SMELLS LIKE CUISINE SPIRIT
U2 launched their new dance label Kitchen Recordings in Dublin
last night appropriately enough at The Kitchen, the club
owned by the band in the basement of The Clarence Hotel in the
city's Temple Bar district.
ROB ROWLAND and BASIC, two of the label's acts, performed
live sets' Dublin techno artist Rowland's 'Ground ~Zero' will be
the label's first release.
The band are not overseeing the project; long time friend REGGIE
MANUEL will run the label with advice and assistance from U2
collaborator HOWIE B's Pussyfoot label.
"Myself and BONO are hoping that the club is gonna keep us tuned
into what's happening in our dotage," THE EDGE told NME. "We won't
have to worry about keeping our finger on the pulse. So rather than us
feeling that we're going to change the world of dance music, we're
happy just to let Reg do it. We're gonna listen to tapes and be
involved, but really it's his baby."
We asked Bono if he thought the label could express a more dance
-conscious aspect of Irish youth culture.
"I'm not sure if Irish people can dance," he said. "Except for The
Edge, that is, who is our own funky chicken. But what I like about
the scene her is that it's wide open and there's not so much poise.
It's raw, and you'll see that, which in a funny way is where we were
coming from in the 80s. We were making ecstatic music in the 80s.
But we met Paul Oakenfold and he said 'Do you know they're playing
'With Or Without You' at these big open air raves?' So maybe that's
what's happening here, on a DJ level. People are being a bit less
guarded."
-------------
>From The Irish Times:
Amnesty goes all out to collect signatures
By Andy Pollak
The Irish section of Amnesty International has
collected half of the one million signatures it hopes
to get before next weekend in support of human
rights as set out in the 1948 UN Declaration of
Human Rights.
This week Amnesty will be doubling its efforts to get
the remaining 500,000 signatures needed to reach
its ambitious target. The signatures are among the
60 million the organisation aims to collect around
the world.
The Irish section has sent out 3.5 million cards for
people to sign. "We are reaching people and places
we have never reached before," said its director, Ms
Mary Lawlor, yesterday.
"The Good Friday agreement has made this an
appropriate time to talk about human rights and to
build a human rights culture in Ireland."
The campaign was launched nearly four weeks ago
on O'Connell Bridge, Dublin, by U2. Among those
who have signed so far are the President, Mrs
McAleese, the UN Human Rights Commissioner,
Ms Mary Robinson, all the members of the Cabinet,
Northern Ireland Secretary Dr Mo Mowlam, former
US ambassador Ms Jean Kennedy Smith, SDLP
leader Mr John Hume, poet Seamus Heaney, actors
Gabriel Byrne, Anjelica Huston, and Jeremy Irons,
singer Van Morrison, and the Irish soccer team, led
by manager Mick McCarthy.
Today an Amnesty "road train", sponsored by
Cronin Movers, will be in Kilkenny beside the castle
at 12.30 and at Red Square (Baron Strand Street) in
Waterford at 6 p.m. Tomorrow it will be in Cork; on
Wednesday in Limerick and Galway; on Thursday in
Galway and Sligo; and on Friday in Navan, ending
up at the Mansion House, Dublin, on Friday
afternoon.
Counting the signatures will begin on Friday and
continue over the weekend. Ms Lawlor emphasised
that all signatures must be returned to Amnesty's
offices at 48 Fleet Street, Dublin 2 by next Saturday,
November 21st.
Signature postcards are widely available in
churches, libraries, shops and even railway
stations. The four Catholic archbishops and the
Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin signed
yesterday.
Some supermarket chains, large shops and banks -
such as Supervalu, Centra, Superquinn, Tesco,
Boots, Body Shop, Burgerking, National Irish Bank
and the EBS building society - have put cards on
display. Others, including Dunnes, Spar, Easons,
Champion Sports, Xtra Vision, the Bank of Ireland,
Ulster Bank and the Irish Permanent, have declined
to do so.
Signing on-line is also an option at www.amnesty.ie
or at www.paddynet.com/amnesty, the comedy
website that features live footage from Dylan
Moran, Tommy Tiernan, Pauline McLynn and the
late Dermot Morgan.
The signatures will be added to the many millions
collected by Amnesty all over the world and will be
presented to the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi
Annan, at a ceremony in Paris on December 8th to
celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the
UN Declaration of Human Rights.
"They will be presented, in the form of a sculpture
representing the `people of the world' in the
declaration's preamble, to the world's governments
through Kofi Annan," said Mary Lawlor yesterday.
"The message from the people will be that the
governments have promised to protect those basic
human rights and it's time that they started to do
so."
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The review from the Toronto Star has been added to the review file at
http://www.members.home.net/u2-news/gh_reviews.html
-------------
Thanks to John Hlavaty for the following:
U.K. Charts:
The "Best Of" with the B-sides dropped from #1 to
#2 in the U.K. this week (go to:
http://www.dotmusic.com/UKalbums.shtml)
The new #1 album is the "Best Of" from George Michael (entitled,
"Ladies and Gentlemen... Best Of").
U2's "Best Of" without the B-side CD debuted
at #8 on the U.K. charts. Interesting to see not
only 2 U2 CDs in the U.K. top 10, but that both
are older material and variations of each other.
For comparison's sake, Alanis' album dropped from
#3 to #10 and Oasis' B-side album dropped from
#2 to #3. The fact that U2's "Best Of" debuted
at #1 in so many coutries surprised me. After all,
it is previously released material. Therefore, it's
short stay at the top on the U.K. charts should
not be interpreted as a "flop". I'm sure the album
will drop in more countries this coming week.
What will ultimately make it a success is how long
it lingers in the top 10 (or at least the top 20).
This is where the big sales are (last week in the U.S.,
all items in the top 10 sold close to 100,000 units if
not more).
This particular holiday season, there is a LOT
of competition: Pearl Jam, Alanis, Mariah, Michael,
Oasis, Stones, Dion, etc. If U2's "Best Of" can
linger in the top 10-20 despite this outpouring
of holiday releases, then it will be a big success.
"The Sweetest Thing" suffered its biggest drop in
the U.K. charts falling from #10 to #18. However,
as I wrote last week, its 3 week stay in the top 10
surpassed U2's last 3 "POP" singles (two of which
had only one week in the top 10 and the last not
even reaching that mark). Amazingly, Cher's
"Believe" has held the #1 spot for 4 weeks now.
Her album, which has the same name, is not having as
much success. "Believe", the album, dropped 10 spots
to #23. Still, the success of Cher's single proves that an
"old fogey" (Cher is 52) can still rack up some big sales.
So do not dismiss U2's next release. Unfortunately,
U2's "U.S. counterpart", R.E.M., is also having some
difficulty on the U.K. charts. "Up" debuted high (#3)
but dropped to #11 and is now #25.
Australian Charts:
While U2's "Best Of" dropped a notch in the U.K.,
it held steady at #1 in Australia (go to:
http://www.aria.com.au/charts/19981116a.htm).
George Michael debuted at #2 and Alanis slipped
to #2. R.E.M.'s latest is also having problems
in Australia. It debuted at #5, dropped to #20 (!)
and now it's at #30.
Either the single CD version of U2's "Best Of"
hasn't been released in Australia yet or the ARIA
counts the 2-CD and one-CD "Best Of" set
together as there is no separate entry for the "Best
Of" alone vs. the "Best Of + B-sides" as there
is on the U.K. charts.
"The Sweetest Thing" held steady at #10 on
the Australian single's charts. The song debuted
at #6. "The Sweetest Thing" has enjoyed
4 weeks in the top 10 further questioning
U2's/Polygram's decision not to release this song
in the U.S. (especially when one factors in
that the song went to #1 in Canada and Ireland and
#3 in the U.K.).
Other Charts:
The new Irish, Canadian and U.S. charts have yet
to come out. As of this moment, the "Best Of"
is #1 in Canada, Ireland and Italy and #2 in the U.S.
and Germany. "The Sweetest Thing" is #2 in
Ireland and #3 and 4 in Canada (both versions of the CD
charted separately).
In the U.S., "The Sweetest Thing", while not
released as a CD single, continues to move up
the Modern Rock charts. After 6 weeks on
the charts, "The Sweetest Thing" moved up to
#13 on the U.S. Modern Rock charts (go to
http://www.billboard.com/charts/airplay/modern.html).
This is its highest position yet. Will the success of
the "Best Of" album push this song into the top 10?
The song is currently ranked higher than Alanis'
"Thank U" (#17) and R.E.M.'s "Daysleeper" (#18).
-------------
Prarit.....
[email protected]
http://www.members.home.net/u2-news/u2.html
This page is brought to you by the letter "U" and the number "2".
-- Prarit....[email protected] U2 news: http://www.members.home.net/u2-news/u2.html
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