U2
(Ireland, twelve Top 40 hits, seven Top 40 albums)

CERTAINLY THE greatest band ever to come out of Ireland, and quite easily among the favourites as one of the greatest bands ever to come out of anywhere. Doubtlessly like so many other wannabes would have done, fledgling drummer Larry Mullen Jnr. pinned an A4 plea on the notice board of Mount Temple High School in Dublin, looking for a singer, guitarist and bassist to form a rock band. This was back in '76. Paul Hewson, David Evans and Adam Clayton all replied, along with a few rejects, and a phenomenon was about to begin. Hewson strangely renamed himself Bono, which had some connection to a hearing aid product, while Evans became The Edge, after Bono claimed it fitted his cutting mind. The band, who initially called themselves Feedback before settling on the ambiguity of U2, did the usual pub circuit and session work before sealing a deal with Island Records, and their first single to chart was "Fire" ("falling, falling, the stars are falling down"), a song packed with religious connotations (Bono, The Edge and Clayton were all strict Christians) and which just scraped a No.35 placing, despite a fine TOTP performance in which Bono spent much of the time grabbing his hair, while bassist Clayton's own barnet was a lampshade blonde effect of some sniggersome effect.  

NATURAL

HERE WAS a band whom many realised could go far - unfussy rock ordinaries led by a singer who was clearly extraordinary, thereby making those around him extraordinary too. Bono's voice was and is quite amazing. Powerful, penetrative, expressive, unfazed by key and with no pronunciative defects or whiny alteration for the benefit of style. He just gave it his all, and the sound was just so natural. The Edge was also a mean guitarist, with few other bands ever quite producing a unique alarm-bell style quite like his. By '83, U2 had started to make a lot of friends. The mesmerising "New Year's Day" ("all is quiet on New Year's Day") got them to No.10, with the corresponding album "War" an instant No.1. The rawness of their sound and the emotions generated in Bono's voice allowed fans of 'real' music to find a new channel for their energies, in a world where the synthesiser had taken over.

STRICKEN

U2 WERE never within a sniff of a synth on stage, while it was difficult to make out any on their records, and the first of many peak singles "Pride (In The Name Of Love)" ("free at last, they took your life, they could not take your pride") was written by Bono about Martin Luther King and probably still shows the perfection of his voice and The Edge's guitar better than any other U2 single, even though all promote these awesome attributes more than adequately. The album "The Unforgettable Fire" was as massive as everyone predicted, with Brian Eno roped in to produce. The title track ("and if the mountains should crumble or disappear into the sea") got to No.6 and featured a memorable fairground-going-loopy video. Shortly afterwards, the band did Live Aid (Bono had earlier sung the line "well tonight thank God it's them instead of you" on the Band Aid single, with some initial reluctance) and many assessed their display as the best of all (though in truth, they probably came a close second to Queen) and the huge U2 banners which blocked many a Wembleyite's view were present day and night. Bono grabbed the headlines by noticing a stricken girl during the long instrumental break in famed heroin-addiction album track "Bad" and instructing the security people to remove her from the crowd and put her in his arms. Cartoonists later claimed that Bono did it because he had forgotten the words, and was getting her to remind him via whisper as they embraced.  

ANTHEMIC

THE FOLLOWING year was spent in the studio recording something that would change the course of rock history for good. It was an album called "The Joshua Tree" which stands alongside few others in terms of its quality, ingenuity, sincerity, taste, professionalism and standards. Any of the tracks on it were potential singles, but the three they chose elevated them, belatedly, into genuine superstardom mode. "With Or Without You" ("I will wait for you") was a love song which few had or would ever equal, "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" ("I have climbed highest mountains, I have rowed through the seas only to be with you") was a passionate piece of uplifting, shimmering pop, and "Where The Streets Have No Name" ("I want to run, I want to hide, I want to tear down the walls that hold me inside") was purely anthemic, helped by a law-twisting rooftop video and hindered later, amusingly, by a deliberately crap Pet Shop Boys cover. The follow-up album "Rattle And Hum" produced their first No.1 in busky improvisation ditty "Desire" ("desiiiiiii-ee-er!") and two trumpety goodtime tunes in "Angel Of Harlem" and BB King collaboration "When Love Comes To Town". The decade ended with a gorgeous, lengthy, rising ballad called "All I Want Is You" ("all the promises we made from the cradle to the grave") and the 90s arrived. 

IMMEASURABLE

SINCE THEN there have been character personas for Bono, restricted release durations, Batman and Bond soundtracks, progressive albums and tours, visits to the Vatican, duets with Pavarotti and Sinatra, families, supermodel spats and a return to their roots in 2000, with "Beautiful Day" getting to No.1 and confirming their status as an ultra-important concern despite a long break or two. Their influence is immeasurable, their artistry unequalled by any of their contemporaries, and their faith and lack of ego unique, touching and refreshing. There is nothing left for them to achieve, yet you just know that they'll still achieve it. It makes you wonder what wouldn't have been had Mullen not been able to find a drawing pin.

Biggest Hit: "Desire", No.1, 1988
Defining Moment: The girl in the Wembley crowd.

Matt