U Talkin’ U2 To Me? - U Talkin' U2 To Me? - The Joshua Tree (w/ Harris Wittels)

Episode Date: March 12, 2014

Harris Wittels aka radio's bad boy of Analyze Phish joins Adam Scott Aukerman this week to delve into U2's critically acclaimed fifth studio album The Joshua Tree. They'll talk about Scott's experience going to see The Joshua Tree tour, how this was Adam's first U2 record he was exposed to, and how this album made U2 superstars. Will Adam Scott Aukerman turn Harris around on U2? Tune in to find out! This episode is sponsored by: Squarespace : Build your own website. Use offer code BONO for a free trial and 10% off. Bonobos : Better fitting Men's clothes. Use offer code EDGE for a 20% discount.

This episode of You Talking U2 to Me is brought to you by Squarespace. Squarespace is the all-in-one platform that makes it fast and easy to create your own professional website or online portfolio. For a free trial and 10% off, go to squarespace.com and use the offer code BONO. From boy to boots, get on them, that is. This is You Talkin' U2 to Me, the comprehensive and encyclopedic compendium of all things U2. I'm your host, or your co-host, actually, Scott. And I'm your other co-host, Scott.

And together we are Adam Scott Aukerman. Here we are. Here we are. This is episode three. Welcome to the show. Boy, I mean, talk about, I mean, you two, by the way, we talk a lot about you two on the show. You two came out pretty strong with their first record, but I think that our podcast started even stronger. We've had two great episodes. Yeah, it's crazy because I know U2 is an incredibly successful, famous band. I would say the biggest band in the world for the last 20 years. They've probably sold upwards of 2 million records. I would say they've sold more than that.

It's somewhere in there, though. Like between 2, 3 million records. Sure. But I'm going to say that our podcast, like, you too can fill the Rose Bowl. No problemo. English, please. Problem. What's the first word the Rose Bowl. No problemo. English, please. Problem. No problem.

What's the first word? No problem. No problem. Like, they wouldn't have trouble filling the Rose Bowl. And I know this because I saw them at the Rose Bowl. The place was full, and I don't think they had a problem getting there. I mean, everything, life has its own problems. You know, we don't know.

Scott, filling the Rose Bowl isn't one of them for those guys. You'd never know. We don't, look, at this point in the recording process. I saw them at Dodger Stadium. Not a problem. Who, the Dodgers? No, you two, the band. Oh, oh, oh.

Well, you mentioned Dodger Stadium. I thought you were talking about you went to a Dodgers game. Were they at the Dodgers game? No, they played. It was a Halloween concert. Who were they dressed as? I was not there, no. They were dressed as you two.

Oh, were they dressed as kids? Because I saw that one. I kept thinking, I kept nudging my girlfriend, and I kept saying, hey, I wonder if that's really Bono and the boys up there, or if it's just some people in Halloween costumes. I bet she thought it was funny. But you kept doing it, you said? Yeah, because it was

one of those good jokes that you repeat several times. By the way, you heard him a little earlier butting in, even though I hadn't introduced him. He's got a lot to say. Yeah, interesting kind of strategy there to just kind of jump in and start talking.

That's kind of why you have me on, right? Well, you thought that was good enough. I kind of fly off the handle. Oh, yeah, you've gone rogue. This is Harris Whittles. Yeah, we're real threatened by you. Radio's bad boy. You know him from the Analyze Fish podcast.

Yeah. I was a guest on that show once. You were? You're part of the Analyze Fish family. You were a was a guest on that show once. You were? You're part of the Analyze Fish family. You were a guest of mine to a fish concert once. That's also true. That's also true. And you know Harris, he's a writer on Parks and Recreation, which is probably where you guys met.

Or did you meet earlier than that? No, we met at, didn't we? I think we met there, right? Yeah. But I had seen your face on a T-shirt that Tall John made. Really? Yeah. Our friend Tall John made.

Yeah. I also have a T-shirt with Tall John's face on it. Yes. Yeah. This is a story. Should we tell the story? Sure. Why not?

It's you talking to you too to me. We may as well tell the story. We have a friend Tall John, the officiant at my wedding. Oh, that's a great choice. He did a great job. He did a great job. He's a funny guy and he's sincere. He's one of the great humans.

That said, when he asked what he should do as the officiant, we said, just be yourself. Just speak from the heart. He took that to mean write jokes. So at the rehearsal dinner the night before uh it was a very sincere night all of our families there he met our families he pulled me aside white as a sheet and said i think what i have prepared to do tomorrow is not right and i want to check in with you about it and he had all of these like really hard jokes that he was going to do.

And we were like, we told you to speak from the heart. He's like, yeah, I thought you meant from the fart. So anyway, but a great guy.

Now tell the T-shirt story. No, wait, wait, wait. Do you remember any of the jokes? I think the first one he was leading with, the very first thing he would say is,

before we begin, Scott, you know, gay marriage is now legal, right? You don't have to do this. Oh, that's great. Would have crushed. So did he have to then go to his hotel room and rewrite everything? He may have, or he may have just cut the jokes.

That's all we want, just cut the jokes. You know, cut the shit, tall John. Yeah, you're doing bits your whole life you can be serious for 15 minutes we had a pretty serious wedding right hey we had a pretty yeah harris were you there in tears i teared up did you hey we're getting married over here hey you talking you two to me you talking you two to me so tell the tall john t-shirt story he's a great guy he was a writer on the sarah silverman program which is where possibly harris you got to know him i think uh i don't totally remember what how it all happened all i know is i've seen you you guys made a bet or something no what's the t-shirt what what am

i doing in the t-shirt you're at a party and tall john is there and on and a shirt i thought that his face is on you're wearing he made a t-shirt of your face and he wore it somewhere yes here here's what it was john just showed up i think it was my birthday party wearing a t-shirt with my face on it then like three later, we were all in North Carolina for our friend Preston's wedding, and I had made a T-shirt with a picture of him wearing the T-shirt with my face on it. Yeah, yeah. And I wore that to the wedding. That's pretty much as far as it went. As far as it went. Although, a follow-up in you wearing t-shirts stories, when I had one of our auctions for the LA Food Bank, the gift that you gave that we auctioned off was you would go shopping at the Mayfair, I think, with whoever won, wearing a t-shirt of that person's face?

Yes. But then we just never got our shit together and did it. It never happened. That never happened? No. Well, that person out of the, normally everyone followed up on it, but that person was not following up or something, as I recall. And I think also I wasn't following up. That may have been.

Because I think at one point it morphed into, hey, let's not do the shopping thing. Let's just go get a drink. And then that's more like, hey, you know what? This was a very specific thing that I was doing. Yeah, and fun gets taken out of it. They seemed fine and cool, but it turned into like, it felt like a blind date or something, and it just never materialized.

I would have done it, but it never materialized. I feel like Rob Corddry, by the way, who is supposed to paint a picture of someone who won his auction still has not done it. And it's been four years, I think, at this point. It has been. It's been a while. It's been a while. It was three years ago.

But art only appreciates. That's true. So, hey, they're making money right now. It's been a while. It's been a while. This is you're talking about. You too to me. By the way, let me explain

what this show is. We're going to talk about everything about you two. Okay, if you listen to this podcast, and I hope you are at this point. Otherwise, these vibrations are going out to no one. If you listen to this, you're going to press

either stop or pause, I'm not really sure, after it's done, and you're going to say either stop or pause i'm not really sure after it's done and you're going to say you know what i know everything there is to know about you too because we're gonna do it all we're gonna talk about trivia we're gonna talk about every little detail about you too we've we've divvied it up into chapters the first first chapter, episode one, let me recap, we talked about three records. We talked about Boy. We talked about October. We talked about War. And we even talked about

an EP, Under a Blood Red Sky. The second episode, we got a little off track. We talked about one record. We talked about The Unforgettable Fire. And barely that. And Wide Awake in America. Barely both of those barely both of those we didn't in fact i was made fun of for going into detail at one point which is what this

podcast was supposed to be but you were going into detail about your behavior at the warehouse what is wrong with it that's what this show is already we've gotten into what adam wore to a guy named preston's wedding. It's true. So that's the kind of thing that when fans of U2 get to talking. That's what they want to know. That's what they talk about. U2 is a band all about details. It's all about where you are, what you're doing, how you're feeling.

Details, details, details, details. They're not just for magazines anymore. No. Although that is a terrific men's magazine. It really is. Have you ever been on the cover of that? No. You nodded like, of course I have, and then you said no.

Well, that's because once I took a picture of myself and I wrote details on it. Okay. Great story. You had that tattooed on you, correct? Yeah. Then I picture that. Tattoo you. Body.

Rolling Stones. Another great rock and roll band. You talking tattoo you to me? So this episode we're focusing. We should do a Fantasy Island podcast, you talking tattoo to me. That's a great idea. Yeah, that is a great idea. Okay.

So now let's talk about what's happening today. We're going to catch up on everything. We're going to catch up on's a great idea. Yeah, that is a great idea. Okay. So now, let's talk about what's happening today. We're going to catch up on everything. We're going to catch up on I Love Films. We're going to catch up on that Huey Lewis podcast that we are doing simultaneously. Anytime any one of us is not talking, we're talking into a separate mic doing a Huey Lewis podcast as well.

So, and that, you can't hear that, obviously, because that's a different one that comes out at the same time. We just covered sports. Mm-hmm. Yeah, which is probably the first 10 episodes. Yeah. We're going to talk about Harry Potter.

But in this episode, as it pertains to you two, we're going to talk about- What was the follow-up album to sports? Four? Is it called Four? Four. I believe it's called Four. We should really learn this stuff before we go into the episodes about the ones following sports. It had Hip to be Square on it.

Hip to be Square, which I say is still okay. When it came out, I was not a fan. Me neither. But at this point, I sort of like it. Yeah, that song, like a fine wine. Sure, or like a painting that Rob Corddry. Shut up. Hey, Harris, he was kind of joking, but shut up.

Well, what the fuck am I doing here? Well, we'll talk about it. Okay. So, from Boy to Boots, I already said it, Get On Them, that is. We're going to talk about everything about YouTube. This episode, we're going to talk about The Joshua Tree. This episode is kind of like our joshua tree episode it's going to be as popular it's going to be as popular this is good rock and roll uh music is our catchphrase

of course people have been making the fan art thanks so much for making the fan art with adam's face on it saying that thanks guys um let's say this is rock and roll. This is good rock and roll music. Which was his quote from the first. He very sincerely said I was so psyched. We were listening to a song he was psyched. He said this is high quality

rock and roll. And I laughed. And I totally meant it. And then I tried to remember what he said. I said, what was that quote? And he said, this is good rock and roll music, which I thought was even better. And we said, that's got to be the pull quote that Bono uses. By the way, as of this recording, it's been eight years since we recorded the last episode.

Yep. Bono still has not hit us up. No. And I still got to come on to T-shirts. Since then, I've not bought any T-shirts. And they're up to like $400. Dollars now. Well, we don't even use dollars anymore.

It's cyber bucks. Yeah, they're up to $400 Starbucks. So we're going to talk about the Joshua Tree. But then in the second half of the show, we're going to talk about the Joshua Tree. But then, in the second half of the show, we're going to talk about Rattle and Hum. Rattle and Hum, if we get there. And sort of, kind of, why how'd they get off course? When things go wrong. When hubris takes over.

Oh, you guys are aware that something went wrong? Yes. Well, that's why you're here on this episode. With iPods and stuff. iPods, iPads, I don't know anymore. I don't care if people sell out. I think you got to do what you got to do, and they give it all to African children, right? That's their thing.

We'll talk about what you don't like in a second. Wait, your main problem with YouTube is when they did an iPod ad? No, no. I'm saying like, is that when... It's a little cheesy. They're a little cheesy now, right? They're on... Easy cheesy. We'll talk about it. Uno, dos, a little cheesy now, right? They're on... Easy cheesy. We'll talk about it.

Una, dos, tres, catorce, and then they dance with iPods. That's a great song. We'll talk about it. We'll talk about it. All right. Just cool your jets for a second, okay? All right. We gotta ease into this, okay?

Because we... Come on in. Knees on down. Knees on down the road. Guys, guys, guys. We don't have the rights to that song. We don't have the rights to that song. Okay, well, let's play some U2 songs that we do have the rights to.

If you're going to sing a song, it has to be public domain. Yeah. Happy birthday. No, that's so expensive. Mary had a little. Okay, everybody. Mary had a little lamb. Row, row, row your bow.

I can't get no. A septic. Come on in. ease on down, ease on down the road When I'm driving Easing down my road Nothing that might be a load It's time to ease on down Ease on down Great

Goodbye with a little help With my friends All great U2 songs All right, let's talk about the Joshua Tree for a bit, should we? Yeah,

let's listen to Where the Streets Have No Name. Okay. It's a great song. It's kicking off the whole. I'll fucking say it right now. It's a great song.

There's two U2 songs that I love, Sunday Bloody Sunday and this one. Sunday Bloody Sunday, we talked about that in the first episode. We're talking about girls' periods a lot.

And so we played it. And we still want to hear from you. You get it. Is that about periods? We haven't heard a lot from girls talking about their periods. We asked girls to write in about their experiences with their first periods. No one has written in. No one has written.

Ladies, write in. Tell us about your menarche. We asked them to write in calligraphy. Yeah. About their periods. With their... Menstrual blood. Menstrual blood.

And not one person has done that. Not one fucking person. Why are we doing this? So this is brilliant. This is great. By the way, this is not the single mix. This is the album mix, which starts with that slow fade up. The single mix is, there's not as much.

You got to get right into it. People's attention spans? Are you kidding me? Great video, too. Especially these days. Great video for this. They're on the rooftop. Where the roof has no top.

And then kick it. Still, when you go see them and they play this. Oh, exciting. Give me a break. It's so great. Give me a break. Give me a break. We don't have the rights to that.

Break me off a piece of that. Kid Cat Bar by Menon. So you would have to agree, Scott, that this is a more fully realized sound than... Hey, I don't have to agree with anything. ...than Unforgettable Fire. Well, that's... Are you talking... This is so much more confident.

Well, I'll talk about how I feel about the record. This is obviously... You want to make a case for this being a classic. Yes. I don't think there's really any denying that this is a classic album. It's a classic. I'll give it that. You'll give it that, Harris? Yeah, it has to be considered.

Let's go to track number two and see what we've got there. Look, this album, you talk about front-loading. Yeah. This album is front-loaded. Their four biggest hits of all time of all time are the first four well their first three what are they you have where the streets have no name we just heard then you go to track two a little trivia here that i noticed stoned as a teenager where would you say the first instrument played on this song is

the one going guitar? Okay, but turn the volume way up and see if you can hear a different instrument leading into that way back in the mix. You want me to go to the In this song? Yeah, back to the beginning.

It's a kazoo. Oh, you hear boom. Yeah, there's a drum sound. Oh, interesting. Way back in the when I discovered that as a stoned 15-year-old. Did you just get fucking rock hard? Did you whip out your dick and just like splooge everywhere?

Yep. Bono, if you're listening, we love you. We want to hear from you. We're going to talk about hard dicks with you. Hit us up. And get us some fucking t-shirts. Hey, Bono, what's the hardest your dick has ever been? We want to talk about it.

In length or texture? You're not Bono. I didn't say, hey, Harris, but I will say, hey, Harris. By the way, Harris, Scott, this is as good a time as any to tell Harris and the world about our plan that in one of our episodes, we're hoping to sit down with you two and interview them. We hope to interview them.

Yeah, of course you are. We hope to, because look. How close are you guys to that? They're going to be out there doing the rounds. Look, Adam Scott, by the way, my co-host Scott over there, he's a big Hollywood actor. Yeah. You know what I mean?

And he's best friends with The Edge, so that's gotta be... I did meet The Edge once. Yeah. Where? At a party. Whose party? Where?

The Vanity Fair Oscar party. Okay. In 2002. Were they up for an award? The Hands That Built America. Okay, that shitty song. We actually have... That shitty movie.

We have audio of that. Do you want me to play it? Yeah, I do. Hey, the? Can I call you the? It's nice to meet you. Hey, man, I'm just a really big fan. Did you know there's a drum sound at the beginning of that one fucking song?

I did not. I didn't know know that i guess someone was asleep at the wheel when it came to that intro that's all we have from that um first of all how did you obtain that audio secondly are you wearing a wire not that far off from the conversation that went did you have a conversation we talked by the way maybe it's time to start um our other podcast i love films let's hear a little bit of that sure hey welcome to i love films this is scott hey this is this is scott and i films. I love films. Hello. We have a special guest here today. Yeah, yeah.

Trundle Bed. Trundle Bed. Jenkins. Trundle Bed Jenkins. We were talking about the conversation, which led me into I Love Films. We were having a conversation about the conversation. Someone mentioned the word conversation. It just reminded me I love films,

because I love to converse about them. Oh, I thought it reminded you of the film, The Conversation. I also love, no, I've never seen that. I love the movie, The Conversation. Can I just say something about Francis Ford Coppola? He is a master. You know what films I like? Look, I like films like Citizen Kane.

I like films like The Godfather. But I like films like Apocalypse Now as well, when I want to get a little wild. You know, the 1970s were just a boon for American filmmaking. I mean, we had Scorsese. We had Coppola. We had Hitchcock. This has been that episode.

All right. Welcome back. Yeah, that was pretty good. Welcome back to you talking U2 to me. Hey, you know what? I feel like we need to take a break before we good. Welcome back to you talking U2 to me. Hey, you know what? I feel like we need to take a break before we get into this. Didn't we talk U2 to me? Yeah, we've talked about the, what is it, the Joshua Tree?

I have to go. We're going to take a break so you can go take a shit. He's been holding up his phone. Says, I have to take a shit. He didn't even type it into it. It's just on his phone all the time. I got to go write your fucking show, and I'm getting shit about me shitting. I don't got to shit.

I don't shit. You don't shit? Hey, girls out there who are interested in Harris. Ladies, I don't shit. And when I do, you better believe it comes out of my butthole in liquidy hot snakes. All right. This is you talking U2 to me. The comprehensive and encyclopedic compendium of all things U2.

We got to take a break. We'll be right back with Scott. We'll be right back with Hair Dog. You never hear guys talking about how they don't shit to girls. We'll talk more about that. Oh, we've got to catch up on Harry Potter. We'll be right back. Guys, Scott Aukerman here.

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You'll get 10% off and you'll let them know that we sent you. Squarespace, everything you need to create an exceptional website. Hey, this is you talking you too to me, which, by the way, Harris, a lot of chatter on the net about, should it be you too talking you too to me? Which, by the way, Harris, a lot of chatter on the net about should it be you two talking you two to me? Because we're two guys and the play on you two. Sounds funnier. It does? But then, Scott over there doesn't think so.

More syllables is always funnier. You two talking you two to me? But I think it starts drifting away from you talking to me. If it's you two talking you two to me? Yeah, that's true. I don't know. We'll never figure it out. You talking you two to me? You talking you two to me? Yeah, that's true. I don't know. We'll never figure it out. You talking you two to me? You talking you two to me? I'll call you guys later.

Okay. Also, do you think our main branding logo should be a picture of Scott and I from like taxi driver, like looking into the mirror where the original quote came from or the record cover to Rattle and Hum with our faces on the guys

or something different. Those are the only two options? Well you know Do you know what the cover of Rattle and Hum looked like? Isn't it the cover of Rattle and Hum you guys popping out of of Bono's butthole? I was going to say Bono's butthole.

Can we just be serious for a second? Yeah. Do you know what the cover of Rattle and Hum looks like? I just told you what I thought it was. No, that's not it. It's not it in the least. It's not the two of you guys popping out of the Edge's butthole.

No, I think the cover of Rattle and Hum is going to infuriate you. Oh, wait, do we have it? I can bring it up. I can bring it up. Oh, wait, it's over here. Who's that, the edge? Who's that loser?

That's the edge playing the blues, and you got Bono shining a big light on him. Oh, that's him. He runs their lights? Yeah, he's the Chris Caruto of U2. He's the fifth member. I wonder if Larry Mullen and Adam Clayton were like, hey, guys.

Hey, guess what? Guess who is also in this band? Right. You didn't remember his name, or were you doing a bit earlier? I was acting. That was amazing. Thank you very much. Can I just say that Adam Scott, sometimes I don't know when he's acting or when he's reacting,

and when he's not acting or when he's lying, when he's telling the truth. It's all about reacting. I mean, you know, actors that kind of get in their showboat and stuff it's exhausting. It's all about the other person. You just keep your eyes on the other person. But when the other person is someone like Amy Poehler

who's a true pro, a professional. A professional. You can't help but want to give to her and let her shine. Sure. Listen, I'm all about kind of seeding and letting the other person have their moment. Let them flourish. Take your own moments, though, sometimes. It's about give and take.

It's about sharing the spotlight. It's about trust. Which is what they did, which is what you two did. Look at Bono. He's sharing that spotlight. He's sharing it with the edge. But not the other two guys. Well, I mean, that's part of the problem.

You ever get a guy on Parks like that who's like, hey, I brought my own spotlight. I'm going to shine it on you, but not Amy? Yeah, Nick Offerman. Yeah. Ugh. Yeah. And, I mean, he'll be the first to tell you. That he brings his own spotlight?

Yeah. And then he's like, you want to see my spotlight? And he whips out his dick. Yeah. And it's a spotlight. Crazy. Yeah. That is crazy. People Yeah. And it's a spotlight. Crazy. Yeah. That is crazy.

People in England would call it a torch. Did you see that thing on Reddit, the guy with two dicks, that finally... That finally? What? I can't think of a thing that a guy with two dicks would finally do. Came to our attention. Oh. Is there really a...

Other than fuck two girls at the same time. It's a real thing. It's crazy looking. We looked at it in the writer's room. It's pretty cool, guys. He doesn't ask me anything. And he answers all the questions you have in your mind. Did he ever fuck a girl or two girls at the same time?

Yes. And? And he, sometimes it hurts when cum comes out of the other one. His words, not mine. But he's also bisexual, so he's had gay and straight sex at the same time. One in the pink, two in the pink. How is the world just – how have we not heard about this guy before? Apparently one out of 5.5 million humans are afflicted with what's called diphalia.

Afflicted? Which is double or gifted. I love it. Well, no, because it's got to go into both. It's hard to wear pants. I got a picture of it right here, guys. Let me check it out. Did you Google two hot dogs, one bun?

What'd you Google to get that picture? Why is it on Rolling Stone? I Googled man with two fetuses. Did you really? And it showed you two hot dogs. We got to send that picture over to Brett, if you would. We are grossly off topic. No, we're not.

We're talking about you too, guys. Okay, Bono, if you're listening, these are the cut. We need 90 minutes of your time. Hi, Bono. We need to know how many penises you have. You could be one. Look, you're one in a million as far as I'm concerned. Maybe you're one in 5.5 million. We're going to ask

them for an interview, so just keep it to the t-shirts. I have a video of Bono's revealing his two dicks. Do you? Yeah. Why didn't you bring it in? I did. Oh, okay. Let's see it. Hello, The Edge. Oh, can I see you in my dressing room for one

minute? What is it, Bon Edge? Oh, can I see you in my redressing room for one minute? Hello? What is it, Bono? I'm trying to do my stretches before the shy. Is this normal to you, love? Love? Oh, those things are going to soak themselves. Jesus.

Turn off the video. Turn it off. Is this the picture you guys saw in the writer's room of the two? I think Adam just showed us a picture of Easter Island. Two of the statues. Wait. Did you just type the number two? Is this it?

That is it. Oh, okay. Put that away. Bono, if you got two of them, we want to know. That is crazy. It is. The crazy part is- Two dicks.

Yeah. Read this AMA. It's amazing. It's fascinating. All right. Let's get back. Is that the guy? He hasn't revealed his face.

I'm waiting. You can't wait. Impatiently. Let's get back to U2. Stop showing us pictures of sausages. That's two sausages. All right, U2. Okay, so we've listened to...

We've listened to one song off the Joshua Tree. I feel like we covered it. Let's talk to Harris. No, wait. We listened to Where the Streets to one song off the Joshua Tree. I feel like we covered it. Let's talk to Harris. No, wait. We listened to Where the Streets Have No Name. Oh, a little bit of I Still. We heard that fucking drum that you're so proud of. All right.

So let's hear from Harris because I feel like when Harris gets out of here, Harris has to go after he talks about you two. Right, yeah. Then we'll get back to talking more about- Okay, okay. Well, we're interested in like where were you when you bought the record? Yeah. All these details

we did in the last two episodes that we're not getting into because Harris is sitting here judging us because Harris, much to our chagrin, you are not a fan of U2 and you want to talk about it.

I just think they're a little cheesy. Like cheesy how? Already defensive. Their old stuff seems very stuck in its time to me. Like what? Just the effects of the instruments and stuff.

Like what stuff? By the way, this sounds like an argument between people going out. You're like, like what stuff? Like asking for details before the person has even finished. Like, well, fucking let me get to it. I don't fucking tell you basketball is stupid but there are so many different periods what stuff is the most dated to you would you say

here's the thing I don't you don't know that much about them I like those two songs and then their new shit like Bono just seems like an insane person at this point, who's just like all he's literally just an ego at this. He is not

a human anymore. He's just like, I'm God! Look at me! Here's my money, Africa! Did you see what I've done, world? I'm fixing AIDS! Here's my hat! Africa. Did you see what I've done, world? I'm fixing AIDS. Here's my hat. Which, by the way, why hasn't he fixed AIDS, number one?

Number two, his hat, you were saying before we started the show. He mailed it. He left it behind and he sent it. You keep saying he mailed it. That's not what he did. That's your second word of your goddamn sentence. He flew it first class to meet him

where he was and they strapped his hat. Where did you hear, because I heard this story too. Where did you hear that story? He forgot his hat somewhere.

Yeah, and he was like, I need the pink one with leopard stripes. Love leopard stripes, he said. What a weirdo. So,

no, he forgot his hat. It was probably that fucking coal miner's hat or whatever he wore, right? Or wasn't it like rattle and hum period, so it was like a cowboy hat? It was rattle and hum period, so it was like a spotlight hat. Yeah, some dumb hat that he used to wear. He forgets it. Where does he forget it?

Where is he? He leaves it, yeah, let's say at a, actually at a hotel because they were on tour. Okay. And they were flying a long distance, like a 12-hour flight. Are they on the Vertigo plane? Like trans-oceanic. How long have they had the Vertigo plane, Adam? Since like the early 70s.

Yeah. Anyways, cut to, so he mails his hat. He doesn't mail it. Every time you've told this story. Cut to, buy an iPod. an ipod uno dos tres catorce not into it i'm just not into it okay but is this stuff you think is dated like the stuff from like octoon baby like when they went a little dancey what which album if you play it i could be okay. Okay, let me play something.

This is not the topic of this Aktoon, baby. We're going to get to probably in our next. We're going to color a little outside the lines today because we have a guest here. And I should also say Sunday Bloody Sunday is a great song. This is even better than the real thing from Aktoon, baby. Yeah. This is even better than the real thing from Octoon. Baby! He's always pretending like he's going to start.

Like going, yeah! Instead of just starting? Yeah. Most songs don't start with lyrics immediately. I would say 1%. It's all very Breakfast Club soundtrack-y, and I get it. Breakfast Club soundtrack-y, and I get it. Breakfast Club soundtrack-y? But this is like... Because I grew up...

This is six years later. Eight, seven years after Breakfast Club. Well, it feels like that to me. Feels like 80s to you? Yeah. This is one. When was that made? 1991.

Right, so yeah. It just feels stuck in that time. But that's fine, because I like stuff stuck in when I grew up, too. So I get it. What about this song? Does this sound stuck in a time? Yeah, very much so. This just reminds you of

the 90s because you were a kid. You were a little boy. That's probably why, yeah. So it's a lot of nostalgia for you guys, and that's okay. So you would say if you... For me, I was like seven, seven so it's like this is like this is a adult it's like adult contemporary if you heard this if you had never heard this record before and you heard it for the first time now you would say oh that it sounds like the 90s or you just remember it from the 90s I would actually probably say this song

sounds like very 90s. This song sounds 90s? Not this one, though. Put on Mysterious Ways. That sounds 90s. Very 90s. Here we go. This is ridiculous.

And I like fish. By the way, if you're a U2 fan and you're listening to this and you don't know who harris is harris is a ridiculous person who likes the band fish so everything he's saying is suspect and it's almost like if someone ever lies in court you can't trust anything they ever say ever again in court it's almost like that we can't trust anything you say. But I also really like Wilco, and I like the Pixies, and I like— What do you think of the new Pixies EP2? I really like that song, Green and Blue or whatever. Mm-hmm.

You know that one? I like that single they put out. I didn't get the EP. Bag Boy? I believe it's called Bag Boy. It came out over the summer. I saw them at the Mayan a couple months ago. Well, a new one came out.

But then they got rid of that girl, too. They got rid of Kim Shattuck. And she was great, I thought. That was very surprising. Was she good? And now it's the bassist who I met once who I really liked from A Perfect Circle. Yeah. She was good.

Yeah. See, I think that from that album, I would say Mysterious Ways maybe sounds dated. But I think it sounds dated because it was so influential and so a little bit i will say mysterious ways kind of you know when you listen sounded like jesus jones yes yes i was never the hugest mysterious ways fan but then i'll listen to like um uh i don't know everything is stuck in its in its time that's the thing you if you don't know. Everything is stuck in its time. That's the thing. If you don't want something to be stuck in its time, never put anything out. That's true. These guys have to put out records.

Otherwise, how are they going to sell records? Like when you listen to Genesis or something, like those drums are very cheesy to me. Mm-hmm. Like the... But they can't just sit around not ever releasing it. But just like comedy or anything. Do you think, Harris? I think Zeppelin actually managed to not sound old somehow to me.

Okay. Do you think bands should put out the same record every year and just update the sound of it so that it doesn't be an interesting question? That's a great idea. But, yeah, the bottom line is that's the shit they were using then. It sounds like it, and I move on with my art. I like new stuff. I think that, and I read an Elvis Costello quote that he wrote in the liner notes of some of his reissues about how when he started using the keyboard, it was a Fairlight or something, that every other band used in 1985, his record started to sound dated because every other band in the world got this keyboard. It was just released.

Yeah. They all used every sound on it. And before then, his records sounded kind of timeless because it was just instruments and they weren't doing any, they weren't chasing any kind of trend. Yeah, but he's using very like temporary of the now instruments. Yeah, and he regrets it. And I think that they are guilty of that a lot. And listen, I don't listen to a lot of them.

Well, here's the thing. It's just based on the hits, what I've heard on MTV when I was growing up. Here's the thing is I think that the stuff that was influencing them for Octoon Baby when they reinvented themselves was all very of the moment. All that Manchester kind of those bands of dance music.

They sort of took those influences and then used their instruments to make the music for the most part. They sometimes used other people's instruments. Look, they borrowed instruments a lot. Oh, they were notorious for borrowing instruments. And they would always borrow it but never give it back to.

That's the thing. Hey, Bono, give back the instruments. And a couple shirts, huh? Yeah, T-shirts. T-shirts. But then kind of their public image seems to annoy you as well. Let's talk about Bono himself. It's hard to not get to that level and not become a monster,

the most powerful musician in the world. It happens to literally every one of them. During the making of The Joshua Tree, the album we're talking about right now, extensively, of the Joshua Tree, the album we're talking about right now. Yeah. Extensively.

Bono is a 25 to 27 year old man. Yes. Okay. He basically goes from being in a pretty popular alternative band to hanging out with Keith Richards.

Hanging out with the, and being a peer. Yeah, and he's young. Bob Dylan Dylan as well he hung out with Bob Dylan Rob Zimmerman Bob Dylan Dylon Bob Dylan Bob Dylan

stick him like a rolling Stone boy. So he's this young dude. Yeah. Meanwhile, he's hanging out with guys who are probably, what, 10 to 15 years his senior, who are legends. He's being called the legend himself. He's going out on tour on all these, like, you these uh sort of charity charity tours that they were doing or amnesty all this kind of stuff he's going to el salvador right mexico he's going to mexico

he's probably going to cancun a couple of times where they filmed the real cancun with snoop dog that's fun that's a lot of fun he probably took a vacation was that that reality show movie yeah i saw it in the theater was it good it was great it looked wait is this i love films it's really good because i'm confused at this point no no this was a tangent and okay you two you you two talking to you too okay so so he's just a young guy and he's hanging out with all these people all of a sudden he starts and i i'm with you harris yeah because he starts getting a swelled head yeah uh i was reading the wikipedia page on the joshua tree today and up till now i've enjoyed everything about this podcast because we've been listening to some high quality rock and roll yeah uh music uh music and um but i would then i started to read

uh just a little bit about the joshua tree and i read this story about what uh bono got back from el salvador and he wrote the song bullet the blues Guy and he said to the edge, he's quoted in this as saying, put all of El Salvador through your amplifier. Basically a command telling, and that is the kind of sentence that he started saying all the time, which fucking annoys.

Sure. To a guy named The Edge. Yeah, it's like, look, if you're a guy named The Edge, you're not going to complain too much. Here's my thing about all of this, and we're kind of leapfrogging and going to the rattle and hum. We'll go back to Joshua Tree and Harris. I fly off the handle.

The rattle and hum slash annoying things about U2 section is, I think, with a band like this, and same with the Beatles too, like you have to be bombastic. You have to get attention, wear it on your sleeve. In order to get the greatness, you have to be that person. And then a lot of bad is going to come with that too, or annoying to a lot of people. But the stuff that does stick can't be reached without putting it all out there

and without being a little bombastic. But I'm not going to – I don't like that. I like my people down to earthy. So you prefer bands where people are just like normal dudes. Yeah. I don't – see, i think rock and roll music by the way please eat those right into the microphone adam he was um i think rock and roll like david bowie you don't want him to be a normal dude but it's you know what fish wrote a song called david

bowie you know everyone is a normal dude he He was one of the young dudes. He's one of all of them. That's true. It's a fair point. I love Wilco. It's a little silly to me. Stuff like that too. But I also like going to a stadium and seeing a spectacle.

A spectacle. You're not going to see Wilco, and I love Wilco. I've seen them many times. You're not going to see Wilco at the rose bowl do the things you two does like when you go see a u2 show it is a huge spectacle and you're not going to see wilco do it because they're going to stand there and play like at most he's going to like raise his fist at one point and get someone to cheer you know it's like they're just normal dudes yeah you you can't achieve something like the 360 tour which had that those crazy which was maybe too much it's too much but what i'm saying is at some point bono's got to be the guy going hey what if we got fucking huge

led movie screens that moved and you know and you know i mean someone's got to think that big right there was some there was something about that show even though i thought it was like a little overblown and stuff there was something about it where that place that stadium was so huge and those there was a moment in the show where they were playing some song. I forget what it was. And we were all stoned. But at the same time, I was also like, wow, just for a song there, it felt like we were in a small place.

It felt intimate for a moment. It wasn't like a slow, intimate song either. It was just they used all the technology and the stagecraft so effectively that they actually forged connections with 100,000 people. There was something like – there's something behind it that's more interesting than let's just get 100,000 people a night. Sometimes on that tour, they were just trying to like, hey, if we're going to fill the Rose Bowl, we got to do something huge. And sometimes with the Pop Mart tour

with them going on the Lemon and all that kind of stuff, it's like, look, we got to fill a stadium. Let's do something fucking crazy. That was one of the bigger missteps. Yeah. But that said, Bono, he's got to be this outsized character in order to achieve and scale those heights. Yeah, I get it.

That's fine. Listen, they're a great band. They're my favorite. Wait, U2 is your favorite band? Wow, did we turn you around? What? I think those are great points, and I love them, and they're my favorite band. Okay, well, thanks, Harris.

Thank you for having me. Great. Hey, you've been a great guest. I have to go. Okay, I get it. All right. Sure. This was great.

Glad we could convince you. This was fantastic. So, thanks. That was weirdly easy. Yeah. Wow. We've got to take a break. When we come back,

Scott and I are going to be talking more in detail about the Joshua Tree. I look forward to that, Scott. All right, Scott. Thanks, Harris. Thanks, guys. All right, come on back. We'll be right back to that, Scott. All right, Scott. Thanks, Harris. All right, come on back. We'll be right back.

Hey, everyone. A big shout out to our favorite men's clothing brand, Bonobos. B-O-N-O-B-O-S dot com, of course. They're sponsoring the show today. I love Bonobos. I rub Bonobos clothes

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log on to bono bos.com to start shopping welcome back we are talking you too on you talking you too to me and um this is your co-host scott and i'm here with your co-host scott and uh Harris just left, and I felt like we got wildly off topic for the last... Although, I have to say, it was pretty satisfying turning them around. U2 is now his favorite band. To get a new fan like that, and merely because of our efforts here, that's got to feel good for U2. That's what it's all about is fans for these big rock. No matter how big you are, you still.

The money's not important anymore. Hey, how many Bosquiat's can we buy? Right. You know, the answer. How many Ferraris can I rebuild? Sure. Personally. With my hands.

Yeah. And my feet. So that's got to feel good to Bono. So, Bono, look, we know you're listening. You just heard us convert a fan. If you want to make another fan, we got to have you on the show. We got to get you on. And bring a couple T-shirts.

I thought you were going to say bring the edge. I wouldn't mind that. I wouldn't mind the edge dropping by. I thought you would bring us to the edge of anticipation for the t-shirts. Great. Fantastic. So look. I want those t-shirts.

I know you do. I know you do. All right. We got off topic. We got to delve into the Joshua Tree. Let's do this because this is a great album. Okay. Let's talk about the Joshua Tree.

First of all, released March 9, 1987. Okay. I am a 16-year-old boy at this point, almost 17. I'm a 13-year-old boy at this point. I'm in my junior year of high school. Released on LP, cassette, still on 8-track and CD wow what would you guess

is the final record of U2's that was released on 8-track this one no Rattle and Hum

Rattle and Hum is their final 8-track people still buying 8-tracks in 1988 that's crazy or at least enough people that they put it out but they didn't put Acton People still buying 8-tracks in 1988. That's crazy.

Or at least enough people that they put it out in that format. But they didn't put, On 8-track? They did not, no. Okay, so Joshua Tree, it comes out. This, I'm a 16-year-old guy now. Okay. This was, if you'll recall, before the record came out,

what's the first single? The first single is, you all right? I just hit my ankle on the chair. That's okay. I'll give you a hint. Oh, it's Weather Without You.

Smart move. Sitting on the dock of the bay, watching the tide rift away. One thing these guys are really good at is that first single. Well. Except for Get On Your Boots. Boots. That was a bad move. With or Without You, by the the way not what you would think

would be the first single given Pride was such a big hit like you know what I mean With or Without You is a pretty small song

I know but they were so smart because they knew that was a hit it's an enormous hit number one single right

their first number one well I can tell you that information in just one second. Let me look that up. I have Wikipedia, by the way, at the ready. We have with or without you. Do you mean U.S.?

Yes. With or without you, U.S., number one single. Number one with a bullet. Number four in the UK. Should we put that on just to... Yeah, let's talk about With or Without You just a little bit. Oh, I'm back on the Octoon baby. This is a great... With or Without You is a great song.

We're all a little sick of it by now. I'm sure the guys in the band are very sick of it. Here's my... It's a beautiful song. By the way, if you ever sing it at karaoke, everyone will sing along with you. You'll be like, hey, shut up. This is my song. It's annoying.

Yeah. So, this is the first single. Comes out before the record. Monster Smash. Monster Smash. Hulk Smash. Hulk Smash. Like Ed Norton Hulk Smash or Mark Ruffalo Hulk Smash. Monster Smash. Hulk Smash. Hulk Smash. Like Ed Norton Hulk Smash or Mark Ruffalo Hulk Smash?

I'm more of a Norton guy. All right. This comes out, and here's my recollection of what happened. They're touring, okay? The album isn't even out yet, but it's announced that they're going to tour. I feel like they must have played someplace like the forum or it was it was definitely a uh an arena an arena um i have grown up all my life hearing about people staying up all night uh and in line for concert tickets yeah i decide this is gonna be the time that I do that.

Yeah. I convince my parents, look, let me remind you, I'm 16 years old at this point. Sweet 16. Well, to be honest, I've been kissed before, but not much else, if you know what I mean. Okay. You hadn't gotten to first or second base. Well, first base, I think, is a kiss. You haven't shoved your fist down a set of panties yet.

I mean, look, I'm not going to tell tales out of school, but my fist went to a few places. Okay. I fisted quite a few things at this point. Because usually people start fisting at around 16. I fisted a little early, I think. Yeah. But, look, I'm 16. I fisted a little early, I think. Yeah. But look, I'm 16. My parents, they say,

you want to what? Yeah. And then I explain the whole situation just as I did before. I want to stay up all night. I want to get tickets to U2. Something about U2 is okay for them. And they go, you know what?

You go ahead and do it. They figure out I'm going to go where? The Great Western Forum? No, to buy the tickets. Oh, Ticketmaster? Where? U2? Where?

You did it so perfectly on the last episode. I went to where? The concert? The warehouse! The warehouse. episode i went to where the concert the warehouse that's right the warehouse was the place for everything they had ticket yeah they had ticket ticket master there okay so that was the closest ticket master to me okay so that was a great moment in podcasting history okay so the warehouse yeah now to be smart what should i have done in retrospect i should have gone to whatever the arena is and and spent the night out there instead i go hey you know what i'm gonna go down the street to the local warehouse now um

we got the great idea me and my, that we were going to do this. They go on sale at 10 a.m. probably. What time do you think you should get there? If you're going to spend all night and be like right up there. Oh, midnight? We got there probably at like 9 p.m. or something. There's probably 30 people in line ahead of us. Wow, really? This is how big U2 is.

That's crazy. There's like 30 people. So this is before the album's out. It's just the single. Just the single. Damn. People, I remember someone...

Let's just track this for a second. So Unforgettable Fire was a big album. It was big. Pride in the Name of Love was really big. Okay, so they were...

I did not get to see that tour. I was too young. I was a little boy. They were playing arenas for... Unforgettable Fire was big enough to start booking them in arenas.

I believe they started arenas. Live Aid happens, they become huge. He starts hanging out with Keith Richards and all these people. They're now, basically, I think they're on the cover of Rolling Stone as this comes out. Like, they are hyped to be the biggest band in the world.

I think, you know, music people probably heard this record, knew it was going to be huge. That's why they got such a push. This song is great, but without radio playing it, you got nothing. So I think radio was like, let's get on board. They're all set. Everyone's primed. We're all out there. There's 30 people in front of me. Some guy in his Volkswagen Bug is listening to K-Rock or something. The song comes on. He turns it all the way up so everyone in the parking lot can hear it.

Great moment. We're all excited. Fun stuff. The morning comes. I don't know, first of all, that 30 people in front of you is not good. Like, why bother?

Yeah. Why bother staying up all night? Just come back at 10 a.m. like there's no point to it oh I'm so afraid of what's gonna happen here 30 people in front of me

and I'm not even at the venue I'm at a rogue ticket master at where the concert I'm at the warehouse

in Cypress, California. We finally get up. We get our tickets. Their nose bleed. Okay. At least you got tickets. We got tickets. We did get tickets

but they were because the show did sell out so we were like, we got tickets but guess what? They added like three shows. Oh. You know,

when they add them by the way, I, and they add them. By the way, I'm not saying add them. No, I understand. If I were to be addressing you, I would say Scott. Right. They add them. Like the next day.

I was talking to you. Oh, sorry. Hey. Yeah. This podcast is going great. Yeah, I think it's good. I just want to know, like, how do we get the t-shirts? Get the fucking t-shirts, okay?

I need, like, I want a t-shirt. I just want one that says U2 on it. Yeah, I want a U2 t-shirt. Like, it just says, like, U2, and so people will know that I like U2. I want to get them, like, from the band, from their t-shirt company. From their, yeah, from their, yeah. Do you think we can pull it off? I think there's no better people. Like, I want the t-shirts. Okay, from their teeth from their yeah do you think we can pull it off i think there's no better like i want the t-shirt shut up okay so they they add the shows i could have probably gotten better seats if i just like waited an hour yeah yeah you know but i don't know

anything about tickets at this point i since then little boy's a little boy. I'm a little boy. Since then, I became really good at figuring out all that, but at the time, I didn't. So we have shitty seats and we go... This is before video screens at those big shows.

Yeah, so it was pretty far away. I still enjoyed it, but not as much as I should have. Like when you think about, oh man, I'm going to stay up all night,

it should have been like, oh man, I'd love to be in the pit. Okay, so this is the first record that you heard from them. Yeah, I remember there was a guy in my junior high school PE class. I believe his name was Chris Dusa.

Physical education. Really nice guy. But I remember at the time I didn't really know him and I think he had written U2 on his sneakers. Like in that, the rubber part on your Converse, like this part. Was it Converse or Vans?

They were Converse. Okay. Listen, I'm telling the fucking story. Hey. I think I remember what kind of shoes Chris Dousa was wearing. Sorry, man, but I got to check. You've already lied on this podcast. Okay.

What did I lie about, by the way? You lied about that fake U2 website in our last episode. So, and I remember him saying, I was like, what is, you must really like that band. I don't know. You're 13 at this point? 13. And like I was giving him shit about it. And he like yeah you too that's their joshua tree yeah and then it wasn't until that summer we were on a summer of 87 okay i was on a trip with my

family to now you were married and had kids at this point yeah yeah yeah um we were in boston and my brother had the joshua tree and we listened to it on that trip so anyway now remember my brother saying yeah these guys are old they're like they're like all almost 30 like they've been around for a long time which by the way they were not they were like in their mid-20s. Yeah, 27 at the time. And we already established on our first episode, only 10 years older than I and 13 years older than you. Seriously? Yeah.

That's crazy. It's crazy. So I think I got the cassette of Joshua Tree or whatever. Not the 8-track. No, I'm not a fucking farmer. Farmers like 8-tracks tracks i have never heard that stereotype before um but yeah i i just um got really into it um but i think that now listening to it it is like what harris was saying about them feeling of their sounding like really stuck in whatever time i think that's more

just harris not really knowing um their stuff i would say maybe zoo ropa and just like little stretches of oxen baby but pop and pop oh for sure yeah but joshua tree is i think absolutely timeless i don't know a track on that album that even sounds 80s it i think what my point is is he hears it remembers the 80s when he hears it and just thinks that because he said that about one and there really isn't anything about one that is 90s he mentioned simple minds which we can just do a brief sidebar on the bands that are sort of were sort of hyped as the next u2 yeah okay we got simple minds was compared to u2 a lot in fact they went on those amnesty tours a lot uh-huh you have the alarm the alarm which kind of copied you to fix a little bit although they had more keyboards

the alarm sort of copied you to even by calling their guitarists um what was he called he was called uh oh man i'm gonna look it up here but um he was called oh wikipedia come on you have some weird name yeah it was like the edge but it was uh the precipice what's his cut uh dave sharp but what was he known as okay first of all their drummer was just twist oh god his real name is nigel twist but they just called him twist but dave dave sharp he was the guitarist but i feel like he they called him something silly Of course. Dave Sharp, he was the guitarist, but I feel like they called him something silly. Anyway, I'm sorry I don't have this information in front of me. So, but there were some U2 sound-alikes who were like, we're going to be the next U2.

We're going to do that sweeping arena rock. And no one had the stuff. Like, I remember when Midnight Oil's second album came out, Blue Sky Mining, which is actually pretty good. I remember everyone saying, this is their Joshua Tree. They're going to be fucking huge. And then it changed. And all you got is beds are burning.

But that second album had that couple of those couple good songs. By the way, it's not their second album. It's more like their fifth or sixth. Oh, it is? But their second big one. Because they had Beds Are Burning and then the album after that oh did they have albums before yeah they did oh the power and the passion but now i listen to midnight oil and they have some good songs and stuff but i'm like how would anyone ever think they were going to be the next you too they're kind of limited

but that's the thing how does anyone think anything is going to be big yeah i know you know it's a crap shoot i don't know let's talk a be big? Yeah, I know. You know, it's a crapshoot. I don't know. Let's talk a little bit about the Joshua Tree and how it differs from the previous records that we've heard. Yeah. They maybe put on, what's the song after Wither? Oh, you know what? The great song that I listened to on the way here is Red Hill Mining Town.

That is a great one. Let's listen to that. This is Red Hill Mining Town. is Red Hill Mining Town. That is a great one. Let's listen to that. This is Red Hill Mining Town. Basically,

I was reading a little bit about this record and here's what happens. Now, we talked about their first three records are very influenced by Joy Division, by Suzy and the Banshees. They're basically

an alternative act. War, though, got them to be big. And as we talked about, they could have been the next Who. Yeah. Instead, they take this left turn into a little more ambient sounds with the last record. They become huge by basically touring and making those songs, as you said, fleshed them out a little bit less. They become huge off of live they start

known as this indisputably great live act they start hanging out with people like keith richards and bono talks about how he's at a party with keith richards and and possibly some other big huge person yeah they start talking about the blues yeah and bono basically has no idea what they're talking right he starts to realize all he really knows about music is shit like suzy and the banshees and joy division right and that all of you two songs are based on that kind of music right post-punk right i believe i heard a story where he was like they passed passed him a guitar and they said, play something. And he was like, I don't know. Yeah.

He didn't know how to play guitar. And he didn't know how to play like a John Lee Hooker. Oh, he didn't even know how to play guitar? No, I think he, all of U2's songs were like studio based. Right, right. Like he doesn't know how to do that stuff The Edge does. Right. So he was like, I have no idea how to play this song.

So he started feeling embarrassed that like all these big people that he looks up to have all these influences that he has no idea what they're about. So he decides to make a record that is Americana. Right. That immerses himself into Americana. He starts hanging out with the Water Boys who are making their sort of Americana mixed with Irish music record. And he starts going, okay, this is popular to do sort of four lads from Liverpool. Right. The lovable lads.

The Fab Four. The Fab Four. You got Ringo. You got John. Right. Paul. You got John. Right. Paul. You got Steve. Jimmy.

J-I-M-I, of course. Yeah. On guitar, up there in heaven. Jimi Hendrix playing that, looking down on all of us. You got Bonham, Tracy Bonham. Yeah. And so this is popular. We can mesh these styles.

And for the next record, I want it to sound American. Yeah. So they did away with sort of the ambient textures that they had in The Unforgettable Fire. Just made a straight-ahead rock record. And this is what you're responding to. Am I right? Yeah. But I think they wouldn't have been able to make this record without Unforgettable Fire. I think that the ambient lushness really adds to Joshua Tree.

It's there still. It's just much more subtle. There's still some Brian Eno stuff. By the way, Brian Eno, at this point, he's on board. Yeah. You know, like the last record. He's like Bucco Dolores. You know what I'm saying?

Like the last record. He's like Buco Dolores, you know what I'm saying? I would say the Unforgettable Fire and the Joshua Tree are the reasons why anyone ever wants to work with Brian Eno. Yeah. I mean... Well, I mean, you know, Talking Heads and stuff. Yeah, and David Bowie. But what I mean to say is now it's almost a cliche

for a band like Coldplay to say, we're working with Brian Eno. For sure. Because... I wonder how much Coldplay has to pay Brian Eno to produce. Does he produce their albums or does he just produce like three songs from. We talked about this on the last episode. I wonder how much he actually does.

Yeah. I have a feeling like he's the guy who sits around and goes, no, that's too. Yeah. That's too Coldplay. Yeah. I read an interview with Chris Martin from Coldplay, and he said that if it were up to Brian Eno,

they would not have any songs that had any hooks at all, or any choruses. That's what U2 was saying after No Line on the Horizon 2, is any song that was poppy at all, Brian Eno hated it. Yeah, which is like at a certain point, Brian...

That's kind of the business we're in. Yeah. You know, it's cool. I love his experimentation, especially on the last record with those instrumentals we heard and stuff. But come on, at a certain point, you got to put out a pride in the name of love.

Yeah, or even the songs that weren't released. This is why I love albums like the joshua tree and thriller and these just giant albums of yesteryear is even the songs like side two i don't think there's a single on i think red hill mining town was a single like a year after the yeah which was not all that popular let's talk about the track listing because but even the songs like in god's country and and one tree hill and all these songs that weren't singles, they're still great songs. And here's my issue with the record now after listening to it today. Okay.

The first four songs are huge. Huge. Huge songs. You have Where the Streets Have No Name, I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, With or Without You, then Bullet the Blue Sky. Yeah. Four of the biggest Hue2 songs of all time. Those were massive singles for them. Yeah.

Those are the first four songs. It's almost like you're listening to a greatest hits record. Right. Now, then it goes to Running to Stand Still, which closes outside one. Great song. Great song.

But all of a sudden, it's like, screech! Yeah. You're no longer listening to a greatest hits record. You're listening to a U2 record you're listening to a u2 record i technically when i was listening to it today i kind of enjoyed listening to song 5 through song 11 yeah more yeah because you're not sick of those songs yeah and how can

you be sick of where the streets have i mean but at a certain point my my friend had an interesting point. He was saying when he first heard Every Breath You Take by The Police, he knew it was going to be huge. Yeah. And he wished he had from that moment on counted every time he heard that song. Oh, yeah. So he would know how many times over a lifetime you would hear that song. It's got to be in the thousands. So I feel like I've heard these U2 songs thousands of times. Yeah.

And then all of a sudden you have the songs that are not singles that are, and those are great songs. Running to Stand Still, Red Hill Mining Town, In God's Country. We heard that at the beginning of the show. Trip Through Your Wires. It's okay. One Tree Hill, great. I think Trip Through Your Wires is fucking great.

Okay. Let me play a little bit of that. It's used to great effect in State of Grace at a bar. Oh, I never saw that. You know what movie uses... Directed by Phil Janow. Directed... Rattle and Hum.

You know who uses In God's Country really well? Was David O. Russell in Three Kings. Yeah. Starring Cube, Marky Mark, and old Clune Dog. Little Georgie Clooney. The Poon Hound himself. See, I think this is great. No, this is great.

It sounds like it's recorded in a big room. You know which one I was thinking of was Exit. That one's just all right. Oh, yeah. Exit, the serial killer song, right? Is that a serial killer song? It's about, yeah. Let's hear was thinking of was Exit. That one's just alright. Oh yeah. Exit, the serial killer song, right? Is that a serial killer song? It's about, yeah. Let's hear a little bit of Exit. It's, uh, you know,

it's not one of their greater songs. I forgot about Exit. It's a pretty slow fade-up. This is a Brian Eno special right now. This is Exit. I will say, like, Trip Through Your Wires, what we just heard, when you look at this album through the, or listen to this album through the prism of, oh, this is Americana, it really stands out at the time. But when I was listening to it, it just sounded like alternative music, right?

Yeah. It didn't sound like they're chasing Americana, which we're going to have to do it in our next episode. The next record really does. That was the problem. They let Americana influence them for this. In Rattle and Hum, they're trying to place themselves in the pantheon, or at least the impression they left with people was they were trying to place themselves in the pantheon of rock and roll greats

and doing blues with B.B. King, which is a huge mistake. A huge mistake. Although that song is good. I don't like that song, but I love Angel of Harlem. Angel of Harlem. It's one of my favorite U2 songs.

Is a stone cold clad. Well, we got to talk about it next episode. But this one, this one is a Brian Eno. I remember listening to this in high school with headphones

and just being like, this is so intense. And it, and it, and it's kind of um now it just seems like a little kind of just dumb it's fine let's listen to the final track mothers of the disappeared i would say exit is the one clunker on this yeah this is a very pretty song it's not something i would just you know put on but it's a very pretty so yeah this is the final track so this this record you have four immense classics yeah then you have one two three four five great songs that not a lot

of people know then you have exit which we just heard which is just kind of moody and then it closes out with mothers of the disappeared which is really pretty pretty although i haven't heard any evidence of that so far this is all very you know ish yeah but they had to but again this doesn't sound 80s to me even this like kind of this melody that comes up here is really pretty though i'm waiting for that prettiness. Oh, there it is. Ah, major key. It's like 40 or one of those. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know what was also a big, at least radio hit at the time, was this song, A B-Side, which they played on the radio a lot. Is this Three Sunrises? No, this is Silver and Gold. Oh, yeah, this was on Rattle and Hum too. Rattle and Hum was the live version of it.

This is where he says Edge, play the blues. Which we'll talk about that next time. In the shithouse of shotgun. But no, this actually this was a big radio hit as well. And they remade this song for their

best of. Oh, Sweetest Thing? Sweetest Thing. This was played on K-Rock a lot. This was huge when they re-released it. Yeah, and was really big at the time.

Yeah. But then they kind of kept the basic track but added new vocals or something. Yeah, yeah, something like that. But I love this version. This record actually has

a lot of great B-sides because apparently they did another session. This is what I read today. They did another session because they felt the album was incomplete. Really? And they wanted to add more songs to it. And Brian Eno said, guys, we got to put the record out.

And so they put it out and again said, it's not right, but here's the album. That's amazing because the album feels the most complete. They have 11 songs on it. Bono apparently wanted to make it a double album and put 11 more of those B-sides on it. Never a great idea. He fought for it. He wanted to make it.

And then the Edge, I believe, was like, dude, shut the fuck up about this double album business. Yeah. And you know what? It's a testament to how great friends they are that they overcame that. Because if someone were to talk to me like that, hey, bro over. Bro over. They've never put out a double album, have they?

No, I will say that technically uh no line pop is a is a double lp really yeah uh that is long enough to be a double they could have dropped like four songs from that isn't that song i'll check to see how many but that album has so many tracks you know what they do a lot and you can tell when they don't like when they don't like one of their albums is when they start releasing remixes as B-sides. Yeah. Not like dance versions, but a remix. Just like totally remixed. Yeah.

Staring at the song they did that. We'll talk about that record at some point. Gone, which is, I think, the one Stone Cold classic from Pop. I will say, just to hype an upcoming episode, I don't mind Pop. Yeah. Side 2's got some real doozies on it, I don't mind pop. Yeah. Side two's got some real doozies on it. I don't mind it, especially if you get all the singles. They have some great B-sides on it.

Anyway, we'll talk about that. But I will say about Joshua Tree, what you were saying about a lot of the songs being kind of overplayed in your mind, like you're just sick of them. The other day when I was listening to it i put on still haven't found what i'm looking for it still sounds great great like the production is really detailed and rich and beautiful you know which one i guess i can't really hear all i'm sort of sick of is below the blue sky yeah i'm just sort of sick of it you know the rattle and hum did it no favors yeah that's that's i feel like rattle and hum kind of um burned me out on that song too because they blew it up too big whereas if you listen to it on

joshua tree it's a pretty tight contained the first time i heard it i was like whoa that's a pretty intense yeah and we talked about the Us Festival when you were intense, literally. Yeah. And so you mean like not in a tent. You mean in intense. I thought it was like. Like intense. Like Adam, these shows they did, they would play them at these shows.

Right. When they would Adam. Right. And it was intense. And I would get out of it. Like intense. No, no, no. I was staying in a tent and I would get out of it and go watch the show.

Oh, that's what I meant. I meant intense. Like intense. Intense. Yeah. Okay, great. So we agree on that so um yeah i think that just as if you listen to thriller you're probably a little sick of thriller and billy jean and it's hard to get sick of those songs as i know as complicated as

my relationship to michael jackson's personal life is yeah i will say that michael jackson thriller is one of those records that it's like our good friend, not our good friend, but Jared Grody, who's a very funny comedian, had a really funny joke about R. Kelly's Ignition remix is so good that it should excuse him from having sex with that 15-year-old and the next one. Yeah. You know? You can have sex with another 15-year-old, you're scot-free. Yeah. That song is so good. And I think Michael Jackson, the more that I hear about him,

he's just a horrible human being. And you know what? I mean, people are sick and they have, you know, I'm sure his growing up was no picnic. But Thriller is just such a profound masterpiece. I still, I listen to it even though I have, and I enjoy it. Yeah. It's tough.

I mean, wannabe starting something, PYT. I don't know what those songs are, but. Oh, they're on Thriller. They're on the album. Oh, God. I thought you. They're on the album. Oh, God. I thought you really liked this album. No. Maybe not.

I'm thinking of the... It goes, ease on down, ease on down the road. You're thinking of the soundtrack to The Wiz. That's the one that I... It's so good. Also, Bad. So many great songs on Bad. He really kind of lost the plot with Dangerous,

but at the time time I liked it. By the way, you're listening to you talking YouTube to me. Black and white, black or white or whatever, that's a great song too. What? Yeah, that's a great song. You know, that video incorporated morphing, which was first used in the movie Terminator 2 Judgment Day. Jean Lanzis directed the black or white video. Yeah.

The director of The Twilight Zone. Uh-huh. With Vic Morrow. Oh, boy. By the way, this is I Love Films. Let's get back to U2. So we have, i mean this this record catapulted them into at the top of the the charts yeah i was watching across the board hit

the documentary from the sky down which i'm going to lend you the blu-ray of um i have a blu-ray player is that what they mean i have a player when they say from the sky down is that they the sky is blue. So is that why they called Blu-rays Blu-rays? Because of that? Every Blu-ray is called from the sky down. Okay. And then the title of whatever movie you're watching is in parentheses.

Oh, okay, great. They were saying that, because they were kind of explaining Rattle and Hum and why they did it and how much they – it seems like it really haunts them still. Yeah. Like they're still embarrassed. We'll talk about it in the next episode, but it set them back dramatically. Yeah, but Joshua Tree was so huge that they're on this tour and this album just takes over. And they start the tour as an arena band selling out arenas everywhere and then suddenly graduate to stadiums stadiums and they don't have enough material for a stadium show

they don't have video assist back then so they're just like lost at sea playing stadiums and they don't know how to do it and which by the way they talk about, they say, I believe, the Unforgettable Fire Tour, they did not feel like they played well. Oh, really? They said when they first started, they were not ready for it. And they came off pretty, and they had a lot of disagreements about it. Yeah, apparently, it's interesting, because they used a bunch of rattle and hum footage in this documentary that was not in the movie of Bono freaking out backstage. Going, oh, my God, you guys. Oh, my God.

I think everybody hates us. Bono, by the way, call us. Listen. I want T-shirts. Hey, man. Man, I want a T-shirts. Hey, man. Man, I want a T-shirt. Remind me to lend you that Blu-ray. Yeah, definitely.

How are you going to get it to me? Do you have a Blu-ray player? I do. Well, hey, look, I work in Hollywood. How many Blu-rays do you have? Honestly? Yeah. Probably one.

Which one? From the Sky one. Which one? From the Sky Down. Well, parentheses Citizen Kane. Oh. Greatest movie ever made. Can we do a quick episode? Let's do a quick episode of I Love Films. Hey, this is Scott with I Love Films.

This is Scott and I Love Films. Not as much with I Love Films. This is Scott and I love films. Not as much as I love films. It's debatable. We'll debate it maybe on a future episode, but we don't have time for that this episode. So we're talking about Citizen Kane. Great movie. You know, one of the things this movie is really famous for is the word rosebud. Mm-hmm. Spoiler alert, it's his shoes.

Yep. He had rosebuds on the soles of his shoes. That's why Paul Simon got the idea for diamonds on the sole because, as we all know, rosebuds are the diamonds of the herbiculture family. Absolutely. And that's all you need to know about Citizen Kane. Great episode. Great episode, buddy. What were we talking about?

I don't remember. Oh, yeah. So they get to be really huge. They're on tour for, oh, you were talking about From the Sky Down. They're freaking out. He's freaking out backstage. They're all freaked out, and they decide to make this little documentary. We'll talk about that in the Rattle and Hummet episode.

But it's just this kind of point was what? Just that the Joshua Tree was so big that it just caught them off guard. Like, they were trying to be the biggest band in the world but when it happened you're no one they were not ready for what it entails i mean we talked about on the first episode sure they thought we'll sell a hundred million records right but they had no idea 20 no idea no i get up to 120 no so uh they at this point you got the cover of Rolling Stone. They're rubbing shoulders with luminaries of the rock and roll scene. Cover of Time, the concept. No, Time Magazine.

Oh, Time Magazine, sorry. And they're the biggest band in the world right now, and they are viewed as, and by the way, they're 27 years old and they are viewed as big as the beatles as big as the stones as big as dylan as big as springsteen but then when they go and as important i should say yeah but then rattle and hum is all about them kind of putting themselves up there with those people and going hey we deserve to be and they get fucking blasted for it. We'll talk about them in the next episode. Final thoughts on, what are we talking about? The Joshua Tree?

The Joshua Tree? I think it's totally great. I still put it on from time to time. That reissue, the remastered one, it really needed a remaster, by the way. I'm glad they did that. Right. The B-sides.

B-sides are great. Great. Because they usually don't have a lot of good B-sides. They don't. They'll do early versions of like, hey, this is an early version of, what was the first single from All That You Can't Leave Behind? Beautiful Day.

Here's a work-in-progress version when it was called something else. It's interesting because they usually have, there usually is flab on their albums, so it's not like they have great little nuggets. Yeah, other than for this record because, like I said, they went into that recording session

hoping to do more stuff that's so interesting where did you read that on your dick hey I play with it enough I gotta read it at some point

you are what you eat yeah great record I still Wikipedia is that where you were yeah that's right but I would say

I still like War a is that where you were? Yeah, that's right. But I would say I still like... War a little more? Or Unforgettable Fire? I still like Unforgettable Fire and War a little bit more, merely because those four songs are probably too played out for me. And if it... I don't know. I have a complicated relationship with this record.

I think it's great, though. We haven't gotten into the, like, hey, there isn't a total embarrassing song on it yet, like there are on some of their future records. Yes. We have not gotten to my favorite U2 record yet. We have not. I think I know what it is. You hyped it. We haven't gotten to it. We have not talked I think I know what it is. You hyped it.

We haven't gotten to it. We have not talked about it off the air either. No, but you sort of hinted in the first record or first episode. I know. I call these episodes records.

But we have not spoken about it off the air. We're saving it. We're saving it, yeah. So we've gotten to my favorite, but I hope to discover and rediscover these records as we go along. You know what's going to be interesting is talking about pop

because I think there's a lot of good stuff on there. I think there's great stuff. And we should talk about the B-sides on pop a lot too because I think that record out of – we've talked about the B-sides on this. I would say pop has the strongest B-sides. Yeah. They did all those covers that were great

great covers and uh pop music and uh music yeah pop pop pop music they did like an 11 minute version that they would come out to um live oh and so they that was so weird when i saw pop mart tours in san diego and the stadium was like half full. They were at a real low point. They didn't have a single. We'll talk about it. But look, final thoughts on the Joshua Tree. Adam, if you could create something as good as the Joshua Tree, and who's to say you haven't? Because I think personally- I was in Piranha 3D. You were in Piranha 3D, and I wanted to say that personally. But would you?

If you could, would you? Or would you say, you know what, the world isn't ready for it yet? If I could create something as good as the Joshua Tree, would I? Yes. No. Good. Smart. Yeah.

I don't think me or the world could handle it. Smart. If you – when did you get sort of well-known as an actor, would you say? Like there are levels, but at what point did you become a household name? And why are you in this room with me if you are? You know, like – Probably Parks is the thing that sort of – Yeah, like three years ago or two years ago or something like that.

So if you – Not how – just like moderately well known, which is I think where I'm residing. So if that were to happen to you, we all know right now gobs of pussy being thrown at you. Pussy cocaine. Pussy cocaine. being thrown at you. Pussy cocaine. Pussy cocaine.

So if you could have had that pussy cocaine when you were 27 like these guys, would you have had it at 27? How would you have handled it? I will say that it's all I wanted at that age was to be a well-known actor and it did not happen until 10 years later when I was like 37 and I'm glad that it didn't because I don't know what I would have first of all I'm terrified of how mediocre my work would have been but then also I just I think I would have been really stupid about how I handled it and stuff.

Looking back on these guys, I'm surprised. You're getting choked up. Yeah. With Perrier bubbles. I'm surprised at how kind of composed they were. How disciplined they were about their image. Yes. Until Rattlin' Up.

Yes. Until Rattlin' Hum. Yes. And we haven't heard a lot about them being like fucking weirdos other than Adam Clayton. Right. A little bit. A little bit recently

with Bono being on that yacht and having pictures taken with Bikini Babes. Oh yeah. But Hey, who can blame him? You know what? Who can blame him?

I can't. Only God can judge him. I'll tell you that much. And he will. Jury and executioner. God murders us all. Oh, yeah. When you think about it.

Oh, yeah. We don't have to die. God murders every one of us. God flicks a switch, man. Man, that is a rough day when God flicks that switch. By the way, it's every day I write the Book is that one song where Elvis Costello started using that keyboard and it sounds so stupid,

but it's such a great song. He started using the Madness producers with Stanley and Langer with Stanley and on that record, on the one after that, that's when he started

using that keyboard. He used more piano than he did before and it sounded more like madness. Anyway. But also the drums were really electronic. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that echo, that 80s echo, and it sounded more like madness. But also the drums were really electronic. And that echo, that 80s echo.

Yeah. No good. Okay, so next episode we're going to talk about Rattle and Hum. We're going to talk about the descent of U2. Who knows where we'll get? We've been taking more time with it than we ever thought we would. Which I like. I like it.

Why not? People like hanging out with the two of us, right? Or the one of us, even though we have the similar voice. Yeah, this is exactly the same person. This has been another episode of you talking you two to me. And this is your co-host Scott saying that I hope that you found what you're looking for. And this is your co-host Scott saying, I hope you're out there and I'm ready with or without you. See you next time on You talking you do to me?

Hey! You talking you do to me? Hey, you talking you do to me? By the way, we'll get to Harry Potter next episode, I promise. We'll figure out where Adam's at with Harry Potter and his goddamn son. What is this?

This is a B-side. This is race against time. Goodbye. Earwolf.com. Earwolfradio.com. The wolf dead. Hey, Queeros. It's me, Cami Esposito, and I'm here to tell you about my podcast, Queery. You can sit in on hour-long conversations between me, Cameron Esposito, and some of the brightest luminaries in the LGBTQ family. Query explores individual

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and the people, separately, on two different episodes. We also have activists and changemakers in our community. I think it's a one-of-a-kind show full of chats you have never heard before. It's identity, it's community, it's query. You can find Query every Monday on Stitcher, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.