Welcome to the first issue of the U2 mag, which will come out four times a year from now on. The basic purpose will be to provide details and keep you up to date on all the news from the group, but we are also keen to include your contributions - so if you feel like sending in a gig review, record review, or even some sketches, please do so! There will also be a letters section from the next issue for you to air your comments and suggestions. I also hope to include some of the lyrics to U2's songs in each issue.

The eagerly awaited second album 'October' is now out on Island Records, and tracks are: Gloria - I Fall Down - I Threw A Brick Through A Window - Rejoice - Fire - Tomorrow - October - With A Shout - Stranger In A Strange Land - Scarlet - Is That All?

U2 have just completed a British tour to coincide with the album's release, and the dates covered: Norwich University 1st October, Nottingham Rock City 2nd, Salford University 3rd, Glasgow Tiffany's 4th, Warwick University 6th, Leicester Polytechnic 7th, Sheffield Lyceum 8th, Newcastle Mayfair 9th, Liverpool Royal Court Theatre 10th, Brighton Top Rank 12th, Portsmouth Locarno 13th, Cardiff Top Rank 14th, Stoke Kings Hall 16th, Bracknell Sports Centre 17th, Bristol Locarno 18th, Birmingham Locarno l9th, Leeds Tiffany's 20th, and Hemel Hempstead Pavilion 21st.

The basic set for the tour goes as follows: Gloria - Another Time Another Place - Rejoice - An Cat Dubh - Into The Heart - I Threw A Brick Through A Window - Cry/Electric Co. - I Fall Down - October (with Edge on piano) - Stories For Boys - I Will Follow - Twilight - Out Of Control - Fire - 11 O'Clock Tick Took - and then a reprise of 'Fire' for the encore!

The new album entered the UK charts at No. 11, which is no mean achievement, and 'Boy' is still doing well in the charts following the interest reactivated by the chart success of 'Fire'.

'October' has received critical approval from just about every source, and as usual Hot Press were closer to the mark than just about everyone else, with Neil McCormick writing: "'October' is a musical and spiritual growth for U2, a passionate and moving LP for me. U2 have evolved constantly, songs changing and growing over a period of time. 'Boy' was an incredibly impressive LP because it caught a group who had grown for five years. 'October' is the product of one more year, and so it isn't a leap into the unknown, rather a step forward, and a refinement of ideas."

"In which U2 build courageously, giving more rein than ever to their melodic drive, soaring spirit and experimental side. The result is a more open and atmospheric sound, with a greater emphasis on the religious imagery. 'October' leaves 'Boy' standing. If that album was magic, this one is sorcery." (Ian Cranna, Smash Hits)

U2 haven't changed radically, just filed and polished their previous, obvious, raw talent into a fine diamond hue, and swathed it in melody. They scream passion and pop, and power quite unique. There can be nothing more immediate than 'October"' (Deanne Pearson, Event)

"Their whole musical sensibility is shaped by a strong emotional bond to their homeland and its traditions. It gives them a completely different frame of reference from most groups, and on 'October' it's given them the strength to assimilate a barrage of disorientation and to turn that into a cohesive body of music." (Adam Sweeting, Melody Maker)

"There's a classicism about U2 that's best relayed by their covers. You can imagine either 'Boy' or now 'October' perched in a record shop in the middle of nowhere in ten years time, having more to do with grainy old Mayall, Them or Yardbirds sleeves than the moderns of the time. U2 will endure. 'October' hits that home magnificently.

A kind of zenith pop then, no half measures. It all breaths fire, recovering too from the pair of standouts appearing at the start of each side - 'Gloria' being possibly Their Finest Moment and 'Tomorrow', low and muted, gently oozing emotion. The old raunch style of songs crop up but for the most U2 Is writ@'s heading into the much more interesting direction restrained reflection, more poise and less beef. This 'October' will last forever." (Dave McCullough, Sounds)

The Irish singles and the 'Just For Kicks' compilation with 'Stories For Boys' are still available from Kick Records, 24 Upper Fitzwilliam Street, Dublin 2, Ireland.

It's some time back now, I know, but the excellent Hot Press announced their annual poll awards last January, and U2 swept the field. To quote them: "In the Irish section, U2 again dominated. With a series of fine singles and 'Boy' also under their belts, they could take the record sections en masse and they did."

Results were:

Look out for a repeat performance with 'October' early next year, plus similar reactions in the British polls!

Especially for cassette buyers here are some of the lyrics to 'Boy'. The other songs on 'Boy' which weren't printed in the sleeve, plus the lyrics to the songs on 'October' will follow in future issues.

THE OCEAN A picture in grey, Dorian Gray, Just me by the sea. And I felt like a star I thought the world could go far If they listened to what I said. The Ocean, the Ocean Washes my feet. Splashes the soul of my shoes. When I looked around, The world couldn't be found, Just me by the sea.   TWILIGHT I look into his eyes, they're closed But I see something. A teacher told me why, I laugh When old men cry. My body grows and grows, It frightens me, you know. The old man tried to walk me home. I thought he should have known. Twilight Twilight Twilight Twilight Lost my way. Night and day. Can't find my way. (In the shadow boy meets man In the shadow boy meets man). I'm running in the rain, I'm caught in a late night play. It's all and everything. I'm soaking through the skin. Twilight Twilight Twilight Twilight Darkened day. Lost my way. Night and day. Can't find my way.  (In the shadow boy meets man In the shadow boy meets man).

SHADOWS AND TALL TREES Back to the cold restless streets at night Talk to myself about tomorrow night Walls of white protest, a gravestone in name Who is it now? It's always the same. Who is it now? who calls me inside Are the leaves on the trees just a living disguise? I walk the sweet rain tragicomedy I'll walk home again to the street melody. But I know oh no But I know oh no I know Shadows and tall trees Shadows and tall trees Shadows and tall trees Life through a window, a discoloured pane Mrs Brown's washing is always the same I walk the sweet rain tragicomedy I'll walk home again to the street melody. (Out there) Do you feel in me, anything redeeming, Any worthwhile feeling Is life like a tightrope? hanging on my ceiling. But I know oh no But I know oh no I know Shadows and Tall Trees...   I WILL FOLLOW I was on the outside, when you said, You said you needed me. I was looking at myself, I was blind I could not see. A boy tries hard to be a man, His mother takes him by his hand, If he stops to think he starts to cry. Oh why? If you walkaway, walkaway I walkaway, walkaway - I will follow. I was on the inside, When they pulled the four walls down, You looked through the window I was lost I am found If you walkaway, walkaway I walkaway, walkaway - I will follow. (Your eyes make a circle, I see you when I go in there) If you walkaway, walkaway I walkaway, walkaway - I will follow. I will follow I will follow...

Bono: Singer The Edge: Guitar Player Adam Clayton: Bass Player Larry: Drummer Producer: Steve Lillywhite Manager: Paul McGuinness Engineer: Paul Thomas Assistant: Kevin Moloney

Sleeve Design Layout: Bono, Rapid Exteriors 'Boy' Photographs: Hugo McGuinness U2 Photographs: Phil Sheehy Tour Manager: Tim Nicholson Crew: John Kennedy, Pod, Amigo O'Herlihy Studio: Windmill Lane, Dublin Mastered At The Sound Clinic By John Dent Agent Dublin: Dave Kavanagh, Road Runner Agent London: Ian Wilson, Wasted Talent

 1980 Lyrics Reproduced By Kind Permission Of Blue Mountain Music Ltd.

U2's FIRST AMERICAN WRITE-UP!
RS 19.2.81

U2: HERE COMES THE 'NEXT BIG THING'
by James Henke

Here I am, an American writer, dining with an Irish band in a Creek restaurant in the heart of England. Strange? Well, so is the scene that's unfolding in front of me. A few feet away, two musicians are seated on a platform. One is playing bazouki, a string instrument similar to a mandolin, while the other, a heavy-set fellow in black suit and dark glasses, is hammering away at a small electric keyboard with built in drum rhythm machine. In front of them, approving patrons toss plate after ceramic plate to the floor, where they shatter at the feet of U2's Bono Vox, who is demonstrating that a rock singer from Ireland can be quite a lively dancer.

Though this seems like some sort of international celebration, it's only another pre-show dinner for U2. The band, which has been touring Britain non-stop since the release of 'Boy', has garnered more than the usual amount of attention. Since early last year, the media have been touting U2 as the Next Big Thing. If all the publicity weren't enough, Island Records President Chris Blackwell proclaimed the group the label's most important signing since King Crimson.

In concert, the loquacious Bono tries to play down all the hype - he regularly tells audiences to "forget all that stuff you may have read and make up your own minds" - but privately he concurs with the press. "I don't mean to sound arrogant," he tells me after the dancing has died down, "but even at this stage, I do feel that we are meant to be me of the great groups. There's a certain spark, a certain chemistry, that was special about the Stones, the Who and the Beatles, and I think it's also special about U2."

A mighty boast, to be sure. But Boy, scheduled for late-January U.S. release, does indicate that U2 is a band to be reckoned with. Their highly original sound can best be described as pop music with brains. It's accessible and melodic combining the dreamy, atmospheric qualities of a band like Television with a hard rock edge not unlike The Who's. In particular, Edge's guitar playing and Bono's singing stand out; the lyrical guitar lines slice through every song, while the vocals are rugged, urgent and heartfelt.

The title 'Boy' is appropriate and significant: not only are the band members young, but the bulk of their songs deal with the dreams and frustrations of childhood. "We're playing to audiences in Britain that range in age from 17 to 25," Bono explains. There is massive unemployment, and there is real disillusionment. U2's music is about getting up and doing something about it. People like Bruce Springsteen carry hope. Like The Who - 'Won't Get Fooled Again'. I mean, there is a song of endurance, and that's the attitude of the great bands. We want our audience to think about their actions and where they are going, to realise the pressures that are on them, but at the same time not to give up."

That message comes across again when the group headlines a show at London's Marquee Club a few days later. After a rousing forty-five minute set, the band returns to the stage for an encore. But before launching into another song, Bono makes a short speech about the little boy pictured on the British version of U2's LP. "Some people have been asking about the boy on the cover of the album, he says. "Well, he happens to be a kid who lives across the street from me. We put him on the cover 'cause he's a pretty smart kid. And sometimes I wonder what his future will be like - and I wonder about ours."

At this point, U2's future looks bright. The band has managed to deal level-headedly with its sudden popularity in the UK. In addition they've shunned such traditional rock and roll pitfalls as booze and drugs. Finally, the band is willing to work. A three month U.S. trek will begin in March, and Bono is, as usual, confident about the band's chances in the States. "Right now, the word is 'go!' for U2", he says. "It is my ambition to travel to America and give it what I consider it wants and needs."

U2 EQUIPMENT LIST: Bono: Certainty 99 mic, custom made. The Edge: Gibson Explorer, Vox AC30, Marshall 100 watt combo. Adam Clayton: Ibanez Musician, MusicMan HD130, 2 4x2 Marshall cabs. Larry: Tama kit with Gretsch snare, Paiste hi-hat, Zildjian cymbals. PA: 5K rig from Hollywood Ltd, Birmingham.

Compiled and edited by Geoff Parkyn. Published by U2 INFO SERVICE, P.O.Box 48, London N6 5RU, England. Please remember to include return postage for personal replies to any correspondence.

Special thanks to Paul McGuinness, and to Neil and all at Island Records.
Cover photograph by Pennie Smith.
Photography by Pennie Smith, BC Kagan, Shiela Rock, and Paul Slattery.
And of course, thanks to U2 and you too!