December 3, 2021 • 36 mins
Bruce Springsteen was on-hand to induct U2 into the Rock Hall with a quite fittingly funny & literary speech. The Boss sings the praises of each of the four lads, underscoring how their songwriting, spirituality and democratic nature have contributed to the band’s success.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
M H. Welcome to Induction Vault, a production of I
Heart Radio and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
M M. The great rock songwriter and blue collar bard
(00:33):
of New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen, was on hand to induct
YouTube into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with
a quite fittingly funny and literary speech. The Boss sings
the praises of each of the four labs, underscoring how
their songwriting, spirituality, and democratic nature have contributed to the
band's success. YouTube frontman Bono pays tribute to his home
(00:55):
country as well as his bandmates, and lifts up several
other Rock Hall induct these during his joy felt speech.
The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. And Adam Clayton chime in
with a little humor and a lot of party before
their performance includes the night ceremony. You know those dress
(01:24):
that translates as one, two, three, fourteen. That is the
correct math for a rock and roll band, For an
art and love and rock and roll, the whole had
better equal much more than the sum of its parts,
(01:45):
or else you're just rubbing two sticks together in search
of a fire. A great rock band searches for the
same kind of combustible force that fueled the expansion of
the universe After the Big Bang. You want the earth
shake and spitfire. You want the sky to split apart
and for God to pour out. It's embarrassing to want
(02:08):
so much and expect so much from music, except sometimes
it happens. The Sun Sessions, Highway sixty one, Sergeant Pepper's
the Band, Robert Johnson, Exile on Main Street, Born to
Run Boops. I meant to leave that one out. Uh,
(02:31):
the sex Pistols, Aretha Franklin, the Class, James Brown, and
the power of public enemies that takes the nation of
millions to hold us back. This was music meant to
take on not only the powers that be, but on
a good day, the universe and God himself if he
was listening. It demands accountability, and YouTube belongs on this list.
(02:58):
It was the early eight I went with Pete Townsend.
I always wanted to catch the first width of those
about to unseat us, to a club in London. There
they were a young Bonno, single handedly pioneering the Irish
mullet the Edge. What kind of name was that? Adam
(03:23):
and Lara? I was listening to the last fan of
whom I would be able to name all of its members.
They had an exciting show and a big, beautiful sound.
They lifted the roof. We met he afterwards, and they
were nice young men. And they were Irish. Irish. Now
(03:43):
this would play an enormous part in their success in
the States, for while the English occasionally have their refined
sensibilities to overcome, we Irish and Italians have no such problem.
We come through the door, fisks and hearts first YouTube
(04:03):
with the dark, chiming sound of Heaven at their command,
which of course is the sound of unrequited love and longing,
their great esteem, their search for God. Intact, this was
a band that wanted to lay claim to not only
this world, but had their eyes on the next one too.
Now they're a real band, and each member plays a
vital part, and I believe they actually practice some form
(04:27):
of democracy. Toxic poison in a band setting, in a
rock maybe in rock. No, Yet they survive. They have
harnessed the time bomb that exists at the heart of
every great rock and roll band and usually explodes, as
(04:47):
we've seen regularly from this stage. But they seem to
have innately understood the primary rule of rock band job security, Hey, asshole,
the other guy is more Wharton then you think he is.
They are both a step forward and direct descendants of
the great bands who believed rock music could shake things
(05:09):
up in the world, who dared to have faith in
their audience, and who believed if they played their best
that would bring out the best in you. They believed
in pop stardom and the big time. Now this requires
foolishness and a calculating mind. It also requires a deeply
held faith in the work you're doing and in its
(05:31):
powers to transform you. Two hungered for it all and
built a sound, and they wrote the songs that demanded it.
They're the keepers of some of the most beautiful sonic
architecture in rock and roll. The edge, the edge, the edge,
the edge. He is. He is are rare and true
(05:57):
guitar original and one of the subtless tar heroes of
all time. He's dedicated to ensemble playing and he subsumes
his guitar ego in the group. But do not be fooled.
I think Jimmy Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Pete Townsend
guitarists to define the sound of their band and their times.
(06:19):
If you play like them. You sound like them. If
you are playing those rhythmic two notes sustained forth drenched
toon echo, you are going to sound like the Edge,
my son, Go back, go back to the drawing board,
and chances are you won't have much luck. They're only
(06:40):
a handful of guitar stylists who can create a world
with their instrument, and he's one of them. The Edges
guitar playing creates enormous space and vast landscapes. It is
thrilling and a heartbreaking sound that hangs over you, like
the unsettled sky and the turf stakes out. It is
inherently spiritual. It is grace and it is a gift. Now,
(07:04):
all of this has to be held down by something.
The deep shortness of Adam Clayton's bass and the rhythms
of Larry Moen's elegant drumming hold the band down while
propelling it forward. It's in YouTube's great rhythm section that
the band finds its sexuality and it's dangerousness. Listen to Desire.
(07:24):
She moves in mysterious ways. The pulse of with or
without You. Together, Larry and Adam create the element that
suggests the ecstatic possibilities of that other kingdom, the one
below the earth and below the belt, that no great
rock band can lay claim to the title without. Now
Adam always strikes me as the professorial one, the sophisticated member.
(07:49):
He creates not only the musical but the physical stability
on his side of the stage. The tone and depth
of his bass playing has allowed the band to move
from rock to dance music and beyond. One of the
first things I noticed about YouTube was that underneath the
guitar and the base, they have these very modern rhythms
going on. And rather than a straight two and four,
(08:10):
Larry often plays with a lot of syncopation, and that
connects the band of modern dance textures. The drums often
sounded high and tight, and he was swinging down there,
and this gave the band a unique profile and allowed
their rock textures to soar above on a bed of
his rhythmic Now, Larry, of course, besides being an incredible drummer,
(08:32):
bears the burden of being the band's requisite good looking member,
something we somehow overlooked in the East Street band. We
have to settle for charismatic. The girls love on Larry Mullen.
(08:54):
I have a female assistant that would like to sit
on Larry's drum stool. A L one two. We all
have our crosses to bear. Bonno where do I begin?
Jeans designer, soon to be World bank operator, just playing operator,
(09:19):
seller of the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh no, he played under
the brooklyn Bridge. That right, Soon to be mastermind of
the Bonne Burger franchise where more than one billion stories
will be told by a crazy irishman. I realized it's
a dirty job and somebody has to do it. But
(09:40):
don't quit your day job yet, my friend, you're pretty
good at it and a sound this big needs somebody
to ride herd over it, and ride herd over it
he does. He has a voice, bighearted and open, thoroughly
decent no matter how hard he tries, and he's a
great front man against the odds. He is not your
mom's standard skinny ex junkie arc type. As a physique
(10:04):
of a rugby player, well an ex rugby player, shaman shyster,
one of the greatest and most endearingly naked messianic complexes
and rock and roll God bless you man. It takes
(10:26):
one to know one. Of course, you see every good
Irish and Italian Irish front man knows that before James Brown,
there was Jesus. So hold the McDonald arches on the
stage set. Boys, we are not ironists. We are creations
of the heart and of the earth and of the
(10:49):
stations of the Cross. There's no getting out of it.
He is gifted with an operatic voice and a beautiful
falsetto rare amongst strong rock singers. Most important, his is
a voice shot through with self doubt. That's what makes
that big sound work. It is this element of Bono's talent,
(11:11):
along with his beautiful lyric writing, that gives the often
celestial music of You Two its fragility and its realness.
It is the questioning, the constant questioning, and Bono's voice
where the band stakes its claim to its humanity and
declares its commonality with us. Obono's voice often sounds like
(11:31):
it's shouting, not over top of the band, from deep
within it. Here we are Lord, this mess in your image.
He delivers all of this with great drama and an
occasional smirk that says, kiss me, I'm irish. He's one
of the great front men of the past twenty years.
(11:52):
He's also one of the only musicians who brought his
personal faith and the ideals of his band into the
real world in a way that remains It is true
to rocks earliest implications of freedom and connection and the
possibility of something better Now the band's beautiful songwriting pride
in the name of Love, Sunday, Bloody Sunday, I still
(12:13):
haven't found what I'm looking for. One where the streets
have no name. Beautiful Day remind us of the stakes
that the band always plays for. That's an incredible song book.
In their music, you hear the spiritual, the spirituality as
home and as quest. How do you find God unless
(12:35):
he's in your heart, in your desire, in your feet.
I believe this is a big part of what's kept
their band together all of these years. See bands get
formed by accident, but they don't survive by accident. It
takes will, intent, a sense of shared purpose, and a
tolerance for your friends, fallibilities and day of yours. And
(12:59):
that only evens the odds. You two is not only
even the odds, but they've beaten them by continuing to
do their finest work and remaining at the top of
their game and the charts for twenty five years. I
feel a great affinity for these guys as people as
well as musicians. Well, there, I was sitting on the
(13:21):
couch in my pajamas with my eldest son. He was
watching TV. I was doing one of my favorite things.
I was tallying up all the money I passed up
in endorsements over the years and thinking of all the
fun I could have had with it. Suddenly I hear
(13:44):
Uno dose tracetor s. I look up, but instead of
the silhouettes of the hippie wannabes bouncing around in the
iPod commercial, I see my boys. Oh my god, they've
sold out. Now what I know about the iPod is this.
(14:09):
It is a It is a device that plays music.
Of course, the new songs sounded great. My pals were
doing great. But methinks I hear the footsteps of my
old tape operator, Jimmy Iveen, somewhow wiley smart. Now, personally,
I live an insanely expensive lifestyle that my wife barely tolerates.
(14:36):
I burn money and that calls for huge amounts of
cash flow. But I also have a ludicrous image of
myself that keeps me from truly cashing in. You can
see my problem. Who is me. So the next mor nay,
(15:01):
I call up John Landau or as I refer to him,
the American Paul McGinnis, and I say, did you see
that iPod thing? And he says yes, And he says
and I hear they didn't take any money? And I
say they didn't take any money and he says, no.
(15:23):
I think smart, widy Irish guys. Anybody else, anybody can
do an AD and take the money. But to do
the ad and not take the money, that's smart. That's
(15:46):
while I tell John, I say, John, I want you
to call up Bill Gates or whoever is behind this
thing and float this a red, white and blue iPod
signed by Bruce the Boss Sprinstone. And remember, no matter
(16:11):
how much money he offers, don't take it at any rate,
at any rate. After that evening, for the next month
or so, I hear emanating from my lovely fourteen year
old son's room, day after day down the hall, calling
(16:35):
out in a voice that has recently dropped very low,
Buno those traces the correct math for rock and Lord,
thank you boys, this and this band, this fan has
(17:05):
carried their faith in the great inspirational and resurrective power
of rock and roll with them. They've never faltered, only
a little bit. They believed in themselves, but more importantly,
they believed in YouTube. Thank you, Bano, Edge, Adam and
Larry please welcome you too to the Rock Rolla. After
(17:33):
the break we'll hear from the members of you two
on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. Bault
born in the USA. My rs that man was born
on the North side of Dublin, Irish. His mother was Irish.
(17:55):
The poetry the gift of the Gap, isn't it obvious?
In fact, I think he's all for an Irish man.
It's an Irish occasion this evening. Patty Sledge, you know
the o Jsa. They are a tribe from the west
(18:19):
of Ireland. Christie Chrissie Hynd. We'd like her to be Irish.
And this is what you know, a bit of a
Irish wedding. I mean it is the Rock and Roll
of Fame is a bit of an Irish wedding. Beautiful
girls and beautiful frocks, fights in the bathroom, managers and
(18:41):
clients again, lawyers with bloody noses. It's an Irish wedding.
It's it's a great occasion. And I even like it
when it gets dirty, and I've seen it get really
dirty over the years here. But rock and roll is
the sound of revenge. So make your enemies interesting, I
(19:05):
would say, ladies and gentlemen, but not tonight when I
when we look out into the audience, we don't see
any enemies. We just see friends. And this country has
taken this band into its bosom all the way from
(19:27):
the very beginning. M Yeah, it's it's a it's an
it's an amazing thing. Franco Barcelona early on there's a
great friend, Irish friend, Chris Blackwell. What an incredible man
(19:48):
he was to have looking after you. And I just,
you know, can you imagine your second album, the difficult
second album, it's about god m and the wreck. Everyone
everyone is staring their hair out and Chris black Aw goes.
You know, it's okay. It's Bob Marley and Marvin Gays
and Bob Dylan's it's kind of a tradition. We can
(20:08):
get through this. And and I think about what Frank
Barcelona said earlier, but long term vision, because you know,
without Frank Barcelona and Barbara Skydale and that kind of
long term vision of Chris Blackwell, there would be no
YouTube after that second home. We would have been dropped.
(20:29):
No beautiful day, you know, Sunday, bloody Sunday, no one
forget about fire, no one, no where, the streets of
no name, no with or without you. And that's the
thing I want to take away from tonight. I want
I would like to ask the music business to look
at itself and ask itself some hard questions out of tonight,
because there would be no YouTube the way things are
right now, that's a fact. M only frank Ens out there.
(21:01):
We're still rolling Stone puts us on the cover of
their magazine, Thank you very much, sn MTV, v H.
You wants still play our videos. College radio still believes
in our band and makes our band believe in ourselves.
It's an amazing place to be inducted in the rock
and roll of fame, feeling like this, feeling like you've
just put out your first album. It's a nice feeling,
(21:22):
very very special feeling. And I see around friends and
people that we've worked with for a long time and
generally not don't do the big thank you speeches just
because they're boring, and but why stop the traditional lifetime
It's too many people in the room to thank, but
(21:43):
I'd like to thank the really gorgeous women that work
for us for a long time because they're fun to thank.
Beautiful gorgeous women that run Principal Management. Ellen Dares, thank
you very much. Sheila Roach, thank you very much. And
Louise Kelly, thank you very much. Karen Caplan, thank you
very much. Gray Geene Moylette, thank you very much. Beautiful sexy,
(22:07):
sometimes Irish, sometimes American women, thank you. UM. Lots of
bodyguards around here. No bigger bodyguard then Jimmy and Doug.
Jimmy Ivien and Doug Morris have continued in the tradition
of Chris blackwa which is letting us get away with
(22:27):
pretty much everything we want. So I want to thank
them very much. UM. Trying to think of what else.
The biggest bodyguard of all, it's got to be our manager,
Paul McGinnis sitting right there. Mhm. The reason why no
(22:52):
one in this band has slaves scrolled on their face.
Paul McGinnis, Thank you very much. I won't go on
with just three Kodak moments over twenty years. I'd like
to share with you one. It's ninety six. Larry mullins kitchen.
It's about the size of the drum riser he uses.
(23:14):
Now it's a big, bright red scarlet, really Japanese kit
and he's sitting behind it in his kitchen and he's playing,
and the ground shakes and this guy opens up like
Bruce was saying earlier, and it still does. But now
I know why. I know why because Larry Mullen cannot
(23:38):
tell a lie and his brutal honesty is something that
we need in this band. Second Kodak moment, I think
it's New Haven. I believe things are not going very well.
There's a punk rock band on stage trying to play
bach mh. A fight breaks out. It's between the band.
(24:04):
It's very, very messy. Now you look at this guitar genius.
You look at this zen like master, that is the edge,
and you hear those brittle I see notes, and you
(24:25):
might be forgiven for not realizing that you cannot play
like that unless you have a rage inside you. And
in fact I had forgotten that on that particular night,
and he tried to break my nose, and I learned
a very great lesson. Do not pick a fight with
(24:46):
somebody who, for a living lives off hand to eye coordination.
Not a good IDEA dangerous, dangerous man the edge third
Kodak moments, uh Um. Somewhere in the South, we've been
(25:08):
campaigning for Dr King for his his his birthday to
be a national holiday. And in Arizona they're saying no.
We've been campaigning very very hard for Dr King. Some
people don't like it. Some people get very annoyed. Some
people want to kill the singer. Some people are taken
very seriously by the FBI, and they tell the singer
(25:30):
that he shouldn't play the gig because tonight his his
life is at risk and he must not go on stage.
The singer laughs. Singer left, you know, we're of course
we're playing the gig. Of course we go on stage.
And I'm sitting standing there singing Pride in the Name
of Love, and I've got to the third verse. I've
(25:50):
closed my eyes, and I know I'm excited about meeting
my maker, but maybe not tonight. I don't really want
to meet my maker tonight. I closed my eyes, and
when I look up, I see Adam Clayton standing in
front of me, holding his base like only Adam Clayton
(26:11):
can hold his base, and you know, there's people in
this room who tell you they'd take a bullet for you,
but Adam Clayton would have taken a bullet from me.
And I guess that's what it's like to be in
a truly great rock and roll band. I know, Christie,
I knows what that means. We'll be back with words
(26:38):
from you two's Powerhouse rhythm section after this break. He's
got a BlackBerry out that I am, in the end
the technology guy of you two, which radio all it
means is I can fix the printer when as well,
(27:00):
but I don't tell them that. So um. Above all else,
what you two have tried to avoid over the last
twenty five years is not being completely crap um. But
next on the list down from that was to avoid
being typical, predictable, um an ordinary, because it's so very
(27:25):
hard to avoid the cliches everyone else's, of course, but
most of all your own, and so hard to keep
things fresh and not to become a parody of yourself.
And if you've ever seen that movie Spinal Tap, you
will know how easy it is to parody what we
all do. The first time I ever saw it, I
(27:47):
didn't laugh, I wept. I wept because I recognize so
much in so many of those scenes. I'd don't think
I'm alone amongst all of us here in that. You know,
we're all guilty of taking ourselves and our work way
(28:09):
too seriously. We have all gone to hang out in
the hotel lobby like we were doing something really important.
But the reason we're all here tonight is that, in
spite of all the cliches which do exist. You know,
rock and roll, when it is great, it is amazing.
(28:30):
It It changes your life. It changed our lives. Witness
for instance, tonight the O. J. S Percy, Sledge, Bo
did Lee, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, BB King, the Pretenders.
I mean, amazing, really magic stuff. You can break it down,
(28:52):
you can study it all you want, but you cannot
just dial it up. It doesn't work like that. And
as far as you two goes, I've stopped trying to
figure out how, or more importantly, when are best moments
are going to come along. But I think that's why
we're still awake, and that's that why we're still paying attention,
and we know in the end, you see, we know
(29:17):
that it is magic, and so we end up waiting
around like like we all just sometimes like like actors
in some Beckett play, just just like they did in
that spinal Tap movie in the lobby, waiting around, waiting
for some magic to happen. And we've done aled out
(29:39):
of that over the years. I have to say I've
done a lot of waiting with Bonno, with Adam and
and Larry and Paul for those moments to come along,
and we've had some brilliant people with us during those times.
Are producers Steve Lillie White, Ryan O, Danny Lenoir, Jimmy Ivan,
(30:04):
Nelly Hooper are great engineers, principal management team that Bona
was talked about flood. Thank you um O. Our show
collaborators who have been with us from the beginning. Willie
Williams and all his team are road crew, fantastic people,
Joe Hurley, he Bucky, Jake, Dallas, Fraser who isn't here Stewart,
(30:30):
Incredible people that we couldn't have hoped of going through
the last twenty five years without um and tonight it
feels like it's just about half the room has been
along with us on that journey. So I just want
to say thank you to my family for being so patient,
(30:52):
My Mom and Dad has shown me how Um, the
rest of the band particularly yeah and tonight, you know,
for all of you for for this evening and most
of all for I guess making space for me as
we all wait together for something magic to happen. Thank you.
(31:28):
I promise I'll be brief. Um, thanks for this tonight.
We really appreciate it. It's very special. UM. I feel
like we've cut the line or jumped the queue along
the way someplace along the way, and we would never
(31:48):
have got out of my kitchen, in our chain in
Dublin had it not been for people like the Sex Pistols,
Term for Land, Television, Roxy Music, Hattie Smith. These people
are in our rock and roll Hall of Fame. Thank you.
(32:12):
Oh dear, it's the bass player approaching the microphone. Um,
what's he going to say? Um? I feel baseless. Okay,
yesterday it was my forty five birthday. And that's a
(32:32):
fine age to be inducted into the rock and roll
Hall of Fame. That means twenty five years ago we
released our first recording. That means twenty nine years ago
we all met and formed our band. Thirty years ago,
I got my first bass guitar or as I thought
the guitar with only four strings. I had no idea
what bass was. I had not heard of James Jamison,
(32:55):
Duck Done, Jack Bruce, John Entwistle or Boots Collins. I
just knew I had a weapon and a shield take
on the world. When we all got together in Larry's
kitchen and we didn't know about the great traditions of
American music. We didn't know the blues or soul, or
R and B R country, but we did know that
together we had a chance to change the world by
(33:15):
making a noise. This was punk and it saved my ass.
We needed someone to get us gigs and to pay
for demos. We met Paul McGinnis and he became our manager.
Next we needed a record deal. We were turned down
by many people until next Steward offered us a deal
at Island Records. This was the start of a long
(33:37):
relationship with Ireland. Many people along the way helped us
develop and grow Rob part Rob Partridge and of course
Chris blackhool Ian Wilson and i In Flukes were our
UK agents. We made three records with Steve Lilly White
came to America and Frank Barcelona and Barbara Skuydell, where
are U S agents? They introduced us to a network
(33:57):
of promoters. Barry Faye, Bill Graham, Ronnie Delsman, Ellen Dast
and Karen Kaplan ran our US office, and they taught
us how radio and promotion worked. As we were learning
all this stuff about the music business, we're also learning
about American music and the kind of artists that are
(34:20):
honored here by the Hall of Fame. John Lee Hooker,
BB King, Hank Williams, Right, Charles, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan U.
Now O generation is being inducted, and our time has
come to join those that we did not know twenty
five years ago. And I hope that in twenty five years,
when this room is full of hip hop and pop artists,
(34:40):
that they will enjoy joining the diverse list of talents
that the Hall of Fame recognizes. It took many people
to get this band here tonight, and I would like
to thank some of them personally, Paul McGinnis and Cathy
Gilfillan and Louise Kelly, Ellen Dask, Karen Kaplan, Sheila Roach,
Regimee Moylett, bar Brick, Alvin Susan Hunter, Trevor Bowen, Gavin Friday,
(35:03):
Chris Black, will Anton Corby and Steve, Lilly White, Danny Landmore,
Brian you Know, Jimmy Ivy and Doug Morris, Arthur Vogel
and Michael Cole, Dennis she and Joe Holly, he Willie Williams,
Sharon Blanks and Dallas, Sammy Stewart and Terry. But in
the end, the people who really got me here tonight
and who I must thank for everything I have, Ali
(35:24):
and Morley, Susie, Larry Edge and Bonnet Okay that really
likes Thank Bruce for what he said. And I fortunately
can remember the names of everyone in the band as well.
(35:54):
We about thirty five songs playbol Y. Thanks for joining
us on this week's episode of Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame Induction Vault. For more on your favorite inductees,
to shop inducting merch or to plan your trip to
(36:15):
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, visit rock Hall
dot com plus Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction
Special on demand on HBO Max. Our executive producers are
Noel Brown, Shelby Morrison, and Esa Gurkey. Supervising producer is
Taylor Shakin. Research and archival assistants from Isabelle Keeper and
Shannon Herb. Thanks again for joining us on this week's
(36:38):
episode of rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Vault.
Induction Ball is a production of I Heart Radio and
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For more podcasts
from my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
M H. Welcome to Induction Vault, a production of I
Heart Radio and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
M M. The great rock songwriter and blue collar bard
(00:33):
of New Jersey, Bruce Springsteen, was on hand to induct
YouTube into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with
a quite fittingly funny and literary speech. The Boss sings
the praises of each of the four labs, underscoring how
their songwriting, spirituality, and democratic nature have contributed to the
band's success. YouTube frontman Bono pays tribute to his home
(00:55):
country as well as his bandmates, and lifts up several
other Rock Hall induct these during his joy felt speech.
The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. And Adam Clayton chime in
with a little humor and a lot of party before
their performance includes the night ceremony. You know those dress
(01:24):
that translates as one, two, three, fourteen. That is the
correct math for a rock and roll band, For an
art and love and rock and roll, the whole had
better equal much more than the sum of its parts,
(01:45):
or else you're just rubbing two sticks together in search
of a fire. A great rock band searches for the
same kind of combustible force that fueled the expansion of
the universe After the Big Bang. You want the earth
shake and spitfire. You want the sky to split apart
and for God to pour out. It's embarrassing to want
(02:08):
so much and expect so much from music, except sometimes
it happens. The Sun Sessions, Highway sixty one, Sergeant Pepper's
the Band, Robert Johnson, Exile on Main Street, Born to
Run Boops. I meant to leave that one out. Uh,
(02:31):
the sex Pistols, Aretha Franklin, the Class, James Brown, and
the power of public enemies that takes the nation of
millions to hold us back. This was music meant to
take on not only the powers that be, but on
a good day, the universe and God himself if he
was listening. It demands accountability, and YouTube belongs on this list.
(02:58):
It was the early eight I went with Pete Townsend.
I always wanted to catch the first width of those
about to unseat us, to a club in London. There
they were a young Bonno, single handedly pioneering the Irish
mullet the Edge. What kind of name was that? Adam
(03:23):
and Lara? I was listening to the last fan of
whom I would be able to name all of its members.
They had an exciting show and a big, beautiful sound.
They lifted the roof. We met he afterwards, and they
were nice young men. And they were Irish. Irish. Now
(03:43):
this would play an enormous part in their success in
the States, for while the English occasionally have their refined
sensibilities to overcome, we Irish and Italians have no such problem.
We come through the door, fisks and hearts first YouTube
(04:03):
with the dark, chiming sound of Heaven at their command,
which of course is the sound of unrequited love and longing,
their great esteem, their search for God. Intact, this was
a band that wanted to lay claim to not only
this world, but had their eyes on the next one too.
Now they're a real band, and each member plays a
vital part, and I believe they actually practice some form
(04:27):
of democracy. Toxic poison in a band setting, in a
rock maybe in rock. No, Yet they survive. They have
harnessed the time bomb that exists at the heart of
every great rock and roll band and usually explodes, as
(04:47):
we've seen regularly from this stage. But they seem to
have innately understood the primary rule of rock band job security, Hey, asshole,
the other guy is more Wharton then you think he is.
They are both a step forward and direct descendants of
the great bands who believed rock music could shake things
(05:09):
up in the world, who dared to have faith in
their audience, and who believed if they played their best
that would bring out the best in you. They believed
in pop stardom and the big time. Now this requires
foolishness and a calculating mind. It also requires a deeply
held faith in the work you're doing and in its
(05:31):
powers to transform you. Two hungered for it all and
built a sound, and they wrote the songs that demanded it.
They're the keepers of some of the most beautiful sonic
architecture in rock and roll. The edge, the edge, the edge,
the edge. He is. He is are rare and true
(05:57):
guitar original and one of the subtless tar heroes of
all time. He's dedicated to ensemble playing and he subsumes
his guitar ego in the group. But do not be fooled.
I think Jimmy Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Pete Townsend
guitarists to define the sound of their band and their times.
(06:19):
If you play like them. You sound like them. If
you are playing those rhythmic two notes sustained forth drenched
toon echo, you are going to sound like the Edge,
my son, Go back, go back to the drawing board,
and chances are you won't have much luck. They're only
(06:40):
a handful of guitar stylists who can create a world
with their instrument, and he's one of them. The Edges
guitar playing creates enormous space and vast landscapes. It is
thrilling and a heartbreaking sound that hangs over you, like
the unsettled sky and the turf stakes out. It is
inherently spiritual. It is grace and it is a gift. Now,
(07:04):
all of this has to be held down by something.
The deep shortness of Adam Clayton's bass and the rhythms
of Larry Moen's elegant drumming hold the band down while
propelling it forward. It's in YouTube's great rhythm section that
the band finds its sexuality and it's dangerousness. Listen to Desire.
(07:24):
She moves in mysterious ways. The pulse of with or
without You. Together, Larry and Adam create the element that
suggests the ecstatic possibilities of that other kingdom, the one
below the earth and below the belt, that no great
rock band can lay claim to the title without. Now
Adam always strikes me as the professorial one, the sophisticated member.
(07:49):
He creates not only the musical but the physical stability
on his side of the stage. The tone and depth
of his bass playing has allowed the band to move
from rock to dance music and beyond. One of the
first things I noticed about YouTube was that underneath the
guitar and the base, they have these very modern rhythms
going on. And rather than a straight two and four,
(08:10):
Larry often plays with a lot of syncopation, and that
connects the band of modern dance textures. The drums often
sounded high and tight, and he was swinging down there,
and this gave the band a unique profile and allowed
their rock textures to soar above on a bed of
his rhythmic Now, Larry, of course, besides being an incredible drummer,
(08:32):
bears the burden of being the band's requisite good looking member,
something we somehow overlooked in the East Street band. We
have to settle for charismatic. The girls love on Larry Mullen.
(08:54):
I have a female assistant that would like to sit
on Larry's drum stool. A L one two. We all
have our crosses to bear. Bonno where do I begin?
Jeans designer, soon to be World bank operator, just playing operator,
(09:19):
seller of the Brooklyn Bridge. Oh no, he played under
the brooklyn Bridge. That right, Soon to be mastermind of
the Bonne Burger franchise where more than one billion stories
will be told by a crazy irishman. I realized it's
a dirty job and somebody has to do it. But
(09:40):
don't quit your day job yet, my friend, you're pretty
good at it and a sound this big needs somebody
to ride herd over it, and ride herd over it
he does. He has a voice, bighearted and open, thoroughly
decent no matter how hard he tries, and he's a
great front man against the odds. He is not your
mom's standard skinny ex junkie arc type. As a physique
(10:04):
of a rugby player, well an ex rugby player, shaman shyster,
one of the greatest and most endearingly naked messianic complexes
and rock and roll God bless you man. It takes
(10:26):
one to know one. Of course, you see every good
Irish and Italian Irish front man knows that before James Brown,
there was Jesus. So hold the McDonald arches on the
stage set. Boys, we are not ironists. We are creations
of the heart and of the earth and of the
(10:49):
stations of the Cross. There's no getting out of it.
He is gifted with an operatic voice and a beautiful
falsetto rare amongst strong rock singers. Most important, his is
a voice shot through with self doubt. That's what makes
that big sound work. It is this element of Bono's talent,
(11:11):
along with his beautiful lyric writing, that gives the often
celestial music of You Two its fragility and its realness.
It is the questioning, the constant questioning, and Bono's voice
where the band stakes its claim to its humanity and
declares its commonality with us. Obono's voice often sounds like
(11:31):
it's shouting, not over top of the band, from deep
within it. Here we are Lord, this mess in your image.
He delivers all of this with great drama and an
occasional smirk that says, kiss me, I'm irish. He's one
of the great front men of the past twenty years.
(11:52):
He's also one of the only musicians who brought his
personal faith and the ideals of his band into the
real world in a way that remains It is true
to rocks earliest implications of freedom and connection and the
possibility of something better Now the band's beautiful songwriting pride
in the name of Love, Sunday, Bloody Sunday, I still
(12:13):
haven't found what I'm looking for. One where the streets
have no name. Beautiful Day remind us of the stakes
that the band always plays for. That's an incredible song book.
In their music, you hear the spiritual, the spirituality as
home and as quest. How do you find God unless
(12:35):
he's in your heart, in your desire, in your feet.
I believe this is a big part of what's kept
their band together all of these years. See bands get
formed by accident, but they don't survive by accident. It
takes will, intent, a sense of shared purpose, and a
tolerance for your friends, fallibilities and day of yours. And
(12:59):
that only evens the odds. You two is not only
even the odds, but they've beaten them by continuing to
do their finest work and remaining at the top of
their game and the charts for twenty five years. I
feel a great affinity for these guys as people as
well as musicians. Well, there, I was sitting on the
(13:21):
couch in my pajamas with my eldest son. He was
watching TV. I was doing one of my favorite things.
I was tallying up all the money I passed up
in endorsements over the years and thinking of all the
fun I could have had with it. Suddenly I hear
(13:44):
Uno dose tracetor s. I look up, but instead of
the silhouettes of the hippie wannabes bouncing around in the
iPod commercial, I see my boys. Oh my god, they've
sold out. Now what I know about the iPod is this.
(14:09):
It is a It is a device that plays music.
Of course, the new songs sounded great. My pals were
doing great. But methinks I hear the footsteps of my
old tape operator, Jimmy Iveen, somewhow wiley smart. Now, personally,
I live an insanely expensive lifestyle that my wife barely tolerates.
(14:36):
I burn money and that calls for huge amounts of
cash flow. But I also have a ludicrous image of
myself that keeps me from truly cashing in. You can
see my problem. Who is me. So the next mor nay,
(15:01):
I call up John Landau or as I refer to him,
the American Paul McGinnis, and I say, did you see
that iPod thing? And he says yes, And he says
and I hear they didn't take any money? And I
say they didn't take any money and he says, no.
(15:23):
I think smart, widy Irish guys. Anybody else, anybody can
do an AD and take the money. But to do
the ad and not take the money, that's smart. That's
(15:46):
while I tell John, I say, John, I want you
to call up Bill Gates or whoever is behind this
thing and float this a red, white and blue iPod
signed by Bruce the Boss Sprinstone. And remember, no matter
(16:11):
how much money he offers, don't take it at any rate,
at any rate. After that evening, for the next month
or so, I hear emanating from my lovely fourteen year
old son's room, day after day down the hall, calling
(16:35):
out in a voice that has recently dropped very low,
Buno those traces the correct math for rock and Lord,
thank you boys, this and this band, this fan has
(17:05):
carried their faith in the great inspirational and resurrective power
of rock and roll with them. They've never faltered, only
a little bit. They believed in themselves, but more importantly,
they believed in YouTube. Thank you, Bano, Edge, Adam and
Larry please welcome you too to the Rock Rolla. After
(17:33):
the break we'll hear from the members of you two
on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. Bault
born in the USA. My rs that man was born
on the North side of Dublin, Irish. His mother was Irish.
(17:55):
The poetry the gift of the Gap, isn't it obvious?
In fact, I think he's all for an Irish man.
It's an Irish occasion this evening. Patty Sledge, you know
the o Jsa. They are a tribe from the west
(18:19):
of Ireland. Christie Chrissie Hynd. We'd like her to be Irish.
And this is what you know, a bit of a
Irish wedding. I mean it is the Rock and Roll
of Fame is a bit of an Irish wedding. Beautiful
girls and beautiful frocks, fights in the bathroom, managers and
(18:41):
clients again, lawyers with bloody noses. It's an Irish wedding.
It's it's a great occasion. And I even like it
when it gets dirty, and I've seen it get really
dirty over the years here. But rock and roll is
the sound of revenge. So make your enemies interesting, I
(19:05):
would say, ladies and gentlemen, but not tonight when I
when we look out into the audience, we don't see
any enemies. We just see friends. And this country has
taken this band into its bosom all the way from
(19:27):
the very beginning. M Yeah, it's it's a it's an
it's an amazing thing. Franco Barcelona early on there's a
great friend, Irish friend, Chris Blackwell. What an incredible man
(19:48):
he was to have looking after you. And I just,
you know, can you imagine your second album, the difficult
second album, it's about god m and the wreck. Everyone
everyone is staring their hair out and Chris black Aw goes.
You know, it's okay. It's Bob Marley and Marvin Gays
and Bob Dylan's it's kind of a tradition. We can
(20:08):
get through this. And and I think about what Frank
Barcelona said earlier, but long term vision, because you know,
without Frank Barcelona and Barbara Skydale and that kind of
long term vision of Chris Blackwell, there would be no
YouTube after that second home. We would have been dropped.
(20:29):
No beautiful day, you know, Sunday, bloody Sunday, no one
forget about fire, no one, no where, the streets of
no name, no with or without you. And that's the
thing I want to take away from tonight. I want
I would like to ask the music business to look
at itself and ask itself some hard questions out of tonight,
because there would be no YouTube the way things are
right now, that's a fact. M only frank Ens out there.
(21:01):
We're still rolling Stone puts us on the cover of
their magazine, Thank you very much, sn MTV, v H.
You wants still play our videos. College radio still believes
in our band and makes our band believe in ourselves.
It's an amazing place to be inducted in the rock
and roll of fame, feeling like this, feeling like you've
just put out your first album. It's a nice feeling,
(21:22):
very very special feeling. And I see around friends and
people that we've worked with for a long time and
generally not don't do the big thank you speeches just
because they're boring, and but why stop the traditional lifetime
It's too many people in the room to thank, but
(21:43):
I'd like to thank the really gorgeous women that work
for us for a long time because they're fun to thank.
Beautiful gorgeous women that run Principal Management. Ellen Dares, thank
you very much. Sheila Roach, thank you very much. And
Louise Kelly, thank you very much. Karen Caplan, thank you
very much. Gray Geene Moylette, thank you very much. Beautiful sexy,
(22:07):
sometimes Irish, sometimes American women, thank you. UM. Lots of
bodyguards around here. No bigger bodyguard then Jimmy and Doug.
Jimmy Ivien and Doug Morris have continued in the tradition
of Chris blackwa which is letting us get away with
(22:27):
pretty much everything we want. So I want to thank
them very much. UM. Trying to think of what else.
The biggest bodyguard of all, it's got to be our manager,
Paul McGinnis sitting right there. Mhm. The reason why no
(22:52):
one in this band has slaves scrolled on their face.
Paul McGinnis, Thank you very much. I won't go on
with just three Kodak moments over twenty years. I'd like
to share with you one. It's ninety six. Larry mullins kitchen.
It's about the size of the drum riser he uses.
(23:14):
Now it's a big, bright red scarlet, really Japanese kit
and he's sitting behind it in his kitchen and he's playing,
and the ground shakes and this guy opens up like
Bruce was saying earlier, and it still does. But now
I know why. I know why because Larry Mullen cannot
(23:38):
tell a lie and his brutal honesty is something that
we need in this band. Second Kodak moment, I think
it's New Haven. I believe things are not going very well.
There's a punk rock band on stage trying to play
bach mh. A fight breaks out. It's between the band.
(24:04):
It's very, very messy. Now you look at this guitar genius.
You look at this zen like master, that is the edge,
and you hear those brittle I see notes, and you
(24:25):
might be forgiven for not realizing that you cannot play
like that unless you have a rage inside you. And
in fact I had forgotten that on that particular night,
and he tried to break my nose, and I learned
a very great lesson. Do not pick a fight with
(24:46):
somebody who, for a living lives off hand to eye coordination.
Not a good IDEA dangerous, dangerous man the edge third
Kodak moments, uh Um. Somewhere in the South, we've been
(25:08):
campaigning for Dr King for his his his birthday to
be a national holiday. And in Arizona they're saying no.
We've been campaigning very very hard for Dr King. Some
people don't like it. Some people get very annoyed. Some
people want to kill the singer. Some people are taken
very seriously by the FBI, and they tell the singer
(25:30):
that he shouldn't play the gig because tonight his his
life is at risk and he must not go on stage.
The singer laughs. Singer left, you know, we're of course
we're playing the gig. Of course we go on stage.
And I'm sitting standing there singing Pride in the Name
of Love, and I've got to the third verse. I've
(25:50):
closed my eyes, and I know I'm excited about meeting
my maker, but maybe not tonight. I don't really want
to meet my maker tonight. I closed my eyes, and
when I look up, I see Adam Clayton standing in
front of me, holding his base like only Adam Clayton
(26:11):
can hold his base, and you know, there's people in
this room who tell you they'd take a bullet for you,
but Adam Clayton would have taken a bullet from me.
And I guess that's what it's like to be in
a truly great rock and roll band. I know, Christie,
I knows what that means. We'll be back with words
(26:38):
from you two's Powerhouse rhythm section after this break. He's
got a BlackBerry out that I am, in the end
the technology guy of you two, which radio all it
means is I can fix the printer when as well,
(27:00):
but I don't tell them that. So um. Above all else,
what you two have tried to avoid over the last
twenty five years is not being completely crap um. But
next on the list down from that was to avoid
being typical, predictable, um an ordinary, because it's so very
(27:25):
hard to avoid the cliches everyone else's, of course, but
most of all your own, and so hard to keep
things fresh and not to become a parody of yourself.
And if you've ever seen that movie Spinal Tap, you
will know how easy it is to parody what we
all do. The first time I ever saw it, I
(27:47):
didn't laugh, I wept. I wept because I recognize so
much in so many of those scenes. I'd don't think
I'm alone amongst all of us here in that. You know,
we're all guilty of taking ourselves and our work way
(28:09):
too seriously. We have all gone to hang out in
the hotel lobby like we were doing something really important.
But the reason we're all here tonight is that, in
spite of all the cliches which do exist. You know,
rock and roll, when it is great, it is amazing.
(28:30):
It It changes your life. It changed our lives. Witness
for instance, tonight the O. J. S Percy, Sledge, Bo
did Lee, Eric Clapton, Buddy Guy, BB King, the Pretenders.
I mean, amazing, really magic stuff. You can break it down,
(28:52):
you can study it all you want, but you cannot
just dial it up. It doesn't work like that. And
as far as you two goes, I've stopped trying to
figure out how, or more importantly, when are best moments
are going to come along. But I think that's why
we're still awake, and that's that why we're still paying attention,
and we know in the end, you see, we know
(29:17):
that it is magic, and so we end up waiting
around like like we all just sometimes like like actors
in some Beckett play, just just like they did in
that spinal Tap movie in the lobby, waiting around, waiting
for some magic to happen. And we've done aled out
(29:39):
of that over the years. I have to say I've
done a lot of waiting with Bonno, with Adam and
and Larry and Paul for those moments to come along,
and we've had some brilliant people with us during those times.
Are producers Steve Lillie White, Ryan O, Danny Lenoir, Jimmy Ivan,
(30:04):
Nelly Hooper are great engineers, principal management team that Bona
was talked about flood. Thank you um O. Our show
collaborators who have been with us from the beginning. Willie
Williams and all his team are road crew, fantastic people,
Joe Hurley, he Bucky, Jake, Dallas, Fraser who isn't here Stewart,
(30:30):
Incredible people that we couldn't have hoped of going through
the last twenty five years without um and tonight it
feels like it's just about half the room has been
along with us on that journey. So I just want
to say thank you to my family for being so patient,
(30:52):
My Mom and Dad has shown me how Um, the
rest of the band particularly yeah and tonight, you know,
for all of you for for this evening and most
of all for I guess making space for me as
we all wait together for something magic to happen. Thank you.
(31:28):
I promise I'll be brief. Um, thanks for this tonight.
We really appreciate it. It's very special. UM. I feel
like we've cut the line or jumped the queue along
the way someplace along the way, and we would never
(31:48):
have got out of my kitchen, in our chain in
Dublin had it not been for people like the Sex Pistols,
Term for Land, Television, Roxy Music, Hattie Smith. These people
are in our rock and roll Hall of Fame. Thank you.
(32:12):
Oh dear, it's the bass player approaching the microphone. Um,
what's he going to say? Um? I feel baseless. Okay,
yesterday it was my forty five birthday. And that's a
(32:32):
fine age to be inducted into the rock and roll
Hall of Fame. That means twenty five years ago we
released our first recording. That means twenty nine years ago
we all met and formed our band. Thirty years ago,
I got my first bass guitar or as I thought
the guitar with only four strings. I had no idea
what bass was. I had not heard of James Jamison,
(32:55):
Duck Done, Jack Bruce, John Entwistle or Boots Collins. I
just knew I had a weapon and a shield take
on the world. When we all got together in Larry's
kitchen and we didn't know about the great traditions of
American music. We didn't know the blues or soul, or
R and B R country, but we did know that
together we had a chance to change the world by
(33:15):
making a noise. This was punk and it saved my ass.
We needed someone to get us gigs and to pay
for demos. We met Paul McGinnis and he became our manager.
Next we needed a record deal. We were turned down
by many people until next Steward offered us a deal
at Island Records. This was the start of a long
(33:37):
relationship with Ireland. Many people along the way helped us
develop and grow Rob part Rob Partridge and of course
Chris blackhool Ian Wilson and i In Flukes were our
UK agents. We made three records with Steve Lilly White
came to America and Frank Barcelona and Barbara Skuydell, where
are U S agents? They introduced us to a network
(33:57):
of promoters. Barry Faye, Bill Graham, Ronnie Delsman, Ellen Dast
and Karen Kaplan ran our US office, and they taught
us how radio and promotion worked. As we were learning
all this stuff about the music business, we're also learning
about American music and the kind of artists that are
(34:20):
honored here by the Hall of Fame. John Lee Hooker,
BB King, Hank Williams, Right, Charles, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan U.
Now O generation is being inducted, and our time has
come to join those that we did not know twenty
five years ago. And I hope that in twenty five years,
when this room is full of hip hop and pop artists,
(34:40):
that they will enjoy joining the diverse list of talents
that the Hall of Fame recognizes. It took many people
to get this band here tonight, and I would like
to thank some of them personally, Paul McGinnis and Cathy
Gilfillan and Louise Kelly, Ellen Dask, Karen Kaplan, Sheila Roach,
Regimee Moylett, bar Brick, Alvin Susan Hunter, Trevor Bowen, Gavin Friday,
(35:03):
Chris Black, will Anton Corby and Steve, Lilly White, Danny Landmore,
Brian you Know, Jimmy Ivy and Doug Morris, Arthur Vogel
and Michael Cole, Dennis she and Joe Holly, he Willie Williams,
Sharon Blanks and Dallas, Sammy Stewart and Terry. But in
the end, the people who really got me here tonight
and who I must thank for everything I have, Ali
(35:24):
and Morley, Susie, Larry Edge and Bonnet Okay that really
likes Thank Bruce for what he said. And I fortunately
can remember the names of everyone in the band as well.
(35:54):
We about thirty five songs playbol Y. Thanks for joining
us on this week's episode of Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame Induction Vault. For more on your favorite inductees,
to shop inducting merch or to plan your trip to
(36:15):
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, visit rock Hall
dot com plus Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction
Special on demand on HBO Max. Our executive producers are
Noel Brown, Shelby Morrison, and Esa Gurkey. Supervising producer is
Taylor Shakin. Research and archival assistants from Isabelle Keeper and
Shannon Herb. Thanks again for joining us on this week's
(36:38):
episode of rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Vault.
Induction Ball is a production of I Heart Radio and
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. For more podcasts
from my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
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