Help me out. I know Bono has always pandered about U2 being punk influenced or even being punk rock himself. He has said so for what seems like years now and I’m 150 pages in to Surrender and I swear there hasn’t been a page not featuring the word ‘punk’.
Whilst Punk bands were clearly some form of influence on U2 during their formative years, my own experience of Punk as a genre and movement are somewhat limited. That limited knowledge shows me an even more limited correlation between punk and U2.
So to those who lived through it or are fans of the genre I ask. Are U2 punk? Were they ever? Has this allusion only surfaced in Bono’s later years? I can only recall the pink thing coming to prevalence from Vertigo onwards? Did Bono mention it often prior to that?
All thoughts and discussion welcome. I find myself rolling my eyes every time Bono says the word because it sounds to me like he wants so badly
to be associated with Punk despite being millions of miles away from it.
Punk is - apart from its purely musically defined sound - above all an inner attitude. And last but not least, the conviction to stand on a stage and communicate with the world - regardless of whether you have the necessary skills. U2 stood for all that, or rather the band embodies it for me to this day. And not to forget, from a musical point of view: First demo songs like 'Street Mission' had a very original punk sound and also the single '11 O'Clock Tick Tock' produced by Martin Hannett finds its roots in punk music. Even 'A Celebration' has what I define as an old school punk beat. So, regarding your question - yes, for me personally, there is a big piece of punk in U2’s roots. Both musically and ideologically.
+1 to Ken's remarks. U2 are musically self-taught and that is 100% punk attitude.
In terms of sound, there is a little bit of punk (not much) in Boy, October and War but they were always more artsy and restless than the average punk rock band, hence making them a post punk band de facto. I think they choose to consider themselves more punk than they actually ever were
They certainly aren't Punk sounding like The Clash,Sex Pistols, Ramones ,The Stranglers or SLF but those bands were a big influence on them and they played on the same bill as some of them so they definitely had a strong connection to Punk and the spirit of it and some of the early songs like A Celebration ,Another time Another place ,Rejoice ,Electric Co had Punk sounding elements to them .
There's absolutely no doubt U2s roots have a large portion of punk influence,the Elevation era seemed to feature alot of punk memories,Bono talking about CBGB'S,Patti Smith and stuff,the Ramones snippets and Joey Ramones passing played a part
I used to have a friend who was older than me who was a true punk and lived through the height of it, was lead singer of a band occasionally would still sport the Mohawk,him and his boys were all about the Clash,Siouxie and the pistols,but they also were big fans of early U2.
Was listening to the electric co today and that is definitely rooted in punk. Guess probably post punk genre when you compare it to classic ramones or sex pistols but most definitely some sort of punk tune.
Yup, Punk as an attitude, maybe U2 are on the outskirts of the genre. I can think of at least three different contexts of the word.
1976 in England. Post-Pistols. Do it Yourself, musicianship not required, an attitude and fashion sense.
21st Century California Pop Punk - Blink 182, Sum 41 & Green Day and other Jerry Finn produced bands. Have no problem 'selling out'.
Punk Rock in the US. A general attitude and musical approach. Various scenes and peaks in public awareness. First appeared with The Stooges in 1968 and Ramones and NYC scene from 1976 to 1980.
If you want a 20th Century History of Punk in the US, read Legs McNeil's book.
Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk
If you want a 20th Century History of Punk in the UK, read Jon Savage's
England's Dreaming.
Bono acknowledged on Colbert last week that it might not seem that U2 embodies much of the punk spirit anymore, musically or artistically. But what I loved about what he said (he's alluded to it in "Surrender" too) is that punk rock was about reciprocity with the audience, connecting with them together because you respected the fact that you came from the same roots. From the band's touring entourage to Bono's constant desire to get out in the audience, they've never really lost that spirit.
Another dimension of the punk ethos that U2 and others embraced was writing and playing shorter, less complex songs as an antidote to what was being played in the early 70s. Prog-rock was one example, where songs had complex keyboard parts, bloated guitar and drum solos and tracks that lasted 10 minutes or more. Music that was so self-indulgent and so far up its own a**e it lost sight of the fans. Punk was a rebellion to that and resonated with the youth of the day.
Many things they say just for marketing and others are real, sometimes I don't know what is what...
For example about the sunglasses, it comes from Zoo TV times, which for sure Bono was doing for marketing of the charecter and tooks the sunglasses out after the third or fourth song, it also happens in Popmart and Elevation Tour, then from Vertigo Tour he was always with the sunglasses.
In somewhere in the 00's he said that was doing to hide the wrinkles, which I believe...
The point is during the time the reason it was always changing, if you would ask me what I think I would say that it starts as marketing, then to hide the wrinkles and now for the wrinkles and also glaucoma, but being always for the glaucoma in my opinion is just Bono being dramatic hahaha
What do you guys think about it? And also what do you think come from them is marketing and what is real?
All very interesting views and I will concede to each and every single one as I know little of punk. It is insane how often Bono says the word. Quite literally every other page. I’m rolling my eyes every time at this point.
