1. Originally posted by gmc:[..]
    Remember the 1st play on Radio 1 Breakfast Show,Simon Mayo around 8.10am.I’ve been convinced for 30 years he played it twice,back to back.
    That's quite common isn't it? Playing the lead single twice, back to back. I'm certain they did it in Spanish radio when GOYB was released in 2009, and I'd say The Best Thing too (incomprehensibly).

  2. Along with millions of others it was a real WTF is this when The Fly was first aired but in a good way ,U2 had become completely unrecognisable for some it was a step too far they preferred the flag waving righteous band with big singalong anthems but most stayed with them and embraced the new direction.
  3. 30 years ago so the memories are getting a bit hazy now but I recall having two completely contradictory reactions. On the one hand, I was asking “who the hell are you and what have done with this band I’ve been fixated with for nearly a decade”. But at the same time being fascinated and intrigued by this new look and sound.
  4. When "The Fly" was realised I was proud that my favorite band did something that sounded modern, fresh and contemporary, after being ridiculed by my (former) friends for liking a band that had done "Love rescue me" (the latter not being a song that most of us 20yr-old at that time could dig).

    The first time I heard "The Fly" was on MTV, when it was premiered. I loved it instantly, still a fave. I recorded the vid and transferred the audio to tape and played it repeatedly day by day until the 7'' and CD-Single were released later.
  5. I just found this video:



    On this website:

    http://achtungbaby.com/videos/

    Anyone? Is this fan-made?

    Post any 'orphan' videos you know of so I can update the thread in due time.
  6. This will sound age-ist but I do wonder if music fans that were not around at the time AB was released can fully appreciate how radical the change in U2 was. Obviously we all get it here on this forum and it has been discussed before - but it was mind boggling for me as a big fan of the band.

    I remember catching only the last minute of The Fly video on MTV one night before I knew anything about the new album and thought it was a mistake when the little U2 title info appeared on the screen in the bottom corner at the end. And then I literally thought the record store where I bought the album had placed another band’s CASSETTE in the wrong row - I was looking for an album with a solitary B&W photo on the cover and all of the crazy photos and text made me think it wasn’t a U2 album.

    I get it, I was no genius, but everything about the album was so radically different. And then you hit play and the opening notes of Zoo Station hit….and the rest became history for the band. Crazy fun to remember it.
  7. The website is a fan made one. And the video looks to be posted on a fan account. Looks like it’s probably an edit from a couple of sources. The title translates roughly to “two versions of the song mixed with other buffalo”

  8. Thought I'd stop by Piccadilly Circus on my way home today to celebrate 30 years of The Fly, (where the solo shots of Bono were filmed for the video). I first heard it on the Boston DVD and was blown away and it's remained one of my all time favourites. I can only imagine how people must have been scratching their heads when this first came out, wish I could've experienced how different it sounded at the time. Still sounds modern and never gets old.
  9. Originally posted by ap5:This will sound age-ist but I do wonder if music fans that were not around at the time AB was released can fully appreciate how radical the change in U2 was. Obviously we all get it here on this forum and it has been discussed before - but it was mind boggling for me as a big fan of the band.

    I remember catching only the last minute of The Fly video on MTV one night before I knew anything about the new album and thought it was a mistake when the little U2 title info appeared on the screen in the bottom corner at the end. And then I literally thought the record store where I bought the album had placed another band’s CASSETTE in the wrong row - I was looking for an album with a solitary B&W photo on the cover and all of the crazy photos and text made me think it wasn’t a U2 album.

    I get it, I was no genius, but everything about the album was so radically different. And then you hit play and the opening notes of Zoo Station hit….and the rest became history for the band. Crazy fun to remember it.
    I always wished I was a fan earlier. For me I got into U2 after the release of Achtung Baby so it was mind boggling for me to see them in cowboy hats, blue jeans and mullets going back and revisiting the '80s.
  10. Originally posted by neilgohil:[image]
    Thought I'd stop by Piccadilly Circus on my way home today to celebrate 30 years of The Fly, (where the solo shots of Bono were filmed for the video). I first heard it on the Boston DVD and was blown away and it's remained one of my all time favourites. I can only imagine how people must have been scratching their heads when this first came out, wish I could've experienced how different it sounded at the time. Still sounds modern and never gets old.
    What a cool thing to do!

    I remember when it first came out. I listened to it worth the lights off, in a darkened room. First impressions, total shock! I can't say I loved it from the get go. But it didn't take too long before I loved both the song & the album. Think it's still my favourite album.
  11. So I remember when it came out and I do remember the press silence up until that point. What I found more revealing was doing a deep dive on Krautrock (which Bono referenced so much in 2011) in the 21st century and taking so much from Can, Neu and Faust amongst others.
  12. I think zoo Station opening AB, for me anyway, is the greatest moment in music history. Obviously bias coming from a big u2 fan but that must have been mind blowing for anyone going on a u2 journey back then, I know not everyone took to the album straight away but for good or bad reasons to the individual I think it would have been a shock to the system and that in itself is a good thing. I never got to experience the shift in style at the time but I think the fact I can still go back now and start from Boy working my way to AB knowing what’s coming but still being blown away shows just how great a move it was from the band. So the greatest moment and the greatest step taken by any artist or musician to open that album with that song at that precise time in their career. Sublime.