I Will Follow

So I am sitting in the back seat of Tony The Greek’s Ford Granada with Bono Vox out of U2. We are in the car park opposite Clouds, or Coasters as it soon be known, and doing a location interview for Radio Forth in Edinburgh.
On the last occasion, Bono and the rest of the band had come into the station, along with NME journalist Gavin Martin, and indulged in one of those octagonal table interviews that are unnecessarily democratic and usually disasterous.
But now with a few more records sold and tickets bought, the mountain happily goes to Mohammed. We talked and talked, then rejoined the band for a meal in a Chinese restaurant. Little did that establishment know that in the not too distant future it would be selling enchiladas and fajitas as the Grove, in its time possibly the third most popular Mexican food emporium in town.
Little did Bono know that in 5 years time U2 would make a huge global impact at Live Aid, and 20 years after that he would make poverty history, glad handing world leaders until their palms stung with his sincerity.
As we six sat round the table prodding egg fried rice and assorted glutinous MSG heavy accompaniments, guess which personality emerged as the most memorable?
Apart from Tony obviously. Well it was not the amiable Bono man, nor the still hirsute quiet charmer, The Edge, or indeed the cherubic tub thumper Master Larry Mullen.
Rather, it was the gregarious and twinkly-eyed bass playing Adam Clayton. The young Irish band had by accident or design acquired a God bothering reputation. Adam’s more hedonistic inclinations had earned him more of a rock and roll bad boy name for himself. He was told to behave or else. Little did he or they know that he would go on to date glamorous and exotic women such as the feisty nutter Naomi Campbell, and become the musical rock upon which U2 is founded.
That night the band played Electric Co, I Will Follow and those other simplistic chiming stompers which made their name.
In addition to The Edges distinctive guitar playing and Bono’s mullet extraordinaire of course.
In 2009 U2 have made No Line On The Horizon, their first studio album in 5 years, and enlisted the production help of the distinguished men – Eno, Lanois and Lillywhite – who helped elevate them to superstar status.
It returns to the basic premise of those chiming stompers, with additional technological twists, happily forsaking banks of TV screens and giant lemons, if not the wearing of leather trousers.
There are some good whoah –oh – oh –ooooh moments, and some frankly embarrassing lack of lyrical profundity.
Jim Kerr must look on wondering how Simple Minds came to downscale so spectacularly.