U2 and Hard Rock Team Up

U2 are raising funds for Amnesty International with a new range of T-shirts. The group, fronted by Bono, has teamed up with Hard Rock International to produce the U2 Signature Series: Edition 30 T-shirt line in the name of charity. They have pledged 15 per cent of the item's $32 (£20) retail price to the human rights charity, and are hopeful the extra money will help boost the organisation's work. The Edge says, "I hope this T-shirt generates loads of cash for Amnesty International and their tireless work towards the release of prisoners of conscience all around the world. Plus there's a guitar on it - so it's a win-win as far as I'm concerned." The T-shirt will be available online or at Hard Rock venues around the globe.

Clayton,Hewson and Danger Mouse

​ Adam and Ali have given us some insight to the future of U2 and its “sounding great” Adam stated in Spinner that the boys are in fact working with Danger Mouse. "It's a great team and feels very liberating at the moment -- anything goes. We have an abundance of riches, we could make three or four different records and justify that to ourselves, but to make the best record you can, you have to steer away from the ones you can make easily. We are really trying to get into territory that we are not comfortable in. If that makes sense..." Ali Hewson also shared some information on the record in an interview with The Guardian. "They're well down the road on the new album and it sounds good," Hewson said. "That's all I'm saying.

And that’s all we are saying too…..

War Turns 30

U2 War Album Cover ​

War is the third studio album by Irish rock band U2, released on 28 February 1983. The album has come to be regarded as U2's first overtly political album, in part because of songs like "Sunday Bloody Sunday", "New Year's Day", as well as the title, which stems from the band's perception of the world at the time; Bono stated that "war seemed to be the motif for 1982." While the central themes of their earlier albums Boy and October focused on adolescence and spirituality, respectively, War focused on both the physical aspects of warfare, and the emotional after-effects.  Musically, it is also harsher than the band's previous releases. The album has been described as the record where the band "turned pacifism itself into a crusade." War was a commercial success for the band, knocking Michael Jackson's Thriller from the top of the charts to become the band's first #1 album in the UK. It reached #12 in the U.S. and became their first Gold-certified album there. War has received critical acclaim. In 2012, the album was ranked number 223 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

U2 Sunday Bloody Sunday

U2 began recording War on 17 May 1982. The band took a break soon afterwards, as newlyweds Bono and Ali honeymooned in Jamaica. It has been noted that it was not a typical honeymoon, as Bono reportedly worked on the lyrics for the upcoming album. The lyrics to "New Year's Day" had its origins in a love song Bono wrote for his wife,but the song was reshaped and inspired by the Polish Solidarity movement.

The album's opener, "Sunday Bloody Sunday", an ardent protest song, stems from a guitar riff and lyric written by The Edge in 1982. Following an argument with his girlfriend, and a period of doubt in his own song-writing abilities, The Edge — "feeling depressed... channeled [his] fear and frustration and self-loathing into a piece of music." Early versions of the song opened with the line,

"Don't talk to me about the rights of the IRA, UDA"

 After Bono had reworked the lyrics, the band recorded the song at Windmill Lane Studios in Dublin. The opening drum pattern soon developed into the song's hook. A local violinist, Steve Wickham, approached The Edge one morning at a bus stop and asked if U2 had any need for a violin on their next album. In the studio for only half a day, Wickham's electric violin became the final instrumental contribution to the song.

During the sessions for "Sunday Bloody Sunday", producer Steve Lillywhite encouraged drummer Larry Mullen, Jr. to use a click track, but Mullen was firmly against the idea. A chance meeting with Andy Newmark (of Sly & the Family Stone) — a drummer who used a click track religiously — changed Mullen's mind. Mullen used the click track to stay in time for other songs on the album.Mullen said of the album in a 1983 interview, "I think the drumming has always been pretty simple, I don't think it needs to be flashy. For War I use a click track, something I haven't used before, it's a way of keeping time in my headphones. When I listened to the music in time with the click track I knew I had to bring it down to the real basics. Hopefully for the next LP it will be more complicated, I'll move on. I think of it as a musical progression for myself because I learned a lot recording this album, just about my own style and that's what I wanted to do. I think there is a definite style on War where there isn't on the previous albums."

The studio version of "40" was recorded right at the end of the recording sessions for War. Bassist Adam Clayton had already left the studio, and the three remaining band members decided they didn't have a good song to end the album. Bono, The Edge, and Mullen Jr. quickly recorded the song with The Edge switching off to both the electric and bass guitar. Bono called the song "40" as he based the lyrics on Psalm 40. In live versions of the song, The Edge and Clayton switch roles, as Clayton plays guitar and Edge plays the bass.

Three of the tracks featured backing vocals by The Coconuts, of Kid Creole and the Coconuts. In the words of Steve Lillywhite, "they just happened to be in Dublin on tour, so we hung out with them and they came in and sang on "Surrender." So it was sort of random - this serious Irish rock band having the Coconuts on their album."

The album was titled War for several reasons; in 1982, Bono said that the album was called War because "War seemed to be the motif for 1982," adding that "Everywhere you looked, from the Falklands to the Middle East and South Africa, there was war. By calling the album War we're giving people a slap in the face and at the same time getting away from the cosy image a lot of people have of U2."The Edge said that "It's a heavy title. It's blunt. It's not something that's safe, so it could backfire. It's the sort of subject matter that people can really take a dislike to. But we wanted to take a more dangerous course, fly a bit closer to the wind, so I think the title is appropriate."

Clayton, Depression and Music

Adam Clayton/ Walk in My Shoes/ U2

Earlier this week Clayton chatted with the Irish Independent (Laura Butler) about his stages of depression or as he called it “black dog” throughout his life. He main coping skill has been his music and of course getting some help.  Adam said in the interview“There's a lot of it in our industry and it's covered up with drugs and alcohol. There's such a high incidence of young musicians who commit suicide or inadvertently die through accidents of some kind," said the 52-year-old. I was aware of it as a teenager. When I was 16 or 17 I found it quite difficult to fit in, but then music was the thing that really worked for me. Then later on in my career I had issues with alcohol, which again I went to rehab for and it was a breath of fresh air to have people identify with what was going on for me. Thankfully, by putting down the alcohol, I haven't had any issues."

He also said, that music may have been the one thing that saved him as well as the band. “Otherwise we’d have gone a bit mad… or certainly suffer from depression.”

Adam was speaking at the launch of Walk in My Shoes campaign at St. Patrick’s University Hospital in Dublin to encouraged those suffering from mental health issues to reach out and stressed the importance of promoting open conversation to tackle Ireland's suicide problem.

So what’s up with the new album Adam said "We're in the middle of it at the moment. It should be finished by the end of the year," Clayton added.

Well folks now do not get your knickers in a bunch unless the rest of the boys start to say the same thing.

Adam sells to Bruce Willis

We never imagined that Bruce Willis and U2 bassist Adam Clayton would ever have anything in common. But it turns out they do: this stunning co-op on Manhattan's exclusive Central Park West. The New York Post first reported that Willis was in contract to buy the home, but Zillow and other reports followed up, saying that it was originally listed by Clayton back in October for $8.695 million. Willis scored the three-bedroom, four-bathroom home for $8 million.

Bono, Brian Williams join NJ superstorm relief fund's board

Bono and NBC news anchor Brian Williams are the newest board members of a charity launched by the New Jersey governor and his wife to help victims of Hurricane Sandy.

With their appointments, announced Tuesday, they join Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi and other celebrities on the board.

So far, the Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund has raised more than $32 million from more than 22,000 donors worldwide.

Known for his humanitarian efforts, Bono said he was inspired by the work of volunteers after the superstorm hit. Williams grew up at the Jersey Shore.

The Oct. 29 storm was one of the worst to strike the Northeast U.S. It is blamed for more than 130 deaths and tens of billions of dollars in property damage.

Bono AKA Techie Man

Bono has been singing the praises of technology and it paid off. As an investor and cofounder of the AIDS programs ( One and RED) he has been devoting his time to eradicating poverty and AIDS related issues. Bono traded emails with MIT Technology Review deputy editor, Brian Bergstein about his role in tech, vaccines and information services. A couple of those questions highlighted our interests.

MIT: It's 2013, and Millions of people are still short of food or proper medical care. Have technologists over promised ?

Bono: The tech that’s been delivered has been staggering in its measurable achievements.

MIT: What should be the role of technology in making a better world? Are some problems beyond its reach, like poverty?

Bono: Technology has already helped tackle extreme poverty in Africa. Extreme poverty is the empirical condition of living on under $1.25 a day. Nelson Mandela once demanded we be the “great generation” to beat extreme poverty, noting how we have the technology and resources to achieve this extraordinary vision. And we do. We could achieve it by 2030, maybe before.

MIT: You admired Steve Jobs. Did he make the world better or just make nice computers?

Bono: I think a large part of the reason Apple and Steve Jobs have beguiled so many is that they are a gigantic company that put greatness ahead of the bottom line, believing that great profitability would follow in the long term. He told me he would love to spend more time on philanthropy and would get to it one day. He wasn’t interested in half doing it, as is obvious with his personality. Still, Apple very quietly has contributed more than $50 million to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria through the sale of (RED) iPods, Nanos, etc. They are the biggest corporate donor. Tim Cook is passionate about this stuff.

MIT: If you had a budget equivalent to the one that put astronauts on the moon, what problems would you try to solve?

Bono: There’s an exciting thought. The Apollo program in its day was 4 percent of the federal budget. All U.S. overseas assistance is just 1 percent, with 0.7 percent going to issues that affect the poorest people. I believe that extreme poverty is the biggest challenge we have. That term is a complex one, but on many aspects, we know what works. For example, with Apollo-level resources, you could finish the job on HIV/AIDS. Get rid of it, done. Malaria too.

MIT: Do you despair? If not, why not?

Bono:  Like any parent, I wonder what kind of world we’re leaving behind. But I’ve also been blessed to be involved in some great movements that helped bring major challenges—like debt or AIDS or malaria—from the margins to the mainstream. These social movements are the things that make the real difference, people from different walks of life coming together to stand up for what they believe in.  Whether they do it by marching, by writing, by tweeting, by posting, by singing, or by going to jail. It’s hard not to be an optimist when you see what happens when people join forces.

End of Summer, Said The Edge

Bono and his wife Ali Hewson with artist and long-time friend Guggi and his wife Sibylle

The boys had been on hand to see their friend Guggi open a new art exhibit at Kerlin Gallery in Dublin. The Edge shared a few words with a writer from the Irish Sun about the up coming project. "

We are looking at having it out around the end of the Summer' said The Edge.  You already saw that we reported Larry saying the same thing " I'd say we will be finished by the summer and hopefully we will release something released by September.  

Bono showing his continued support for the creative visionary, who arrived with wife Ali Hewson, told the Irish Independent of his delight to see his close friend's work come to fruition.

"Normally I get to enjoy a preview of the pieces beforehand in the studio, but things have been so busy this time I didn't get a chance. He's just getting better and better every time, we're all so proud of him. He's extraordinary."

The superstar said he'll definitely consider adding to his growing collection by purchasing a painting.

Bono and Hewson were accompanied by The Edge and his wife, Morleigh Steinberg.