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  1. Originally posted by KC11:It was some sort of fair where different local stores come together to sell music. It’s in a small youth center. There were a lot of unofficial pressings. Early recordings, bootlegs, soundchecks, ... sometimes without any sleeve. Mostly very expensive. So all these artists never gave permission for it?
    No. The recording artists have not given permission for these pressings. These are bootlegs. Often you will find that officially released albums and singles get bootlegged too. You have to keep vigilant and do your visual research to know what you are looking at with the rare items that surface. A good indicator will be the price, but often there are spelling mistakes or inconsistencies with imagery and often with vinyl the matrix imprint or messages in the run-out groove.

  2. EBTTRT 12” vinyl promo.


  4. Not so much a physical collectible but a correspondence I frequently had with Carter Alan the author of Outside It's America (US)/Wide Awake In America (UK). Before the internet booted us into orbit.

    Sharing some insider knowledge here about the reality of those Achtung Baby 'leaked' demos.
  5. unforgettable fire picture disc 45rpm sum one gave it to me
    its signed in the middle by bono




    couple of set lists from Glasgow Zoo tv 1992
    and Elevation tour 2001 ..
    i had a set list from 1987 Glasgow SECC with
    bonos hair on it! it was stuck to the tape they use
    my oldman binned it by mistake :-(




  6. Originally posted by ELIZIUM:[image]
    Not so much a physical collectible but a correspondence I frequently had with Carter Alan the author of Outside It's America (US)/Wide Awake In America (UK). Before the internet booted us into orbit.

    Sharing some insider knowledge here about the reality of those Achtung Baby 'leaked' demos.
    it's funny to think they leak their demos by themselves just to see what happens - an I think Bech clips are something similar...
  7. I am wondering if that really is true as I have heard the whole sequence of those Achtung Baby sessions and think there are some gems there they would not want to let escape.

    Works in progress for sure.

    But to give the world all that material as a way of promoting what we all know to be a classic in their history... Who knows?. Jury really is out on that one. It may have been clever marketing to gain interest in the band after that Rattle and Hum period.

    On a different note, there are many who believe that the whole U2 at Live Aid event was staged and a promotional platform too. I don't think this to be the case as the emotion of that day was overwhelming, plus, as U2 fans, we know Bono had a propensity to dive into audiences and climb things.

    With all that said, the demos served to pave the way for what followed which stands as a great testament to the U2 canon.
  8. Originally posted by ELIZIUM:I am wondering if that really is true as I have heard the whole sequence of those Achtung Baby sessions and think there are some gems there they would not want to let escape.

    Works in progress for sure.

    But to give the world all that material as a way of promoting what we all know to be a classic in their history... Who knows?. Jury really is out on that one. It may have been clever marketing to gain interest in the band after that Rattle and Hum period.

    On a different note, there are many who believe that the whole U2 at Live Aid event was staged and a promotional platform too. I don't think this to be the case as the emotion of that day was overwhelming, plus, as U2 fans, we know Bono had a propensity to dive into audiences and climb things.

    With all that said, the demos served to pave the way for what followed which stands as a great testament to the U2 canon.
    Bono hasn’t dove into an audience in awhile. Maybe Dublin 3 he will.
  9. The Edge on the other hand took over that role a few years ago.
  12. Originally posted by ELIZIUM:I am wondering if that really is true as I have heard the whole sequence of those Achtung Baby sessions and think there are some gems there they would not want to let escape.

    Works in progress for sure.

    But to give the world all that material as a way of promoting what we all know to be a classic in their history... Who knows?. Jury really is out on that one. It may have been clever marketing to gain interest in the band after that Rattle and Hum period.

    On a different note, there are many who believe that the whole U2 at Live Aid event was staged and a promotional platform too. I don't think this to be the case as the emotion of that day was overwhelming, plus, as U2 fans, we know Bono had a propensity to dive into audiences and climb things.

    With all that said, the demos served to pave the way for what followed which stands as a great testament to the U2 canon.
    I listened to those sessions incessantly from first receiving them in early 1991 and for a good few years afterwards, especially on my daily commutes, so would regularly listen to a couple of hours worth a day, and I still play them a few times a year to this day, they've always fascinated me.

    It was rather fun listening back then especially though, way before AB had come out, and having a bit of an idea of the direction the new album might go. But as it turned out, it wasn't even close to how AB did finally turn out, as it evolved massively since those sessions, and I believe at least some of the material may actually have originated in Dublin before they headed to Berlin to work on it.

    The sessions managed to showcase U2's wide-ranging musical talents with tracks even some of the heaviest of heavy metal bands would be envious of, and with full on 'airplay fever' pop tunes through to jingly-jangly rock that some of the finest shoegazing indie bands of the era would forego their shoegazing for in order to have written... through to gorgeous jazz and blues infused melodies.

    And whilst Bono described them back at the time as 'Gobbledegook' (he's perhaps referring more to some of his Bongolese found on those recordings and the unfinished state of the songs), there's no denying the origins and DNA to many U2 classics of the 1990's can be found amongst those songs, and whilst they're work in progress, it's a pretty solid collection of songs and musical ideas.

    It's funny reading Carter Alan saying that its *the* 'inside rumor' that the band leaked these themselves, bearing in mind who he is and his close connections - maybe there is some truth to what he says. I'd often had a sneaking suspicion myself for awhile that the band could have deliberately put these out there. My memory from back at the time from things I'd heard and read was that they were a bunch of DAT tapes stolen from a crew members hotel room in Berlin whilst they were all at Hansa.

    In a way, it would sort of make complete sense that they may have been leaked deliberately, especially in retrospect how we've learned post AB of how full of self-doubt U2 were as to their future direction, and how they were struggling in the studio - going back to how wide-ranging the content is from these demos - maybe it was indeed a clever way of gauging some feedback from fans and the press perhaps.

    However, the one thing that is a bit at odds with me on that, and leads me to think that they probably weren't leaked, is that the FBI investigated the theft of the DAT tapes and the commercial manufacture of bootlegs of them, namely 'The New U2 - Rehearsals & Demos' vinyl LP sets initially - which were in circulation around Spring 1991, which I had one version of, as well as a 90 minute cassette (containing the same material which I acquired from a guy in Wales prior to those vinyl sets being in circulation).

    The Salome 3CD set came out a little later, probably after the FBI investigation had concluded. I have a recollection of receiving mine in the post from a guy in Glasgow who I used to get U2 stuff from at the time, shortly after AB - maybe early 1992. And the single CD sets with other titles materialised around the same time, and the 7CD set came more recently (though I don't think that has had a commercial manufacture as such).

    I'm also pretty sure PM was absolutely furious about the commercial bootlegs of them at the time - hence the FBI investigation into them. So all that is a little strange if they had indeed deliberately leaked them. But hey, who knows?!

    I wish we had a bunch of demos to this extent quite early on in the recording process for every album.
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U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.
U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.
U2start is run by fans for fans. Help us reduce personal costs. Consider to make a donation to support us.