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The Fly (Achtung Baby)
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myselfandmypeople
Exciting Days
Back when Achtung Baby came out, I was working at the record shop HMV in the Trocadero Centre in central London. For those of you not from there it was in between Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square. I was 19 and I was in my dream job. It felt like I was right at the centre of things, the music industry was flying high, and 1991 in particular produced such an extraordinarily rich seam of music. With queues out of the door and down the street for the release of Metallica's Black Album, Nirvana's Nevermind flying off the shelf so fast we couldn't keep it in stock. I remember saying to my manager about it "theres this band Nirvana......." lol - and also I had seen the video for Alive by Pearl Jam on MTV Europe (as it was then) on heavy rotation so we were right at the grunge 'moment'. Freddie Mercury died that November - and indie was burgeoning with Carter USM and James tshirts on every 4th customers back. We had had Morrissey in the store, Richard O'Brien (Riff Raff in Rocky Horror), Prince Edward, Roddy Frame - and then someone literally shouted in the door "Bono is outside he's running about in the road quick". I still get chills even typing this! It was so unbelievably exciting - I don't know how but the evening staff also knew he'd been on top of the building too. So we were right 'there'. When The Fly came out it was incredible. I can of course remember Unforgettable Fire, Pride, Live Aid, Joshua Tree but I was mid-teens, so Achtung Baby was my first U2 release that was at the forefront of my mind. All the hip 20somethings in the HMV were "ohh they've gone all Berlin-Bowie..." but to my ears from the opening chords it was like hearing a new band. Rattle & Hum instantly sounded so redundant (to me). I can still remember the distinctive CD digipack, even the matt paper used, that artwork. The song was funky and unselfconscious and appealed to the metal-head that I had recently left behind for all things indie. And then the album, with that Zoo Station opener. If i put it on now I am instantly transported back to the shop floor of that HMV, it's a rainy day and the place is full of drenched shoppers, the music just fills the store like a message from Berlin, that Hansa sound. Things were gonna be alright. They'd dreamed it all up, and spat it out. Great great days.
icedcornholio
VP
This one is for Mike Pence! ** EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG **
sumaes17
Never ages...
Have been listening to this since the day it came out. It never ages, and I still get chills at the guitar solo.
victorporto
Shock
The album Atchung Baby and especially this video was a shock for a lot of fans of U2 and for the world of music... thanks for this!!
yardie
Well,this is different?
I recall this one coming out.Radio 1 in the Uk have always been really supportive of U2 launches and Gary Davis,a regular dj of the time had previewed a lot of their new stuff.'The Fly' kinda stunned everyone as the first single to be lifted off the album,but it was different - so glad we didn't get Joshua Tree #3. I remember queuing at midnight at a store in Belfast (it was a longer queue than that for Rattle n Hum a couple of years earlier),with a great atmosphere waiting for the store to open to get our hands on Achtung Baby. The album title,the vibe,the beat,The Fly,the other tunes. This was new U2.I was 22 years old,it made quite an impression. Remember Bono's quote on the London rooftop vividly.....'I'm learning to lie'.... and the persona was hatched.Just a pity it took so many so long to get it,and some hacks still don't even get it today. The Fly and subsequent tour with McPhisto etc etc.Brilliant. 'look what you've done to me,you've made me very famous and I thank you!'
DieforU2
There are no secrets!!
The Fly from the Elevation Tour- Live from Boston is hard core, hard hitting, in-your-face, pure adrenaline, no-holds-barred rock at its best.
Why can't we see all the video???
Why can't we see all the video???
musicabona
Everything you know is wrong
This video was U2;s first strong statement after \"going away and dreaming it all up again\". Gone were the cowboy hats and the wide spaces of American deserts were left behind. Here we found ourselves in an artificial European and surreal and highly engineered world and we could finally surrender to the temptation of modern life-TV. Slogans like \"Watch more TV\" appeared on the screen, already anticipating the astounding visuals of ZOO TV. With the rapid change of images and colours partly reduced to darker shades, the video provided the perfect surroundings for wild music that seemed to come from a gloomy and uncertain place. And it was the first astonishing manifestation of Bono;s newest persona: The Fly. When I saw this video for the first time I was stunned by this character-dressed in shiny black leather, with hair shortened and eyes covered by gigantic Fly shades he demonstrated U2;s radical change of sound with his new look. In 1991 U2 became cool. And still they are.
leesee
Yum
I remember seeing this for the first time and thinking, \"they\'ve done it again.\" Reinvented and refreshed their look image and sound without selling out. Plus Bono never looked so hot as he did during the ZOOTV days.
josh1593
The Fly
When Are you going to put the full videos cause we want to see them!!
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