NEWS: U2 Producer Remembers The Early Days

Original U2 producer Steve Lillywhite has spoken of the time he spent with the band recording their monumental first three albums.

In an interview posted on the BBC News website Lillywhite records his experiences mixing the records, socialising with the band and generally witnessing the good musical juices issue forth from Bono & co.

As time went on, and one album followed the last, the Grammy award winner saw the band morph from cocky Irish wannabies to even cockier politically-driven rock stars and creative accountants.

He was also on board for the band’s first number one album War, released in 1983.

Lillywhite’s comments come as U2 release re-mastered special edition issues of those first LPs, as dissected on the Quietus by our very own Andrew Mueller here.

Below are the best bits of what he had to say to the Beeb. For the full story on the BBC website.

Boy
(1980)

Recorded when the band were all still under the age of 21 the title reflected their still innocent nature. Despite this the album was originally going to be mastered by Martin Hannett who is famous for helping develop Joy Division’s sound, a flattering proposition for such a new band.

“I always remember on that first album, I was sitting at the mixing desk with the band behind me and suddenly I heard all this giggling. I turned around and suddenly they all went sheepish, shushing each other like teacher was looking at them.

“I think they would admit that, like all teenage boys, they hadn't lived long enough to acquire a personality… There wasn't much talking in the studio. It was quite serious.”

October
(1981)

A brooding Bono didn’t go down well with the critics as U2’s second offering received mixed reviews. Fears of the music industry being against the band’s religious beliefs and the lose briefcase full of lyrics nearly stopped the band’s progression in its track. Thank God it didn’t.

“U2 could have gone two ways after Boy. They could have broken out and gone bigger - but in fact what they did was they shrunk a little bit. They were a little bit scared of the world, I think.

“Yes, there were Bibles dotted around the room during the recording. There was a fair amount of that. But I was so busy trying to pull teeth - trying to make an album - that it sort of washed over me.

“It was completely chaotic and mad in the studio and, obviously, Bono's lyrics being lost contributed to the atmosphere. I'm not sure whether any of those words would have been used on the album - only he knows that - but certainly it would have been a starting point.”

War
(1983)

The breakthrough album. Knocked Thriller off the top of the charts. ‘Nuf said.

“The band had been questioning whether their beliefs could coincide with their new experiences. And in the end it was their manager Paul McGuinness who sat down and said, ‘don't be so silly, you can have them both’.

“In his sort of matter-of-fact way, he convinced them that the world would be better if they carried on making music.

“But I think we all realised that there'd been a step back with October and that, if we were going to go for it, we had to have the urgency of the first album.

“I remember Bono saying to The Edge, ‘don't be like The Edge. Be like Mick Jones from the Clash’.

“Because Edge is like a scientist. He has the white coat on and pencils in his pocket. And I think what Bono wanted him to do was take off the white coat and put on the star-studded leather jacket.”

And for some classic 1983 U2 click below:

This news story can be found on the Quietus with other pieces by Dean Samways.

Words: Dean Samways

Image: the Quietus