From Berlin to North Carolina: A U2 Fan Gets His Trabant

I’ve traded emails with a fellow U2 fan named Chris S. for several years now, and it’s always been obvious that he has a thing for Trabants — those tiny East European cars that U2 used prominently during the Achtung Baby/Zoo TV era. I vaguely remember Chris trying to track down the locations of all the Trabants that U2 used, and he may have said something at one point about wanting to own one. I probably wished him luck in my reply, while simultaneously thinking to myself, That ain’t gonna happen, buddy.

I was wrong.

Chris emailed me a few days ago to share the news that his U2 Trabant — the male, dark “UNO” car from the “One” video — arrived in the U.S. last week.

Chris found the car for sale on eBay Germany over the winter and won the auction. (He didn’t say how much he paid.) He made arrangements to have it shipped over from Germany to Baltimore, picked it up there, and hauled it home to North Carolina.

From what he can tell, Chris says he’s the car’s third owner since the video shoot and he thinks there have been some minor touch-ups on the exterior paint (mainly around the face and hands).

Overall, the car’s not in great shape — the rear window on the driver’s side is missing and the window on the driver’s door is stuck and won’t roll up, so years of rain and snow have damaged the interior. The kind of weather you see below in a photo Chris took when he went to Germany (near Frankfurt; the Berlin in our headline is a reference to the music video) in January to claim his purchase.

So, what have you added to your U2 collection lately?

U2 Wishes MTV Happy St. Pat’s Day

U2 fans everywhere celebrate St. Patrick’s Day for two reasons—the holiday itself and because it’s the anniversary of the day the boys won a battle of the bands contest in 1978.

Wanting to send out personalized U2-themed wishes this morning, I went searching for some great St. Patrick’s Day-related U2 footage and stumbled upon a gem from the early 80s. As addicted to MTV as I was at the time, I’m sure I probably saw its original airing, but I truly have no memory of it.

All four band members wander about Dublin, saying “hi” to America and talking/joking about the holiday. And of course, Bono does most of the talking.

Best wishes to all of you for a great St. Patrick’s Day! Enjoy the clip.

Bono: “Africa rising / Angélique Kidjo shining like a sun ray”

Angélique Kidjo’s new cut of Curtis Mayfield’s “Move On Up,” featuring Bono (with those first words in the song) and John Legend, is streaming on her website.  Give it a listen.

Bono’s got way more lines than I thought he would; such as, “Move it, move it, move it, move it, move it.”

Does Springfield, OH, still claim John Legend as their hometown boy?  If so, hey John!  I’m just down the road here in Xenia.  Well done.

Artificial Horizon Gets Huffington Praise

Today’s Huffington Post features a surprisingly favorable review of Artificial Horizon and U2 in general. Pop Culture Critic James Sims, famous for publicizing a NY snowball fight in December, writes “there are plenty of gems to be found,” on the members-only CD, specifically citing one version of “Staring at the Sun.”

He goes on to remind readers that U2 aren’t new to remixes and that they are “unafraid to embrace experimentation,” crediting this philosophy for some of their success.

I’ll admit, I groaned when I learned there would be an album of remixes as this year’s membership gift, but for what it is, I’ll admit it’s well done.

To read Sims’ full rave, click here.

Reflections on the Horizon

As a new moderator when No Line on the Horizon was released in 2009,  I witnessed many passionate conversations on our forum about this album. There was no middle ground. Fans either loved it or despised it. I immediately belonged to the camp who loved it. U2 promised us something different, something special. To me, they delivered exactly that.

I consider “Moment of Surrender” one of U2’s finest songs and they proved it live. It is a powerful song about a person who has hit rock bottom. Hearing it is an emotionally draining experience every time for me. Adam’s bass on “Cedars of Lebanon” is remarkable. It sets the mood for the dark atmosphere in this song. “White As Snow” paints a beautiful image with its lyrics. Their most overtly religious album since October,  No Line on the Horizon shares a special bond with that early work. “Magnificent” is the older and enlightened sibling to the younger voice in “Gloria” that has faith but is still confused.

U2 made an album that was not safe. It was not made of a lot of songs that would jump on the charts, but it is an album that deals with a story of spiritual destruction and desire for rebirth. “Unknown Caller” is a perfect example of this theme. I believe the songs are placed in the order that they are for a reason. Each lyric and each note is sung and played exactly when it is supposed to be. Make no mistake, U2 want you to “work” for this album. They want you to invest your time into listening and thinking about it. If you put the effort in, you will reap the rewards.

A year later, I have so much more appreciation for it. As I examine its layers and realize how each contributed to the sonic canvas, I now see how these artists created their masterpiece.

Edge Has an Angel

We’re a bit late on posting this, but hopefully “better late than never” still applies. I’m talking about Edge’s participation in an Irish fund raising project called Angels – Beacons of Hope, which involved him painting an 8-foot tall angel. Thanks to “gaving” for posting this photo in our forum:

The project launched back in December, and the 50+ angels have been on tour around Ireland since then.