Here's U2's cover version of an original idea by John Lennon of The Beatles - a band Oasis micmicked rather well on their last greatest hits tour of the world's football stadiums. Shortly after the tour ended, moved into a new secluded mansion, likely shouting 'Liam and Noel Gallagher vibes in the area! Ticket sales vibes in the area! I'm here against my will in the area! I'm only in it for the money, you dopey fuckers in the area!' as the delivery trucks loaded with his drugs and furniture rolled up past the outdoor swimming pool.
This version features Steve Wickham on violin. You may have heard the story, and it's true: Steve passed The Edge by on Westmoreland Street at a bus stop one day, and they got to chatting. Steve said he needed some violin on one of their songs and that he was the man to do it. Edge agreed, he'd heard In Tua Nua's stuff and they were on the U2 label 'Mother Records' along with a younger Hothouse Flowers among some others. So Steve gets the call, shows up and does a couple of takes and then leaves.
This was the end result:
U2: 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' ft Steve Wickham
So: why do I mention Stevie? Well, when Stevie was starting out, long before In Tua Nua, he played with Ballyfermot band 'Chess' who were a quartet of Ballyer's best players at the time who were doing something similar to what Moving Hearts were also doing: revising Irish traditional music and bringing it to a younger audience. Myself and my now deceased buddy Terry-Lee had a band of our own, and we used the same room in the local girl's convent school to rehearse and write in. But Chess were way ahead of us and we hung out at their sessions rolling spliffs in return for crash-course lessons in how to get things done.
Stevie never forgot me, and when he joined The Waterboys and they lost their long-term drummer Kevin Wilkinson to suicide, I was among those that got the call when the band were ready to pick up where they left off after his death. Fran Breen was the hottest contender for the job and I was a fan of his and went to all sorts of bills he played on. I had the weekend slot with the boys from Friday evening through to Sunday evening. Fran had done the few days before me and was there collecting his gear when I arrived. I asked him for any tips he might have and he steered me right and the lads and I had a fun few days which I was admittedly kind of confused by, because they seemed to have morphed into a country and western band for some reason. The 'Big Music' thing wasn't a factor any more, and I'm not exactly challenged by two-step rhythms, so I got pretty bored fairly fast.
But the fact that I'd gotten the audition and was kept on the books for several weeks while they figured out what they were actually going to do next was enough to boost my profile so I grabbed everything I could that wasn't nailed down and built a reputation for myself that got the phone hopping with offers. So I'm grateful to Stevie, and said so when he invited me over to listen to a few tracks they'd been working on with Fran over in Galway. By then he married and lived in a flat around the corner from me in Portobello. Among others was the track in the next post, which sounded to me a bit more like their previous stuff. But when I heard 'A Bang On The Ear' and some fairly jaded auld tat based ont WB Yeats's poetry, I knew I dodged a bullet and was happy that Fran got the gig - I was way too young anyway, and I guess they took that into account.
These weren't Fran's drums I was hearing - these were Kevin Wilkinson's. They'd started writing these tracks while Karl Wallinger was still aboard and before Kevin topped himself, possibly because he hated country music even more than I do - I don't know. But anyway - keep telling yourself that 'nobody cares about ''originality'' in music any more' you dumb and bovine little twat.
That's what creates the yawning chasm in knowledge about music between you and I.
