Classic & Current Contemporary Non-Schlock-Rock Metropolitan Music

1980s AOR Radio - U2: The Band with the Spark

Radio Programmers Predict U2's Success

According to most radio industry people polled, U2 is the band that has the most potential of sustaining as a major act for the '80s. This young quartet out of Dublin, Ireland, recently broke onto the U.S. airwaves with the hit "New Year's Day" from their third LP, War. Their music and lyrics transcend the standard "punk" and "new wave" labels but their sound is unquestionably new and fresh. Lead singer Bono has an unpretentious charisma that allows him to connect with the audience on a personal level.

U2 kicked off its U.S. tour in support of War April 23 at Keenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The band put on a mesmerizing performance in the rain despite their limited set time due to sharing the venue with Todd Rundgren, Grandmaster Flash, and The Producers. At one point, Bono hoisted himself atop the slippery scaffolding high above the stage while wielding a white flag. The tour wraps up in New York City later this year.

"Music started with a spark," says Bono. "What there has to be is a revitalization of music and realizing that the spark is more important. Music's gotten very metronomic, very production line. For the '80s there is a movement that's going to happen right across America, right across the world of young bands, garage bands, who realize that's what it's all about — spark. And they're going to start there, and then we might have a time sort of as exciting as the '60s were musically and not as redundant as the '70s."

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