The Thing is…
Bono Bono
Dave Fanning
Described as the Irish John Peel, Dave Fanning has been a major player in the Irish and global music scene for over 30 years.In this compelling memoir, RTE Radio 2 DJ Dave Fanning will give the behind-the-scenes story of all the international musicians he has met, including The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, David Bowie, The Who and many, many more.Dave's story starts in the 60s, when he discovered his love for Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen and of course, The Beatles through the family subscription to the NME. This was to be his first glimpse of a world he would soon become an important part of.Graduating from pirate radio and a stint as Editor of Scene magazine, Dave joined RTE radio 2 when it launched in 1973, and quickly became the voice of a generation. Billboard magazine hailed him as the man solely responsible for the growth of Ireland's music industry.Renowned for supporting young, new Irish talent, Dave Fanning will detail the unique story of his role in the launch of U2 and his ongoing friendship with the band, delving into their humble beginnings and rise to fame. Including never-before-seen photographs and images from Dave's huge personal collection, this is an absolute must-have for any music fan and will be a significant contribution to the history of music.
DAVE FANNING
the thing is...
with Ian Gittins
Copyright
Collins
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd. 1 London Bridge Street London SE1 9GF www.harpercollins.co.uk (http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/)
Text © Dave Fanning 2010
The author asserts his moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
All photographs courtesy of the author with the exception of the following:
Picture section 1: p4, bottom, © Colm Henry Picture section 2: p2, middle, © Amelia Stein; p6, top, © Edmund Ross Studios; p7, bottom right, © Mark O’Sullivan
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HarperCollinsPublishers has made every reasonable effort to ensure that any picture content and written content in this ebook has been included or removed in accordance with the contractual and technological constraints in operation at the time of publication
Source ISBN: 9780007310760
EPub Edition © 2010 ISBN: 9780007412402
Version: 2017-07-27
For Annie and Barney
Contents
Cover (#u0b9db794-18bf-50f6-a114-8b891f61941f)
Title Page (#uf51c1308-ca1f-51c0-ac0f-a82049cd307d)
Copyright
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Photographic Insert 1
Photographic Insert 2
Acknowledgments
About the Author
About the Publisher (#litres_trial_promo)
Foreword
By Bono
When you are 17 and in a band, you don’t wear stage gear. You want the off-stage look to be the same as on stage. Our band nearly broke up in its first year because Larry Mullen turned up wearing flares for the first photo session and refused to change. This was the post-punk New Wave scene. There were very strict rules about what you could and couldn’t do – like have a beard, for instance. Dave Fanning had a beard. And kind of curly corkscrew hair. In this very tome, he admits – for a period – to looking like Catweazle. We were too young and naive to realise that playing punk rock music and looking like Catweazle was a very punk rock thing to do. In ’77/’78, you could count the people in this new scene in the hundreds, not the thousands. We had a sign up to announce ourselves. Dave Fanning didn’t bother.
From the very beginning, Dave Fanning was always going his own way, a stubborn river appearing to meander, when in fact he was really just finding the most efficient way around the mountain. He is not serene, our Dave. His conversation is more white-water rafting … ideas percolate … he tests them out on you, wondering who will capsize first … It’s a furtive intelligence; a very fast and furious brain, given to a boy and a character with impeccable manners and grace. His nervous laugh is for you, not him, filling in the spaces where the interviewee can die. The thing is, he gets to the point. He does not waste your time. And when it comes to music, he embodies the difference between wisdom and knowledge. It’s not just that he knows a lot. It’s more that he understands what’s beneath the surface of the song and can see it more clearly. I’d say his greatest joy – apart from sitting at the feet of the masters (in his case, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell) – is the joy of discovery … watching a new talent surface. He sees the silverfish under the water, pulls them out, interviews them, and puts them back, their direction more sure after meeting him.