Reading the accompanying book of the twentieth anniversary edition of the “Joshua Tree”, I suddenly realised how extensive the relationship is between U2 and the US. It is much deeper than the working title of the album “The Two Americas”. If you look at the topics on the first threeU2 albums, the focus is on anything but the US. Still, the relationship with America starts late in 1980 with the second leg of the Boy tour. In the last month of that tour they played 8 dates in the US. The third leg of the same tour is almost exclusively devoted to touring the US. In subsequent tours many dates are played in the US as well. It is obvious that U2 wanted to become big in the US. I remember from their 1987 biography “The Unforgettable Fire”, that they tried to do their tours through one of the biggest American promoters.
Another attempt to become big(ger) in the US, is their legendary Red Rocks concerts aired by MTV. It provided them with a nation-wide audience in the US. They backed this concert up with the release of a live EP: “Under a Blood Red Sky”. Actually, on this live album there are only 2 songs from that Red Rocks concert. The bulk of the songs originates from the performance at the German Loreley festival, aired for the German Rockpalast. Germany is a very large music market in Europe and this must be part of the reason to include that many songs from the performance. Another spin-off of this festival performance is an exclusive Germany-only single: “40″. It features a sticker with the text: “Die Entdeckung der Loreley ‘83″ (The discovery of Loreley ‘83).
After the War album, the tour and the live album, U2 went a different musical direction. They recorded the album “The Unforgettable Fire”. That album featured some songs referring directly to America and American phenomena: “MLK”, “Elvis Presley and America”, “Pride” and “Indian Summer Sky”. Within a year, this album was followed by yet another EP. This one especially designed for the US market, titled: “Wide Awake In America”. It features two live tracks and two B-sides. The release coincided with the end of the (American) 4th leg of the Unforgettable Fire tour. One can say that it was released to strengthen the bond between U2 and their American audience. The latter had seen them play live and where probably interested in more material. The low-priced EP gave them just that.
The documentary “Outside It’s America” is, as it’s name suggests, about U2 in America. And is both recorded and aired for an American MTV audience. I don´t know the date of airing, but it was probably recorded during the first few weeks of the first (American) leg of the tour. Significantly, this was U2’s first tour that started in the US. As fas as I know, they continued that tradition ever since. With the exception of the “Love Town Tour”. So, there you have it U2’s fascination with America , as shown in the book accompanying the remaster, dates way before 1987.
