The Moet, The Merrier

The 'Achtung Baby' album and the Zoo TV tour were license for U2 to abandon the script and to get royally silly. It was probably their best record and it was torn out of the most grievous circumstances. So, as we get close to the 20th anniversary of all that, there are going to be many chances to revisit the story.

Last night's BBC broadcast, 'From The Sky Down' was a good version that enlisted the band and their studio cohorts, Brian Eno, Daniel Lanois and Flood. There was plenty of context - about the overkill of 'Rattle And Hum' in 1988 plus the annoying cowboy hats and cover versions. The Berlin shenanigans also allowed us to remember what the intense upheaval that the city and the band lived through at the same time.

Sadly, the individual album tracks were mostly passed over. There was a bit about 'The Fly' and excitingly, a recording of the moment when the chords of 'One' first appeared as the bridge section in another tune. This was a eureka session, and it's the first time I've heard it roll.

I was an NME writer at the time and this gave me access to some feverish Zoo TV moments in 1992. I'll relate a few of these in the coming months, but one of the most flippant came about when I noticed a promotional U2 video that had chopped up a load of my reviews and spliced them into the edit. An American writer would probably have gone straight to his lawyers, looking for a settlement. However, I just placed a snippy remark in the NME gossip column.

Next thing I get a call from the reception desk at IPC Publishing at King's Reach Towers. I go down and I find that Bono has sent me a letter of apology and a large package. Inside is a box of Tayto cheese and onion plus a case of Dom Perignon, cuvée 1988. Achtung, bubbly.