 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(July 2018) |
| "The Electric Co." | |
|---|---|
| Song by U2 | |
| from the album Boy | |
| Released | 20 October 1980 |
| Recorded | July–September 1980 |
| Studio | Windmill Lane Studios (Dublin) |
| Genre | Rock, post-punk |
| Length | 4:48 |
| Label | Island |
| Songwriter(s) | U2 |
| Producer(s) | Steve Lillywhite |
"The Electric Co." or "Cry/The Electric Co." is a song by Irish rock band U2, and is the tenth track on their debut album Boy , released in 1980.
"Electric co." is an abbreviation for "electric convulsion therapy", which is an electric shock undergone by patients in psychiatry as part of their treatment. [1] The band wrote this as a protest song in reference to a friend who tried to kill himself and as a result was taken to a psychiatric hospital that practiced electric convulsion therapy. [1]
For live performances, a short song called "The Cry" or "Cry" has been linked to the beginning "The Electric Co". The riff from "The Cry" was later used in the song "Is That All?" from the group's 1981 album October . "The Electric Co." was sometimes titled "Cry/The Electric Co." because it was preceded by "The Cry". In the studio version of "The Electric Co." found on Boy, "The Cry" is not incorporated in the song.
"The Cry" preceded "The Electric Co." at every concert since 1980 in Edinburgh until the end of The Unforgettable Fire Tour. During this period, Bono sang a snippet of "Send in the Clowns" by Stephen Sondheim at the end of the song. During The Joshua Tree Tour, it was played without "The Cry", and the number of times they played this song was reduced. It was last performed on August 3, 1987.
On March 28, 2005, in San Diego, California, on the opening night of the Vertigo Tour, the song was performed for the first time in 17 years. It became a favorite on the Vertigo Tour. During the first leg of the tour it was preceded by "The Cry", but they stopped using it during the second leg, except in Montreal in the third set. Bono characterized "The Electric Co." by the fragments sung during the song, such as "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" by The Smashing Pumpkins and "I Can See for Miles" by The Who, as well as the returning snippet of "Send in the Clowns" plus others. The song was played in most of the concerts in the first leg, and all but one of the shows in the second leg, and remained constant during the third before becoming used more sporadically. It had only appeared in one of the 21 concerts in 2006. It was not played again until the Innocence + Experience Tour where it saw occasional performances played after the show opener "The Miracle (Of Joey Ramone)", again with "Send in the Clowns" and "I Can See for Miles" regularly snippeted.
"The Electric Co." has appeared in 3 video releases and 3 live album releases beginning with Under a Blood Red Sky , U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky , Live from Boston 1981 , Vertigo 2005: Live from Chicago and Live from Paris . In Under a Blood Red Sky, Bono sings a snippet of "Send in the Clowns" by Stephen Sondheim lasting 27 seconds. U2 didn't get permission to sing this song, causing them to pay US $50,000. The original release (along with other releases) contains the snippet, but others contained an edited version of the song. In U2 Live at Red Rocks, "Cry/The Electric Co." was not in the original release of the film because Bono repeats singing the snippet of "Send in the Clowns" without permission. Bono also climbs a lighting rig while holding a white flag, during a part in the song, which became the cover of both the album and the film. The 2008 remastered edition contains an edited version of the song. Six days prior to the Red Rocks performance, 23-year-old Bono scaled a 50-foot lighting rig holding a white flag during "The Electric Co." at the US Festival near San Bernardino, California on Memorial Day 1983, broadcast on MTV.
Under a Blood Red Sky is a live album by Irish rock band U2, produced by Jimmy Iovine and released on 21 November 1983. The record's eight tracks were compiled from three concerts during the group's 1983 War Tour, including two songs from their 5 June performance at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. The concert film U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky, recorded at the same Red Rocks show, was released as a companion to the live album. Both releases helped establish globally U2's reputation as a renowned live act.
"New Year's Day" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the third track on their 1983 album War and was released as the album's lead single in January 1983. With lyrics written about the Polish Solidarity movement, "New Year's Day" is driven by Adam Clayton's distinctive bassline and the Edge's piano and guitar playing. It was the band's first UK hit single, peaking at number 10, and was also their first international hit, reaching for number 9 in Norway, number 11 on the Dutch Top 40, number 17 in Sweden, and number 53 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.
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The War Tour was a concert tour by the Irish rock band U2, which took place in 1982 and 1983 in support of the group's third album War. The tour took place in Western Europe, the United States, Canada and Japan, with new material from War taking an increasing role as the tour progressed. Venues were mostly halls, but some arenas were introduced later on. U2's performances were very well received both critically and commercially, especially in the United States where U2 broke through to become a major act. Scenes of lead singer Bono waving a white flag during the song "Sunday Bloody Sunday" became an emblematic image of this phase of U2's career. It was their first tour as full-time headlining act and their first to be profitable.
"Bullet the Blue Sky" is a song by rock band U2 and is the fourth track from their 1987 album, The Joshua Tree. Lyrically, the song was inspired by a trip that lead vocalist Bono made to Nicaragua and El Salvador, where he saw firsthand how local peasants were affected by United States military intervention in the region. Angered by what he witnessed, Bono asked guitarist the Edge to "put El Salvador through an amplifier." "Bullet the Blue Sky" is one of the band's most overtly political songs, with live performances often being heavily critical of political conflicts and violence.
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"October" is the seventh and title track from U2's 1981 album, October. It is a departure from U2's classic sound, as it is a quiet, almost instrumental piece. It was included as a hidden track on The Best of 1980–1990 compilation. It is the only track from October included in the compilation.
"An Cat Dubh" and "Into the Heart" are two songs by Irish rock band U2. They are the third and fourth tracks, respectively, on the band's debut album, Boy. The two tracks are played together as one song, both on the album and during live performances.
"Seconds" is the second track on U2's 1983 album, War. The track, with its recurring lyric of "it takes a second to say goodbye", refers to nuclear proliferation. It is the first song in the band's history not sung solely by Bono, as the Edge sings the first two stanzas.
"In a Little While" is a song by Irish rock band U2 and the sixth track on their 2000 album All That You Can't Leave Behind.
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It is the opening track from their 1983 album War and was released as the album's third single on 21 March 1983 in the Netherlands and West Germany. "Sunday Bloody Sunday" is noted for its militaristic drumbeat, harsh guitar, and melodic harmonies. One of U2's most overtly political songs, its lyrics describe the horror felt by an observer of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, mainly focusing on the 1972 Bloody Sunday incident in Derry where British troops shot and killed unarmed civil rights protesters. Along with "New Year's Day," the song helped U2 reach a wider listening audience. It was generally well received by critics on the album's release.
Live from Paris is a concert video and live album by Irish rock band U2. It was recorded during the band's concert at Hippodrome de Vincennes in Paris, France, on 4 July 1987 during the Joshua Tree Tour. The concert was originally released in video form on the bonus DVD that was included in the remastered box set of The Joshua Tree, released on 20 November 2007. The following year, the concert was released as a digital music download exclusively in the iTunes Store on 21 July 2008.
U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky is a concert film by Irish rock band U2. It was recorded on 5 June 1983 at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado, United States, on the group's War Tour. Originally released in 1984 on videocassette, U2 Live at Red Rocks was the band's first video release. It accompanied a 1983 live album entitled Under a Blood Red Sky, on which two tracks from the film appear. The video was directed by Gavin Taylor and produced by Rick Wurpel and Doug Stewart.
The Boy Tour was a concert tour by Irish rock band U2. Staged in support of their debut album Boy (1980), the tour visited small clubs from 1980–1981. Comprising five legs and 157 concerts, the tour began on 6 September 1980 in Coventry, England, and ended on 9 June 1981 in London, England. It was U2's first tour of continental Europe and North America.
This is a timeline of the history of rock band U2:
