Giorgio Raffaele Castellino

Gerry Mulligan

The biography of the four Irish musicians and particularly of their leader Bono. Their first steps, the first successes, the growing international celebrity and the undying world-wide fame of one of the greatest rock-bands of all time. But U2 and Bono don’t only mean music; they also mean social and political commitment. Not just a book for the band’s fans but also a book for readers with musical and social interests.
 
 Teacher's Resources available online: Answer Key - Transcripts - Summing-up Activities
 
 La biografia dei quattro musicisti irlandesi e in particolare del leader Bono Vox. I primi passi, i primi successi, la crescente notorietà e la consacrata fama internazionale di una delle più grandi rockbands di tutti i tempi. Ma gli U2 e Bono non sono solo musica, sono anche impegno sociale e politico. Un reader non solo per i fans del gruppo, ma per tutti coloro che hanno interessi musicali e civili.

Paul Hewson (Bono)

Lawrence Joseph Mullen (Larry)

David Evans (The Edge)

Adam Clayton (Sparky)

Chapter 1 - The beginning

Extension: Punk and new wave

Chapter 2 - First records and hits

Extension: The Irish question

Chapter 3 - Thumbs up for U2

Extension: Multiple meanings in some of U2’s hits

Chapter 4 - U2 on stage

Extension: Rock groups

Chapter 5 - Standard and innovative tunes

Extension: Dublin

Chapter 6 - Private and public Bono

Extension: Frequently asked questions

Summing-up activities

Glossary

Paul Hewson (Bono) Paul Hewson (Bono Vox) was born in Dublin, Ireland, on 10th May 1960. As a young boy Paul was very eccentric. He refused convention or rules of any kind and often spent most of his early educational years skipping school1 and walking the streets of Dublin. Born from a Protestant mother and a Catholic father (which is a much scorned2 pairing, even now, in Ireland), Paul often felt out of place and awkward3. When he got to Mount Temple he finally felt at home and became quite popular and well-known, even to the school s teachers. It was Larry Mullen s invitations to Bono to meet at his home and then to join the band that got things moving at the start in 1976. He could write poetry and he had the gift of speech. Both of which made him very suitable to be the lead singer songwriter in the band. But he did not have a great singing voice at first. His gift of talk, communication and playacting with the audience was in fact recognised from the earliest U2 gigs4 and Bono worked hard on that with stagecraft5 courses as he did with his voice taking lessons to increase his singing. Bono s religious beliefs were at the basis of his humanitarian ideas. When he became famous, he used his fame to draw people s attention to important socio-political issues by at first publicly supporting organisations, such as Amnesty International and Greenpeace. He then threw international light on the 3rd World Debt, AIDS in Africa and the war in Bosnia. He had always been attracted by great historic and vision-led6 leaders such as Jesus, Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and, as soon as he realized that rock music could be a very powerful medium, he decided to employ it for something positive, to get fans involved in urgent current events, or to contribute money to charitable organizations. Bono gave a fundamental contribution to all U2 s changes in music and style throughout the years, and re-invented his public image many times. But in his private life he has been quite constant. In fact in 1982 he married his first love, Ali (Alison) Stewart, and they have been together ever since. They now have four children. : F u v 1. skipping school: staying away from school without permission. 2. scorned: not respected. 3. awkward: embarrassed, not at ease. 4. gig: live music performance. 5. stagecraft: skill in acting. 6. vision-led: guided by deep religious or civil thoughts. 4 

Lawrence Joseph Mullen (Larry) Lawrence Joseph Mullen was born on Halloween (31st October) 1961 in Artane, Dublin, Ireland. Larry was a goodlooking young boy with an air of selfconfidence and was very popular at school. As a small child, Larry had gone to see a band play with his parents and his older sister. When he saw the drummer, he told his mother that that was what he wanted to do with his life. His older sister Cecilia bought him his first drum kit7 for seventeen pounds when he was eleven. He even took lessons from a legendary Irish drummer, Joe Bonnie, but he stopped almost immediately as he could not stand8 the man or his teaching method. As a result, he taught himself how to play. Soon his father enrolled him in a marching band and at one point Larry even played in the well-known and respected Artane Boys Band, which plays in the St. Patrick s Day Parade every year. Larry was forced to quit9 that band when they ordered him to cut his hair. It seemed Larry was quite obstinate even from the start. Larry wanted his own band so he placed a note on the notice-board of his school Mount Temple Comprehensive High School, inviting musicians to join him in forming a band. At first, no one replied to Larry s notice on the board, suspecting it was a school-sponsored10 event, but when Adam Charles Clayton expressed interest in joining the band, word began to get around and finally things got started when David Evans (The Edge) and Paul Hewson (Bono) joined the group. They started to practise at Larry s house. Many things about U2 have changed but Larry has always remained constant and true to himself. Not prone to show off11, Larry remains in the background but also in the backbone of the band. Larry is a serious and private person but also has a wildly hilarious side that shines through in the few interviews he does. He is passionate in his undertakings and responsible in his actions. As the drummer, Larry holds the beat of the band in the palm of his hands. : F u F 7. drum kit: a set of drums and cymbals. 8. stand: accept, tolerate. 9. quit: leave. 10. school sponsored: supported by the school. 11. show off: attract attention. 5 

Narrativa inglese, livello B2 intermedio. La biografia dei quattro musicisti irlandesi e in particolare del leader Bono Vox.

U2 - Collana RAINBOWS

Level B2 • Intermediate - Collana RAINBOWS

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