MOG

The re-issue of the Joshua Tree comes out next Tuesday. I've mentioned to approximately two people just how excited I am and really I couldn't tell them how excited I am, because I don't have words.

I haven't mentioned my joy and anticipation here before because I get the feeling there isn't much love on MOG for U2, and that's okay. When I first started listening to them 20 years ago, NO ONE I knew liked them. NO ONE. I was all alone in my U2 love. I did not have the internet to help me seek out other freaks. Instead, I had to turn my family into U2 fans. My mom, my sister and my brother all jumped on the U2 bandwagon. Dad is the single holdout but he's starting to give in. He finally knows who Bono is and what he looks like. But Dad refuses to pronounce Bono's name correctly and this drives Mom crazy. Dad will be watching TV and he will see Bono and call out to Mom in the next room: "Honey! Bone-o is on the news." Mom will roll her eyes to heaven and say, "It's BON-o. How many times do I have to tell him?" I just laugh and consider it a small victory. After 20 years, I take what I can get.

But the Joshua Tree is THE album for me. I fell in love with U2 because of this album. It was the first album (technically, cassette) I ever saved up my money to buy and this was a huge investment as I did not have an allowance. Plus, since this was such an expensive item ($10 I believe) I refused to buy it (or any album for that matter) without hearing (and liking) four songs. My reasoning was, most albums average 10 songs. Four is almost half, so if I like that many songs on an album, hopefully the rest will be good as well. This was my thought process at age 13. And once again, I have no internet and no friends who have purchased this album. I am relying on the radio and MTV to bring me my U2. It took a while to hear four songs. But I finally did and I finally bought it and I love it. I still have the cassette. Yes, I upgraded to CD, but that cassette is my favorite and I will treasure it always.

Of course the great U2 propaganda machine has been churning out little teasers of the deluxe re-issue, the latest being a video of Bono talking about and singing, "Wave of Sorrow":

A song from the original Joshua Tree session that was never finished, it will be included on the bonus CD.

You can also catch a preview of the DVD performance that's included over on Amazon.com. It includes "In God's Country" and "Pride". While I am very anxious to see the DVD, watching the preview is just odd. This is the version of U2 I fell in love with, but it's been quite a while since they looked like that. I never saw them live back then. I still kick myself that I missed them when they were in Memphis filming "Rattle and Hum." I read about it in the local paper the next day and cried. I was sure if I had known they were here I could have convinced Mom to let me skip school to go downtown and try to meet the band. I mentioned this to her recently and she agreed, I probably could have talked her into it. That just made it hurt a little more.

If you're still with me (and I'm sure most aren't) why not go check out the latest charity auction for the African Well Fund. This is a group started by U2 fans who believe everyone has a basic human right to access to clean water. The money they raise is used to build and maintain water wells in Africa. The auction includes an abundance of U2-related items, but there are items from other artists as well. I have my eye on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame coffee mug. I have a huge coffee mug collection. But I don't drink coffee. That's me, in a nutshell, right there.

Thanks for listening to my U2 ramblings. I shall now go forth and purchase a chicken biscuit! Because I'm "on vacation"! Woot!