Talkin’ U2, Bono, and Bedge with Tory from the Retro Fanfic Retrospective Podcast!

Sara welcomes the great and wonderful Tory, best known for their reliably insightful analysis of fanfiction on the Retro Fanfic Retrospective podcast (found wherever you get your podcasts!) Tory shares their lifelong love affair with the legendary band U2, and their knowledge of the band’s history and music. Tory also digs into the amazing feat of how the band’s joyful, sublime chemistry seeps into the very music they produce, sustaining fruitful artistry for nearly fifty years. 

Other topics include: Irish history, and the Christianity of U2, along with comparisons with Oasis. We also talk Bedge and RPF! And we dig into a mini-RFR discussion of likeamadonna’s Bono/Edge fanfiction within a fanfiction, “Fictitious Characters”. 

Contact and Credits:

• Intro Theme: Kyle Laurin "Oasis Supersonic Theme" (Twitter: @cobrakylemusic)
• Clip used - Noel Gallagher on The Late Late Show | RTÉ One 
• Outro clip - “Beautiful Day” by U2, from the album ‘All That You Can't Leave Behind’ - pulled from Youtube licensed via UMG (on behalf of Universal-Island Records Ltd. ℗ An Island Records recording; ℗ 2000 Island Records Limited
• Tumblr: talkinfanfic.tumblr.com 
• Instagram: @talkinfanfic
• Email: talkinfanfic@gmail.com 

 

Time caps:

• 00:00 - Introduction
• 06:03 - Start of episode
• 16:02 - Tory’s music background
• 24:25 - U2 in bloom right now!
• 35:06 - A little Irish history 
• 45:19 - The Troubles, a climate for the formation of U2
• 56:03 - U2’s Bigness, America, and ‘What is Bono??’ 
• 01:02:45 - Bono’s useful celebrity, vs individualism of Oasis. Or, “do-gooders” vs “do-badders”
• 01:08:22 - Bono the Energizer Bunny, and U2 in Vegas
• 01:13:07 - The other members of U2 (Larry, The Edge, and Adam)
• 01:20:35 - Christianity and U2
• 01:31:45 - Religion, U2 vs. Oasis
• 01:34:50 - Religious imagery in the Achtung Baby-era, and Bono’s ‘characters’
• 01:41:42 - U2 fanfiction and RPF fandom
• 01:51:20 - “Fictitious Characters”, by likeamadonna
• 02:02:26 - Fitting Ali into the Bono/Edge
• 02:07:20 - Start of Rapid Fire! (which lasts nearly an hour, lol)
• 02:12:27 - Tory’s Top 5 U2 Tracks

 

Episode References

• U2 Fanfiction.com (Tory mentions they used to read fanfiction from this now defunct archive; link via Wayback Machine) 
• The Retro Fanfic Retrospective podcast (Podbean, you can also search for it on Spotify or Apple Podcasts)
• Link - Band bio, from threechordsandthetruth.net great U2 overview and biography
• U2: The Origins Of The Biggest Band Of The Early 2000s a decent youtube documentary on U2
• A live performance of ‘Until The End Of The World’ from ‘Achtung Baby’, filmed during the US leg of the Zoo TV tour in 1992. Kiss for the camera at 2m34s <3 
• "One" - U2 Music Video (Anton Corbijn Version) feat. Bob Hewson, and U2 in drag! 
• Bono interview with NPR Podcasts -  at 14m46 Bono starts speaking about the concept of ‘Surrender’. “Shut up and listen…is kinda where I’m at.”
• Noel Gallagher on The Late Late Show | RTÉ One  - “Who puts the batteries in that guy??” 
• Youtube Clip - Noel Gallagher, on U2 (for NME) 
•  “Electrical Storm” - U2 Music Video directed by Anton Corbijn (starring Larry!)
• Photo via Pinterest - Liam and Bono kissing. According to Bono, Liam had a guitar pick in his mouth and dared Bono to try and retrieve it in front of paparazzi. The photo was printed in a 2002 issue of Rolling Stone.  
• Reprint of article - “When Oasis Hit the Road with U2” The Daily Telegraph, June 26, 1997
• Bono’s ‘characters’ - Here is MacPhisto making a phone call to a taxi to take him home. This was in Syndey, Australia during the 1993 Zoo TV Tour.

• Retro Fanfic Retrospective - Special Episode - Fanfiction Hypothesis The RFR crew discuss…what is and what is not fanfiction? (Spotify link) 
• Fic discussion - "Fictitious Characters" by likeamadonna (Ao3 link)  
• Bono and The Edge - NPR Tiny Desk Concert (2023) Bono asks Edge to “do an Edge thing!”  
• Bono and The Edge - BBC Radio 2 Piano Room (2023) Bono and the Edge vibing together through a string-laden performance of classic U2 songs. Bono serenading the Edge during “Vertigo” around 7m30s, lots of fond looks. 
• Fic mentioned - The Scientist or: How Edge Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bono by spacemonkey 
• Tory’s Top 5 U2 Tracks (slightly deeper cuts, in no particular order): Red Hill Mining Town , Bad, Lemon, Every Breaking Wave, and Stay (Faraway, So Close!)  
• “Ordinary Love” acoustic version, U2 on Jimmy Fallon (2014) with Roots. One of Sara’s favorite U2 live vids ever!! 
• Tory is listening to - Leith Ross, an indie-rock Canadian singer-songwriter. Here’s a song from their Youtube channel.
• Bandcamp - Her Dilemma the bass player that played for Leith Ross during the set Tory watched. “Mathy”, a bit like Slint!