#101 U2

U2 makes their first appearance in the 1991 MusiCards set huddled together outdoors on card #101. Checklist shenanigans are afoot here, as U2 gets another card at #106, with four unrelated acts between them.

Spoiler alert, but this part of the checklist (again, more or less alphabetical) looks like this:

#99 Tina Turner
#100 Tina Turner
#101 U2
#102 UB40
#103 Jody Watley
#104 Karyn White
#105 Paul Young
#106 U2   <--- End of "pop" section
#107 Al B. Sure   <--- Start of "R&B/rap" section
#108 Al B. Sure

Perhaps there was another artist down at the end of the alphabet meant to have card #106 that had to be swapped out for some reason and so U2 filled in? (I'd like to believe Frank Zappa was penciled in there, LOL.) More likely is the guy at Pro Set in charge of correlating the set screwed up when assigning numbers again, like with the whole "Card #90" debacle. The janky order isn't really a big deal, of course; just something slightly interesting to point out as we make our way through the set.

Partially since I've again procrastinated until the last day of the month for the blog's monthly post, I think I'm going to keep the second U2 card in sequence and save it for later.

After a very slanted front photo, looks like The Edge got cropped out of the back shot. The second card, #106, doesn't even have a back photo, but rather just a big text "U2" in that space, so perhaps Pro Set was working with a limited number of band photos to choose from here, or simply had trouble fitting the four guys into the design. The blurb jumps right into lauding Joshua Tree, then lists the fellas, divulging the oh-so-secret real names of Bono and The Edge in the process.

U2 - "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"

The Joshua Tree has in fact endured as the band's peak, as far as critical and commercial success, though they've put together an incredible body of work. It's amazing that they're still together with all the original members to this day. There can't be many other rock bands out there who've remained active for decades with no major lineup changes. It's my understanding that the guys split the money evenly, which must help with the longevity.

I was a little too young to be fully present for the Joshua Tree era, but Achtung Baby (1991) and Zooropa (1993) were right in my wheelhouse. I owned those CDs and loved them. I even had an Achtung Baby t-shirt that I rocked in high school, though I never saw them live. 

When I was first getting into the band, circa 1990, I made dubbed cassettes of their early albums I borrowed on tape from my cousin. Copies of copies, I didn't even have song titles and had to make up tracklistings based on my best guesses from the lyrics. LOL 

U2 - "A Day Without Me" (--not actually "Landslide in my Ego", as I first knew it as.)

Eventually I built up a better U2 library in my collection and learned the real names to their older songs. I loved all that stuff, though when 1997's Pop came out-- or more specifically the lead single "Discothèque"-- it didn't jive with me at all, and I never really picked up my fandom back to the level it was at before that. 

But yeah, what a run to begin their career:

Boy (1980)
October (1981)
War (1983)
The Unforgettable Fire (1984)
The Joshua Tree (1987)
Rattle and Hum (1988)
Achtung Baby (1991)
Zooropa (1993)

Those all get a thumbs up from me. Bono can get on your nerves sometimes, sure, but you gotta admit U2 had something special going there.

Welp, I gotta run, but for more U2 info, here's the link to their main Wikipedia page. And we'll circle back to them again soon at card #106.

Are you a U2 fan? Favorite songs of theirs? Let me know in the comments. Thanks!