When u2 released.......Number 2 - The Joshua Tree

2nd in this series of threads - the first was Boy.....which by the way can be found here if you haven't contributed yet:

http://forum.talku2.com/index.php?topic=2094.0

We move on 7 years now to 1987...and The Joshua Tree

Same question:

What were you up to/what was going on in your life when u2 released TJT.....How did it impact/influence you at the time - maybe this album sound tracked college, your transition to being a teenager or young adulthood etc...Maybe it was your first taste of the band...

A lot of people replied on the "Boy" thread saying they were very young (myself included) 7 years later what was your story....

2nd in this series of threads - the first was Boy.....which by the way can be found here if you haven't contributed yet:

http://forum.talku2.com/index.php?topic=2094.0

We move on 7 years now to 1987...and The Joshua Tree

Same question:

What were you up to/what was going on in your life when u2 released TJT.....How did it impact/influence you at the time - maybe this album sound tracked college, your transition to being a teenager or young adulthood etc...Maybe it was your first taste of the band...

A lot of people replied on the "Boy" thread saying they were very young (myself included) 7 years later what was your story....

March 1987

I was 10 years old. In 4th grade.

Interests:
Playing pirated software on my Commodore 64
Watching episodes of ALF
Listening to The Beach Boys, Beatles and The Monkees
Karate lessons
Being miserable playing the clarinet
Watching WWF, NWA and AWA wrestling with my grandfather

The Joshua Tree, at that time, didn't affect me at all. I didn't know who the hell U2 was for another year until I saw ads for the Rattle & Hum movie. I had, however, heard "New Years Day" on Pittsburgh Penguin hockey television broadcasts (it was used as a commercial break lead-in music bed). My friend gave me a 5 1/4" floppy disk with music generated on a Commodore 64. New Years Day was one of the songs on it. God, I wish I had that track so I could sample it. I wouldn't care about The Joshua Tree for another 4 to 5 years.

In March 1987 I was 7 years old.  I didn't really discover The Joshua Tree for another 3 or 4 years when a friend introduced me to U2.

This is the album, the songs...that literally saved my life...maybe about 5 or 6 years after it's release. I don't remember the timing...some of that time period is "in the black". But that story is for another day...or maybe never. Let me just say, thank God for Streets, the long intro especially...it played over and over in my head when I needed a lifeline.

Anyway...when the JT was released, I was 32 or 33 years old, sort of happy, sort of healthy, good job, living a sort of good life (or so I thought). I was, at the time, collecting U2...I always bought 2 vinyl copies, one that I listened to, and one that was never opened. Due to the circumstances in my life at the time, I was unable to go to concerts, and I never saw U2 play live until 2015...

I can say that I DID get to attend many great rock shows in the 70's...before my life got weird. So, I'm lucky in that.
 

I was 11 and in the 5th grade and it was cool to have these band buttons on your jean jacket and I had a Joshua Tree one along with a perm in my hair!

I was an avid soccer player on a travel team and a Girl Scout, I really liked the Joshua Tree I got into U2 from Live aid and MTV playing under a blood red sky

I was 15 and busy losing my virgi........innocence....ahem. I lived in Blessington, a town just an hour south of Dublin, and was more focused on getting into college than I was on music. Besides, how could they outdo the greatest album of all time - Unforgettable Fire?

I was at home with my then fiance listening to a local radio station when he heard it and it blew us away.Sealed the deal.

1987

- I was 21
- Huge U2 fan since War
- First year in Law School
- Part time job in a sporting goods store. I was even stringing tennis raquets in the summer.
- First serious g/f.
- Saw U2 at the Big O in MTL in October

Great year all around. 

1987

- I was 21
- Huge U2 fan since War
- First year in Law School
- Part time job in a sporting goods store. I was even stringing tennis raquets in the summer.
- First serious g/f.
- Saw U2 at the Big O in MTL in October

Great year all around. 

Me too I was a fan before JT first heard them on Chom Sunday night s with R.Rajotte new music foundation underground music from UK.

Quote from: MPare1966 on August 15, 2018, 01:54:42 PM

1987

- I was 21
- Huge U2 fan since War
- First year in Law School
- Part time job in a sporting goods store. I was even stringing tennis raquets in the summer.
- First serious g/f.
- Saw U2 at the Big O in MTL in October

Great year all around. 

Me too I was a fan before JT first heard them on Chom Sunday night s with R.Rajotte new music foundation underground music from UK.

Claude Rajotte and mostly Benoît Dufresne were hosting New Music Foundation in the 80's. And you are right, it was on Sunday nights. I discovered lots of UK bands with these guys.

I was in High School.

I had a part time job in a café.

I played football (right-back) for an amateur club.

I played a lot of Snooker.

I had a (innocent) summer romance on holiday in Spain.

I was a big Prince fan and INXS fan. Sign 'O' The Times and Kick were my favourite albums.

I hadn't really 'discovered' U2 yet (that would come with Desire the following year), though I knew of them and read a review of their show in Record Mirror.

 

i was 7.  i think i remember hearing a few of the songs on the radio, but i wasn't a fan at this point. wasn't really into music yet period.

I was 16 back then,  probably a sophmore in HS,  started my first part time job at a grocery store after school.  I was aware of them and i may have gotten a girl TJT for a birthday gift.  Honestly though i wasn't really much of a fan...that came later on in life....i was more into new wave than u2.  It's funny though,  i can remember practicing tennis while listening to the radio and hearing JT songs come on. 

Quote from: mariamontreal on August 15, 2018, 01:58:15 PM

Quote from: MPare1966 on August 15, 2018, 01:54:42 PM

1987

- I was 21
- Huge U2 fan since War
- First year in Law School
- Part time job in a sporting goods store. I was even stringing tennis raquets in the summer.
- First serious g/f.
- Saw U2 at the Big O in MTL in October

Great year all around. 

Me too I was a fan before JT first heard them on Chom Sunday night s with R.Rajotte new music foundation underground music from UK.

Claude Rajotte and mostly Benoît Dufresne were hosting New Music Foundation in the 80's. And you are right, it was on Sunday nights. I discovered lots of UK bands with these guys.

It was Claude not Richard I actually have a friend named R.Rajotte...thanks I taped backed then on cassette a lot of those. I was introduced to U2 Clash ABC so many but U2 became my band.Those Sunday nights listening to all the new music from across the pond were great.

I had been a fan since '83.  In '87 I was newly married and starting my career.  I was already a huge fan of the band's but this album made me love them all the more.  It was strange to see everyone else jump on board to like "my" band.