New Years Day or Pride. Which single was more important?

Both important in different ways.

The record company would be expecting a hit single 3 albums in. NYD did it's job. This together with U2's growing reputation as a live band shot War to number 1.

Two Hearts failed to make the top 10. But U2 resisted a third single from War or a stand alone single.

They were an album/live band. Instead choosing to showcase what they enjoy the most with UABRS.

Pride was important in that U2 had to show they were not another The Cult, Big Country or The Alarm.

It entered the UK charts at number 8 & peaked at number 3. TUF was aclaimed & U2 were now the band of the 80's 

For me NYD was a bit more important.

A failure of NYD & War to take off may have resulted in them being dropped by their record company. Despite the quality of Boy, October, War & the live shows. Money talks & hit singles were very important.

By Pride, they had War, NYD & UABRS to fall back on. So not a disaster if it wasn't a hit. The record company would not drop them.

TUF album was also good enough to keep the fans they already had & gain some new fans. A world tour would also help.

Neither NYD or Pride were hits in America.

However they were big there by 1983 as UABRS shows. This was down to the albums & live shows. 

An important question is 'would U2 have got Band Aid & Live Aid without Pride being a hit?

Pride ensured TUF was a hit album & TUF (single) was a hit.

TUF tour was a slow burner. The momentum saw them play MSG, MK & Croke Park near the end of the tour. So worthy of a Live Aid slot by the summer of 85.

However Band Aid was 1984 & the Live Aid line up was made early 1985. Would a U2 without Pride & TUF (single) have been included?

Band Aid was made up of popular singles artists at the time - Boy George, George Michael, Paul Young.  Singles were what got you onto TOTP & Smash Hits.

The aim was to sell as much as possible.

U2 had gravitas due to their albums & live shows. But also needed to have had hit singles. Thank goodness for 'Pride'.

We probably have a different perspective in Europe.

You’re forgetting an important factor : Sunday Bloody Sunday. Though it only had a minor release as a single, it got a very huge impact.

To me it’s the combination of NYD, SBS and Pride that put U2 on the map.

NYD was like « hey, nice ! ». SBS was like « whaaaat ?!? ». Pride was like « ok, right on ». And from that point on people were able to listen to the band’s back catalogue and get hooked.

We probably have a different perspective in Europe.

You’re forgetting an important factor : Sunday Bloody Sunday. Though it only had a minor release as a single, it got a very huge impact.

To me it’s the combination of NYD, SBS and Pride that put U2 on the map.

NYD was like « hey, nice ! ». SBS was like « whaaaat ?!? ». Pride was like « ok, right on ». And from that point on people were able to listen to the band’s back catalogue and get hooked.

From NYD towards Live Aid they were buzzing around enough in the public eye to get people to check out War or TUF.

Two Hearts, SBS, The Tube, UABRS, Pride, TUF (single), Band Aid, live shows.

I was aware of these as a 13-15 year old but not a fan. 

Once people bought an album or went to a show, they were hooked as both were so strong.

By the end of TUF tour they had built up a big enough following to play MK, MSG, Croke Park & swarm Wembley Stadium

Both equally important.   

As steps in a ladder to super stardom. 

I might say Pride was the song that really solidified they were amazing. 


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We probably have a different perspective in Europe.

You’re forgetting an important factor : Sunday Bloody Sunday. Though it only had a minor release as a single, it got a very huge impact.

To me it’s the combination of NYD, SBS and Pride that put U2 on the map.

NYD was like « hey, nice ! ». SBS was like « whaaaat ?!? ». Pride was like « ok, right on ». And from that point on people were able to listen to the band’s back catalogue and get hooked.

Your perspective is exactly the same as mine, so doesn’t apply just in Europe. 

What you’re describing is what I experienced myself during the WAR-TUF period. Although I went through Boy and October before TUF got released, but that’s a minor detail.

NYD was important because 'October' unfortunately wasn't a big seller of an album (IWF at least made somewhat of an impact for 'Boy').  Pride was a familiar sound/direction on an album that very much was not in comparison to its predecessors.  I'd probably call this a 'draw'.

I intially said NYD. Then realised they may have needed Pride to get Band & Live Aid slots.

So a close call.

New Years Day was the one that made Brian Eno take notice. Think it was more important for properly breaking out of post punk and entering the widescreen territory for the first time.

New Years Day because it was their first big hit.

New Years Day because it was their first big hit.

I would have to agree. If they didn't have a hit with NY Day they wouldn't have had Pride in my opinion.