"Bono I wouldn't be mad about, because he orchestrates the corporate thing"

Eamon Dunphy on U2, 1988


Quite interesting, watching this in hindsight.

An interesting interview. Thanks for sharing. He's not that keen on Bono compared to the rest of the band.

Eamon Dunphy on U2, 1988

Quite interesting, watching this in hindsight.

What is the background on this for those of us who weren’t really around back then?

He wrote a book around that time, an autobiography, The Unforgettable Fire U2

He wrote a book around that time, an autobiography, The Unforgettable Fire U2

Yes it was I think the first book to be written about U2. Since then, there've been plenty. Too many I reckon.

Quote from: walktothewater on March 05, 2025, 05:39:28 PM

Eamon Dunphy on U2, 1988

Quite interesting, watching this in hindsight.

What is the background on this for those of us who weren’t really around back then?

The background is, Dunphy was chosen to be U2's first official biographer even though he was not a music journalist. Indeed, the book, when released, was widely criticised at the time on those grounds (ie, Dunphy not having a background in music) and others. 

The reason I say in hindsight is that, in my view, some of Bono's worst attributes which Dunphy identifies in this brief interview, have since come to light much more in recent years. Even though the book itself is almost a hagriography.

If anything, at the time, it was criticised for being far too much of a hagriography.

Be interesting to hear Dunphys take on the band and band members, nearly 40 years on. I bet Adam is still his fave!!

Be interesting to hear Dunphys take on the band and band members, nearly 40 years on. I bet Adam is still his fave!!

Yes I expect so.

Quote from: This Dave on March 09, 2025, 08:03:24 PM

Quote from: walktothewater on March 05, 2025, 05:39:28 PM

Eamon Dunphy on U2, 1988

Quite interesting, watching this in hindsight.

What is the background on this for those of us who weren’t really around back then?

The background is, Dunphy was chosen to be U2's first official biographer even though he was not a music journalist. Indeed, the book, when released, was widely criticised at the time on those grounds (ie, Dunphy not having a background in music) and others. 

The reason I say in hindsight is that, in my view, some of Bono's worst attributes which Dunphy identifies in this brief interview, have since come to light much more in recent years. Even though the book itself is almost a hagriography.

If anything, at the time, it was criticised for being far too much of a hagriography.

What did he say about Bono?

I think Eamon Dunphy’s book is one of the least interesting U2 books.

He’s right about the corporate aspect of things but not sure I’m buying his view about U2 members. He’s saying Adam is the « saner » individual in U2 but if I recall correctly, 1988 is not too far from Adam’s worst state regarding alcoholism / depression.


And… did he call his own book Chariots of Fire instead of Unforgettable Fire ?

I think Eamon Dunphy’s book is one of the least interesting U2 books.

He’s right about the corporate aspect of things but not sure I’m buying his view about U2 members. He’s saying Adam is the « saner » individual in U2 but if I recall correctly, 1988 is not too far from Adam’s worst state regarding alcoholism / depression.


And… did he call his own book Chariots of Fire instead of Unforgettable Fire ?

He called his own book "Tired and Emotional", if I recall correctly.

Be interesting to hear Dunphys take on the band and band members, nearly 40 years on. I bet Adam is still his fave!!

By far, yes. Dunphy was/is close to Paul McGuinness, despite McGuinness's harshness and even contemptuousness towards Dunphy after the drafts of the book were delivered and for some time after. Adam was really the only member of the band to whom Dunphy could relate. He regarded Larry as a kid - Bono's kid brother, as he saw it - and was somewhat disparaging of Edge in private - he described Edge to me around that time as merely "a golfer" happiest on the greens of St Margaret's. He liked Bono on a personal level, and liked Ali hugely, but recognised Bono's manipulativeness for what it was, and he considered Bono a rather shallow individual. He liked Adam in large part because Adam was forthcoming (privately, at that time, later publicly) about his struggles. I might post at greater length about the Dunphy biography episode, as I know a lot about it and have spoken to all the principals about it over the years. McGuinness was somewhat disparaging about the book at the time, incidentally, but he liked it. Once when I was in his office, in 1991, leafing through a Dave Marsh biography of Springsteen, Paul remarked to me that they much preferred Dunphy's biography of U2, despite its many obvious shortcomings, to the two-dimensional fan-with-typewriter stuff that Marsh and other US writers churned out. Someone else in these comments said Dunphy called his U2 biography Chariots of Fire. He didn't. Listen more carefully. He likened it to Chariots of Fire. Big difference.

Quote from: Smee on March 10, 2025, 06:32:13 AM

Be interesting to hear Dunphys take on the band and band members, nearly 40 years on. I bet Adam is still his fave!!

By far, yes. Dunphy was/is close to Paul McGuinness, despite McGuinness's harshness and even contemptuousness towards Dunphy after the drafts of the book were delivered and for some time after. Adam was really the only member of the band to whom Dunphy could relate. He regarded Larry as a kid - Bono's kid brother, as he saw it - and was somewhat disparaging of Edge in private - he described Edge to me around that time as merely "a golfer" happiest on the greens of St Margaret's. He liked Bono on a personal level, and liked Ali hugely, but recognised Bono's manipulativeness for what it was, and he considered Bono a rather shallow individual. He liked Adam in large part because Adam was forthcoming (privately, at that time, later publicly) about his struggles. I might post at greater length about the Dunphy biography episode, as I know a lot about it and have spoken to all the principals about it over the years. McGuinness was somewhat disparaging about the book at the time, incidentally, but he liked it. Once when I was in his office, in 1991, leafing through a Dave Marsh biography of Springsteen, Paul remarked to me that they much preferred Dunphy's biography of U2, despite its many obvious shortcomings, to the two-dimensional fan-with-typewriter stuff that Marsh and other US writers churned out. Someone else in these comments said Dunphy called his U2 biography Chariots of Fire. He didn't. Listen more carefully. He likened it to Chariots of Fire. Big difference.

Didn't Baron Greenback ask you: "Who gave you permission to leaf through my books?  PUT THAT BOOK DOWN".