Tuesday, August 20, 2013

U2.COM : Utter Propaganda

We're always looking to bring our subscribers rare content on U2.com. Someone reminded us that long before the internet there were these printed artefacts made with ink and paper called 'magazines'. In the mid-1980's the band launched their own magazine, Propaganda

Each edition carried interviews, behind-the-scenes action from video-shoots or recording studios, road diaries, classic photography, profiles of acts that the band were into and stories about the latest campaign from Amnesty or Greenpeace. 

Published with a regular irregularity over 16 years until 2002, Propaganda was the official U2 magazine. You got a copy only if you were a member of the fan club and it became a great place to get in touch with U2 afficonados around the world. You could send each other postcards (like extremely slow emails travelling by sack in ship and plane) and arrange to meet at gigs. You could fall in love and spend your life together. 

Some of our more mature subscribers will have back copies clogging up an attic somewhere but most of you may never have seen it. That's why we're aiming to bring a new (old) issue online two or three times a year, just like first time around. (To preserve people's anonymity we've redacted surnames, home addresses and phone numbers from the print editions and occasionally we'll exclude some elements of the original content). 

We're kicking things off with a special issue which marked the release of Achtung Baby in 1991, the only edition to go beyond the fan club. Take a read, play around with the features and tell us what you think in the comments. (If you know Propaganda from way back when, tell us which issue you'd like to see go live next.) 

PROPAGANDA - ACHTUNG BABY SPECIAL EDITION
First Published in 1991 


'To mark the first all-new studio album since The Joshua Tree in 1987, this issue of the band's own magazine charts the creation of the new long-player in places as diverse as Berlin, Germany, North America and Dublin, Ireland.
This edition contains exclusive, largely unpublished, photography from Anton Corbijn, location reports from the making of The Fly video, and background information on how the 'look' of Achtung Baby came together…'

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