Best of Release Date

U2tour.de have information about U2’s ‘Best of’ compilation release. It appears to be planned for November 11, there should be a double CD (with B-sides), and perhaps a bonus DVD. The band is finalising the new tracks this week. Whether the “Gangs of New York” tune will be on the compilation is as yet unknown.

Dollars And Cents

Rolling Stone’s fascinating article on CD prices includes a pertinent reference to the band:

“The length of time that catalog releases sit at frontline pricing can be three to ten years,” Vince Syzdlowski of Virgin Megastores says of the labels’ tendency to keep even records such as U2’s 1997 album Pop priced above fifteen dollars. “That’s a missed opportunity. We have a midline program where you buy three for twenty-five dollars, and it’s hugely successful.”

The Full Willie at AtU2.com

We’d almost forget to mention the atU2.com interview with Willie Williams, who remember the birth of Zoo TV: In the spring of 1991 Bono called me having just got home from U2’s exile in Berlin. He asked me to come and join them in Tenerife where they were going to see the carnival. He told me they were making the most exciting album of their career and that it would demand a live show unlike any they’d done before. He had a phrase in his head — “Zoo TV” — which he felt was a key to something, oh, and an absurd pair of oversized sunglasses which he felt were important, too.

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Oakey Dokey

Paul Oakenfold’s website is packed to the brim with goodies, which is good news for fans of the man. Check the ‘media’ / ‘music’ section for the long ‘Goa’ mix. In its first hour, U2’s Lemon (Perfecto) Mix is featured at around 4 minutes into the set. The site also credits part of Oakenfold’s ‘Superstar DJ’ success to his appearance on U2’s Zoo TV tour. (thx, Stale) [ direct link to asx stream ]

Fully Functional DATA

The DATA (debt, Aids, Trade in Africa) website is now on line at www.datadata.org. Bono is a key player in DATA, a new non-profit organization which “aims to raise awareness about the crisis of unpayable debts, the urgent need for more and better foreign development assistance, especially to fight AIDS, and the unfair trade rules which keep Africa.”

Get hot and bothered

Hot Press magazine presents Mixed Grill, celebrating their twenty-fifth birthday. This week they’re offering us the opportunity to ask U2 questions, and answers will appear in the next issue of the magazine, on June 20th.

So… what would you ask?