THE ODD COUPLE

Jimmy Carter settled on Bob Dylan as his favourite rock artist but Garret Fitzgerald's first rock preference is for The Byrd's "Turn Turn Turn".

The admission was extracted from the Fine Gael leader as he paid court to Bono and U-2 in Windmill Studios on the last Friday of the campaign. The transmutation of Garret The Good into Garret The Groover would have been familiar to JIMMY Carter, the first American presidential candidate to actively court the rock vote but it wasn't some scam dreamed up in Fine Gael headquarters. Basically, it was Bono's doing.

When in early summer, returning from a date in Finland, U-2 found themselves sharing the Heathrow departure lounge with Fitzgerald, Bono with typical audacity marched up to him and propelled himself into conversation. Then the two found themselves sharing the same row of seats on the flight to Dublin; Fitzgerald finally capitulated to one personality who can speak faster than him. After all, the pair do have similar religious interests.

By the time the plane landed Fitzgerald was almost offering Bono his Special Branch driver and car for a lift home to Howth and the two swopped addresses. It was only natural that Bono should give a fellow performer valuable publicity advice and invite Fitzgerald down for his most important photo session of the campaign with Colm Henry.

But seriously, the two had continued to correspond since that flying encounter. This unusual endorsement of Garret Fitzgerald stemmed from a real preference for the Fine Gael leader's personality over that of Bono's fellow Northsider, Charles J. Haughey. Charlie's showband associations may not have helped either.

The Sunday WorId had got wind of the story but U-2 didn't want it inserted in The Head's election round-up of entertainer's opinions. Nor did they want a party headquarters press conference celebrity rabbit-out-of-the-hat job. Mohammed had to come to the mountain, visit the studio and work for his endorsement

It was a quiet day for Fitzgerald since he spent the afternoon studying the Book of Estimates in preparation for his debate with Haughey, so the 1.30 photo-call attracted the full gaggle of highly-confused national press correspondents to the one campaign story of the day. Then Garret Fitzgerald became the first senior Irish politician to sit at the mixing desk of a 24-track modern recording studio.

The camera-men snapped as Bono and The Edge explained the intricacies of recording to a somewhat perplexed and definitely impressed Fitzgerald and his wife, Joan. If the encounter achieved anything beyond

its publicity value, its worth was in giving one establishment decision-maker an insight into the complexities of the recording business.

Certainly while the pair chatted as they posed for the photographers, Fitzgerald was learning the stamina required for touring as Bono outlined a typical European schedule. One young Irish businessman in a hi-tech industry was doing a useful lobbying job.

But the assembled hacks were more interested in one-liners. They got them when Bono displayed his characteristic nerve in inviting the Fitzgeralds to dinner with himself and his newly-wed Alison, when Fitzgerald joked about his own lousy singing in the bath and when Bono quipped about being Tanaiste.

Since Fianna Fail previously have received the support of The Fureys and The Chieftains, U-2's action doesn't set a completely new precedent. But as they made clear, this was a personal endorsement for Fitzgerald the man, not a clause-by-clause acceptance of the Fine Gael manifesto. Nor, as one report mistakenly had it, was or is Bono a member of Young Fine Gael.

Also with pirate radio stations assiduously courting politicians, rock as an industry may have suffered from its shyness in fighting for its interests. 1 suspect Bono, U2 and their manager Paul McGuinness figured Garret Fitzgerald could prove more useful than a helping hand!

In the transparent nature of these affairs, Garret didn't really hear the new album. But 1 did and enough to calm any fears that U-2 are going respectable. If anything "War" takes a reverse direction.

It certainly isn't Son of Son of "Boy". When most groups have spent '82 brightening their sound, U-2 wager that 1983 will be the year of the guitar and they've opted for a much more grating, dirtier sound from The Edge while Adam and Larry's rhythm contributions give the band a more pronounced modern New York r 'n' b feel.

Whereas their two previous albums had a pastoral daylight mood, "War" takes U-2's music into the fearful big city night. If "Blade Runner" had been filmed around the inner city, "War" would have made its perfect soundtrack and that's not something you could say about their previous work.

When Garret Fitzgerald left, the band and Steve Lillywhite got back to work with two songs still requiring vocal tracks and their final mix. The Once And Future Taoiseach now has his professional responsibilities. So do U-2.

Bill Graham

Vol 6 No. 20, December 3rd, 1982