Wednesday August 31, 2022 “Angel of Harlem” U2
Today’s angel is from Harlem" in this U2 song and she is inspired by Billie Holiday, a Jazz singer who moved to Harlem as a teenager in 1928. She played at a variety of nightclubs and became famous for her spectacular voice and ability to move her audience to tears. She dealt with racism, drug problems, and bad relationships for most of her life, and her sadness was often revealed in her songs. She died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1959 at age 44.
U2 recorded this at Sun Studios in Memphis while the band was touring the US in 1987. It features the Memphis Horns, who played on so many of the blues and soul classics recorded at that studio..
U2 have released 13 studio albums and are one of the world’s best-selling music artists of all time, having sold more than 170 million records worldwide. In 2010 Bono acquired a 1.5 percent stake in Facebook which is now estimated to be worth nearly $1 billion. Wonder why Bono is almost never seen in public without sunglasses…it’s because he suffers from glaucoma.
Stay safe and well…and the line "On BLS I heard the sound..." refers to New York radio station WBLS, where U2 heard the blues and soul music that influenced this track.