Out of Control (U2 song)

"Out of Control" is a song by Irish rock band U2. It was the A-side of the group's debut release, the EP Three. It was released in September 1979 and charted at number 19 on the Irish Singles Chart. A re-recorded version of the song was included on the band's debut album, Boy, in 1980. The song was reinterpreted in an acoustic arrangement for the band's 2023 albumSongs of Surrender.

"Out of Control"
Single by U2
B-side
  • "Stories for Boys"
  • "Boy/Girl"
Released26 September 1979
Recorded4–5 August 1979
StudioWindmill Lane (Dublin)
GenrePost-punk
Length
  • 3:52 (EP version)
  • 4:12 (album version)
LabelCBS Ireland
Producer(s)U2, Chas de Whalley
U2 singles chronology
"Out of Control"
(1979)		 "Another Day"
(1980)

Recording

Unlike the other two songs on the Three EP, "Out of Control" was a song the band had difficulty recording. During a 24-bar section nearly two-thirds of the way into the song, the instrumentation was supposed to drop out for a "simple bass-drum figure" before building back up again. Drummer Mullen repeatedly lost his timing during this section, causing his bandmates to re-enter the song improperly. De Whalley insisted that the band record take after take until they got it right, as he thought it was their best song and needed to be coherent on record. This caused friction in the studio, particularly with Mullen who Bono said should have been keeping good time, as he had been taking drumming lessons. Eventually, they completed a usable take of "Out of Control". Producer Chas de Whalley realised and stated, in retrospect, that the bass and drums were constantly out of time with each other. He said Clayton had "a slightly different sense of timing from virtually any other musician".[1][2]

Release and promotion

U2 manager Paul McGuinness and CBS Records representative Jackie Hayden devised a promotional strategy for the release of Three that partially hinged on radio DJ Dave Fanning. Hayden and McGuinness were successful in asking Fanning to play the record's three songs on his radio programme on RTÉ and poll listeners on which one should appear on the A-side.[3] A different member of U2 appeared on the show each night to play a different track. As a result of the listener poll, "Out of Control" was voted to be the A-side of the record, while the runners-up, "Boy/Girl" and "Stories for Boys", became the B-side.[4]

Chart
Chart (1979) Peak
position
Irish Singles Chart (IRMA)[5] 19

References

Footnotes

  1. de Whalley, Chas (September 2004). "Another Time: The Inside Story of U2's Very First Record". Record Collector. No. 301. Retrieved 20 October 2021 – via Rock's Backpages.
  2. Dalton, Stephen (December 1999). "U2 – the early years: 'There was a presence, a magnetism...'". Uncut. No. 31. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  3. Hayden, Jackie (5 June 1985). "Stories of Boys". Hot Press. Vol. 9, no. 12. Archived from the original on 3 January 2017. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  4. McGee (2008), pp. 21–24
  5. "Irish Singles Chart". The Irish Charts. Retrieved 2009-11-23. Note: U2 must be searched manually.

Bibliography

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