Negativland: the Letter U and the Numeral 2 and who gives a sh!t

June 26, 2010 in: Art, Music, Television|View Comments

In 1991, Negativland released U2. The EP mashed a rant by American Top 40 host Casey Kasem with samples of U2′s I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For and an accompanying kazoo. U2′s label Island Records sued Negativland alleging both copyright (unauthorized sampling) and trademark infringement (misleading cover artwork) — according to the band, the single was “sued out of existence.”

Negativland later revealed its intent to skewer Kasem for his cuss laden off-air tirade, not parody U2. Among his more timid exclamations, “This is bullshit. Nobody cares. These guys are from England and who gives a shit.” For his part, Kasem said, “Well, I don’t like what they did, it’s embarrassing to me, but I’m for free speech.”

In 1992 Don Joyce and Mark Hosler of Negativland were contacted by Mondo 2000 magazine to participate in a telephone interview with U2′s guitarist, The Edge. On June 25th, Mondo editor R. U. Serius, allowed Negativland to pepper The Edge with questions about the controversy.

Apart from stating it was “probably the most surreal interview” he’s ever had (after being asked for a loan), The Edge was sympathetic to the band’s conundrum:

Don Joyce: See, you’re quite right about their main concern being the cover rather than the content, we always felt that and I think that was obvious from their lawsuit, the way it was worded, but they never came to us in the first place and simply said: “Change the cover.”

Edge: Yeah.

D: And instead they just smashed the whole thing including the content…

E: Yeah, really. I think we would have reacted in a different way, but the lawsuit was not our lawsuit. Although we have some influence, we weren’t in a position to tell Island Records what to do.

Negativland, U-2 (Special Edit Radio Mix):

The skirmish is documented in Craig Bladwin’s Sonic Outlaws (1995). A detailed account of the “legal, ethical, and artistic odyssey” is available in Fair Use: The Story of the Letter U and the Numeral 2 a book/CD combo released by Negativland in 1995.

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  • Carl Edwards
    I just want to figure out where to get it as an mp3. I've only heard it once on an art car on the playa and always wondered who it was.

    Sort of points out the silliness of the current situation where U2 doesn't have enough control over their own music to head off a lawsuit if they wanted too.
  • Carl -- you might want to have a look at the Negativland website. I agree -- The Edge said they have some influence over their label, but ultimately Island was the shot caller on enforcement. Funny -- a footnote to the interview reads: "Years later, in 2003, Negativland learned something new: that it was R.E.M.s manager, Bertis Downs, who first found the U2 single in a record store (Wuxtry Records) in Athens Georgia the day it came out. Downs was on the phone that night with his good friend Paul McGuinness, U2’s manager, wondering what the record really was. McGuinness asked Downs to over-night the single to U2 in Ireland the next day. U2 and their manager always maintained to Negativland and to the media that they nothing to do with instigating the lawsuit, but this was a lie. It was, in fact, U2’s manager who sent it along to the business affairs department of Island Records ( U2’s record label at the time) for them to sue Negativland and stop the record."
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