Big birthday for a landmark U2 album this month!
“Achtung Baby” came out in November of 1991, which was around the time a cherubic, mullet-wearing fresh-faced kid (I had good skin so I can personally vouch for that fact) mere months out of high school was beginning to get my feet wet in the wonderful world of college radio.
I was happy and a bit relieved to see an artist whose name I recognized among the CDs in heavy rotation at the time alongside artists like Matthew Sweet, Soup Dragons, Ned’s Atomic Dustbin and yes, a little band from Seattle called Nirvana. That is, until I played my first new tune off of U2′s new disc, which sounded nothing like U2, to the point that I actually looked inside the case to see if someone had put the wrong CD back in it.
It wasn’t long, though, before I began playing “Achtung Baby” regularly during on first semester on the air and long after that. In fact, “Achtung” was a staple throughout my four years on college radio, with these tunes as my favorites:
30 years later, it’s still one of U2′s best albums. I had lots to learn about radio back then. 25 years in and I’m always learning something new about an industry I love. But having U2 as one of my teachers back then made it a little easier and a heck of a lot more fun!