In September 1976 Larry Mullen Jr pinned a message to his school noticeboard: “drummer seeks musicians to form band”.
His path in life was already clear to him at 14, says his religious education teacher Sophie Shirley.
“He says ‘Miss, I only want to be a drummer in a band. That’s all I want to be’” she recalls.
50 years on, the band that grew out of Mullen’s note is still active.
The extraordinary successes of U2 and the highs and lows of their five decades in the public eye are well-documented.
But the origin story of the band has never been fully told until now.
In a new three-part podcast series Róisín Ingle uncovers the making of U2 through interviews with classmates, teachers, friends, family and members of the band.
Episode one of Drummer Seeks Musicians: The Making of U2 takes us back to 1976 and the radical experiment that was Mount Temple Comprehensive School on Dublin’s north side.
It was there that Mullen’s note brought him together with Adam Clayton, Dave ‘The Edge’ Evans and Paul ‘Bono’ Hewson.
The episode explores how grief, friendship and their school environment shaped the band’s early rehearsals, first gigs and evolution towards becoming U2.
It tells the story of the early support the band received from teachers like Donald Moxham – even if he didn’t see the potential at first.
“I was wrong. I was so wrong. I’m delighted I was wrong” the band’s beloved history teacher told Róisín in an interview recorded earlier this year. Moxham died in June.
The school itself is another character in this origin story. With an ethos and atmosphere unique for its time, it was the perfect nursery for creative ambition, explains music teacher Colin MacKenzie.
“Only in Mount Temple could you have had a U2… Where would you get that mix anywhere else?”
Former teachers and students remember the four young musicians in different ways (Bono “always performing”, Larry “an awful flirt”, Adam “knew about rock and roll music”).
But those four teenagers were not the only ones in the original group that would became U2. The episode also tells the stories of others like Ivan McCormick, who was a member of the band in its first iteration.
Ivan tells the story of his involvement and how it ended with a phone call. “I was pretty heartbroken, to be honest.”
Parts two and three of Drummer Seeks Musicians will be released on Tuesday, September 22nd and Wednesday, September 23rd.
Drummer Seeks Musicians: The Making of U2 is presented, written, researched and produced by Róisín Ingle.
Editing by Rob Sutton.
Additional production by Suzanne Brennan.
The podcast is dedicated to Donald Moxham.
Thanks to the staff at Mount Temple, to U2 and to everyone who took part in the podcast.