After four months, sixteen weeks, one-hundred and twelve days… a long old time however you want to count it… something desperately needed to end Bryan Adams’ record-breaking run. Thank God for U2, then, and the lead single from their seventh album.
The Fly, by U2 (their 2nd of seven #1s)
1 week, from 27th October – 3rd November 1991
And it’s a real palate cleanser after the thick stodge served up by Bryan. ‘Achtung Baby’ was a big departure for U2, away from the new-wave rock of their early albums. Away even from ‘Rattle and Hum’, and the stripped back rock ‘n’ roll of their first #1 ‘Desire’. ‘The Fly’ was intended as an opening statement: this is where we are now.
Where they were now was distorted, industrial rock, with clear influences from the musical movement of the time: electronic dance. Everything is drenched in a murky reverb, even Bono’s half-rapped verses, and his falsetto vocals in the chorus. It must have surprised fans who’d fallen in love with ‘Pride (In the Name of Love)’, or ‘With or Without You’.
Despite this being U2, and a number one single, I don’t think I’d properly listened to ‘The Fly’ before today. It was the album’s biggest hit, but I’d say the subsequent singles – ‘One’, ‘Mysterious Ways’ and ‘Even Better Than the Real Thing’ – have left a bigger cultural mark. But I like it: it’s uncompromising, innovative, and the most ‘nineties’ number one so far. We’re almost two years into the decade, and this is first chart-topper that categorically couldn’t be mistaken for coming any earlier.
I said we needed something to kick the overblown ‘(Everything I Do)..’ out the way. And it’s funny, because U2 aren’t the first band you’d normally turn to for unpretentious rock ‘n’ roll. If you dig a little deeper into the song, you’ll find that it believes in itself every bit as much as its predecessor. It’s sung, according to Bono, by a character called ‘The Fly’, who’s in hell but who’s actually quite loving life down in the fiery pits: Look I gotta go, yeah, I’m running out of change… the song ends with… There’s a lot of things, If I could I’d rearrange…
Luckily, you can ignore the brainy stuff and lose yourself in the song’s cool groove. It rocks, whatever the message, and U2 are at their best when they rock. Luckily for this blog, many of their lead singles, and therefore their number ones, do instantly leap from the speakers. Oasis were good at this, too: picking for a lead single not the best song on an album, but the one that made the most noise and the biggest statement. Yes we’re back, ‘The Fly’ seems to say, and we’re the biggest band on the goddamn planet!
This record is very modern in another way, too. Since the mid-eighties, guitar-led music has lost its place as the driving force in pop. Rock bands now can often only make #1 with a lead single, such as this, propelled to number one thanks to their fanbase (see also Queen’s ‘Innuendo’, and Iron Maiden’s ‘Bring Your Daughter…’) Rock has made a comeback of sorts in the 1990s, but under limited terms. Never again will it be the default sound of the charts.
The UK Number Ones Blog 
I don’t remember this track. It got to #1 & #2 on Alternative & Mainstream Rock charts but, #61 on the Hot 100. It’s new to me.
And, yes…Bryan Adams needed to go away. I loved the movie but…damn.
Rating: 3/5
Achtung Baby is my favourite U2 album (I like how un-U2 it is in how ironic and flippant it is and how it blends electronica, dance, industrial and hip hop with alt-rock influence), but this isn’t one of my favourite tracks on the album. Still, I think it’s a pretty good song. It probably was the smart move to release this as the lead single, to give the public a snapshot of the new direction the band was taking. It’s not my choice for a lead single, if I had been in charge of the promotion. I’m surprised this song and not “One” was the one to hit the top spot, since “One” is much more radio-friendly and accessible, and in fact was the far bigger hit in the US where it reached the Top 10, and “One” is far, far, far more popular nowadays.
Rock at least had quite a bit of chart success in the 90s in the UK, particularly once Britpop emerges with bands like Oasis and Blur having No. 1 songs, and especially in comparison to the US, where despite all the hugely successful grunge, post-grunge, pop punk, alt-metal, nu metal, alt-rock, acoustic rock, post-alternative artists who sold millions of albums and had ton of radio airplay weren’t topping the charts. R&B, adult contemporary/soft rock and even hip hop were more dominant on the Hot 100 during the 90s.
But that’s because until 1998, Billboard required a physical single in order for a song to be eligible to chart and a lot of rock bands stopped releasing physical singles in order to drive up album sales, since record labels in the US realised rock albums sold like hotcakes in the US compared to rock singles (back then, singles cost the same to make as an album, so obviously labels are gonna prioritise albums since they are priced higher and therefore gives the label more revenue and profit per sale). No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak” spent 18 weeks at No. 1 on the Hot 100 Airplay chart (meaning that for 18 weeks it was the most popular song across all US radio stations, irrespective of genre) yet it didn’t chart on the Hot 100 since the record label smartly didn’t release it as a single, therefore incentivising people to buy the album. Yet that song went to No. 1 in so many international markets, including the UK, since the labels decided to release the physical single there.
Yes I had read about that rule with the airplay/physical singles rule. It’s a shame because it invalidates the charts when the biggest song in the country isn’t allowed to appear! The British charts in the 90s were much more varied and fun than Billboard – a wider variety of genres and a much faster turnover of number ones (despite acts like Bryan Adams and Whitney Houston occasionally clogging things up). Nowadays, the British charts are much more like the US ones, and rock doesn’t get much of a look-in on either…
Definitely one I will listen to again, especially after reading this. I didn’t take much notice of it at the time, as I disliked U2 because they seemed so earnest and po-faced, but I think I am now warming to them a little, especially after finding their Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame live performance of ‘Gimme Shelter’s Youtube, and Mick Jagger and Fergie sharing vocals with Bono. And yes, we did need this after 16 weeks of its predecessor.
….have just been back to listen, and it does sound rather more inviting than I remember, but….is it just me, or has a bit of ‘Ballroom Blitz’ crept in there?
Ummm… Maybe…? Do you mean the verses, where I can perhaps hear the rhythm of the lyrics matching those of ‘Ballroom Blitz’?
I’ve just listened to both songs again. It’s that chugging beat at the beginning of each, then the first lines of each verse – ‘Oh it’s been getting so hard lately, with the things you used to do to me’ (BB) / ‘It’s no secret that the stars are falling from the sky’ (TF). Different melody, different chords (TF is all one chord on that bit anyway). It’s certainly not outright plagiarism, honest, Bono, but I do think there’s an underlying similarity. Put it down to an over-active imagination, maybe!
Yes, I can hear it… sort of. It’s in the way the lines are being sung.
I really rate this track and the album – I think the Pet Shop Boys cover of Where The Streets morphing into a camp Cant Take My Eyes Off You got the message over that they were at risk of becoming a self parody band so they cut loose and experimented, not least the stunning dance remix of Even Better Than The Real Thing which was almost as good as the album and single version. I saw U2 at Wembley a few years later and totally deserve their reputation as a live act, one of the best concerts I’ve seen.