Ye Olde Hit Parade: One Tree Hill

1987: U2 - One Tree Hill

There was a lot going on in 1987. We had a big stock market crash, major sex scandals involving presidential candidates and televangelists, and a pit bull named Spuds McKenzie became a major beer spokesman.


In February, I sheepishly walked into the UNH student newspaper because my journalism professor recommended that we get some practical experience working there. That's where I really found that I wanted to be a reporter. I finished my sophomore year on a strong note, making the Dean's List and feeling a lot better about life in general.

I had a real busy summer. I got a job setting up wooden swing sets, which had me driving a van all over Massachusetts and New Hampshire. The job was pretty exhausting, between all the driving and the manual labor (not to mention the multiple flat tires I had to change). I was working 50 an hours a week there and then two night crews at Market Basket on the weekend. Didn't leave much time for the vacation part of summer vacation, but at least I was socking away some money for the fall. But after a month of that, I decided to quit the swing place and just work at the supermarket part-time.

Originally, my plan for junior year was going to involve me getting a single room in my dorm; I was even toying with the idea of becoming a resident assistant to get the free room and board. But that all went out the window when three of my buddies ended up needing a fourth roommate for the apartment they were renting just off campus. It was still within walking distance of everything and was pretty cheap as far as accommodations go. I also became one of the two news editors of the school paper, so I spent much of my non-classroom time during the day working there. It was a twice-weekly paper, so I took the Thursday production night, which meant I usually was there until the wee hours. I wrote the occasional story and did a humor column, but most of my hours there involved assigning and editing articles. It was a lot of fun, and somehow I managed to squeeze in a lot of extracurricular enjoyment on the weekends.

I listened to a lot of radio (mainly WBCN), which fortunately was full of all sorts of alt-rock goodness: XTC, R.E.M., INXS, The Cult, Husker Du, The Replacements, World Party, the Pixies, Midnight Oil, The Cure. There were also big albums from Aerosmith, Motley Crue, Whitesnake, Def Leppard and some new band called Guns 'N Roses, but I was definitely getting into the so-called college rock. And the biggest thing for me that year was U2's The Joshua Tree. I wasn't alone; the album was a massive hit, with two #1 singles in "With Or Without You" and "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" and a hugely successful tour. In the summer, I was on my way to get comics in Salem, NH, when it was announced that wristbands were being given out for the fall tour in about half an hour; I hauled ass over to the Methuen Mall and got in line at Midland Records, which had a Ticketron outlet. I got wristband #32 and was able to get tickets to one of the September shows at the Boston Garden. This was the old Garden, so the sound wasn't particularly great, but our seats were right behind the mixing board and the show was terrific.

With all the big songs on The Joshua Tree, the one that always stood out for me was "One Tree Hill," an emotional requiem for a friend of the band who died tragically in a motorcycle accident. It's a real gut-wrencher that the band has only played occasionally over the years.


I was already a big U2 fan, but in '87, they became my favorite band on the strength of The Joshua Tree. I don't feel as strongly about them now as I did then, but there's no denying the greatness of those early albums, especially this one. And this song still gets to me, all these years later.

Honorable mentions: U2 - "Bullet the Blue Sky"; U2 - "In God's Country"; XTC - "Dear God"; The Replacements - "Alex Chilton"; Husker Du - "Could You Be the One"; The Cult - "Love Removal Machine"; The Cult - "Lil' Devil"; The Psychedelic Furs - "Heartbreak Beat"; INXS - "Need You Tonight"; INXS - "Devil Inside"; World Party - "Ship of Fools"; R.E.M. - "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)"; Prince and Sheena Easton - "U Got the Look"; Prince - "Sign 'O the Times"; The Cure - "Just Like Heaven"; The Cure - "Why Can't I Be You?"; The Cure - "Hot! Hot! Hot!"; Crowded House - "Something So Strong"; Def Leppard - "Rocket"; Joe Satriani - "Surfing With the Alien"; Guns 'N Roses - "Welcome to the Jungle"; Rush - "Time Stand Still"; Motley Crue - "Girls, Girls, Girls"; Whitesnake - "Still of the Night"; Genesis - "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight"; Midnight Oil - "Beds Are Burning"; David Bowie - "Never Let Me Down"; Jon Astley - "Jane's Getting Serious"; Mojo Nixon - "Elvis is Everywhere"; Love and Rockets - "No New Tale to Tell"; Squeeze - "Hourglass"; Robert Cray - "Right Next Door"; Echo and the Bunnymen - "Lips Like Sugar"