Talk:Adam Clayton

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Good articleAdam Clayton has been listed as one of the Music good articles under the good article criteria. If you can improve it further, please do so. If it no longer meets these criteria, you can reassess it.
Article milestones
DateProcessResult
September 11, 2007Good article nomineeListed
September 25, 2007Peer reviewReviewed
October 23, 2007Featured article candidateNot promoted
July 31, 2010Good topic candidateNot promoted
Current status: Good article

Nationality v. 2[edit]

A claim that Clayton is "Irish" should be supported by a citation, since it is obviously a controversial claim. All of the evidence in the article is that he maintains British nationality. If he has Irish nationality, then there should be some evidence put forth. I have edited the lede to omit his nationality altogether, instead describing U2 as an "Irish rock band." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.165.169.170 (talk) 17:15, 14 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]


Who is 'they'?[edit]

In this quote: "When the band was first being signed to CBS Records, they refused to sign the band unless Mullen was fired," the 'they' seems to refer to U2, when it would make more sense if it was changed to 'CBS.' Obviously if the band wanted to fire Mullen, they would have. Unfortunately I don't know enough about U2 to make this change with any authority. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.74.22.158 (talk) 10:28, 21 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

older entries[edit]

Is there any proof to The Edge writing the basslines for most of U2's songs?

Yeah, Edge personally told me that. Are you joking? --Aeternus 16:20, 12 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

His basslines were primarily written by The Edge until the release of All That You Can't Leave Behind. - I've removed this unless someone can prove it with a reference.

The article switches back and forth between using his first and last name. It would flow more smoothly if someone would clean it up to consistently use the same name all the way through. It would also be nice to have a link to information about his full technical setup. VisitorTalk 22:52, 20 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

On it. Unless someone objects, I'm changing all of the references to "Clayton", because it has precedent for bios, and besides, calling him "Adam" is A)less formal, thus less suited to an encyclopedia, and B)a fan-club thing. It is really common on fan sites, and I'd bet that the Encyclopedia Britannica wouldn't call him Adam. Neranei (talk) 18:04, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Funny fact![edit]

Does somebody know that, when U2 was formed, Adam Clayton didn't knew to play the bass guitar! --Aeternus 16:09, 2 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Nooooooooo...I mean, he's such a FABULOUS guitarist and everything...although the argument can be made that he STILL doesn't know how to play the bass. DestradoZero 17:10, 28 February 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Always found that idea strange, that he cannot play the bass! Indeed i've heard the same said about Edge's guitar playing, Larry's drumming and Bono's singing. They are not solo artists, but members of a band, a group whose objective is to create a song not showcase speed or dexterity. If that takes simplicity, so be it. There are 100's of thousands of bass players that could play 10 times the notes used in "with or without you", but would it be a better song? In Vertigo he plays one note i think 64 times in a row! Thats a clear message to his detractors. Patr1ck 1reland 18:22, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed...It's the old 'Ringo' syndrome again. Most people who actually play the drums truly respect him. Adam Clayton is well respected among bassists for mastery of the 'keep it simple, stupid' style. He could probably himself play 10 times the notes, but it would ruin the song. The simple powerful bass lines are integral to most of U2's songs. Clayton's trademark style is playing 'for the beat', with a great tone which only comes from a very confident left hand technique. Like Ringo, if you isolated his track alone on a master tape, you could tell instantly which song he was playing without the rest of the band. 160.84.253.241 12:41, 19 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Nationality[edit]

It is an incontrovertable fact that Clayton is British. He was born in Britain to British parents, retains UK citizenship and a UK passport. He does not hold an Irish passport nor dual citizenship. So please do not delete his nationality or replace with "Irish" as just happened. 86.7.208.240 23:29, 9 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]

  • As with The Edge's entry, be prepared for a long and bitter fight dude. The Irish brigade run Wiki's biographical entries, and even if you win the argument that Clayton is British they'll just find a way of not mentioning it, or including it as an aside in a later sentence (even though they insist U2 as a band must always be referred to prominently as "Irish"). It's a continuing and never-ending joke and I'm sick of it: I used to have an account but now prefer to edit anonymously (I travel a lot so have different IPs) because I was pi**ed off with the Irish brigade hassling me over the subject. I even had one member tell me Eddie Murphy was absolutely Irish-American - "just look at his surname!"..... 195.92.40.49 12:29, 31 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Well, almost exactly seven years on and your prediction is correct so far - they are simply avoiding mentioning it. I don't think most English people would object to an Irish member of an English band being described as such, so why is it such a big deal for them to accept that Clayton is English? 86.20.255.1 (talk) 02:42, 29 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]
If there were a famous English rock band one of whose members was born in Ireland to Irish parents and came from a fully Irish background, before moving to England at a relatively young age, does anyone think for one moment that the Irish brigade would not insist that he be referred to and classified as "Irish" (and probably that the band be referred to as at least part Irish)? I don't. But somehow in Clayton's case this logic does not apply. Strange. 86.137.70.244 (talk) 19:03, 28 December 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Why is a brigade that fought in the Spanish Civil War i.e. the Irish brigade claiming someone as Irish. Everyone knows that the Irish are unable to be objective and analytical like the rest of the world that is why God sent the potato blight to them i.e. to thin out their numbers( see 'The Irish: Subjective spud munchers bent on overthrowing objective knowledge" by Craig J in How Dare they Speak: Taking the trivial as important: the Paradigm of Paddism in a post-modern envoirnment by Trevelyan C.E.)I once had the misfortune to hear an Irishman who just so happened to have the brainpan of a stagecoach tilter, claim that the Burren was Irish despite the fact that it was planted there by Gerallt Gymro somtime in the 12th Century (Geographic Codology: Dirty Marian Worshippers and the formation of coherent cultural essentialisms' Larcom, Thomas pp 18-24). Tut tut

I suppose the best way to end this is to cite a source taht says so. --Kristbg 12:34, 31 October 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • If the man was born in Britain to British parents, has a British passport and citizenship, does not hold an Irish passport or citizenship, and has never said he is Irish and not British (all undisputed facts), why does it need to be cited? What needs to be cited is any claim that he is NOT British or that he claims to be Irish, because no-one has ever come up with a shred of evidence to support this (apart from telling us what they think The Edge and Clayton believe or feel). And yet, despite this, editors refuse any edit which ends up in the term "British" being used to describe him, but lately I am the only one who removes the word "Irish" when others add it (why don't they rush to delete this too? More anecdotal evidence to support various claims of bias). See discussions at.....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:The_Edge#Nationality
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:The_Edge#Editing_dispute
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_talk:86.17.246.29
.....for more on this. 62.25.106.209 17:50, 7 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • So you say he has never said he is not British or that he is Irish? Ie, you actually mean you have no citation for this. But nor can you show citation where he says he is British and not Irish - only citing his passport, which could be for all manner of reasons, to say that he keeps it cos he thinks he is Brtish is also opinion only. No, no-one from memory said it was about "feeling" and "thinking", they did however (and you did not) point out that he has lived in Ireland appox 40 of his 45 years.
  • The opinion that he is not British or that he claims he is Irish does not need to be cited as you request, for the simple reason that this not in the article. We need to focus on the article in these discussions, not personal views held by editors that are not being pushed into articles. --Merbabu 01:25, 8 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Here's an idea. Try reading a string before replying. The point about the citation was a response to the previous post in this string. What is wrong with you? 86.17.246.29 00:00, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • Perhaps you need to re-read my last post which was in response to yours previously before that. You asked for the claim he is not British to be cited, yet it is not even in the article. (Nor is the claim he is Irish as I have repeatedly said I am not pushing to have in the article).
  • Even if I did misread your post (I am not), all editors are required to be civil. At least learn some manners (on top of your continuted claims of "malice" on my behalf) or i suggest you need to find a site more appropriate for your style. I shouldn't expect more; an anonymous, single-issue editor.
  • Now if you haven't got anything new to add to the discussion on the article, and not your perception of me as an editor, maybe you should give it a rest. --Merbabu 00:13, 9 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]
  • I think this matter is clearly settled in about page 2 of u2 by u2, where ADAM clearly states this infomation.138.217.28.106 13:47, 14 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]
Page 2 has a band picture on it. No text. --Merbabu 14:07, 14 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

contradiction[edit]

It says that he seemed to be the only one not married or in a steady relationship, and then in the next line that his fiance and he had been dating for ten years. Isn't that a "steady relationship?"

Well, I guess since the mid-1990's is fairly "steady" - but given that two of the others are with the women they met in high school (the mid-70s) and the third is divorced (with kids) from a women he met in high school, mid-90s is only "recent" by U2 standards. Article could be modified though--Merbabu 00:34, 21 November 2006 (UTC)[reply]

why does this article say nothing about his engadgement to naomi campell in the early 90's?

Yes, a good thought. I think the article should mention her, but i removed your recent addition cos linking the break up to his acholism is pure speculation. But please provide info on the relationship if you can find good WP:RS. --Merbabu 03:49, 15 December 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Not sure if this is the right place!!! The Adam Clayton page states "He also spoke the last verse of the song Your Blue Room, the second single from U2's experimental album released under the pseudonym "Passengers", Original Soundtracks 1 (1995). " This contradicts the opening line of the Miss Sarajevo song page "Miss Sarajevo" is the only single from the 1995 album Original Soundtracks 1 by U2, under the pseudonym Passengers" Patr1ck 1reland 18:31, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Instruments used[edit]

Yo everyone, I just added the Gibson LP Triumph bass to the list. He's seen in the photograph using the Gibson LP Triumph bass during the Achtung sessions in 1990-1991; his however is white and has a different bridge, possibly modified from the stock or custom. [The picture is found in the U218 singles manual, US release.]

If anyone knows how to better source this addition please say so, as the picture is copyrighted and can't be used for wiki through a scan.76.19.30.95 17:30, 5 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

I don't know if you noted, but the picture shows him playing a J-Bass, not a P-Bass, as noted right under... --216.237.177.2 (talk) 16:06, 15 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

GA on hold[edit]

Copied from email, Nerenai

Lead discusses, almost exclusively, his many homes and the songs he's in. I don't think it adequately summarises the article - discuss stuff relevant to each section. It could be lengthened a bit more too. I also don't think you need to list the names of that many songs (if any) - it doesn't really add anything to it, and it seems a bit crufty.

I'm not sure how most BLPs are written (I haven't really worked on any), but is it common practice to discuss the guy's birth, and early life, as you do in the biography section? AFAIK, only notable info is mentioned, but you should check some of the FA bios and see if I'm right. FA, not GA, because not all GA reviewers actually check this…then again, there is some info about the early beginnings of U2 via family connections - that should stay.

3rd paragraph of bio REALLY needs a ref. So does most of 2nd (eg. Info about name changes and whatnot). The U2 article could help with this.

Ref 6 - it should be directly after the full stop (or period, or whatever you call it), there shouldn't be a space there.

Ref for alcohol incident? Ref for bass teaching, and for M:I stuff, and for that paragraph? Don't discuss who the other guys married - leave it in their articles

Ref 8 has same problem as ref 6.

Wikilink for 4/4 (music style)?

Ref 9 - same as 8 and 6. Check this for all other refs (also seen on ref 10)

"Clayton rarely sings, but has been known to do so on several occasions." - Doesn't sound too good.

Ref 13 not needed where it is. Very obvious statement, don't need a source for it.

Are refs 19, 20, and 21 ALL needed there? And isn't there ANY more content that can come out of them?

All refs need to be made using {{cite web}} - including publisher information (eg. CNN) and work (who wrote the news article or whatever)(eg. Bob Smith), etc. Using AndyZ's peer reviewer (link to it in my monobook), this is auto-done, but you still need to add the additional info.

IIRC, see also section comes before refs.

You only need 2 external links at most - one for his homepage (or U2's homepage), and one for the most official website associated with him (these can be one and the same). In the current case, I'd use the first and last ELs.

Category:Ivor Novello Award winners. Is this mentioned anywhere in the article?

That's all there is so far. Get to work! Dihydrogen Monoxide 07:42, 10 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Done. Neranei (talk) 02:59, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

My edits[edit]

I've removed the spaces between the period at end of sentences, and the ref. They should come immediately after period. I've moved refs that were cited in the middle of sentences, to the end of sentences. I've spaced the start of sentences that had no space between a reference and the first letter of next sentence. I've added author and publisher to all reference citations, and I've placed books into proper citation format. Ariel♥Gold 07:11, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Further, my opinion after doing this, is that this article's references are far too heavy on fan sites, especially U2 Online, U2wanderer.com, but also atu2.com. This article really could benefit from more reliable sources, news sites, newspapers online, etc. And I think that the multiple (basically exactly the same) references to the pages describing the various Mission Impossible soundtracks/theme are redundant, and could be reduced to only one. Sorry Neranei, you know I adore you, but I think this article's references need some beefing up. (Granted, it would probably not affect GA status, but in the long term, a good foundation is a strength.) Ariel♥Gold 07:11, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
That's what you miss when you review offline/via email. Nerenai - I agree on this. Do a google news search, there should be plenty there. Also use <ref name=multiple /> (see WP:REF) rather then using multiple refs for the same page. Dihydrogen Monoxide 07:14, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
To clarify, you name the first ref, with <ref name="name"> (where "name" is whatever, be it "one" or "two" or "BBC" or whatever), followed by the full citation template (and closing /ref tag), and then for items that are covered with that one reference you simply place<ref name="name" /> instead of having to use the full citation. I'd actually suggest reducing the soundtrack references to one (while they go to different pages, they are basically exactly the same, and for the purposes of illustrating Clayton's involvement, only one is needed, even if cited multiple times). Hope that helps explain how multiple can work. Ariel♥Gold 07:17, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
I'll do the soundtrack refs as an example. Dihydrogen Monoxide 07:26, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Thanks, DM, and I finished the rest of soundtrack refs, don't need every single variation of the theme that was published, just the comprehensive soundtrack is enough. Four refs to one soundtrack listing is a bit excessive still, but it is better than having four pages to basically the same thing. Ariel♥Gold 07:42, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Ah, thanks guys! I will do those when I have time. Also, about atu2.com, I have found that they collect news stories; would you prefer I link to the originals? That is what I will do unless there is some objection. Thanks guys! Love, Neranei (talk) 21:20, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
Addendum: The atu2.com news article I found was too old to be in Q magazine's archives, so I have left the citation as is. Love, Neranei (talk) 21:57, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]
GA time. Dihydrogen Monoxide (H2O) 22:51, 11 September 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Scottish Protestant[edit]

?

Also regarding nationality: when U2 were on The Jonathan Ross show, Bono stated that Adam Clayton has an Irish passport. Of course, he may have been lying/joking. Stutley (talk) 10:04, 10 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

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Should be classified under solo singer[edit]

I changed his type to solo singer, because he sings, but it was reverted because 'he does not sing'. I mean, it's even in his instruments section that he sings. What does everyone else think? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 106.69.182.141 (talk) 23:33, 9 February 2017 (UTC)[reply]

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Solo projects[edit]

The lede says: He has worked on several solo projects throughout his career, such as his work with fellow band member Larry Mullen Jr. on the 1996 version of the "Theme from Mission: Impossible".

Why cite a project which involved another bandmate as an example of a solo project??? --86.4.114.149 (talk) 22:29, 1 January 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Clayton's Irish[edit]

In 1989, Clayton took on Irish citizenship, so you can stop arguing over his "nationality".

See here: https://www.oxfordmail.co.uk/news/6633301.boy-grew-rock-star/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 47.61.115.58 (talk) 19:46, 4 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

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