WEDNESDAY WRAP

CD SHOWCASE MEMORIES

REQUESTS: Please advise if…
…you are a member of a singing group or band & would like to be featured
…you would like me to feature a favorite song of yours not played on the radio

Ending today by listening to a pair of same name songs, U2’s “Numb” & Linkin Park’s “Numb”, while checking out the interior of a Junkyard Jewel 1976 Monte Carlo, photographed by OC,SHer JAY B….

#1 “Numb” | U2
This single was released June 1993 as the 1st song from this band’s 1993 album ‘Zooropa’. It peaked at #2 on the Modern Rock Tracks & #18 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks charts, while reaching #7 in Australia, #9 in Canada & #13 in New Zealand. This song originated as a discarded entry from the recording sessions for their 1991 album ‘Achtung Baby’; at that time, the song was titled “Down All The Days”. While recording ‘Zooropa’, the band re-visited the song & transformed it with mixing assistance from co-producer Mark “Flood” Ellis, keyboards & samples by co-producer Brian Eno & the monotone vocals of David “The Edge” Howell Evans. In an interesting twist, a sample of a Walkman cassette player rewinding was accidentally recorded onto the audio tapes during the recording sessions; however, instead of being edited out, the sound was looped throughout the song because the group liked the added sound. Widely considered an unlikely choice for an album debut single, this song was released in an even more unlikely format for the time … video.

#2 “Numb” | Linkin Park
10 years later, this song became this band’s 3rd single from their 2nd studio album, 2003’s ‘Meteora’. Officially released 09/08/2003 (8 months & 2 days after my 01/06/2003 open heart surgery), this song has become 1 of this band’s most well-known & critically acclaimed hits … as well as a favorite of mine. It claimed #1 for 12 weeks on the Hot Modern Rock Tracks (6 weeks in 2003 & 6 weeks in 2004) & #1 for 3 weeks on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks charts, while reaching #11 (February 2004) on the Billboard Hot 100. Elsewhere, the tune reached #10 in Australia, #19 in France, #19 in Germany, #1 in Greece, #16 in Ireland, #13 in New Zealand, #5 in Portugal, #15 in Switzerland & #14 in England. The indoor & outdoor scenes of this video are set in St Vitus Cathedral (Prague, Czech Republic). The school interiors, classroom, corridor & outside playground are set in Prague’s Johannes Kepler Grammar School.