Who is this Bongo?

Mike Barnes sorts out U2 at Mojo:

In the late 1990s, while researching my biography of Captain Beefheart, I was amused by accounts of when Bono tried to lure the Captain out of retirement in the early ’80s. With typical dismissiveness Beefheart would disingenuously ask friends: “Man, who is this Bongo?”

Beefheart had become ill and a complete recluse, and my requests to speak to him were all declined. Hence my horror, in 2002, when I saw the cover of MOJO’s April issue proclaim: “Beefheart Speaks… To Bono.”

Bongo’s part in the phone conversation felt contrived, over-verbose, as if he was trying to match Beefheart’s own verbal facility. But even that offered scant comfort.

 

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