U2 News and Discussion

It’s March 14th and Steve Lillywhite sees Bono as “basically Frank Sinatra with electric guitars.”

This is the first in a weekly series during which the Zooropa Gazette will pick apart a recent event related (obliquely or directly) to U2 and figure out what’s really going on. We’re starting with this piece on Steve Lillywhite, producer of U2′s first three albums and numerous tracks since — among many other projects.

For now better known by the acts he’s produced, Steve Lillywhite is making a name for himself as the passionate heir apparent of the departing Simon Cowell on American Idol. He began a very public campaign for the judging gig last month after a two-minute video stating his case to the show’s producers leaked online.

In the video, he says, “My job is to discover talent. American Idol‘s work is talent.” In other words: I’m your man.

But is he? What can he bring to the show that others can’t? The extensive interview he gave the A.V. Club this week holds a slew of insights into his drive for Cowell’s chair, plus some reflections on nurturing talent, evolving with the music industry and (not) looking back on past work. Needless to say, it’s well worth picking apart.

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I think I have the credentials. I’ve been pretty successful in the music business for a while, but it’s more my personality that I think I can bring. And also I think I’m a good spotter of talent.

And, as his video told Idol‘s producers, he’s the man who’s been telling Bono what to do for the past 30 years, too.

When X Factor comes out, which has a much broader palette, I think American Idol will have to expand what it’s looking for. As I say, Simon Cowell’s vision of what a star is is very narrow. My version is slightly wider, and I’d try and reflect that in the sort of contestants I would champion for the show.

There’s no doubting that it’s Lillywhite the producer speaking here: he’s recognized the necessary changes ahead and how his collaboration with the show can help bring them about.

This also dovetails nicely with Lillywhite’s belief that complacency is “one of the worst things in the world.” He celebrates artists like David Byrne, whom he sees as “always changing it up and not looking at the charts.” But obviously, Idol is designed to grow and harvest hit-makers, so what does Lillywhite look for in a singer — or hope the audience sees in a contestant?

First off, I’d ask, “Do you want to be in this person’s world?” That’s so important. There’s a couple of contestants this year that, yes, their world looks like an interesting world. I would want to be in their world, and that’s how I would try and mentor them. I would say, “Look, you need to get people interested in you.” You have to fashion your world. You’re a salesman, and for two minutes on stage, you’re selling your vacuum cleaner. You have to make sure your vacuum cleaner is the best fucking vacuum cleaner that you can fashion.

Maybe I’m a bit whimsical, but this sits well with me. Whereas Cowell might grade the performance by dismissing (or crediting) song choice, Lillywhile would seem to cover similar territory then not suggest but ask what direction the singer would like to take next week. (I know I’m projecting a bit here, but I can see this happening.)

And this could be another benefit for Idol. Too often, the five or six days that the singers spend isolated from the spotlight between episodes is obvious in how they hold themselves either during the performances or in the judging segments that follow. Nerves happen, sure. This is a nationally broadcast show. But I like to think that with Lillywhite’s guidance (and with tough-critic Cowell’s absence), the singers might show a bit more confidence in their product, not to mention control over the anxiety that no doubt mounts weekly for them.

And my notions about Lillywhite’s sense for collaboration aren’t unfounded:

When people ask, “What is a record producer?” I always say that it’s a lot like a film director, but not as dictatorial because I’m collaborative. I like to talk to my artists. I like to find out what they want and help them realize their vision. So I will say, “I want it this way,” they will say, “We want it that way,” we’ll knock heads, we’ll talk for hours about the various ways we could do it, about what supports the lyrical content, and at the end of the day we’ll come to a compromise. We’ll find a way of making it work.

Enough said.

I do question, though, how much Lillywhite can help the contestants develop, given the judges’ limited interactions with the singers and each season’s time constraints. He does recognize that the music industry in general isn’t built to foster gradual talent development as is:

Sometimes people aren’t ready yet to sell their big album. The Joshua Tree was U2’s fifth album. They built themselves up to that point. But it’s also a lot cheaper to make records now. If you’re fearless and you go for it and you have a great idea, people will buy it. We have great tools at the moment to make great music. Sometimes people are scared of those tools. They think those tools rule them. You have to rule your tools and you have to do it yourself.

(Twitter user @Peaches66 recently wondered what Bono might think of the NPR article, “Who Needs Labels When You’ve Got ASCAP?” I’m wondering what Lillywhite might think of it.)

Still, his knack for noticing and highlighting talent, I’m sure, would be key on Idol. Lillywhite told the A.V. Club of feeling compelled to produce a band because, despite hearing some awful demos with their manager, he saw their potential live:

So anyway, we went to the gig and if I’d based my opinion on the demos he played me in the car, I never would’ve done the record. But I saw the band live and I got it. I saw something there. I saw a passion in that lead singer. Again, this can tie back to my ability to discover talent at a very early stage, because what I saw in Bono was no different to what he has now. He was just a diamond in the rough and I can find those diamonds still on American Idol.

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Midway through the interview, Lillywhite discusses his brief tenure as an exec at Columbia, touting his having brought MGMT aboard.

“That’s the sort of artist who doesn’t only make you a profit, but [makes] other people want to sign to you,” he says. “Nirvana signed to Geffen because Sonic Youth were on there. MGMT is that sort of band. They’re a magnet band.”

Although Lillywhite claims anyone he’s worked with will insist he doesn’t have “the ego” other producers do, I’m sure he still realizes that, like MGMT, he’s a magnet himself. Should he become a judge on “Idol,” others will want to sign on — new viewers, sure, but also new talent. And this will be good for everyone involved: after all, new talent is Lillywhite’s raison d‘être.

As of this writing, the producers of American Idol have yet to respond to anything Lillywhite’s put forth — but I don’t take this silence as skepticism. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re waiting for the positive vibes surrounding his campaign to reach a fever pitch. That way, they could offer him the job with the reassurance that America has voted…

Banner image from “More Cowbell” at maxwax.