U2 to Release for RSD Black Friday 2018

Original Story by Aaron J. Sams (2018-10-09)

UPDATED: October 11, 2018

Record Store Day is an annual day where bands release special versions of their recordings to help support the independent record store. It started as a US event but has quickly expanded worldwide, and it has also expanded to include a second, smaller event titled RSD – Black Friday, held in November each year during the American Thanksgiving week. U2 has participated in both events in the past, and this year we’ve been tipped off they will be appearing again.

According to a number of sources, the 2018 list for Black Friday releases has gone out to independent record stores to allow them to order, and orders are due by the end of the week. U2 has been confirmed to be on the list, and the title is now confirmed to be a new 2018 recording of “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me.” The release is being credited to U2, however it is mentioned that the release features Gavin Friday and Régine Chassagne on vocals. The song was remixed by St Francis Hotel, a group that has worked with U2 on a number of past releases.

The record will be limited and it is being said that the pressing will be 7000 copies in total. That is the same number of copies that were made available for the 2017 single, “Red Hill Mining Town.” The full RSD – Black Friday 2018 list was announced on October 9, 2018, and items are already appearing on eBay, don’t panic at the prices though, these will come down on the day that the vinyl is actually released, and most stores will sell the item for close to the suggested price.

The full track listing is as follows:

Side A: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me (The Gotham Experience Remix)

Side B: Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me (From “Batman Forever”, Remastered 2018 Best of 1990-2000 Version)

The B-Side is the original version of the song, recorded for “Batman Forever” and recently polished up for the newly remastered release of The Best of 1990 – 2000 on vinyl.

The listing for the U2 release reads: “U2 will release exclusively a new 12” Single – Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me.” Originally released as a single from the Batman Forever film soundtrack album, “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” reached number 1 in Ireland, number 2 in the UK and number 1 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks and Modern Rock Tracks charts in the US in 1995. The song has been remixed for 2018’s eXPERIENCE + iNNOCENCE tour and features Gavin Friday and Arcade Fire’s Régine Chassagne on vocals.”

It sounds like we are getting the version that is being used in the tour, but the song is also being listed as a U2 release, so this may be an alternate version of what is being used in the live shows. It does confirm that Gavin Friday and Régine Chassagne who perform vocals on the track, and both have been featured on vocals on the version used during the Experience and Innocence shows.

The artwork for this release is seen below:



IMAGE: Cover of release (Click to Enlarge) with “Support Indie Record Stores” watermark

The listing for this release on the Record Store Day site is available here. The vinyl is listed as a RSD-First release which means the release will appear at Record Store Day events first but may have a wider release after the fact.

U2’s first participation in the Record Store Day events was 2010’s Black Friday event where they released the EP “Wide Awake in Europe”. The band has participated in every event since April 2017. The U2 releases tend to be pressed in limited quantities, but are not always numbered. U2’s releases in the past have included:

Wide Awake in Europe (November 26, 2010, 5000 Copies, Numbered)

(November 26, 2010, 5000 Copies, Numbered) Ordinary Love (November 29, 2013, 10000 Copies)

(November 29, 2013, 10000 Copies) North and South: Wandering in U2’s Dublin Map (November 28, 2014, 1000 Copies)

(November 28, 2014, 1000 Copies) Songs of Innocence Black Vinyl (April 18, 2015, 5000 Copies, Numbered)

(April 18, 2015, 5000 Copies, Numbered) Red Hill Mining Town Picture Disc (April 22, 2017, 7000 Copies)

(April 22, 2017, 7000 Copies) Joshua Tree Limited Fanzine EU Version (April 22, 2017, 500 Copies, Numbered)

(April 22, 2017, 500 Copies, Numbered) Joshua Tree Limited Fanzine NA Version (April 22, 2017, 1000 Copies, Numbered)

(April 22, 2017, 1000 Copies, Numbered) The Blackout Black Vinyl (November 24, 2017, 19250 Copies)

(November 24, 2017, 19250 Copies) The Blackout Black and White Vinyl (November 24, 2017, 750 Copies)

(November 24, 2017, 750 Copies) Lights of Home Picture Disc (April 21, 2018, 5000 Copies)

(April 21, 2018, 5000 Copies) Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me (November 23, 2018, 7000 Copies)

We expect that the release will be announced formally in an announcement tomorrow via the Record Store Day site. We will of course report on the full details of the release when available. As releases are limited, independent stores in North America have been asked not to sell these records online for the first week that they are available. However, in some European markets, they have been made available in advance. We will also report on these if any opportunities to buy online are known.

Many thanks to Lance, Edgar, Tom and Kevin and others for information used in the report above.

Related News Coverage:



VIDEO: “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me” (Hamburg Intermission, 2018) (Courtesy of terrorsittich for U2Gigs.com)

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