"The Million Dollar Hotel" - Various Artists
Soundtrack Album
U2 Related Content:
- "The Ground Beneath Her Feet" (Studio Version) - U2 (03:45)
- "Never Let Me Go" (Studio Version) - Bono and the Million Dollar Hotel Band (05:36)
- "Stateless" (Studio Version) - U2 (04:06)
- "Satellite of Love" (Studio Version) - Milla Jovovich with the Million Dollar Hotel Band (featuring Bono) (04:13)
- "Falling at Your Feet" (Studio Version - Million Dollar Hotel) - Bono and Daniel Lanois (04:55)
- "Tom Tom's Dream" (Studio Version) - The Million Dollar Hotel Band (01:52)
- "The First Time" (Studio Version) - U2 (03:45)
- "Bathtub" (Studio Version) - The Million Dollar Hotel Band (01:06)
- "The First Time" (Reprise) - Daniel Lanois and the Million Dollar Hotel Band (02:05)
- "Tom Tom's Room" (Studio Version) - Brad Mehldau with Bill Frisell (02:24)
- "Funny Face" (Studio Version) - The Million Dollar Hotel Band (00:33)
- "Dancin' Shoes" (Studio Version) - Bono and the Million Dollar Hotel Band (02:06)
- "Amsterdam Blue (Cortège)" (Studio Version I) - Million Dollar Hotel Band (09:19)
- "Satellite of Love" (Reprise) - The MDH Band featuring Daniel Lanois, Bill Frisell, Greg Cohen (01:07)
- "Satellite of Love" (Danny Saber Remix) - Milla Jovovich (featuring Bono) (05:14)
- "Anarchy in the USA" (Studio Version) - Tito Larriva and the Million Dollar Hotel Band (featuring Adam & Larry) (03:37)
Full Track Listing:
- The entire album was executive produced by Bono with Wim Wenders, and thus all tracks are included.
Background Information
“The Million Dollar Hotel” is an American dramatic film, based on a story by Bono and Nicholas Klein. The movie was directed by Wim Wenders, starring Milla Jovovich, Jeremy Davies, and Mel Gibson. It was released initially on February 9, 2000 at the Berlin International Film Festival, and released throughout Europe in 2000, but would remain unreleased in the USA until February 11, 2001.
The hotel referenced in the title is “The Rosslyn Million Dollar Hotel” and is across the street from the sister building, the Rosslyn. The hotels were once part of the center of the entertainment industry before the industry moved to Hollywood. The area has become quite run down. In 1987, in searching for a location for the location to film the video for “Where the Streets Have No Name” U2 came to this area, and filmed on the roof of a liquor store. In the background you can see evidence of the Rosslyn hotel as there is a sign on the roof that reads “Million Dollar Hotel Rosslyn”. Wenders, the director of the film wrote about the hotel, “In this other America, the Million Dollar Hotel stands as a fortress, the last bastion of the hopeless, but also a stronghold, of drug-dealing and of prostitution. This is where our film had its beginning more than ten years ago, when Bono, in search of a location for the U2 video
Where the Streets Have no Name, stumbled upon the hotel. No song came about from his discovery, for once, but a story, from that story came a script, and from the script a film – which never wanted to conceal that it might just as well have become a song: a song about a different America beyond that great big Dream, where truly everyone is equal.”
So Bono inspired by the hotel worked on a story, and brought in Klein to help with the script itself and turned the project over to Wim Wenders to film. Bono had originally talked about the project in 1988 to Hot Press Magazine, revealing his plans to write a stage play, set in a hotel in downtown LA, and even naming the project. Filming was to initially start in 1995, but was put on hold, and not started until casting began in 1998. Bono himself makes a cameo in the film, but was more involved in producing the soundtrack to the film. Bono performs on many of the soundtrack songs, and acts as executive producer alongside Wim Wenders on the entire soundtrack album. There are three U2 tracks on the album. “The First Time” is the same version of the song which had originally appeared on 1993’s Zooropa album. Two other songs, “Stateless” and “The Ground Beneath Her Feet” were being worked on for All That You Can’t Leave Behind, but U2 allowed to be stolen for this soundtrack instead. Three of the members of U2 also had solo contributions to the soundtrack album. Bono sings on many of the tracks, Larry performs percussion on several and Adam Clayton adds bass to the song “Anarchy in the UK”. Only the Edge does not appear “outside” of U2 for this release.
The soundtrack was the first time since the single for “If God Will Send His Angels” that there was new U2 material featuring the entire band. The soundtrack album leaked on the internet a full month in advance, with mp3s from the album first appearing on February 14, 2000. Originally “The Ground Beneath Her Feet” was planned as a full fledged single, and a promotional video was filmed and promotional singles issued, however it was felt the release was too close to the release of U2’s new album in the fall, and the label chose not to produce a commercial single, promoting a non-album track. The song, “The Ground Beneath Her Feet” was written with Salman Rushdie, and the details about that collaboration can be found in the entry for the promotional single.
Liner Notes
The Ground Beneath Her Feet:
U2 with guest Daniel Lanois on pedal steel. Music by U2. Lyrics by Salman Rushdie. Taken from his book “The Ground Beneath Her Feet” (1999) Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Engineered by Richard Rainey. Mixed by Tim Palmer. Programming by Leo Pearson and Danny Saber. Additional Engineering by Mark Howard. Strings by Craig Armstrong.
Never Let Me Go:
Bono and the MDH Band. Music by Jon Hassel, Daniel Lanois, Bono, Brian Eno. Lyrics by Bono and Nicholas Klein. Tambourine by Larry Mullen. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Hal Willner. Engineered and mixed by Eric Liljestrand.
Stateless:
U2. Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Brian Eno. Engineered by Richard Rainey. Mixed by Mark Howard and Eric Liljestrand. Programming by Leo Pearson. Sound effects by Danny Saber.
Satellite of Love:
Milla Jovovich with the MDH Band. Written by Lou Reed. Produced by Bono and Hal Willner. Engineered and mixed by Eric Liljestrand. Additional guitar by Chris Spedding.
Falling at Your Feet:
Bono and Daniel Lanois. Written by Bono and Daniel Lanois. Percussion by Larry Mullen. Produced by Daniel Lanois and Hal Willner. Engineered and mixed by Eric Liljestrand.
Tom Tom’s Dream:
The MDH Band. Written by Jon Hassell. Produced by Hal Willner. Engineered by Eric Liljestrand.
The First Time:
U2. Music by U2. Lyrics by Bono. Produced by Flood, Brian Eno and the Edge. Engineered by Robbie Adams. Mixed by Flood.
Bathtub:
The MDH Band. Written by Brian Eno, Bill Frissell, Jon Hassell. Produced by Hal Willner. Engineered and mixed by Eric Liljestrand.
The First Time (Reprise):
Daniel Lanois and the MDH Band. Written by U2. Produced by Hal Willner and Daniel Lanois. Engineered and mixed by Eric Liljestrand.
Tom Tom’s Dream:
Brad Mehidau with Bill Frisell. Voices by Milla Jovovich and Jeremy Davies. Written by Brad Mehidau, Daniel Lanois, Bill Frissell. Produced by Hal Willner. Engineered and mixed by Eric Lilljestrand. Includes “Beaver” dialogue written by Nicholas Klein.
Funny Face:
The MDH Band. Written by Bill Frisell, Greg Cohen, Brian Eno, Adam Dorn, Brian Blade. Produced by Hal Willner. Engineered and mixed by Eric Liljestrand.
Dancin’ Shoes:
Bono and the MDH Band. Music by Daniel Lanois and Bono. Lyrics by Bono and Nicholas Klein. Produced by Hal Willner and Daniel Lanois. Engineered and mixed by Eric Liljestrand.
Amsterdam Blue (Cortege):
Jon Hassell, Gregg Arreguin, Jamie Muhoberac and Peter Freeman. Written by Jon Hassell. Produced by Jon Hassell. Engineered by Evert de Cock. Mixed by Pete Scaturro. Recorded live at De Melkweg, Amsterdam.
Satellite of Love (Reprise):
The MDH Band Featuring Daniel Lanois, Bill Frisell, Greg Cohen. Written by Lou Reed. Produced by Hal Willner. Engineered and mixed by Eric Liljestrand.
Satellite of Love (Danny Saber Remix):
Milla Jovovich with Jon Hassell and Danny Saber. Additional vocals by Bono. Written by Lou Reed. Drums by Larry Mullen. Additional guitars by Chris Spedding. Produced by Danny Saber. Engineered and mixed by Danny Saber.
Anarchy in the USA:
Tito Larriva and the MDH Band. Additional musicians: Larry Mullen – drums, Adam Clayton – bass, Chris Spedding – guitar. Written by Stephen Jones, Johnny Rotten, Paul Thomas Cook, Glen Matlock. Spanish lyrics translated by Tito Larriva. Produced by Hal Willner. Engineered and mixed by Eric Liljestrand.
Related Promotional Videos
Related News
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- 1999-01-22 U2 Writes Song with Salman Rushdie (AOL News)