U2 “Boy” released on this date, October 20th, 1980. Island Records, North American cover. U2′s debut LP, Boy reached #52 in the UK and #63 in the US, propelled by their first hit single, the soaring “I Will Follow.” The entire album showcases U2′s penchant for recording BIG music, songs meant to take up vast amounts of space, echoing large in the aural field and their raw emotions ripping huge heart holes. Wiki says, “The album’s theme is the psychological nature of the transition of adolescence from childhood to manhood, with lyrics and atmospheric music examining a dawn of sexuality (“An Cat Dubh”), the entry into adolescence (“Twilight”), mortality (“Out of Control”), the exile from one’s past enforced by the passage of time (“Into the Heart”), mental disturbance (“The Electric Co.”) and youthful ambition (“The Ocean”). “I Will Follow” focused on the trauma of the early death of Bono’s mother when he was a young teenager. The album’s lyrics possess several literary references, “Shadows and Tall Trees” taking its name from a chapter title in the dystopian William Golding novel Lord of the Flies, and “The Ocean” mentioning Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Grey.”