The Undertones

The Undertones is a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1975. The band consisted of:

  • Feargal Sharkey (vocals),
  • John O'Neill (guitar),
  • Damian O'Neill (guitar),
  • Michael Bradley (bass), and
  • Billy Doherty (drums).

John O'Neill was the main song writer, with his brother Damian paired with Bradley for most of the remainder.

Sharkey's power pop tenor was unique, and the band was very tight. By 1977 they were performing their own three-chord pop punk material influence by The Skids and Ramones, and in 1978 released their debut four-song EP 'Teenage Kicks' on Good Vibrations. It became a hit with support from DJ John Peel, who considered that EP's title song his all-time favorite. The song was later covered by boyband Busted at the Brit Awards in 2003.

They released four albums: The Undertones (1979), Hypnotised (1980), Positive Touch (1981) and The Sin Of Pride (1983). Falling sales linked to their changing musical direction and tensions within the band, leading to their split in 1983. A compilation album titled All Wrapped Up featured a woman dressed in lunch meats wrapped in clear plastic on the cover.

In 1999, the band re-formed with Feargal Sharkey replaced by Paul McLoone when Sharkey refused to participate. After touring, the band released a new album, Get What You Need, in 2003.

Quotations

  • Scarcely a harsh word was ever written about the Undertones. Their genuine inability to pose or pontificate disarmed the most hardened critics. No-one could ever quite come to grips with their apparent innocence and naivity. They weren't at all naive, of course, they just came across that way, and, to some extent, it prevented their later work from being taken as seriously as it deserved. Regarded as perpetual teenagers. No-one, it seemed, wanted them to grow up. — Mick Houghton, in liner notes to All Wrapped Up
  • I can't listen to it now without getting all dewy-eyed. And if I play it on the radio, I have to segue it into the front of another record because I can't speak after I've heard it. — John Peel on "Teenage Kicks"

External links

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