The Undertones

pop / punk /

The Undertones emerged from Derry in 1977, the result of five friends learning how to play guitar and drums in time with someone singing.

Even by the standard of that decade Derry was not the rock and roll capital of anywhere. With no live bands worth watching, they learned by listening to mail order records, reading one of the few copies of NME that made it to Derry but most of all from listening to John Peel’s wonderful show on BBC Radio One.

Practicing in their bedrooms eventually led to the band recording ‘Teenage Kicks’ in 1978 on the Good Vibrations indie label in Belfast. Shortly after the recording, ‘Teenage Kicks’ was played, twice in a row, by John Peel.

The Undertones signed with Sire Records and ‘Teenage Kicks’ was re-released. For the following five years, John O Neill, his younger brother Damian, Feargal Sharkey, Billy Doherty and Michael Bradley crafted further numerous punkpop gems such as `Here Comes The Summer`, Jimmy Jimmy`, `My Perfect Cousin`, `You’ve Got My Number (Why Don’t You Use It)’ and four LPs. They almost enjoyed the life of professional musicians.

In 1983 Feargal Sharkey left the band to pursue a solo career and the remaining members decided to call it a day. That was the end of The Undertones, part 1

THE UNDERTONES – Part 2
In 1999 The Undertones reconvened, without Feargal Sharkey, to once again perform their two-minute, three and a half chord songs to a new generation of fans in Derry. Fellow Derryman Paul McLoone replaced Sharkey on vocals and his vocal prowess and electric onstage presence soon convinced any doubters that he was more than capable of doing the job. After realizing that playing live was good fun the band repeated the experience in selected locations around the globe.

After much consideration the band released a new CD of new songs called `Get What You Need`, which was critically acclaimed by Q magazine, Uncut, Rolling Stone and Hot Press. From that CD the songs ‘Thrill Me’, ‘I Need Your Love The Way It Used To Be’ and ‘Everything But You’ have become favorites of the bands live set.

In 2003 ‘Thrill Me’ was released as a limited edition 7” vinyl single and found its way to John Peels turntable. He introduced it on his show commenting, “And these are words I thought I would never be saying on radio again, a new single from The Undertones”. He liked it so much he played it twice, just as he did with ‘Teenage Kicks’ in 1978.

In 2007 the band recorded and released a collection of short, sharp songs under the title “Dig Yourself Deep” on the Cooking Vinyl label. The LP was critically well received at home and abroad.
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Both ‘Get What You Need’ and ‘Dig Yourself’ will have their digital release in December 2011.
In April of 2008, the band were asked to play a fund raising show for Terri Hooley, the Belfast record shop owner who ran the Good Vibrations label, which released the ‘Teenage Kicks’ EP in 1978. A film about his life will be released next year and will feature various tracks from The Undertones.

In 2008 The Undertones signed a license deal with Union Square Music and In the autumn of 2008 “The Undertones Anthology” was released. Including all the classic songs it also contains a further 26 previously unreleased live songs from and demos including the original demo of ‘Teenage Kicks’.
Subsequently Union Square music have also released the four original LPs, ‘The Undertones’, ‘Hypnotised’, ‘The Positive Touch’ and ‘The Sin Of Pride’ all with addition tracks and videos.

The band spent 2010 working on new songs and performing around the world to old and new fans, including a first visit to Japan

In 2011 the band embarked on 35th Anniversary tours in the UK, America and Europe that included, for the first time, the complete performance of their eponymous first LP.

Now available once again is their best selling double CD compilation ‘True Confessions (Singles= A’s+B’s’) along with the single CD ‘The Very Best Of The Undertones’.
Due to the heavy demand for tickets for the 35th Anniversary UK tour in April 2011 the band added another set of UK dates in December.

2012 was another interesting and exciting year for the band with numerous concerts and festivals around the UK and Europe. Check the website for more details
2013 will see the band continue to maintain their scorching live reputation with  Galtres Festival among their bookings. Check the website for regular updates. www.theundertones.com

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