I più celebrati tra i figli musicali di Derry : The Undertones
Sono tra i padri del punk europeo, una band fondamentale per conoscere meglio la musica fine anni '70
BIOGRAFIA
The Undertones emerged from Derry in Northern Ireland in the whole punk / ‘mew wave’ boom of ’77 / ’78. They had actually formed in 1975 – the time-honoured five mates who played cover versions in youth clubs. The line up featured the talented O’Neill brothers – John and Damian on guitars, Michael Bradley on bass, Billy Doherty the drums, and on vocals Feargal Sharkey.
Like countless others, punk rock fired their imagination, and gave shape and direction to their material. A love of Garage bands as heard on the seminal Lenny Kaye compilation ‘Nuggets’ helped formulate their predilection for songs with strong chorus hooks, keeping songs short, economical and dynamic.
It wasn’t until 1978 that their pop fizz bombs were finally preserved on vinyl, with the classic debut single ‘Teenage Kicks’, released originally on the Good Vibrations label. The song so enamoured influential Radio One deejay John Peel that he announced it to be his ‘favourite record of all time’, and played the single incessantly. "Teenage Kicks" has subsequently come to be considered one of the best rock songs of all time.
The Undertones shared a musical commonality with The Ramones in the USA and The Buzzcocks in England, wherein their songs were distilled to an addictive core, but still finding time for lyrical invention and musical flair.
Signing to The Ramones label, Sire, the bands eponymous debut album and its follow-up, ‘Hypnotised’, showed that ‘Teenage Kicks’ was no mere fluke. On ‘Hypnotised’, the band even spoofed label mates Talking Heads second album, ‘More Songs About Buildings and Food’ with the song ‘More Songs about Chocolate and Girls’, showing that there was a knowing wit at work amongst the addictive choruses and chunky riffing. The band earned a reputation as a ‘singles’ act par excellence, with cracking 45s such as ‘Here Comes The Summer’, ‘You’ve Got My Number (Why Don’t You Use It)’, and ‘My Perfect Cousin’.
Subsequent albums, such as ‘Positive Touch’ and ‘The Sin of Pride’ showed a band with an increasing mastery of studio technique, and a greater feel for song arrangement and structure. Sadly, internal tensions within the band reached breaking point, with the result, that singer Feargal Sharkey departed, to pursue a solo career, and the O’Neill brothers formed the highly regarded and popular That Petrol Emotion.
However, in 1999, The Undertones reconvened to play some shows in Derry, without Sharkey, his role being taken by Paul McLoone whose electric onstage presence more than make's up for Sharkey’s absence. It was like the band never split; they were rapturously received. The old classics were as fresh and their live performances as exhilarating as in 1979 with the new songs receiving a positive reaction from audiences and critics alike. They are now playing selective shows around the globe, attracting old fans, and many younger fans intrigued to have an opportunity to see one of the major influences on the new wave of pop/punk bands such as Sum41, The Hives and Green Day etc. As well as performing live the Undertones have also recorded and released an album of new material , "Get what you need" plus a "best of" , both albums were released in the autumn of 2003 and received unanimous critical acclaim. A DVD , "The story of the undertones", will be released in January 2004.
THE UNDERTONES (second verse)
The Undertones newly recorded LP, 'Get What You Need', was released by Sanctuary on October 6th 2003. The album's an absolute delight, a true, bona-fide Undertones record which manages to simultaneously roll back the years and move forward to the present.
Mickey Bradley wrote the original Undertones' Biog back in 1978. It was hand written and we printed it on green paper so that it would stand out. It made perfect sense for Mickey to write the biog for this Mark 2 version of The Undertones. Sadly, in this new technological age, it's not hand written this time nor is it printed on green paper.
“In May 1983 Feargal Sharkey decided he had had enough as the singer with Undertones. Within minutes, the bass player, drummer and two guitarists decided they had had enough as well.
Feargal went on to much success with his solo career. John O'Neill and his brother Damian went on to critical, (though not commercial) success with That Petrol Emotion. Bass player Michael Bradley became a bicycle courier, with much success in avoiding the traffic in London. Eventually he returned to Derry and became a radio producer with the local BBC station. Billy Doherty continued
drumming in Derry, and formed the Carrelines with singer Paul McLoone.
By summer 1983 , The Undertones existed only as a back catalogue of four albums and thirteen singles. In November 1999 a multimedia arts venue in Derry was due to open. The Nerve Centre was home to musicians and artists who were beginning to realise that you didn't have to leave Derry to do good work. It was suggested that The Undertones should be asked to reform to open the live venue.
The idea didn't come completely out of the blue. A few months earlier, as part of the Galway Arts Festival, four of the original band (minus Feargal) were guests of the Saw Doctors at an outdoor show, to join in the encores of "Teenage Kicks" and "Get Over You".
Later that night, the four played seven songs with various guest singers in a hotel bar. When the Nerve Centre offer came, the four Undertones decided to ask Paul McLoone to join.
From initially being a one off (two off actually, as they needed to put on an extra show the following night at the Nerve Centre), the project developed on a piece by piece, part time venture. Paul McLoone quickly fitted in with the rest of the band. It wasn't surprising as they knew of him through various encounters in the previous decade.
Careful to avoid offers to join punk nostalgia tours, The Undertones took their time in deciding how far the reunion should go. By December 2001, the first new songs began to emerge. Written by John O'Neill, they were introduced at another Nerve Centre show as being cover versions, as a precaution. Just in case they weren't well received. By the following December, the band had finished a full album of songs, recorded in Derry's Blast Furnace studio, an offshoot of the Nerve Centre.
Along side those songs written by John O'Neill, Michael Bradley provided a further four. The Undertones style of short songs, with tunes, has been the basis for the album. The band decided it would be hard to go wrong with the usual ingredients of guitars, drums, backing vocals and a great singer. New technology did make its presence felt, with the use of sampled guitars under, in the middle of, and sometimes on top of the records.
One of the songs was heard by a friend of a friend of Damian's who worked in the Rough Trade shop in London. He asked if he could issue "Thrill Me" as a one off single on 7" vinyl on the Four Us Label. At the same time, the band approached John Peel about recording a session for his Radio One show.
Two years previously, Peel had interviewed the band for a documentary film which is soon to come out as part of an Undertones DVD. During one discussion, the idea of a new session arose. At the time, the band hadn't written any new material and jokingly dismissed the idea. In an article written in The Guardian when the film was shown at the London Film Festival, John Peel said he was glad the offer wasn't taken up, as he liked the idea that that the band weren't trying to revive their music business careers.
So when the band made enquiries to Radio One in 2003 , it was with some hesitation. Happily, the new songs were well received. A few weeks later, when the "Thrill Me" single reached John Peel's turntable, he introduced it on his show commenting:
"And these are words which I'd never thought I'd be saying on the radio again, a new single from The Undertones".
One night, he played "Thrill Me" twice, back to back. He did the same thing 25 years ago with "Teenage Kicks".
Michael Bradley