"Teenage Kicks" is one of those songs you think you know and can never prove it when someone asks you who sings it. The Undertones were a band that formed initially in 1975 in Northern Ireland. They initially started out as The Hot Rods, but, shockingly enough, there was already another band using that moniker. It took them several years of performing covers and facing rejection when guitarist John O'Neill wrote a hard driving single called "Teenage Kicks" in 1977. It was finally recorded as a demo and sent to all of the labels without much luck in 1978. One of the people they sent the demo to was the legendary BBC Radio I DJ John Peel. He had them re-record it in June of 1978 in Belfast and it appeared as a four song EP called Teenage Kicks later that summer. Peel was so enamored of "Teenage Kicks" that he proclaimed it his favorite song up until he passed away in 2004. Pretty heady praise considering what he's had access to all of those years. It seems like every European musical act from that era had some "Peel Sessions" threatening to be released in their back catalogue at some point. I'm sure there are several more to follow as well.The Undertones were a three chord Power Pop/Punk band back in the late 70's. At first they were influenced by The Beatles, but the advent of Punk Rock had them touring with The Clash and admiring Pete Shelley's Buzzcocks. With the support of John Peel the sky is the limit in the UK. "Teenage Kicks" made it all the way to #31 on the British charts. They were signed by Sire Records and it seemed like they were on their way. They recorded their debut album, The Undertones, and it was released in May of 1979. Unfortunately, by 1981, The Undertones were unhappy with their label, feeling they were poorly promoted outside of the UK. They were able to successfully negotiate their way to EMI Records later that year, but their sales never did set the world on fire. Tensions in the band eventually led to the departure of lead vocalist Feargal Sharkey by 1983. Sharkey went on to form The Assembly with ex Depeche Mode keyboardist Vince Clarke before hitting the solo circuit in the 80's. You may recognize Vince Clarke's name from Erasure as well. I'm a big fan of both of those bands. Former Undertones guitarists John and Damian O'Neill went on to form another great band, That Petrol Emotion, which had a lot of success between 1985-1994. So, while many consider The Undertones a one hit wonder, there were some very good rock & roll genes over the long haul in this band. I always find ensuing success in different bands to be a good measure of a band's stock. Clearly there was talent in The Undertones even if the charts disagree.
The band completely reformed in 1999 with a new singer, Paul McLoone, and still tours to this day it appears. A Q Magazine poll of the British Public to unearth the 100 British albums of all time found The Undertones debut record placing 90th. Not bad at all. "Teenage Kicks" will always be their high point, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with that as far as I'm concerned.
The Undertones - Teenage Kicks.mp3
The Undertones - Teenage Kicks.mp3 YSI
www.theundertones.com
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