The Undertones | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 1979 | |||
Recorded | 22 January – 14 February 1979 | |||
Studio | Eden Studios, London; [1] Mrs. Simms Shed, 23 Creggan Street, Derry ("Casbah Rock" 1977) [2] | |||
Genre | Punk rock, pop punk [3] [4] | |||
Length | 29:29 | |||
Label | Sire | |||
Producer | Roger Bechirian | |||
The Undertones chronology | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
The Undertones is the 1979 debut album by the Undertones. The album was recorded at Eden Studios in Acton, West London in January 1979 and was released in May that year. [5] The original release included just one single release: "Jimmy Jimmy" and an album version of "Here Comes the Summer", which was never released as a single.
A re-released version of the album (housed in an alternate sleeve), was issued in October 1979. The re-released album also included the Undertones' first two singles: "Teenage Kicks" and "Get Over You" alongside both "Jimmy Jimmy" and a single version of "Here Comes the Summer", which had been released in July. In addition, the song "Casbah Rock" was included as the final track on both releases of the album.
The Undertones' eponymous debut album was recorded at Eden Studios in January 1979. The album was produced by Roger Bechirian, with whom the band had worked for the first time the previous month, when Bechirian had produced the band's second single, "Get Over You". Much of the material on this album had been performed at the Casbah, a venue in Derry where the band had regularly performed since 1977, with some songs having only been written towards the end of 1978. [1] The album itself was recorded in the space of less than four weeks, with mixing concluding on 14 February. [6] [n 1]
The photographs of the band which adorn the front and rear cover of the initial release of The Undertones were taken in Bull Park, Derry, in late January 1979 following the completion of the Eden Studios recording sessions of the LP. The photography was taken by Derry Journal photographer Larry Doherty. The band themselves insisted on the photography being black and white, with them depicted sitting on a wall in Derry, as the band wished to replicate the cover photography of the Ramones' first album—albeit only to a degree. [8]
The front and rear cover photography of the re-released version of the album was taken by Jill Furmanovsky. The band's skyward-looking pose on the front cover of this version was inspired by the artwork of another debut album, The Who's My Generation . [9]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [10] |
Blender | [11] |
Christgau's Record Guide | B+ [12] |
Mojo | [13] |
Q | [14] |
Record Collector | [15] |
Rolling Stone | [16] |
Select | 5/5 [17] |
Sounds | [18] |
Spin Alternative Record Guide | 9/10 [19] |
According to lead guitarist Damian O'Neill, although delighted with the critical reception of their debut album, the band were unprepared for the wave of appraisal from music journalists such as Paul Morley. In 2000, O'Neill recollected their debut album as being the best they released, stating the album "summed us up. It still sounds fresh. No, I don't think we should have split up at that point." [20]
In 2019, O'Neill also reflected: "I think it took about a month altogether: a couple of weeks recording, and then mixing. The drums and bass are mostly live, I would say, then we probably would have redone the guitars. If anything was good then we left it. We didn't have to rearrange anything. The exuberance, the excitement, we were all still teenagers, more or less: I'd just turned 18 in January '79. There's a youthfulness for that album alone. I think, by the next album, Hypnotised , we'd kind of grown up a little bit more. It's probably my favourite record still, the first album, because it's got that freshness, which is wonderful." [21]
In May 1979, Paul Morley of NME proclaimed that the group "make the great, elusive, valuable new pop of our time, along with Blondie, Elvis Costello, the Ramones and Buzzcocks. Each song makes its point and then ceases. [The] rhythm guitar sets up a staggered change of lucid authority, lead guitar offsets with deft and versatile detail, the rhythm seamlessly steers, the juicy harmonies soar and counterpoint, and the consummate, matter-of-fact genius phrasing of warbling singer Feargal Sharkey conclusively makes each song perfect and breathtaking." [22]
Harry Doherty of Melody Maker declared the album to be "an album that is as disposable as it is essential, depending on the mood of the moment. Not an album to discard carelessly, but one to leave on permanent stand-by." Doherty also references "hooks [that] are hypnotic" and declared "True Confessions" as the album's most fascinating track." [23]
Dave McCullough of Sounds declared the Undertones as a "wee band of pure, straight ahead magic", stating the album was "real-life depicted by real people with stunning precision. It's the Undertones' quite remarkable panache for using all the clipped songspace to elastic proportions, bulging and burgeoning the strict, fruitfully disciplined allocation to produce fire and brimstone rock and roll thunder." [18]
A review of the album by Robert Christgau in his 1981 music reference book Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies states: "Nice lads, nice lads—suddenly the world is teeming with nice lads. I like their punky speed and adolescent authenticity, but I'd prefer the reverse—among adolescents these days the speed takes care of itself, while finding something besides teendom to write about is a problem." [12]
Numerous polls conducted since 1979 have placed The Undertones as one of the greatest albums to be released in the 1970s and one of the Top 40 punk/new wave albums of all time, [24] with the single "Teenage Kicks" being listed by BBC Radio 2 as the 51st best song ever released. [25]
No. | Title | Written by | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Family Entertainment" | Damian O'Neill | 2:37 |
2. | "Girls Don't Like It" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:19 |
3. | "Male Model" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 1:54 |
4. | "I Gotta Getta" | J. J. O'Neill | 1:53 |
5. | "Wrong Way" | Billy Doherty | 1:23 |
6. | "Jump Boys" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:40 |
7. | "Here Comes The Summer" | J. J. O'Neill | 1:42 |
No. | Title | Written by | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Billy's Third" | Billy Doherty | 1:57 |
2. | "Jimmy Jimmy" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:41 |
3. | "True Confessions" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 1:52 |
4. | "(She's A) Runaround" | J. J. O'Neill | 1:49 |
5. | "I Know a Girl" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 2:35 |
6. | "Listening In" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 2:24 |
7. | "Casbah Rock" | J. J. O'Neill | 0:47 |
No. | Title | Written by | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Family Entertainment" | Damian O'Neill | 2:37 |
2. | "Girls Don't Like It" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:19 |
3. | "Male Model" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 1:54 |
4. | "I Gotta Getta" | J. J. O'Neill | 1:53 |
5. | "Teenage Kicks" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:28 |
6. | "Wrong Way" | Billy Doherty | 1:23 |
7. | "Jump Boys" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:40 |
8. | "Here Comes The Summer" | J. J. O'Neill | 1:45 |
No. | Title | Written by | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Get Over You" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:46 |
2. | "Billy's Third" | Billy Doherty | 1:57 |
3. | "Jimmy Jimmy" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:41 |
4. | "True Confessions" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 1:52 |
5. | "(She's A) Runaround" | J. J. O'Neill | 1:49 |
6. | "I Know a Girl" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 2:35 |
7. | "Listening In" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 2:24 |
8. | "Casbah Rock" | J. J. O'Neill | 0:47 |
No. | Title | Written by | Length |
---|---|---|---|
15. | "Teenage Kicks" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:28 |
16. | "True Confessions" (single version) | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 1:56 |
17. | "Emergency Cases" | J. J. O'Neill | 1:59 |
18. | "Smarter Than You" | Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Billy Doherty | 1:38 |
19. | "Get Over You" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:46 |
20. | "Really Really" | Billy Doherty | 1:52 |
21. | "She Can Only Say No" | J. J. O'Neill | 0:54 |
22. | "Here Comes The Summer" (single version) | J. J. O'Neill | 1:46 |
23. | "One Way Love" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:16 |
24. | "Top Twenty" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:14 |
25. | "Mars Bars" | Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley | 2:10 |
26. | "You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It?)" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:41 |
27. | "Let's Talk About Girls" | Manny Freiser | 3:40 |
28. | "Top Twenty" (Peel session) | J. J. O'Neill | 2:03 |
29. | "Nine Times Out of Ten" (Peel session) | J. J. O'Neill, Billy Doherty | 2:33 |
30. | "The Way Girls Talk" (Peel session) | J. J. O'Neill | 2:40 |
31. | "Whizz Kids" (Peel session) | Damian O'Neill | 2:23 |
Notes
The Undertones
The Undertones are a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. From 1975 to 1983, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill, Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley and Billy Doherty (drums). Much of the earlier Undertones material drew influence from punk rock and new wave; the Undertones also incorporated elements of rock, glam rock and post-punk into material released after 1979, before citing soul and Motown as the influence for the material released upon their final album. The Undertones released thirteen singles and four studio albums between 1978 and 1983 before Sharkey announced his intention to leave the band in May 1983, citing musical differences as the reason for the break up.
Closer is the second and final studio album by the English post-punk band Joy Division, released on 18 July 1980 by Factory Records. Produced by Martin Hannett, it was released two months after the suicide of the band's lead singer and lyricist Ian Curtis. The album reached No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart and peaked at No. 3 in New Zealand in September 1981. Closer was also named NME Album of the Year. It was remastered and re-released in 2007.
Screamadelica is the third studio album by Scottish rock band Primal Scream. It was first released on 23 September 1991 in the United Kingdom by Creation Records and on 8 October 1991 in the United States by Sire Records. The album marked a significant departure from the band's early indie rock sound, drawing inspiration from the blossoming house music scene and associated drugs such as LSD and MDMA. Much of the album's production was handled by acid house DJ Andrew Weatherall and engineer Hugo Nicolson, who remixed original recordings made by the band into dance-oriented tracks.
Coral Fang is the third studio album by the punk rock band The Distillers. It was released in 2003 through Sire Records. The album marked the band's major label debut, and is their most recent album to date. It peaked at number 97 in the US and 46 in the UK.
Fuzzy Logic is the debut album by the Welsh rock band Super Furry Animals. Recorded at Rockfield Studios in Wales, and released on the Creation label in May 1996, it was positively received by critics, who felt it was an eclectic if inconsistent mix of psychedelic music and glam rock, and was included in Q Magazine's list of recordings of the year. It has retained a modest respect among some critics; it was listed in Q's "Best British Albums Ever" in July 2004, and is included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. It contains two top 20 hits in "If You Don't Want Me to Destroy You" and "Something 4 the Weekend"; it also contains the singles "God! Show Me Magic" and "Hometown Unicorn". It reached number 23 in the UK Albums Chart on release. In 2013, NME ranked it at number 245 in its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
The Libertines is the second studio album by English indie rock band The Libertines. Released on 30 August 2004, it is particularly biographical of the relationship between frontmen Carl Barât and Pete Doherty. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling 72,189 copies in its first week of release.
Sister is the fourth studio album by American alternative rock band Sonic Youth, released in June 1987 on SST Records. The album continued the band's move away from the no wave movement towards more traditional alternative rock song structures, while maintaining an experimental approach.
Psychocandy is the debut studio album by Scottish rock band the Jesus and Mary Chain. It was released in November 1985 on Blanco y Negro Records. The album is considered a landmark recording: its combination of guitar feedback and noise with traditional pop melody and structure proved influential on the forthcoming shoegaze genre and alternative rock in general.
Inflammable Material is the debut album by the Northern Irish punk band Stiff Little Fingers. Released in 1979, at the height of The Troubles, most of the album's tracks detail the grim reality of life in Northern Ireland in times of polarisation and conflict, with songs containing themes such as teenage boredom, deprivation, sectarian violence and police brutality.
"Teenage Kicks" is the debut single by Northern Irish punk rock band the Undertones. Written in the summer of 1977 by J.J. O'Neill, the band's rhythm guitarist and principal songwriter, the song was recorded on 15 June 1978 and initially released that September on independent Belfast record label Good Vibrations, before the band signed to Sire Records on 2 October 1978. Sire Records subsequently obtained all copyrights to the material released upon the Teenage Kicks EP and the song was re-released as a standard vinyl single on Sire's own label on 14 October that year, reaching number 31 in the UK Singles Chart two weeks after its release
Future Days is the fourth studio album by the German experimental rock group Can, released on 1 August 1973 by United Artists. It was the group's final album to feature vocalist Damo Suzuki, who subsequently left the band to become a Jehovah's Witness, and explores a more atmospheric sound than their previous releases.
Hypnotised is a 1980 album released by the Undertones. The album, the second of four released by the band, was recorded at Wisseloord Studios in the Netherlands in December 1979, and at Eden Studios in London in January 1980, with the majority of the songs to appear on the album being written between March and December 1979. In addition, although the primary lyrical concern of the songs upon this album focused upon teenage angst, boisterousness, and heartbreak, several of the songs upon Hypnotised are notably both lyrically and musically more sophisticated than material released upon The Undertones.
That Petrol Emotion were a London-based Northern Ireland-originating band with an American vocalist, Steve Mack. It featured the O'Neill brothers from celebrated Derry pop-punk band The Undertones plus ex-members of fellow Derry bands Bam Bam and The Calling and The Corner Boys. They recorded five albums between 1986 and 1994, exploring an eclectic fusion of alternative rock, post-punk, garage rock and dance music which in part anticipated and overlapped with the dance-pop era of the 1990s.
John Joseph O'Neill is a musician who is the rhythm guitarist and principal songwriter of the punk rock/new wave band the Undertones. O'Neill, along with his younger brother Vincent and friends Feargal Sharkey, Michael Bradley and Billy Doherty, founded the Undertones in 1975, but Vincent O'Neill was replaced the following year with his younger brother Damian O'Neill, who became the band's lead guitarist.
Positive Touch is a 1981 album by the Undertones. The album, the third to be released by the band and the last to be produced by Roger Bechirian, was recorded between January and February 1981 at Wisseloord studios in The Netherlands. The LP was released in May that year, reaching number 17 in the UK Albums Chart.
The Sin of Pride is the fourth and final album to be released by the original line-up of the Undertones. The album, which was produced by Mike Hedges, was recorded between the autumn of 1982 and the spring of 1983. Unlike the three previous albums released by the Undertones, which primarily consisted of guitar-oriented music, The Sin of Pride drew much inspiration from both Soul music and Motown. The band's lead singer, Feargal Sharkey, has opined The Sin of Pride as being "the finest Undertones album."
"You've Got My Number " is a 1979 punk rock song originally written and recorded by Northern Irish band the Undertones. Written in the summer of 1979 by the band's main songwriter, John O'Neill, the single was released on 9 October that year and reached number 32 in the UK charts. The song was performed live on Top of the Pops on 15 November 1979.
"My Perfect Cousin" is a song by Northern Irish punk rock band the Undertones. The song – inspired by an actual cousin of one of the band members – was written during the summer of 1979 and recorded at Wisseloord Studios in Hilversum in December 1979.
"Here Comes the Summer" is a song originally written and recorded by Northern Irish band the Undertones. The song was inspired by the Ramones and was written in 1978 by the band's principal songwriter, John O'Neill. It was included, initially as an album track, on their eponymous debut LP, which was released on 13 May 1979.
"Alternative Ulster" is the second single by the Northern Irish punk band Stiff Little Fingers. Originally released as a single on 17 October 1978, the song later appeared on the band's 1979 debut studio album, Inflammable Material.