History The Undertones

The Undertones are an Irish punk band formed in Derry, Ireland in 1975. The original band consisted of:

* Feargal Sharkey (lead vocals),

* John O'Neill (guitar),

* Damian O'Neill (guitar, keyboards and vocals),

* Michael Bradley (bass and vocals), and

* Billy Doherty (drums).

John O'Neill was the original main song writer, with his brother Damian and Mickey Bradley writing in various solo & combined variations for most of the remainder.

Sharkey's power pop tenor was distinctive, and the band regarded a tight ensemble. By 1977 they were performing their own three-chord pop punk material influenced by Nuggets-type material 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 (Teenage Kicks) his all-time favourite. The song has been covered by many including boyband Busted (at the 2003 Brit Awards), American group The Raconteurs, Swedish band [aritst]Sahara Hotnights and French band Nouvelle Vague.

The original band released four studio albums:

* The Undertones (1979)

* Hypnotised (1980)

* Positive Touch (1981)

* 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 (non band approved) cover. Several other compilations including the superb BBC sessions CD Listening In (named after a song on their first album) (2004) exist.

The O'Neill brothers went on to form That Petrol Emotion. The Undertones reconvened in 1999, initially to play a few shows in their hometown of Londonderry, replacing singer Feargal Sharkey with a similarly warbling new recruit, Paul McLoone. Since this time, the band has continued to play a small number of gigs each year in various places around the world.

The band have also released two further studio albums:

* Get What You Need (2003)

* Dig Yourself Deep (2007)

NOTE: There is another band with this name - The Undertones, a subset of the University of Notre Dame Glee Club who sing a capella arrangements of popular songs. For more information on these guys, check out www.nd.edu/~utones.

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