ELVIS PRESLEY was so lonely he could die, and he did. Sid Vicious self-destructed, his way. But The Undertones, they just wanted to get teenage kicks all through the night. Now, tell me, which of those epitaphs would you prefer?
Dismissed in some misguided quarters as “merely” a bunch of singles with some other stuff to help make up the numbers, The Undertones debut album now sounds as it did back then, like a unique collection of rampant and furious stabs of instant, sunny, funny, glorious pop.
The Undertones celebrate the 30th anniversary of their ‘Teenage Kicks’ classic with a limited-edition vinyl reproduction of their Good Vibrations four-tracker.
It's gigs ahoy at Drogheda's new Star* venue this month, with The Undertones as well as Jerry Fish & The Mudbug Club, Mickey Harte and Shirley Valentine starring Mary McEvoy
John O’Neill of legendary northern rockers The Undertones talks to Colin Carberry about the creation of their most famous hits, becoming godfathers to a new generation of garage rock heroes, and why the band won’t be happy until they’ve written a multi-million selling album.
THE UNDERTONES have played a series of triumphant gigs since reforming. GEORGE BYRNE met the Derry punk legends, now augmented by Today FM producer Paul McLoone on vocals
Derry punk legends The Undertones sat down with Stuart Clark in the Hot Press Chatroom for a great interview packed with anecdotes, jokes and hilarious impressions.
H-Y-P I'm Hypnotised! I've checked the relevant source and their advice is simple: sit down, relax and cancel all other engagements. The Undertones have returned triumphant.
There s no sign of Derry s finest turning into the Rolling Tones but neither is there much sign of any new contenders ready to challenge the supremacy of THE UNDERTONES
Pet sounds of Ulster: Kharma 45, The Undertones, Triggerman, Red Organ Serpent Sound and the late great Billy Browne. Not to mention masturbating monkeys.
Canadian songwriter Emm Gryner has released a covers album of Irish rock classics. But what inspired her to tackle Horslips, The Undertones and Gilbeert O'Sullivan? And why didn't The Pogues make the cut?
The sound of a band that has nothing left to prove and the freedom to explore new territory, which they do with much aplomb, displaying impressive versatility.
From 15-28 July 2002 Galway city hosts one of the most comprehensive of this year's arts festivals with esoteric offerings from the genres of visual art, music, theatre, comedy and lots, lots more
Legalise Murder races out of the traps and bears more than a passing resemblance to the halcyon days of the Undertones, not least in Niall Quinn’s strong singing accent.
SingStar fans can now do karaoke versions of their favourite Delorentos tracks, as three of the band's songs have been made available to download for the game.
Bossa and nu-jazz/funk versions of punk/new wave classics from The Undertones, The Clash, Killing Joke, PIL, Dead Kennedys delivered by two sultry chanteuses.
Waterford band The Heard have recently picked up some notable plaudits from the likes of Alison Curtis at Today FM, and at times it's easy to see why. Raw production lends a hint of punk energy to their otherwise straight melodic rock songs. 'Holiday Camp' brings to mind Modern Life Is Rubbish-era Blur whilst 'Shame' has the swagger and punch of The Undertones and the melodies of The Stunning. If there is a criticism, it's that the songs lack imagination. Decent enough nonetheless.
U2 soundman Joe O’Herlihy has revealed that following a stint in Dublin’s Windmill Lane Studios, the band are set to do some warm weather recording overseas.
After much will they/won’t they speculation, That Petrol Emotion have confirmed that they’re reconvening for an Electric Picnic appearance on August 30.
The Undertones were getting teenage kicks and SLF were snarling about suspect devices, but while U2’s sound was equally jagged and hormonal, their themes were already leaning toward metaphysical, if not existentialist.
The Undertones and Stiff Little Fingers are proof that middle-age punk rock isn’t necessarily a bad idea, for the Stranglers, however, it may be time for a rethink.
This the second album from UB40 is an intoxicating pleasure, representing, along with Costello's Trust and the Undertones' Positive Touch, one of your humble correspondent's prime hit-picks of the season thus far.
Some readers of this column may be surprised to learn that Judge Jules got one of the biggest cheers during proceedings at the recent BBC1FM One Big Weekend festival in Derry, for opening his set with ‘Teenage Kicks’, the seminal anthem from local heroes The Undertones.
We’re completely aware that it’s a ridiculous band name,” groans Organized Confusion singer Niall Doherty. “But we’ve come this far with it, so it might be a bad idea to get rid of it now."
Currently touring their fifth record Saturday Nights And Sunday Mornings, COUNTING CROWS singer Adam Duritz speaks to Edwin McFee about Teenage Kicks, porno flicks and his love for Ireland.
Colin Carberry looks back at twelve months in which Bill Drummond’s Soup Line tour of Ulster was one of the Northern arts scene’s undoubted highlights.
The Moondogs were one of the original wave of late ’70s Northern Ireland punk bands. Now reformed, they have no less than two albums slotted for imminent release. Bassist Jackie Hamilton tells all.
Limerick thrashmeisters Giveamanakick's third album Welcome To The Cusp is the product of ten days of cabin fever in Donegal. No wonder it sounds wet 'n' wild.
They looked great, played great, wrote great songs and, in PAUL CLEARY had a frontman with bundles of charisma. Yet THE BLADES never followed U2 into the stratosphere. On the occasion of the release of a retrospective set GEORGE BYRNE rewinds the tape
They all left poxy factory jobs to be in a band, they used to dress in Clockwork Orange costume onstage, and they confess that they only signed to their current label so that one of them could sleep with Saffron from Republica. They are THE JOSEPHS, and your host is PETER MURPHY.
Occasionally, music from Derry effects the wider scheme of things with spectacular results. This year, the fun centred on the use of D:Ream?s ?Things Can Only Get Better? as a Labour Party anthem. The touchy-feely, get-off-your-arse-and-participate message of the song was just what Tony Blair wanted for his born-again campaign theme.
With 1993 going down as the year that Irish rock finally emerged from U2’s shadow, HOT PRESS takes an introductory look at four of the rapidly emerging outfits that are poised to make headlines and sell bucket–loads of records in ’94.
Schtum, Ash, Joyrider, Compulsion.
The Subtonics first came to our attention when they attempted to sabotage last year's hotpress award's ceremony with a nearby rooftop gig. But what have they done for us lately? Stephen Robinson Sub-scribes
THE SUBTONICS are young, gifted . . . and angry. Having made a name for themselves through their guerilla promotional tactics, they now tell EAMON SWEENEY that we re coming close to the end of rock n roll in Ireland.
With over twenty-one years experience in pro audio, Richard Dowling is the man responsible for making Interpol, Foo Fighters, The Undertones and countless others sound good!
Such is the close proximity of most of the well-known pubs to each other and to other central locations that Galway could quite conceivably have been designed with the pub crawler in mind. The sheer abundance and variety of pubs that Galway has to offer the thirsty reveller is one of the big attractions of the City of The Tribes. Galway pubs are renowned for their unique and friendly atmosphere, mighty craic and impromptu traditional music sessions.
The emergence of The Boomtown Rats inspired a new generation of in-your-face Irish bands who re-energised an Irish music scene that has become moribund and predictable.
The college circuit is an important stepping stone in rock music around the world. While the potential remains unfulfilled in Ireland, there’s a new breed of Ents Officer who are aiming higher.
I’d always have said that Irish people were good at huddling. Our history and our climate, not to mention the controlling influence of the Roman Catholic Church, had tended to give us an inward-looking aspect. We had a thing about bars, matter a damn how dark or gloomy they might be. What we wanted, it seemed, was good place to whisper and to hide.
Contrary to popular belief, not all Australians are surf fanatics from birth. However, that doesn’t mean that participating in the sport isn’t a hugely rewarding experiance, as Hot Press’ resident Antipodean Danielle Brigham discovered when she travelled to Bundoran ahead of the town’s eagerly anticipated ocean festival.
To mark the occasion of the release of a near definitive punk compilation, GEORGE BYRNE fondly recalls the days when pogo was go-go and gabba gabba was hey.
You re the frontman with The Stunning, you make an innocent remark about farmers and acid house and you end up creating banner headlines in The Western People. Lorraine Freeney assures Steve Wall that this is the sort of stuff Hot Press never stoop to, and also hears about the new album, Deco in The Commitments and the art of bridging the rural-urban divide.
Fifteen years since they first topped the Irish charts, The Saw Doctors remain one of this country’s most successful bands. So why do so many people still consider them a novelty act?
co.uk, with their spiky sound and their hearts set on superstardom, are the new great white hopes of the northern rock scene. STUART CLARK met them.
PiX: MICHAEL TAYLOR
It is 15 years, almost to the day, since sound engineer JOE O'HERLIHY did his first gig with U2. SIOBHÁN LONG profiles the man with the longest beard in rock'n'roll (well, nearly) . . .
It was a Jubilee ago that The Sex Pistols exploded onto the world stage and changed music forever. Except little has changed, according to John Lydon and that's why he's back
That was the original headline, back in November 1985, when Tony O'Donoghue - now best known as a presenter on RTE radio - spoke to Joe O'Herlihy (sound engineer with U2, we called him) about the torturous life of the roadie for the following year's Hot Press Yearbook. This is what went down . . .
From the biggest international names to the most dynamic local creations, festivals make Ireland a good place to be in summer, even when the sun refuses to put in an appearance
And that s just the band! Galway s finest, The Stunning, take time out from sticking pins in themselves as their debut album Paradise In The Picturehouse finds itself perched atop the Irish charts to explain the secret of their success to an attentive Michael O Hara, who undergoes a road to Damascus experience en route.
Stuart Clark – himself a black belt in origami – discovers how The Ramones and kickboxing chinese detectives have helped Ash to overcome their sordid heavy metal past and become Top of the Chops.
John Walshe talks to Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz about love, fame, journalism, nervous breakdowns, dating the cast of Friends and the band s special relationship with their Irish fans. Birdwatcher: Declan English
A House are really good! That s just one of the shocking claims Graham Linehan makes in this award winning article based loosely on an interview he did with the band.
From Oasis to The Ping Pong Bitches, ALAN McGEE is living proof that there s life after
success, excess, Labour, near-death and, oh yes, Creation Records. Even if you re a Rangers
supporter. Interview: STUART CLARK
Morrissey of The Smiths has taken the place of both Duran Duran and the Thompson Twins, single-handedly wiping them out, at least on my one increasingly [used] cassette. When I told him whose conversations we were taping over he said, "Good. I'll talk louder then." Not a man to be taken lightly.
PIGEON-HOLE THEM AS BELFAST HARDCORE MERCHANTS AT YOUR PERIL - IN THE PAST FEW MONTHS THERAPY? HAVE RELEASED TWO CLASSIC PUNK-POP EP'S THAT SHOOK THE BRITISH CHARTS, AND EVEN GOT THEM INTO THE PAGES OF TEEN-BIBLE SMASH HITS. AS THEY BEGIN RECORDING THEIR NEW LP, THEY TAKE TIME OUT TO GET NERVOUS ABOUT FEILE, GET ANGRY ABOUT THE BEATLES, AND EXPLAIN WHY THE DAYS OF THE NINE-MINUTE INSTRUMENTAL EPIC ARE OVER. INTERVIEW: LORRAINE FREENEY
ENTERTAINMENT OFFICERS FROM UCC, UCD, UNIVERSITY OF ULSTER, UCG, DCU AND THE UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK GIVE AN ALTERNATIVE VIEW OF LIFE ON THEIR PARTICULAR CAMPUSES.
Pigeon-hole them as Belfast hardcore merchants at your peril in the past few months Therapy? have released two classic punk-pop EPs that shook the British charts, and even got them into the pages of teen-bible Smash Hits. As they begin recording their new LP, they take time out to get nervous about Fiile, get angry about the Beatles, and explain why the days of the nine-minute instrumental epic are over. Interview: Lorraine Freeney.
In a presidential nomination field virtually devoid of candidates of real calibre and charisma, the name of ex-Boomtown Rat and Live Aid hero BOB GELDOF has cropped up again and again. Despite his outright denial that he will run for office, the rumour refuses to die away. Here, in an interview with LIAM FAY, he gives his assessment of Mary Robinson s seven years in the job, and his hopes for the future occupants of Aras an Uachtarain.
John Walshe travels to Berlin to see Ash in superlative live form on Paddy's night. And no wonder: the band reckon their new album, free all angels could put them in the Michael Jackson league! plus: why they're so down on Louis Walsh, Westlife and Ronan Keating and so up for Bono, John Hume, David Trimble and - wait for it - Darius of Popstars. Flash photography: Mella Travers
PHIL COULTER is far from the muzak-producing bore of caricature. Here, he talks to JOE JACKSON about family tragedy, northern politics, drink binges, having songs covered by Elvis and his experiences working with stars like Van Morrison, Siniad O Connor and Luke Kelly. Portraits: MYLES CLAFFEY
It’s a different world than it used to be! In this special extended birthday column, The Hog takes a necessarily selective – and typically colourful – look at the 30 most important influences on the process of change that has brought this country all the way from there to… well, where else but here?
Bill Clinton has written to the organisers of the Good Vibrations Records anniversary concert to commend the label, along with boss Terri Hooley, for their support
So it proves – in Mickey Harte we have a writer of significant talent, who takes his inspiration from the likes of Rodney Crowell, Ron Sexsmith and Josh Ritter
Setting its cap firmly in the camp of mid-’80s widescreen indie it has a self-assurance, and gentle surety of tone that, really, should only appear a few more records down the line.
I thought I was doomed to a night of generic college guitar bands trying to be the next Frames, but was instead treated to well-written and strongly performed music.
Are you a budding muso looking for that first big break? Then take your pick from the River 'Rock' Music Revolution or the Vigilanteism Battle of the Bands...
Any day now a hombre called Padre Alessio Parente will arrive on these shores to whip up support for the canonisation of an Italian madman who called himself "Padre Pio."
The third Dublin heat of this year's increasingly interesting battle saw five very diverse acts slugging it out for a coveted place in April’s grand final
Volume three of our Hot Press covers collection features classic images of Bowie, Rory Gallagher, the Boomtown Rats, Stiff Little Fingers, Thin Lizzy, the Undertones and much, much more...
Keyboards at the ready, modems on standby: here it is, a quick-fire tour of some of the entertainment websites from the north that matter. In theory, we were going to give you the definitive A-Z guide, but we couldn't find anything beginning with a Q or an X . Neverthless, here we go . .
In the new Hot Press, Peter Murphy picks his 20 highlights from the last 35 years of home-grown alternative culture (in strictly chronological order!). Take a look and then have your say on the indie moments that rocked in your lifetime...
IT’S BEEN a strange month. Hot Press has been at the centre of controversies before – but never quite like this! Elsewhere in this issue, we cross swords with Eoghan Harris and the Sunday Times regarding an issue of defamation.
30,000 people, loads of A-list stars, four stages on Fairyhouse Racecourse. Yes, we're talking about WITNNESS. KIM PORCELLI reviews the biggest festival of the summer.
There's one sure fire way to bring your music to the attention of the masses – and that's by getting it played on radio. Fortunately, Ireland has no lack of independently inclined stations out there – most of which play demos.
Hard rock has taken on many forms, but if it's loud enough to annoy the neighbours, it should be categorised as good old-fashioned metal. Peter Murphy guides you through our choice of the Top 30 metal albums of all time.
