It's Going to Happen!

"It's Going to Happen!"
Single by The Undertones
from the album Positive Touch
Released 21 April 1981 (1981-04-21)
Format Vinyl record (7")
Recorded January 1981
Genre New wave
Length 3:30
Label Ardeck-EMI
Songwriter(s) Damian O'Neill
Michael Bradley
The Undertones singles chronology
"Wednesday Week"
(1980)		 "It's Going to Happen!"
(1981)		 "Julie Ocean"
(1981)

"Wednesday Week"
(1980)		 "It's Going To Happen!"
(1981)		 "Julie Ocean"
(1981)
Rear cover
Rear cover of single, depicting the Undertones in 1981
Music video
"It's Going to Happen!" on YouTube

"It's Going to Happen!" is a new wave song originally written and recorded by Northern Irish band The Undertones. The song was written in the winter of 1980 and recorded at Wisseloord Studios in the Netherlands in January, 1981. "It's Going to Happen!" was the eighth single released by the band, and the second single released to be co-written by lead guitarist Damian O'Neill and bassist Michael Bradley.

Unlike any of the previous singles released by The Undertones, the majority of which of which focused on teenage angst and romance, "It's Going to Happen!" was largely written in reference to the 1981 hunger strikes in Northern Ireland. The single is also notable for its inclusion of brass instruments in the recording.

The song was selected by EMI to be released as a single prior to the Undertones' 3rd LP, Positive Touch,[1] and was subsequently released on 21 April 1981, two weeks before the release of Positive Touch. The single reached number 18 in the UK Singles Chart on 24 May,[2] and would also reach number 7 in the Irish Singles Chart, making "It's Going to Happen!" the band's highest positioning single in any singles chart.

"It's Going to Happen!" was performed on Top of the Pops on 5 May 1981, the day one of the hunger strikers, Bobby Sands, died.[3] To mark his death, Damian O'Neill performed the song on Top of the Pops wearing a Black Armband.[4][5][6]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."It's Going to Happen!"Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley3:39
Side two
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."Fairly in the Money Now"Tommy Tate & The Torpedoes2:34
  • 'Tommy Tate & The Torpedoes' was a pseudonym used by Damian O'Neill.

References

  1. ↑ Teenage Kicks: My Life as an Undertone ISBN 978-1-78558-180-9 p. 186
  2. ↑ Official Charts.com 24 May - 30 May 1981
  3. ↑ Teenage Kicks: My Life as an Undertone ISBN 978-1-785-58180-9 p. 188
  4. ↑ YouTube.com
  5. ↑ Martin, Gavin (2002-03-29). "Pop: Songs in the key of real life". The Independent. London. p. 15.
  6. ↑ O'Hearn, Denis (2006-05-06). "A Hunger for Justice". The Nation.
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