Positive Touch

Positive Touch
Studio album by The Undertones
Released 5 May 1981
Recorded January–February 1981
Studio Wisseloord Studios, Holland
Genre Rock
Label Ardeck-EMI (UK)
Harvest (US)
Rykodisc (US CD reissue)
Dojo Records (UK CD reissue)
Sanctuary Records (UK CD reissue)
Producer Roger Bechirian
The Undertones chronology
Hypnotised
(1980)Hypnotised1980		 Positive Touch
(1981)		 The Sin of Pride
(1983)The Sin of Pride1983
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Robert Christgau(B+)[2]

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.[3] The LP was released in May that year, reaching number 17 in the UK Albums Chart.[4]

The original LP release included the UK chart hits: "It's Going to Happen!", which reached number 18 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1981, and an album version of "Julie Ocean", which reached number 41 upon release in July the same year.

Although the majority of the songs contained upon this album were largely inspired by the same subjects as the songs upon the two previous albums released by the band at this stage in their career (both of which generally contained lyrical matter concerning teenage angst), Positive Touch was the first and only album released by The Undertones to contain songs which drew lyrical inspiration from the Troubles relating to the political and social background in which the members of the band had been born and raised. The single "It's Going to Happen!" was directly inspired by the 1981 hunger strikes in Northern Ireland and was performed on Top of the Pops on the day one of the participants in these hunger strikes, Bobby Sands, died.[5] Three further songs upon the LP ("You're Welcome", "Crisis of Mine" and "Sigh and Explode") were also lyrically inspired by the Troubles, although none of the material the band were to subsequently release drew influence from these sources.

In 1986, one album track on Positive Touch, "When Saturday Comes", became the inspiration for the title of the UK football fanzine of the same name.[6] This song was not released as a single in the United Kingdom, but was released as a single in the Netherlands.[7]

Positive Touch was voted number 28 in the 1981 NME 'Albums of the Year'.[8]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."Fascination"J. J. O'Neill2:19
2."Julie Ocean"J. J. O'Neill1:45
3."Life's Too Easy"J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill2:30
4."Crisis of Mine"J. J. O'Neill2:23
5."You're Welcome"J. J. O'Neill2:43
6."His Good Looking Girlfriend"J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill2:35
7."The Positive Touch"J. J. O'Neill2:16
Side two
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."When Saturday Comes"J. J. O'Neill2:49
2."It's Going to Happen!"Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley3:34
3."Sigh And Explode"Damian O'Neill2:44
4."I Don't Know"J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill2:17
5."Hannah Doot"J. J. O'Neill2:50
6."Boy Wonder"Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley2:04
7."Forever Paradise"J. J. O'Neill2:54
Bonus tracks (issued on CD releases only, the first five bonus tracks are also issued on download releases)
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."Fairly in the Money Now"Tommy Tate and The Torpedoes*2:30
2."Beautiful Friend"J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill3:27
3."Life's Too Easy" (single version)J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill2:43
4."Julie Ocean" (single version)J. J. O'Neill3:36
5."Kiss in the Dark"J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley,2:33
6."Untouchable" (Peel session)Damian O'Neill3:19
7."The Love Parade" (Peel session)Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley4:08
8."Luxury" (Peel session)J. J. O'Neill2:28
9."The Sin of Pride" (Peel session)Damian O' Neill, Michael Bradley3:44
  • Tommy Tate and The Torpedoes was a pseudonym for Damian O' Neill.
"We went into it, and came out of it, very happy with the direction we were going in. It wasn't based on any great discussions within the band; it was a natural progression for us. The first LP was based on what we were listening to in [the] O'Neills' front room. Positive Touch came out of what we'd been listening to since that."

Michael Bradley, reflecting on the Undertones' mindset and musical inspiration behind the songs upon Positive Touch (2009)[9]

Personnel

The Undertones
Additional musicians
  • Paul Carrack - piano (upon "Life's too Easy" and "Fascination")
  • Neill King - trumpet (upon "It's Going to Happen!" and "His Good Looking Girlfriend")
  • Dick Blewett - saxophone (upon "It's Going to Happen!" and "His Good Looking Girlfriend")

References

  1. ↑ "Positive Touch - The Undertones - Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  2. ↑ "Robert Christgau: CG: undertones". Robertchristgau.com. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  3. ↑ Teenage Kicks: My Life as an Undertone p. 185
  4. ↑ "Positive Touch". Connollyco.com. 2006-02-27. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  5. ↑ Archived 2012-10-03 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ "When Saturday Comes magazine". Wsc.co.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  7. ↑ "The Undertones – When Saturday Comes". Discogs.com. 2014-05-15. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
  8. ↑ "Rocklist.net...NME End Of Year Lists 1981..." Rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
  9. ↑ Sleeve notes for Positive Touch/The Sin of Pride 2009 CD reissue p. 6
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