The Undertones (album)

The Undertones
Original May 1979 cover release of The Undertones
Studio album by The Undertones
Released 13 May 1979
Recorded Eden Studios, London, January 1979;[1] 23 Creggan Street, Derry (1977)[2]
Genre Punk rock, pop punk[3]
Length 29:29
Label Sire
Ardeck-EMI
Rykodisc
Sanctuary Records (UK CD reissue)
Producer Roger Bechirian
The Undertones chronology
The Undertones
(1979)		 Hypnotised
(1980)Hypnotised1980
Cover of October 1979 re-release of The Undertones
Both images of the vinyl album cover of The Undertones could be described as "front covers", as the track listings and name of album/group are shown on both sides.
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[5]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[6]
Q[7]
Record Collector[8]
Rolling Stone[9]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[10]
Select5/5[11]
Smash Hits7/10[12]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[13]

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 on 13 May that year.[14] 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 of the album.

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,[15] with the single "Teenage Kicks" being listed by BBC Radio 2 as the 51st best song ever released.[16]

Recording

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 with for the first time the previous month, when Bechirian had produced the band's second single, "Get Over You". Much of the material upon this album had been performed regularly 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.[17] The album itself was recorded in the space of less than two weeks.[n 1]

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."Family Entertainment"Damian O'Neill2:37
2."Girls Don't Like It"J. J. O'Neill2:19
3."Male Model"J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill1:54
4."I Gotta Getta"J. J. O'Neill1:53
5."Wrong Way"Billy Doherty1:23
6."Jump Boys"J. J. O'Neill2:40
7."Here Comes The Summer"J. J. O'Neill1:42
Side two
No.TitleWritten byLength
1."Billy's Third"Billy Doherty1:57
2."Jimmy Jimmy"J. J. O'Neill2:41
3."True Confessions"J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill1:52
4."She's A Runaround"J. J. O'Neill1:49
5."I Know a Girl"J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill2:35
6."Listening In"J . J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill2:24
7."Casbah Rock"J. J. O'Neill0:47
Bonus tracks (issued on CD and download releases only)
No.TitleWritten byLength
15."Teenage Kicks"J. J. O'Neill2:28
16."True Confessions" (single version)J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill1:56
17."Emergency Cases"J. J. O'Neill1:59
18."Smarter Than You"Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Billy Doherty1:38
19."Get Over You"J. J. O'Neill2:46
20."Really Really"Billy Doherty1:52
21."She Can Only Say No"J. J. O'Neill0:54
22."Here Comes The Summer" (single version)J. J. O'Neill1:46
23."One Way Love"J. J. O'Neill2:16
24."Top Twenty"J. J. O'Neill2:14
25."Mars Bars"Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley2:10
26."You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It?)"J. J. O'Neill2:41
27."Let's Talk About Girls"Manny Freiser*3:40
28."Top Twenty" (Peel session)J. J. O'Neill2:03
29."Nine Times Out of Ten" (Peel session)J. J. O'Neill, Billy Doherty2:33
30."The Way Girls Talk" (Peel session)J. J. O'Neill2:40
31."Whizz Kids" (Peel session)Damian O'Neill2:23

Accolades

  • A 1979 end of year critics' list published by Melody Maker placed The Undertones as the sixth best album to be released that year.[20]
  • The album was ranked at No. 17 among the top "Albums of the Year" for 1979 by NME, with "Get Over You" ranked at No. 32 among the year's top tracks.[21] A 1993 poll by NME placed it as the 50th greatest album to be released in the 1970s.[22]
  • In a 2000 poll by Q magazine, to find the '100 Greatest British Albums Ever' as voted by the British public, The Undertones' eponymous debut LP was voted the 90th greatest album ever written by British artists.
  • A 2006 poll by UK-based rock music magazine Kerrang! lists The Undertones as the 19th greatest punk album ever to be released.[23]
  • The Undertones' debut LP was also listed in "1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die:" a poll selected and written by 90 leading international music critics.[24]

Personnel

The Undertones

Notes

  1. ↑ The Undertones would record their second Peel Session with John Peel while in London to record their debut album. This second recording of a Peel Session for the band—which saw them perform four songs from this forthcoming LP—was broadcast on BBC Radio on 5 February, and was recorded at Maida Vale Studios.[18]

References

  1. ↑ Teenage Kicks: My Life as an Undertone p. 114
  2. ↑ Teenage Kicks: My Life as an Undertone ISBN 978-1-78558-180-9 p. 25
  3. ↑ rollingstone.com
  4. ↑ Mason, Stewart. "The Undertones – The Undertones". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  5. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1981). "The Undertones: The Undertones". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the '70s. Ticknor and Fields. ISBN 0-89919-026-X. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  6. ↑ Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  7. ↑ "The Undertones: The Undertones". Q (364): 115. October 2016.
  8. ↑ Baldwin, Shane (November 2016). "The Undertones – The Undertones, Hypnotised". Record Collector (459). Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  9. ↑ "The Undertones: The Undertones / Hypnotised". Rolling Stone: 94. 30 October 2003.
  10. ↑ Marsh, Dave; Swenson, John, eds. (1983). "The Undertones". The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2nd ed.). Random House. ISBN 0-394-72107-1.
  11. ↑ Cusack, Elaine (July 1994). "The Undertones: The Undertones / Hypnotised / Positive Touch / The Sin of Pride". Select (49): 90.
  12. ↑ Starr, Red (31 May – 13 June 1979). "Albums". Smash Hits: 25.
  13. ↑ Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  14. ↑ Chart Stats.com 13 May - 19 May 1979
  15. ↑ Top 100 punk albums of all time. Archived 28 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  16. ↑ BBC Radio 2 top 100
  17. ↑ Teenage Kicks: My Life as an Undertone p. 114
  18. ↑ Teenage Kicks: My Life as an Undertone pp. 114-115
  19. ↑ ChocolateWatchBand discography. Archived 25 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
  20. ↑ Melody Maker's best albums of 1979
  21. ↑ "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  22. ↑ NME Greatest albums of the 60s, 70s and 80s.
  23. ↑ Punknews.org.
  24. ↑ 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
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