The Undertones (album)

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.[4] 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.

The Undertones
Studio album by
The Undertones
Released13 May 1979
Recordedat Eden Studios, London, in January 1979;[1] and at 23 Creggan Street, Derry, in 1977[2]
GenrePunk rock, pop punk[3]
Length29:29
LabelSire
ProducerRoger Bechirian
The Undertones chronology
The Undertones
(1979)		 Hypnotised
(1980)
Alternative cover
October 1979 re-release

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.

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.[1] The album itself was recorded in the space of less than four weeks.[n 1]

Cover photography

The photographs of the band which adorn the front and rear cover of the initial release of The Undertones were taken in Bull Park, Derry, in late January 1979 following the completion of the Eden Studios recording sessions of the LP. The photography was taken by Derry Journal photographer Larry Doherty. The band themselves insisted on the photography being black and white, with them depicted sat upon a wall within Derry as the band wished to replicate the cover photography of the Ramones' first album—albeit only to a degree.[6]

The front and rear cover photography of the re-released version of the album was taken by Jill Furmanovsky.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[7]
Blender[8]
Christgau's Record GuideB+[9]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music[10]
Q[11]
Record Collector[12]
Rolling Stone[13]
Select5/5[14]
Smash Hits7/10[15]
Spin Alternative Record Guide9/10[16]

Reviewing in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981), Robert Christgau wrote: "Nice lads, nice lads—suddenly the world is teeming with nice lads. I like their punky speed and adolescent authenticity, but I'd prefer the reverse—among adolescents these days the speed takes care of itself, while finding something besides teendom to write about is a problem."[9]

Accolades

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,[17] with the single "Teenage Kicks" being listed by BBC Radio 2 as the 51st best song ever released.[18]

  • A 1979 end of year critics' list published by Melody Maker placed The Undertones as the sixth best album to be released that year.[19]
  • 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.[20] A 1993 poll by NME placed The Undertones as the 50th greatest album to be released in the 1970s.[21]
  • In a 2000 poll conducted 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.[22]
  • 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.[23]

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
  • Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–14 on CD reissues.
CD bonus tracks
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

Notes

  • "Let's Talk About Girls" is a cover of a 1967 song by The Chocolate Watch Band.[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.[5]

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. Viruet, Christopher R. Weingarten,Leor Galil,Hank Shteamer,Brittany Spanos,Suzy Exposito,Maria Sherman,Kory Grow,Dan Epstein,Jason Diamond ,Pilot; Stone, Rolling (15 November 2017). "The 50 Greatest Pop-Punk Albums". Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  4. "Official Albums Chart Top 75 - Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  5. Teenage Kicks: My Life as an Undertone pp. 114-115
  6. Teenage Kicks: My Life as an Undertone ISBN 978-1-78558-180-9 p. 121
  7. Mason, Stewart. "The Undertones – The Undertones". AllMusic. Retrieved 1 September 2016.
  8. Du Noyer, Paul. "The Undertones: (various reissues)". Blender. Archived from the original on 20 April 2004. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
  9. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: U". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 17 March 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
  10. Larkin, Colin (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th concise ed.). Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-85712-595-8.
  11. "The Undertones: The Undertones". Q (364): 115. October 2016.
  12. Baldwin, Shane (November 2016). "The Undertones – The Undertones, Hypnotised". Record Collector (459). Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  13. "The Undertones: The Undertones / Hypnotised". Rolling Stone: 94. 30 October 2003.
  14. Cusack, Elaine (July 1994). "The Undertones: The Undertones / Hypnotised / Positive Touch / The Sin of Pride". Select (49): 90.
  15. Starr, Red (31 May – 13 June 1979). "Albums". Smash Hits: 25.
  16. Weisbard, Eric; Marks, Craig, eds. (1995). Spin Alternative Record Guide. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 0-679-75574-8.
  17. Top 100 punk albums of all time. Archived 28 August 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  18. "BBC Radio 2 top 100". Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  19. "Rocklist.net...Melody Maker Lists The '70's & '80's ..." www.rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  20. "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. 2016. Retrieved 15 November 2016.
  21. "Rocklist.net....NME Greates Albums Of 60's 70's & 80's". www.rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  22. Punknews.org. "Kerrang posts list of top 50 punk albums of all time". www.punknews.org. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  23. "Rocklist.net...Steve Parker...1001 Albums." www.rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  24. ChocolateWatchBand discography. Archived 25 August 2010 at the Wayback Machine
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