The Undertones

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quiet riot on the rock monster show with me pyro come on feel the noise of course a slayed classic anyway that's not a bad version we're heading fast towards the end of the show do not go away because there's more great stuff to come and we rock fm to keep you rocking right to the early hours of the morning and beyond but you do have to go away come back tomorrow because you may want to check out what we have on tomorrow too now if you want to listen to this show again or listen to the overrun that goes out on my podcast just head over to my facebook page pyro petty radio shows you'll find a link to it anyway take us out the undertones mike but my perfect cousin another short track super tramp it's raining the grain and thinking of finishing with motorhead a track called no class thanks for tuning in and i'll see you next week

I've got a cousin called Kevin He's sure to go to heaven Always spotless, clean and neat As smooth as you'll get him He's got a fur-lined sheepskin jacket My ma said they cost a pocket And she won't even let me explain That me and Kevin We're just not the same Oh, my perfect cousin doesn't.

He's his family's private joy, his mother's He's got a degree in economics, mass physics and bionics.

Have you seen them? Not in recent years.

The last time I saw them was, actually I saw them in Las Vegas in 2019, supporting the Undertones.

Oh, fantastic.

What a

Not that I have any influence over it at all, that they do a punk gig.

Because I think you and I agreed it would sell out undoubtedly.

We said if the Stranglers, the Buzzcocks, Stiff Little Fingers and the Undertones or a combination of those

four.

I loved people like The Fall and Scritti Politti and The Raincoats.

I loved all of that, and I loved The Jam and The Buzzcocks and The Undertones, and I think we may have been the only fanzine that said they're kind of equal, and I think that counted for a lot.

So, you know, that, that is, like, you know, a lot of people's interest, w- Weller's, uh, name and personality shows up a lot in this book.

But Jamming fanzine was, was mine, c- completely mine.

He was coming straight from the electric arena.

He's the singer of the Undertones.

And in there, I said to him, by the way, I should tell everyone you've been on my podcast.

It's such a fascinating story.

It all comes full circle.

And next week, sorry to say this to you, Paul, but we have the new singer.

of the Undertones Dave

Morris

I mean, you know, it would be earlier punk.

Sounded a lot like The Undertones to me.

The Undertones.

Which is no bad thing.

It was fine.

Punk for Stiff Little Fingers was a mirror of Belfast's daily grind, not a manifesto on politics.

The Undertones came from Derry in 1974, far enough to avoid the immediate heat, yet still drenched in the same sectarian tension.

They were essentially garage rock with glam flair, playing at pubs like the New City Hall or The Fiddler's Green, venues that catered mostly to non-sectarian youth.

Their first single, Teenage Kicks, was a hit not because of its political content, but because it captured an energy that even parents couldn't resist.

They were always looking for spots where the line between protest and play blurred.

They had a few hits like I Want My Own Home, which literally talked about the need for personal space in a war-torn city.

But unlike Stiff Little Fingers or The Undertones, Rudi never quite cracked the mainstream.

They faded into the background as their style felt too pop for a scene craving rawness.

But so we s- we were brought to those, um, concerts.

No matter who played, from, you know, Dickie Rock to Nancy Griffith to The Drifters, um, to The Undertones or The Moondogs, we were taking the, any- anything that was coming to the town.

Yeah.

You know, so and obviously, they just, you know, these were incredible performers.