0:00:02 > 0:00:06This programme contains some strong language
0:00:06 > 0:00:09'I found out some songs wrote themselves.
0:00:09 > 0:00:12'Like, Teenage Kicks wrote itself. Teenage Kicks was written,'
0:00:12 > 0:00:14it was a matter of 20, 30 seconds.
0:00:15 > 0:00:18'I remember doing it at the time and thinking,
0:00:18 > 0:00:21"Where's that coming out of?" You know?
0:00:21 > 0:00:23For the first time, The Undertones and Teenage Kicks.
0:00:23 > 0:00:27# Are teenage dreams so hard to beat... #
0:00:27 > 0:00:28In October 1978,
0:00:28 > 0:00:32millions of British viewers got their first taste of Teenage Kicks.
0:00:32 > 0:00:35And their first glimpse of The Undertones.
0:00:35 > 0:00:37Five lads from Northern Ireland
0:00:37 > 0:00:41who created some of the most sublime pop music ever made.
0:00:42 > 0:00:45# Dressed like that you must be living in a different world... #
0:00:45 > 0:00:50The Undertones were inspired by the angry anarchy of punk.
0:00:50 > 0:00:52But theirs was a different kind of rebellion.
0:00:52 > 0:00:55# Boys stop you on the street They wanna know your name... #
0:00:55 > 0:00:59Their singer was a choir boy. They sang of girls,
0:00:59 > 0:01:00or the lack of them,
0:01:00 > 0:01:04mummy's boys and their irritating relatives.
0:01:04 > 0:01:06# ..my perfect cousin... #
0:01:06 > 0:01:09They created a perfect and timeless soundtrack to growing up
0:01:09 > 0:01:13that spoke to teenagers all over the globe.
0:01:14 > 0:01:17But their adolescent anthems were revolutionary, nonetheless.
0:01:19 > 0:01:23Startlingly positive protest songs that demanded a life more ordinary.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27Because The Undertones came from Londonderry.
0:01:27 > 0:01:29Epicentre of the violent Troubles
0:01:29 > 0:01:32that tore Northern Ireland apart during the 1970s.
0:01:34 > 0:01:37'What you cannot over emphasise'
0:01:37 > 0:01:38is just how unpleasant that place was.
0:01:38 > 0:01:42The Undertones were this extraordinary contrast to all that.
0:01:42 > 0:01:44# Little mummy's boy... #
0:01:44 > 0:01:46For me, The Undertones coming up with those great pop songs
0:01:46 > 0:01:48was the most wonderful form of protest.
0:01:48 > 0:01:50# Jimmy, Jimmy... #
0:01:50 > 0:01:51'17, 18-year-olds
0:01:51 > 0:01:54'in a very ridiculous, absurd stressful situation,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57'still managing to capture the almost abstract,'
0:01:57 > 0:01:59universal exquisiteness of a great pop song.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03'The Undertones came from a place which was, on the face of it,'
0:02:03 > 0:02:05mad with violence, raging with violence.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07# Ooh, baby, baby, what can I do
0:02:07 > 0:02:10# You know you drive me crazy when I'm looking at you... #
0:02:10 > 0:02:12'And, yet, they emerged singing songs'
0:02:12 > 0:02:15of trivial and conventional teenage angst.
0:02:15 > 0:02:17# Here comes the summer... #
0:02:17 > 0:02:20'Here was a band who somehow managed to produce something big
0:02:20 > 0:02:24'and operatic and meaningful. And that was something really precious.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27'They couldn't have happened anywhere else. And they couldn't have had'
0:02:27 > 0:02:29the impact they had anywhere else.
0:02:29 > 0:02:33This is the story of the most improbable pop stars
0:02:33 > 0:02:35from the most unexpected place.
0:02:51 > 0:02:53Between 1978 and 1983,
0:02:53 > 0:02:57The Undertones had a string of hit records that made them
0:02:57 > 0:03:01one of punk rock's most prolific and popular acts.
0:03:01 > 0:03:05# I am an anti-Christ... #
0:03:05 > 0:03:07They were one of a wave of bands
0:03:07 > 0:03:10inspired by The Sex Pistols' rousing call to rebellion
0:03:10 > 0:03:16and punk's DIY assault on the music industry and the world at large.
0:03:16 > 0:03:18# You got my number... #
0:03:18 > 0:03:22But while The Pistols snarled out anarchy in the UK...
0:03:22 > 0:03:23# ..You know my name... #
0:03:23 > 0:03:26..and The Clash raged about white riots
0:03:26 > 0:03:28and Sten guns in Knightsbridge...
0:03:28 > 0:03:32The Undertones sang of the everyday trials of teenage life and love.
0:03:32 > 0:03:37# If you wanna, wanna, wanna, wanna Wanna have someone to talk to... #
0:03:37 > 0:03:40It wasn't as disruptive in an obvious way as The Clash or The Pistols.
0:03:42 > 0:03:45'But what made the whole thing completely unique'
0:03:45 > 0:03:48was the need to escape, the need to create an alternative world
0:03:48 > 0:03:50was so much on their shoulders
0:03:50 > 0:03:53'that their response to their surroundings and circumstances
0:03:53 > 0:03:55'was to create this amazing guitar pop music'
0:03:55 > 0:03:59that was just so infectious and so exhilarating.
0:04:00 > 0:04:02Other punks may have SEEMED more radical
0:04:02 > 0:04:07but what made The Undertones' music genuinely subversive
0:04:07 > 0:04:10is that it came from a place where bombs and guns
0:04:10 > 0:04:12were part of the walk to school.
0:04:12 > 0:04:17A city where an ordinary life was something that dreams were made of.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19# Why don't you use it?! #
0:04:22 > 0:04:24MUSIC: "Dirty Water" by The Standells
0:04:24 > 0:04:26# I'm gonna tell you a story
0:04:28 > 0:04:30# I'm gonna tell you about my town... #
0:04:31 > 0:04:33The story of The Undertones begins here,
0:04:33 > 0:04:35in the tight-knit Catholic neighbourhoods
0:04:35 > 0:04:38around the Bogside area of Derry.
0:04:39 > 0:04:42# Down by the river... #
0:04:42 > 0:04:44This was the childhood home of five mates.
0:04:45 > 0:04:50Michael, Billy, brothers John and Damian, and Feargal
0:04:50 > 0:04:53who became one of Britain's most iconic bands.
0:04:53 > 0:04:56# ..that's where you'll find me... #
0:04:56 > 0:05:00So, where were The Undertones from in Derry?
0:05:00 > 0:05:03Well, start off with the highest altitude,
0:05:03 > 0:05:06which was us up in Creggan.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09That was our house there, number 36, Creggan Broadway.
0:05:11 > 0:05:16From my house to O'Neill's house I suppose was just...two streets away.
0:05:16 > 0:05:1722, Beechwood Avenue.
0:05:17 > 0:05:20Undertones HQ.
0:05:20 > 0:05:2222, Beechwood Avenue, this was the headquarters
0:05:22 > 0:05:26of where The Undertones, kind of, got together...
0:05:26 > 0:05:28The hub. You know, it was our gathering place.
0:05:28 > 0:05:33Billy was a stone's throw from O'Neill's house over the Moor.
0:05:33 > 0:05:35We're just here on the Lone Moor Road
0:05:35 > 0:05:37and my house is just round the corner.
0:05:37 > 0:05:40'And Feargal would have been about ten minutes' walk.'
0:05:40 > 0:05:4353, Grafton Avenue.
0:05:43 > 0:05:45# Well, I love that dirty water... #
0:05:45 > 0:05:49Where Feargal lived, certainly, would have been lower middle-class.
0:05:49 > 0:05:51'But, you know, to an outsider,'
0:05:51 > 0:05:52we would have all been working class.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54You know, there was no leafy suburbs here.
0:05:54 > 0:05:56There were no Volvos parked outside.
0:05:59 > 0:06:01'We were very lucky, I think.'
0:06:01 > 0:06:04I was certainly very lucky in that I was only a couple of streets
0:06:04 > 0:06:06away from John O'Neill who wrote great songs.
0:06:06 > 0:06:09And only, you know, maybe a mile away from Feargal Sharkey,
0:06:09 > 0:06:10who's a great singer.
0:06:10 > 0:06:12Imagine Feargal had lived over there.
0:06:12 > 0:06:15Imagine Feargal had lived on the Waterside.
0:06:15 > 0:06:17Imagine Feargal had been Protestant.
0:06:17 > 0:06:19The Undertones would never have existed.
0:06:19 > 0:06:21That's the bizarre thing about Derry.
0:06:21 > 0:06:25MUSIC: "All Kinds Of Everything" by Dana
0:06:25 > 0:06:27# Snowdrops and daffodils... #
0:06:27 > 0:06:31To the outside world, in the early 1970s,
0:06:31 > 0:06:34Northern Ireland's second city was famous as the home
0:06:34 > 0:06:37of Eurovision winner Dana.
0:06:38 > 0:06:42And as the place where the violent struggle known as the Troubles began.
0:06:42 > 0:06:44Already, the stones are flying
0:06:44 > 0:06:47and there's a whiff of CS gas in the air.
0:06:47 > 0:06:50# All kinds of everything
0:06:50 > 0:06:54# Remind me of you... #
0:06:54 > 0:06:58Growing up in Derry was no ordinary experience.
0:06:58 > 0:07:00'Derry wasn't one place, you see.'
0:07:00 > 0:07:02There was the Derry where the Troubles happened,
0:07:02 > 0:07:05which was down at the bottom of William Street.
0:07:05 > 0:07:07In terms of Troubles, I mean the daily riot.
0:07:07 > 0:07:11'People in Derry would tell you that it was good craic down there,'
0:07:11 > 0:07:14apart from when things happened like the shootings and serious stuff.
0:07:14 > 0:07:17'Guys in my class would talk about being down and throwing stones.
0:07:17 > 0:07:19'And, of course, you had the prize'
0:07:19 > 0:07:20of the rubber bullet.
0:07:20 > 0:07:23# Summer time, winter time... #
0:07:23 > 0:07:26You kind of knew it was cool to be from Derry.
0:07:26 > 0:07:29'Whenever punk happened and you read about The Clash
0:07:29 > 0:07:32'talk the Sten guns in Knightsbridge and so on.
0:07:32 > 0:07:35'Great slogans, but The Clash would have killed to come from Derry
0:07:35 > 0:07:39'because we all had our Trouble stories.'
0:07:39 > 0:07:42There was in instance here round about the early '70s,
0:07:42 > 0:07:43I would have been about 14 years old,
0:07:43 > 0:07:45that there was a booby-trapped bomb.
0:07:45 > 0:07:48'And that bomb was actually that strong
0:07:48 > 0:07:50'that it blew me up out of my bed.'
0:07:50 > 0:07:52The windows came in, glass on top of me,
0:07:52 > 0:07:55the tiles came off the roof, the door came in as well.
0:07:55 > 0:07:59'Then, shortly after the explosion, the army came back again.'
0:07:59 > 0:08:04I looked over here and I could see the soldier take an aim and he just shot up the road.
0:08:04 > 0:08:07There's hundreds of people here. It was just complete...
0:08:08 > 0:08:13# All kinds of everything
0:08:13 > 0:08:18# Remind me of you. #
0:08:18 > 0:08:21'Even then, we kind of knew that...'
0:08:21 > 0:08:24They weren't... They didn't have that in Manchester.
0:08:28 > 0:08:32The history and geography of The Undertones' hometown
0:08:32 > 0:08:33made it unique.
0:08:33 > 0:08:36Derry was a divided city,
0:08:36 > 0:08:40where a large Catholic majority was ruled by a Protestant minority.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47A city with an uneasy, sometimes antagonistic, relationship
0:08:47 > 0:08:51between Protestant unionists, who supported ongoing British rule of Northern Ireland,
0:08:51 > 0:08:54and those mainly Catholic nationalists
0:08:54 > 0:08:58who favoured Irish independence.
0:09:00 > 0:09:04'It's not an accident that the Northern Ireland Troubles started in Derry.'
0:09:04 > 0:09:06Here you had a place, the Bogside and the Creggan,
0:09:06 > 0:09:08the area down beneath the walls here.
0:09:08 > 0:09:13'You had the biggest single concentration of working-class Catholics in Northern Ireland.'
0:09:13 > 0:09:15So people felt self-confident in their numbers.
0:09:15 > 0:09:17Catholic working-class people in a place like the Bogside
0:09:17 > 0:09:20or the Creggan Estate
0:09:20 > 0:09:23did not have that sense of siege, of being besieged
0:09:23 > 0:09:26that Catholic working-class people
0:09:26 > 0:09:29in the epicentres of Ireland and Belfast had.
0:09:29 > 0:09:32It's also important to understand about Derry
0:09:32 > 0:09:35is that from where we're standing, if you walk in that direction,
0:09:35 > 0:09:38that direction or that direction, for three miles,
0:09:38 > 0:09:41you're in the Republic of Ireland. So there was no sense of isolation here.
0:09:41 > 0:09:43So Derry was a place where, simultaneously,
0:09:43 > 0:09:46working-class Catholics felt
0:09:46 > 0:09:48almost uniquely discriminated against, and that was true.
0:09:48 > 0:09:50But at the same time,
0:09:50 > 0:09:52Derry Catholics felt more self-confident
0:09:52 > 0:09:55than Catholics anywhere else in the North,
0:09:55 > 0:09:57and that was a strange combination.
0:09:57 > 0:09:59So, at one and the same time, it was possible to feel in Derry,
0:09:59 > 0:10:04"We are being incredibly hard done by by the world."
0:10:04 > 0:10:06And, at the same time, "Aren't we great?"
0:10:06 > 0:10:11To some extent, The Undertones captured that, that Derryness.
0:10:11 > 0:10:14You're aware of the political situation.
0:10:14 > 0:10:17There was always rioting, there was always bombs.
0:10:17 > 0:10:21The army checkpoints were there to stop you every time.
0:10:21 > 0:10:23And you were hassled by the police.
0:10:23 > 0:10:24'You just got used to it,
0:10:24 > 0:10:28'even though you're aware that was going on and how bad it was,'
0:10:28 > 0:10:30you still wanted to have some sort of escape.
0:10:33 > 0:10:36'When you're about 14 or 15, and you realise'
0:10:36 > 0:10:39you're not going to be a professional footballer...
0:10:39 > 0:10:42the next avenue open to you would be form a band.
0:10:42 > 0:10:45'So it was myself and John.'
0:10:45 > 0:10:48I think we might have had a mandolin and a set of bongos.
0:10:51 > 0:10:54'After we played football, we'd come to our house and play some records.'
0:10:54 > 0:10:57'And there'd always be a guitar lying about,'
0:10:57 > 0:11:01and Billy might just start... you know, playing the drums.
0:11:01 > 0:11:04'There was no great master plan...'
0:11:04 > 0:11:06initially, you know?
0:11:06 > 0:11:08And then Vinnie was in the band as well.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14'We weren't out to change the world. It was just...'
0:11:14 > 0:11:16It was just a bit of fun, you know?
0:11:18 > 0:11:22In 1974, just like boys everywhere,
0:11:22 > 0:11:25Billy Doherty and John and Vincent O'Neill
0:11:25 > 0:11:28decided that it might be a good laugh to form a band.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32Their next recruit came from around the campfire.
0:11:34 > 0:11:36This is Bundoran in Donegal.
0:11:36 > 0:11:40And in August 1974, we were camping down here.
0:11:40 > 0:11:46And I officially joined the as-yet-unnamed Undertones.
0:11:46 > 0:11:49# Goodbye to you My trusted friend... #
0:11:51 > 0:11:55He was my best mate. And I think...
0:11:55 > 0:11:58I think he could play stuff, like, you know? He could tune the guitar.
0:11:58 > 0:12:00And the rest of us couldn't, you know?
0:12:00 > 0:12:03Vinnie was the first person who knew
0:12:03 > 0:12:06that they announced the new charts on a Tuesday lunchtime.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10He would go to his house, I would go to my house.
0:12:10 > 0:12:13We'd have our dinner, and then on the way back up from school,
0:12:13 > 0:12:14we'd discuss what it was.
0:12:14 > 0:12:19And I remember you really wanted Seasons In The Sun to be number one.
0:12:19 > 0:12:23I remember that because I remember when Seasons In The Sun was number one,
0:12:23 > 0:12:25I remember leaving the house with a sense of,
0:12:25 > 0:12:28"Vinnie'll be happy about that."
0:12:28 > 0:12:32# We had joy, we had fun We had seasons in the sun... #
0:12:32 > 0:12:37The band was now four. They had friendship.
0:12:37 > 0:12:41They had a shared love of pop music. Next they needed a singer.
0:12:42 > 0:12:45# See the way he walks down the street... #
0:12:45 > 0:12:49I'm just going to look at the register here for 1971/72
0:12:49 > 0:12:53for my class, which was B4, which was second year.
0:12:53 > 0:12:55So, where am I?
0:12:55 > 0:12:57"William... Edward Doherty."
0:12:58 > 0:13:02And on the same class down the list, there you go,
0:13:02 > 0:13:06"Sharkey, Sean F," F for Feargal.
0:13:06 > 0:13:10# He's a rebel and he'll never ever be any good... #
0:13:10 > 0:13:14'Feargal was a cousin of mine but he was also in my class
0:13:14 > 0:13:16'and whenever we were in music class'
0:13:16 > 0:13:19with Mr Bonner, he would ask the guys in the class,
0:13:19 > 0:13:22"Can anyone play guitar or sing?"
0:13:22 > 0:13:25And always Feargal sang, so he had some nerve
0:13:25 > 0:13:30to stand up in that class with 30 or 34 guys and sing.
0:13:30 > 0:13:32Billy's cousin would grow up to become
0:13:32 > 0:13:35one of pop music's most original voices.
0:13:36 > 0:13:40# My heart's lost since you been gone... #
0:13:40 > 0:13:42'Feargal Sharkey,'
0:13:42 > 0:13:47what a voice. That nasal, brilliant, amazing totally unique,
0:13:47 > 0:13:49absolutely characterful voice.
0:13:52 > 0:13:55Which I think was the greatest voice to come out of punk.
0:13:56 > 0:13:59You know, where the hell did THAT come from?
0:14:04 > 0:14:07CHOIR BOY SINGS
0:14:10 > 0:14:14Sharkey was an unlikely punk who's singing career began
0:14:14 > 0:14:17long before he joined The Undertones.
0:14:23 > 0:14:25Feargal was a child star,
0:14:25 > 0:14:29a champion of the annual Irish music festival called the Derry Feis.
0:14:33 > 0:14:38The Feis is actually a showcase for all parts of the arts,
0:14:38 > 0:14:43mostly for children of Derry to perform in and also to compete.
0:14:43 > 0:14:44It is competitive.
0:14:44 > 0:14:49My mother would be anxious that we all sang and played an instrument,
0:14:49 > 0:14:51but it turned out he had a lovely boy soprano voice.
0:14:51 > 0:14:53And he had no nerves, you know.
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Feargal was always very confident about his singing.
0:14:56 > 0:14:59When he got into his stride he was unbeatable.
0:14:59 > 0:15:03And one of the adjudicators, he sang How Soft Upon The Evening Air,
0:15:03 > 0:15:06and she said it brought her to tears.
0:15:08 > 0:15:11It was obvious, he definitely had the balls to go up
0:15:11 > 0:15:13and sing in front of people, you know?
0:15:13 > 0:15:15Even though he may not necessarily
0:15:15 > 0:15:18have been part of the gang as such.
0:15:18 > 0:15:20Was he ever part of the gang?
0:15:20 > 0:15:22Probably not.
0:15:22 > 0:15:24Which is probably very unfair on him,
0:15:24 > 0:15:27because he didn't have any other friends.
0:15:28 > 0:15:31We needed a singer and we sought out a singer,
0:15:31 > 0:15:35whereas we didn't seek out anyone else in the band.
0:15:35 > 0:15:39MUSIC: "Get Over You" by The Undertones
0:15:41 > 0:15:42To the record-buying British public,
0:15:42 > 0:15:46Sharkey would come to define The Undertones.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50# Dressed like that you must be living in a different world
0:15:50 > 0:15:52# And your mother doesn't know... #
0:15:52 > 0:15:55But he didn't write any of the songs he seemed to personify.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59# Boys stop you on the street They want to know your name... #
0:15:59 > 0:16:02Feargal, you know, interestingly and unusually, was kind of old school.
0:16:02 > 0:16:04It was a bit like having Shirley Bassey wandering on after
0:16:04 > 0:16:06the orchestra's put everything down.
0:16:06 > 0:16:08Sings the part, "Thanks, Shirl, off you go."
0:16:08 > 0:16:11# And I don't wanna get over you... #
0:16:11 > 0:16:15But he had very little input with... Well, no input with the writing.
0:16:15 > 0:16:18He didn't actually originate any material on all the albums.
0:16:18 > 0:16:19He never wrote a thing.
0:16:22 > 0:16:24While Sharkey was the charismatic frontman,
0:16:24 > 0:16:27musically the band was driven by its chief songwriter,
0:16:27 > 0:16:30a self-taught scholar of pop, John O'Neill.
0:16:32 > 0:16:38# Come all you young rebels... #
0:16:38 > 0:16:40We used to go on holidays in the summer
0:16:40 > 0:16:42to Buncrana or Bundoran.
0:16:42 > 0:16:45And there were these folk bands playing all the rebel music.
0:16:45 > 0:16:49# For the love of one's country... #
0:16:49 > 0:16:53That was my first experience of hearing music live, I suppose.
0:16:53 > 0:16:55And they sung beautiful, beautiful songs,
0:16:55 > 0:16:58like Boolavogue, and Foggy Dew and The Patriot Game.
0:16:58 > 0:17:02# The patriot game... #
0:17:04 > 0:17:06MUSIC: "Get It On" by T Rex
0:17:06 > 0:17:08But also at the same time, obviously,
0:17:08 > 0:17:11when you're 12, 13, you listen to the radio and what's in the charts.
0:17:11 > 0:17:15The charts at the time, it was a glam rock thing, in particular.
0:17:17 > 0:17:18T Rex, Garry Glitter.
0:17:18 > 0:17:21You've got three minutes to make a statement, starting with T Rex.
0:17:21 > 0:17:24Some T Rex songs are two minutes long.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28A big influence on me at an early age, too, had been
0:17:28 > 0:17:30early rock and roll, '50s rock and roll.
0:17:30 > 0:17:35# Why must I be a teenager in love... #
0:17:35 > 0:17:38And again, the library was quite good for early blues stuff.
0:17:38 > 0:17:42You could go down to the library and get the Howlin' Wolf records
0:17:42 > 0:17:44and John Lee Hooker.
0:17:44 > 0:17:46# That is true
0:17:46 > 0:17:48# I love you... #
0:17:48 > 0:17:51And plus a lot of blues, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddley,
0:17:51 > 0:17:53there were just three chords to them.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55It was easy to play.
0:17:55 > 0:17:59# The patriot game. #
0:18:05 > 0:18:09It was coming up to our GCSE O-Levels, and we did mocks,
0:18:09 > 0:18:11and I did very, very bad.
0:18:11 > 0:18:13- HE LAUGHS - It worried me, and I thought,
0:18:13 > 0:18:17"I need to start spending a bit of time
0:18:17 > 0:18:21"doing a bit of studying if I'm going to do any better than this."
0:18:24 > 0:18:29In 1976, Vincent O'Neill, aged 16, left the band.
0:18:30 > 0:18:33Luckily, his kid brother wasn't a bad guitarist.
0:18:36 > 0:18:39They tried a few guitar players, and it didn't work out.
0:18:39 > 0:18:42So their last resort, they ended up getting me.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47You know, it was the best thing that ever happened to me,
0:18:47 > 0:18:49obviously, because I felt part of a gang. It was really good.
0:18:52 > 0:18:55At 15, Damian was the baby of the band,
0:18:55 > 0:18:57although all five were still in their teens.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02Too young for pubs and clubs, it was here, in the front room
0:19:02 > 0:19:06of the O'Neill family home, that The Undertones began to absorb
0:19:06 > 0:19:09the musical influences that would come to form
0:19:09 > 0:19:11their distinctive sound.
0:19:13 > 0:19:17O'Neill's house was the place where I went every day.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19I did everything at O'Neill's apart from sleep.
0:19:19 > 0:19:22Feargal, then, would go down there.
0:19:23 > 0:19:25We would just sit in O'Neill's house,
0:19:25 > 0:19:30play some acoustic guitar, listen to records and talk rubbish all night.
0:19:30 > 0:19:33And it was absolutely brilliant.
0:19:33 > 0:19:35# There's a riot going on... #
0:19:38 > 0:19:41The boys had a strict, but eclectic music policy,
0:19:41 > 0:19:44taking in '60s British R & B, pub rock, glam
0:19:44 > 0:19:45and American rock and roll,
0:19:45 > 0:19:48blues, and garage bands.
0:19:50 > 0:19:53And then, this happened.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57# I am an antichrist... #
0:19:57 > 0:20:00In 1976, The Sex Pistols launched their anarchic
0:20:00 > 0:20:02assault on middle England.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05For many people, it's a bigger threat to our way of life
0:20:05 > 0:20:07than Russian communism, or hyper-inflation.
0:20:07 > 0:20:12The Undertones became a self-proclaimed punk rock band.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15But unlike London, Manchester or even Belfast,
0:20:15 > 0:20:18there was no live punk scene in Derry,
0:20:18 > 0:20:23and, stranded far from the action, the band found itself drawn more
0:20:23 > 0:20:25to the records coming out of New York than London.
0:20:27 > 0:20:31Christmas 1976, I was told that my brother
0:20:31 > 0:20:33was going to buy me a record.
0:20:33 > 0:20:37He didn't ask me himself, he asked my sister which one would I want.
0:20:38 > 0:20:42I ended up with the Ramones' first LP for Christmas.
0:20:42 > 0:20:47And anyone who was alive in 1976
0:20:47 > 0:20:50will remember the Ramones' first LP,
0:20:50 > 0:20:53because nothing had ever sounded like it before.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59So fast, so simple, just stripping it all down to the basics.
0:21:02 > 0:21:07MUSIC: "Beat On The Brat" by the Ramones
0:21:07 > 0:21:09This was where it all started. Absolutely.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13The Ramones' first LP completely re-invented rock and roll.
0:21:13 > 0:21:14# Beat on the brat
0:21:14 > 0:21:16# Beat on the brat
0:21:16 > 0:21:18# Beat on the brat with a baseball bat
0:21:18 > 0:21:19# Oh, yeah... #
0:21:19 > 0:21:23In 1976, no-one else was singing such simple songs. And funny songs.
0:21:23 > 0:21:25# Beat on the brat
0:21:25 > 0:21:27# Beat on the brat... #
0:21:27 > 0:21:30Through records and radio, The Undertones sought out
0:21:30 > 0:21:31other Stateside punk bands,
0:21:31 > 0:21:35discovering music that owed more to American rock and roll
0:21:35 > 0:21:37than Anarchy In The UK.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41It was almost like joining the dots for us, you know?
0:21:41 > 0:21:44Hearing the New York Dolls, and the MC5 and The Stooges
0:21:44 > 0:21:47and The Velvet Underground, was like,
0:21:47 > 0:21:49"This is what rock and roll is supposed to be about."
0:21:49 > 0:21:53We just decided to start a group, so we borrowed instruments,
0:21:53 > 0:21:58we learnt a few songs and hey presto.
0:21:59 > 0:22:03By 1977, The Undertones had a well-rehearsed set of R & B,
0:22:03 > 0:22:06glam and punk rock covers.
0:22:07 > 0:22:11London's punk bands had the Marquee,
0:22:11 > 0:22:13Manchester, the Electric Circus,
0:22:13 > 0:22:16New York had CBGB's,
0:22:16 > 0:22:20but all Derry could offer was a makeshift shack in a bomb site,
0:22:20 > 0:22:21called the Casbah.
0:22:21 > 0:22:26MUSIC: "Casbah Rock" by The Undertones
0:22:26 > 0:22:29It's been said that it was a Portakabin which had been
0:22:29 > 0:22:33plastered on the outside and placed over a hole in the ground
0:22:33 > 0:22:35where a former pub had been, until it was blown up.
0:22:35 > 0:22:38# Cos you'll never get pop at the Casbah Rock... #
0:22:38 > 0:22:45The Casbah was the hippy/ alternative/indie scene in Derry.
0:22:45 > 0:22:47It was the only place you could go to,
0:22:47 > 0:22:50this pub where they didn't mind about what religion you were,
0:22:50 > 0:22:53but they also... They would welcome anybody.
0:22:54 > 0:22:59The Undertones debuted at the Casbah on 10th March, 1977.
0:22:59 > 0:23:04It became their spiritual home for the next two years,
0:23:04 > 0:23:07and a godsend to a bunch of disaffected Derry kids
0:23:07 > 0:23:10desperate for any kind of scene to call their own.
0:23:10 > 0:23:12MUSIC: "Jump Boys" by The Undertones
0:23:12 > 0:23:15# Jump boys # We're all jump boys... #
0:23:15 > 0:23:19For me it was the first live experience of a group I'd ever seen.
0:23:19 > 0:23:23So we sat there, and we sort of sat in a corner, and it was amazing.
0:23:23 > 0:23:25It was just a great, dramatic night.
0:23:25 > 0:23:28# Jump boys are crazy They don't have no sense... #
0:23:28 > 0:23:31They were just excited. And they were different.
0:23:31 > 0:23:33And it was ours.
0:23:33 > 0:23:36There was a different crowd, too, that went there.
0:23:36 > 0:23:37And that made it a bit more unique as well.
0:23:37 > 0:23:39We all became a bit of a community,
0:23:39 > 0:23:43because at that stage the band had no recognition.
0:23:43 > 0:23:46We were the people who knew they were any good.
0:23:46 > 0:23:49So you were, sort of, a group of, sort of, believers.
0:23:51 > 0:23:5415 years before the peace process,
0:23:54 > 0:23:57the Casbah became a humble retreat for a generation that refused
0:23:57 > 0:24:00to be defined by Derry's deep-seated sectarianism.
0:24:00 > 0:24:04I got to know this guy, called Gordy.
0:24:04 > 0:24:06And he's from the Waterside, and we're chatting,
0:24:06 > 0:24:08and it came out that he happened to be a Protestant.
0:24:08 > 0:24:12And I clicked, "That's the first time I've actually known that
0:24:12 > 0:24:14"I'm talking to a Protestant.
0:24:14 > 0:24:17"And it means absolutely nothing to me."
0:24:17 > 0:24:20He's on to the same music, he's on to the same ideas and stuff like that.
0:24:20 > 0:24:24I thought, "Ah, we're just here to have a carry on and a good craic.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26"Get away from reality."
0:24:28 > 0:24:32You couldn't ignore what was going on, because you lived it.
0:24:32 > 0:24:35But it wasn't there when they were playing.
0:24:35 > 0:24:37Something else was going on as well.
0:24:37 > 0:24:40And that was political as well, because it was a challenge.
0:24:40 > 0:24:41It was different.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46# Jump boys are crazy They don't have no sense... #
0:24:46 > 0:24:49There's a whole community, like a family of people,
0:24:49 > 0:24:52that met through The Undertones, for whatever reason and became friends.
0:24:52 > 0:24:54So therefore you just felt like a big family.
0:24:54 > 0:24:58We were absolutely aware of how people felt that we were
0:24:58 > 0:25:01expressing how they felt.
0:25:01 > 0:25:05That was a large motivating fact to why we did get signed up,
0:25:05 > 0:25:08that we stayed in Derry, we didn't leave.
0:25:08 > 0:25:12Because we felt we were part of that whole scene anyway.
0:25:14 > 0:25:19In the summer of 1977, inspired by regular sessions at the Casbah,
0:25:19 > 0:25:2419-year-old John O'Neill wrote The Undertones' first original song.
0:25:24 > 0:25:28The idea was, every week we played the Casbah,
0:25:28 > 0:25:30to have either a new song or a new cover version.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34And it just seemed obvious, to me, anyway,
0:25:34 > 0:25:39that if you play these three chords, that three chord trick,
0:25:39 > 0:25:43that trying to come up with a few words along with it
0:25:43 > 0:25:45couldn't be that hard.
0:25:47 > 0:25:50First one I showed to the band was I Told You So,
0:25:50 > 0:25:52which was a basic R & B rip off.
0:25:52 > 0:25:57# I wake up in the morning I've been looking for a bed
0:25:57 > 0:26:00# Somebody tells me you've been sleeping in too late
0:26:00 > 0:26:01# I told you so... #
0:26:01 > 0:26:04Me, Mickey and Billy, actually, contributed our songs
0:26:04 > 0:26:08over the years, but John, he's just got it, you know?
0:26:08 > 0:26:11Most great bands have got an amazing songwriter.
0:26:11 > 0:26:15It was just trying to get words that sounded right.
0:26:15 > 0:26:19That Beat movement thing of first thought, best thought.
0:26:19 > 0:26:23The less you thought about it, the easier it was, you know?
0:26:23 > 0:26:25# I told you so I told you so... #
0:26:25 > 0:26:27By the end of the year, The Undertones had a full
0:26:27 > 0:26:30set of original songs and were ready to make a record.
0:26:30 > 0:26:34# Well, it's too late to stop I told you so. #
0:26:34 > 0:26:37There was nowhere to record in Derry,
0:26:37 > 0:26:40but there was a guy in Belfast.
0:26:42 > 0:26:44I suppose as an old hippy,
0:26:44 > 0:26:47punk to me was my hippy's revenge on the world.
0:26:47 > 0:26:51"You didn't listen to us in the '60s, now look what you've got."
0:26:51 > 0:26:53# Take a look where you're livin'
0:26:53 > 0:26:54# You got army on the street
0:26:54 > 0:26:56# And the RUC dog of repression... #
0:26:56 > 0:27:00The Belfast scene was characterised by the muscular, political punk
0:27:00 > 0:27:04of Stiff Little Fingers, who raged about rubber bullets and car bombs.
0:27:04 > 0:27:06# It's an alternative Ulster... #
0:27:06 > 0:27:10The boys from Derry had something slightly less obvious to offer.
0:27:11 > 0:27:15At the time I was quite friendly with Terri Hooley in Belfast.
0:27:15 > 0:27:16I'd heard that he was starting
0:27:16 > 0:27:19to record some young punk bands in Belfast.
0:27:19 > 0:27:21I said to him, "Well, look, there's a band in Derry
0:27:21 > 0:27:23"and I'm convinced that they're better
0:27:23 > 0:27:27"than any of the bands in Belfast. You really should get them up."
0:27:27 > 0:27:30So I pestered him for a while, and eventually he said,
0:27:30 > 0:27:32"Look, there's a thing happening
0:27:32 > 0:27:34"next weekend up at Queen's, the Battle of the Bands.
0:27:34 > 0:27:36"We get them up to play the Battle of the Bands,
0:27:36 > 0:27:38"and we get them into the studio."
0:27:38 > 0:27:41MUSIC: "True Confessions" by The Undertones
0:27:41 > 0:27:43On June 15th, 1978,
0:27:43 > 0:27:48The Undertones stole the show at Terri Hooley's battle of the bands.
0:27:51 > 0:27:53And the next day they went into the studio,
0:27:53 > 0:27:57and recorded the four tracks that would make up their first record.
0:27:57 > 0:27:58# Don't be so surprised
0:27:58 > 0:28:00# You've been telling me lies
0:28:00 > 0:28:02# It's hard to wake up to your make-up
0:28:02 > 0:28:04# Take off that disguise
0:28:04 > 0:28:06- # True - # True, true, true
0:28:06 > 0:28:07# True confessions... #
0:28:07 > 0:28:10Got chance to do four songs, and it was called Teenage Kicks EP,
0:28:10 > 0:28:12because we were teenagers, more or less.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16So it was just a good title for the EP, for four songs.
0:28:16 > 0:28:17We preferred True Confessions.
0:28:17 > 0:28:19- # True - # True, true, true
0:28:19 > 0:28:22# True confessions... #
0:28:22 > 0:28:23As far as I was concerned, anyway,
0:28:23 > 0:28:25the best song on it was True Confessions.
0:28:25 > 0:28:28But it was obvious that if we were going to call it
0:28:28 > 0:28:32Teenage Kicks EP, that should be the first song on the EP.
0:28:35 > 0:28:37Something of a happy accident,
0:28:37 > 0:28:41because the title track would come to be regarded by some
0:28:41 > 0:28:43as the most perfect pop record ever made.
0:28:43 > 0:28:48MUSIC: "Teenage Kicks" by The Undertones
0:28:48 > 0:28:49Just the first few seconds of it,
0:28:49 > 0:28:52everything you enjoy about a certain sort of music comes with it.
0:28:52 > 0:28:55Because they've tapped into it, like an aerial. They've tapped into it,
0:28:55 > 0:28:58so you're not just hearing a cheap, shoddy guitar
0:28:58 > 0:29:00through a cheap, shoddy amp play obvious chords,
0:29:00 > 0:29:04you're hearing millions of other things floating through it.
0:29:04 > 0:29:06It's everything they've been influenced by.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08And they were influenced by the best things.
0:29:08 > 0:29:09They had incredible curating tastes,
0:29:09 > 0:29:12if you like, which we think of nowadays.
0:29:12 > 0:29:15# Are teenage dreams so hard to beat?
0:29:15 > 0:29:18# Every time she walks down the street
0:29:19 > 0:29:23# Another girl in the neighbourhood
0:29:23 > 0:29:25# Wish she was mine She looks so good
0:29:25 > 0:29:29# I wanna hold her Wanna hold her tight
0:29:29 > 0:29:32# Get teenage kicks right through the night
0:29:32 > 0:29:34# All right... #
0:29:34 > 0:29:37Emerging from the front line of a major conflict,
0:29:37 > 0:29:40The Undertones could claim greater cause for voicing anger
0:29:40 > 0:29:44and rebellion than any of their punk peers.
0:29:44 > 0:29:47Instead, they sang a song about a teenage boy's
0:29:47 > 0:29:50frustrated yearning for a teenage girl.
0:29:50 > 0:29:55Poignant, universal and profoundly ordinary.
0:29:55 > 0:29:57# I'm gonna call her on the telephone... #
0:29:59 > 0:30:02Unfortunately, none of London's record companies were interested
0:30:02 > 0:30:04in The Undertones juvenile lament.
0:30:06 > 0:30:08In fact, the world might never have heard it
0:30:08 > 0:30:12if it wasn't for a maverick DJ at BBC Radio 1.
0:30:12 > 0:30:15# Get teenage kicks right through the night
0:30:15 > 0:30:17# All right. #
0:30:21 > 0:30:23And that's the end of tonight's programme, on which you heard
0:30:23 > 0:30:25the Desperate Bicycles, The Slits,
0:30:25 > 0:30:28The Mekons, Alternative TV, the UK Subs and Sham 69.
0:30:28 > 0:30:31More of the same unpleasant and disorientating racket
0:30:31 > 0:30:33on tomorrow night's programme.
0:30:33 > 0:30:36Until then, from me, John Peel, goodnight and good riddance.
0:30:36 > 0:30:38I said, "Why don't we phone John Peel?
0:30:38 > 0:30:40"I think he mentioned Stiff Little Fingers."
0:30:40 > 0:30:42And I says, "Well, we're better than Stiff Little Fingers."
0:30:42 > 0:30:47You know, how cocky is that? So I pick up the phone, and I says,
0:30:47 > 0:30:50"My name's Billy, I'm phoning from Northern Ireland."
0:30:50 > 0:30:52Straight through. He picks up the phone, John Peel,
0:30:52 > 0:30:53and goes, "Hello, who's this?"
0:30:53 > 0:30:56'This afternoon I had one of those embarrassing experiences
0:30:56 > 0:30:58'when you're talking to someone and neither of you
0:30:58 > 0:31:00'can understand what the other's saying.
0:31:00 > 0:31:02'I was speaking to a member of the band The Undertones,
0:31:02 > 0:31:05'who come from Londonderry, and the chap I was speaking to -
0:31:05 > 0:31:08'and it was a long distance line, so it wasn't too clear -
0:31:08 > 0:31:09'had such a strong accent, I had difficulty
0:31:09 > 0:31:11'figuring out what he was saying.'
0:31:11 > 0:31:12He couldn't understand me.
0:31:12 > 0:31:14I had like a really broad Derry accent.
0:31:14 > 0:31:16So I had to speak very slowly.
0:31:16 > 0:31:18And I mentioned to him, "There's a band from Derry
0:31:18 > 0:31:19"called The Undertones.
0:31:19 > 0:31:22"We've recorded an EP, but it's not released yet."
0:31:22 > 0:31:24And he says, "When the record comes out, send it over."
0:31:24 > 0:31:27'And he asked me to play something for a whole bunch of people
0:31:27 > 0:31:28'there in Derry.
0:31:28 > 0:31:31'I've probably got some of these names wrong,
0:31:31 > 0:31:33'so if I have I apologise to all of those concerned.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36'But the names seem to be Eddie McLaughlin, Joe Breslin,
0:31:36 > 0:31:40'Paddy Crawford, Dick Tucker, the McGillys, the McGanleys,
0:31:40 > 0:31:42'I think it was, Maillies, and,
0:31:42 > 0:31:44'anyway, all of the band's fans in Derry.
0:31:44 > 0:31:46'I'm sorry if I got the names wrong.'
0:31:46 > 0:31:50So finally, when Teenage Kicks EP came out, I phoned John Peel,
0:31:50 > 0:31:52and I says, "This is Billy, I've been speaking to you on and off
0:31:52 > 0:31:55"for the past few months. We now have the EP."
0:31:55 > 0:31:58We knew he was playing it that night,
0:31:58 > 0:32:00so we were all at Beachhead Avenue.
0:32:00 > 0:32:02MUSIC: "Teenage Kicks" by the Undertones
0:32:02 > 0:32:04I was like, "Yeah! We got a record played!"
0:32:04 > 0:32:06Not only a record played on Radio 1,
0:32:06 > 0:32:09but John Peel played it as well. We were so delighted.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12# Are teenage dreams so hard to beat? Every time she walks... #
0:32:12 > 0:32:15Thanks to John Peel, in the Autumn of 1978,
0:32:15 > 0:32:18listeners all over Britain got to hear The Undertones.
0:32:22 > 0:32:25Among them, a genuine music biz mogul from America.
0:32:25 > 0:32:30I was driving down to one of those little seaside places
0:32:30 > 0:32:32about 90 minutes outside of London.
0:32:32 > 0:32:34My head was killing me.
0:32:34 > 0:32:39And the one relief was we were listening to John Peel.
0:32:39 > 0:32:44The Peel Show was on the radio, and Teenage Kicks came on.
0:32:44 > 0:32:49Paul McNally was driving and I start yelling at him, "Pull over!
0:32:49 > 0:32:51"Pull over!" He turned white.
0:32:51 > 0:32:54He must have thought I was having some kind of attack,
0:32:54 > 0:32:56because I was complaining about my headache.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00Yeah, there was a bit of excitement in the car at that point!
0:33:00 > 0:33:06I said to him, "I've got to sign this band. They are fucking amazing.
0:33:06 > 0:33:11"It's unbelievable. What a voice and what a song."
0:33:11 > 0:33:14I think it's one of the greatest records of all time.
0:33:15 > 0:33:18Seymour Stein,
0:33:18 > 0:33:20the man who, four years later, would famously sign Madonna,
0:33:20 > 0:33:23owned Sire Records, the American label
0:33:23 > 0:33:26whose roster included the Ramones.
0:33:26 > 0:33:29MUSIC: "Family Entertainment" by The Undertones
0:33:30 > 0:33:32Days after hearing Teenage Kicks,
0:33:32 > 0:33:36Stein dispatched Paul McNally to Derry to sign The Undertones.
0:33:36 > 0:33:38We'd the comical scenario
0:33:38 > 0:33:41where we went to Feargal's house for a meeting with Paul.
0:33:41 > 0:33:44He was going to tell us the details of the contract.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47And there was us five in the band, plus we had all our friends,
0:33:47 > 0:33:4910 or 12 people.
0:33:51 > 0:33:53In good faith we thought,
0:33:53 > 0:33:56"Feargal and Mickey will go to London to meet Seymour Stein,
0:33:56 > 0:34:00"we'll sign a contract meanwhile, here in Derry, for Paul,
0:34:00 > 0:34:03"they'll go over there and they'll negotiate a bit more, and maybe,
0:34:03 > 0:34:05"if it's good enough, they'll sign."
0:34:10 > 0:34:13In October 1978, two lads from Derry arrived in London
0:34:13 > 0:34:16to play hardball with the man who signed Madonna.
0:34:16 > 0:34:18MUSIC: "Smarter Than You" by The Undertones
0:34:18 > 0:34:22# I'm a little intellectual Someone who knows it all... #
0:34:22 > 0:34:26Feargal smoked at the time, he would smoke like that, and go...
0:34:26 > 0:34:29And just looked at the guy like that. And you'd think,
0:34:29 > 0:34:31"I'm dealing with a real shrewd character here."
0:34:31 > 0:34:34But Feargal had no idea either. He would smoke sort of like...
0:34:34 > 0:34:38You had savvy Seymour Stein, record company mogul, talking to two weans,
0:34:38 > 0:34:42basically, who hadn't a clue about anything about the music business.
0:34:42 > 0:34:45He must have thought he was dealing with two idiots.
0:34:45 > 0:34:47And you know what? He was!
0:34:47 > 0:34:49# Smarter than you, smarter than you
0:34:49 > 0:34:51# Smarter than you Can't you see... #
0:34:51 > 0:34:57I remember, vaguely, them trying to renegotiate at the last minute.
0:34:57 > 0:35:02They phoned us, and I said to Michael, "Well, ask him how much he's going to give us."
0:35:02 > 0:35:05And it was 6,000. And I said, "6,000 each, or 6,000 what?"
0:35:05 > 0:35:08He said "6,000 between 5 of us over three years."
0:35:08 > 0:35:126,000 divided by 5 over 3 years is not a lot of money.
0:35:12 > 0:35:15So I got on the phone to Michael and says, "Michael, say to Seymour we want 100,000."
0:35:15 > 0:35:19Billy was certainly shouting in the back. "The Rich Kids got 60,000!"
0:35:19 > 0:35:21The Rich Kids, Glen Matlock's band, they signed to EMI.
0:35:21 > 0:35:25I said, "The Rich Kids got 60,000!" And Seymour went...
0:35:25 > 0:35:28I could hear Seymour in the background going, "You guys are crazy!"
0:35:28 > 0:35:29"What do you want me to say?"
0:35:29 > 0:35:32So Seymour came over, took the phone off Michael, and I think
0:35:32 > 0:35:35he made some offer of, I don't know, 30,000, out of sheer panic.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37I said, "That's fine, that's OK, that's the deal."
0:35:37 > 0:35:40# Can't you see I'm smarter than you... #
0:35:40 > 0:35:43I think it was originally 8,000, we managed it up to 10,000,
0:35:43 > 0:35:44but the royalty rate was shocking.
0:35:44 > 0:35:46I think it was worse than the Bay City Rollers,
0:35:46 > 0:35:48and they didn't even write their songs.
0:35:48 > 0:35:51My only memory is that I signed them.
0:35:51 > 0:35:53In the end, that's what counted.
0:35:53 > 0:35:55# Can't you see I'm smart? #
0:35:57 > 0:35:59Whatever the terms of the record deal,
0:35:59 > 0:36:02Sire immediately re-released Teenage Kicks as a single.
0:36:02 > 0:36:05And just weeks later, The Undertones,
0:36:05 > 0:36:09a band used to playing to 100 fans in the Casbah,
0:36:09 > 0:36:13made its debut in London for a TV audience of over 10 million.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17At number 38, first time in, Undertones and Teenage Kicks.
0:36:19 > 0:36:21'I remember, she must have bought them,
0:36:21 > 0:36:23'but my mother had a pair of new pyjamas for me,'
0:36:23 > 0:36:26because it was like a hospital stay. "You're staying in a hotel,
0:36:26 > 0:36:27"in London, you're not going to show us up."
0:36:27 > 0:36:31All my aunties bought me pyjamas to go over to do Top Of The Pops.
0:36:31 > 0:36:34First time I was ever on an aeroplane. I was 18,
0:36:34 > 0:36:36never out of Ireland, never on an aeroplane.
0:36:36 > 0:36:38And armed with tonnes of pyjamas.
0:36:38 > 0:36:42# Are teenage dreams so hard to beat?
0:36:42 > 0:36:45# Every time she walks down the street... #
0:36:45 > 0:36:47Britain's musical landscape was shifting.
0:36:47 > 0:36:51The Undertones formed part of a new wave of music inspired by punk,
0:36:51 > 0:36:53and independent in spirit,
0:36:53 > 0:36:56that challenged the corporate rock and smooth pop
0:36:56 > 0:36:59that had come to represent the mainstream status quo.
0:37:05 > 0:37:07They're a young band, they come from Ireland.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09It's The Undertones and Jimmy, Jimmy.
0:37:13 > 0:37:16# Little mummy's boy
0:37:16 > 0:37:19# He wasn't very old
0:37:19 > 0:37:22# Though he was very small
0:37:22 > 0:37:25# He did what he was told
0:37:25 > 0:37:27# Jimmy, Jimmy... #
0:37:27 > 0:37:29The bands that bands like Undertones were influenced by
0:37:29 > 0:37:32were not getting anywhere near Top Of The Pops,
0:37:32 > 0:37:34or the charts, or the mainstream world.
0:37:34 > 0:37:37They were obscure bands and The Undertones were in that period
0:37:37 > 0:37:40just after punk when, suddenly, the records that previously
0:37:40 > 0:37:43you would've only heard on John Peel and not in the charts,
0:37:43 > 0:37:45suddenly started to break into the charts.
0:37:45 > 0:37:48That was the great moment of a new kind of strange,
0:37:48 > 0:37:49lovely pop music getting into the charts.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51# Ooh, baby, baby, what can I do?
0:37:51 > 0:37:54# You know you drive me crazy When I'm looking at you... #
0:37:54 > 0:37:56Three more singles from The Undertones' first album
0:37:56 > 0:37:59made them regulars on Top Of The Pops.
0:37:59 > 0:38:02# Here comes the summer... #
0:38:02 > 0:38:04But at a time when the charts
0:38:04 > 0:38:07began to open up to ever more shocking and extravagant acts,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10what was most remarkable about The Undertones
0:38:10 > 0:38:13was that the band and their songs were so down-to-Earth,
0:38:13 > 0:38:15they seemed positively exotic.
0:38:17 > 0:38:21Predominantly, the songs are just about fun and games with your mates.
0:38:21 > 0:38:23That seems to be the general message.
0:38:23 > 0:38:25'They were being themselves,'
0:38:25 > 0:38:28and I think that's why people found them so attractive,
0:38:28 > 0:38:30There was this tremendous honesty about them.
0:38:30 > 0:38:32# Here comes the summer
0:38:32 > 0:38:34# Here comes the summer
0:38:34 > 0:38:36# Here comes the summer... #
0:38:36 > 0:38:39They were just nice kids who seemed
0:38:39 > 0:38:40sort of uncorrupted and sweet
0:38:40 > 0:38:43and you can see why they wrote about
0:38:43 > 0:38:46Jimmy, Jimmy and Here Comes The Summer and Teenage Kicks,
0:38:46 > 0:38:48because there was an innocence to them.
0:38:48 > 0:38:50This rather cheerful, Derry ordinariness.
0:38:50 > 0:38:52But back home in Derry,
0:38:52 > 0:38:55The Undertones' ordinariness had special meaning.
0:38:58 > 0:39:02A significance brought into focus when, in 1979,
0:39:02 > 0:39:04they played a concert at a local school.
0:39:07 > 0:39:10They were on Top Of The Pops on Thursday,
0:39:10 > 0:39:13and then they were in my school, on the stage, on Friday morning.
0:39:16 > 0:39:19The Undertones created a universal soundtrack to growing up.
0:39:21 > 0:39:23The everyday world of their music had particular
0:39:23 > 0:39:27resonance at home in Derry, where an ordinary adolescence
0:39:27 > 0:39:31was something the band and audience alike could only have imagined.
0:39:33 > 0:39:34Looking back, you can see
0:39:34 > 0:39:36that there was more to it than they saw. I think.
0:39:40 > 0:39:43They were able to put into words what a lot of us felt
0:39:43 > 0:39:49and they were able to... show a dimension of our spirit.
0:39:49 > 0:39:51Because our spirit was bursting to get out,
0:39:51 > 0:39:53because we'd been suppressed for so long.
0:39:53 > 0:39:56# If you hate the British Army
0:39:56 > 0:39:58# Hate the British Army
0:39:58 > 0:40:00# Hate the British Army Clap your hands. #
0:40:00 > 0:40:03These children would see shootings and bombings
0:40:03 > 0:40:05and their houses would have been raided,
0:40:05 > 0:40:08their brothers would be in jail or their brothers would be dead.
0:40:11 > 0:40:14I wanted them to see that there was a light at the end of the tunnel.
0:40:14 > 0:40:18So, I feel that they were saying that... Maybe they were just saying
0:40:18 > 0:40:21that they were young and they wanted to enjoy themselves
0:40:21 > 0:40:25and they wanted a bit of freedom and not to be stood on and suppressed.
0:40:28 > 0:40:30In Derry, and throughout Northern Ireland,
0:40:30 > 0:40:32The Undertones gave an alternative voice
0:40:32 > 0:40:36to a generation caught in the crossfire of their turbulent times.
0:40:40 > 0:40:42One way to understand it
0:40:42 > 0:40:46is as an alternative to what was really going on around them.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48I mean, if you came from Derry at that time,
0:40:48 > 0:40:51almost the most rebellious thing you could do is be ordinary.
0:40:51 > 0:40:54# Little mummy's boy
0:40:54 > 0:40:56# He wasn't very old... #
0:40:56 > 0:40:59I went to see them in concert in Ballymena,
0:40:59 > 0:41:03which is this terrifying Protestant town north of Belfast.
0:41:05 > 0:41:08The street had armoured vehicles in it.
0:41:08 > 0:41:10There was police with guns everywhere.
0:41:10 > 0:41:15But once you'd gone in there, it was like a big youth club.
0:41:15 > 0:41:18The kids that were running around were so grateful
0:41:18 > 0:41:22that here was a band that wasn't singing about getting blown up
0:41:22 > 0:41:25and the IRA and the Troubles, but was singing about ordinary things.
0:41:25 > 0:41:27They were like a window onto
0:41:27 > 0:41:30the kind of life everybody else takes for granted.
0:41:30 > 0:41:33# Jimmy, Jimmy, oh... #
0:41:33 > 0:41:36I was at a wedding about a month ago and they played Jimmy, Jimmy.
0:41:36 > 0:41:38I'm a good age, and I was like a child!
0:41:38 > 0:41:41Just, that excitement, that...
0:41:41 > 0:41:43It's still there. It's just fabulous.
0:41:46 > 0:41:49In 1980, The Undertones released their second album.
0:41:49 > 0:41:50A record that took them beyond
0:41:50 > 0:41:53the three-chord punk-ish thrashes of their debut,
0:41:53 > 0:41:57bringing their tales of everyday life and love
0:41:57 > 0:41:59to a much broader audience.
0:41:59 > 0:42:02# Here she comes
0:42:02 > 0:42:05# To say goodnight
0:42:05 > 0:42:09# I'll get no sleep tonight... #
0:42:09 > 0:42:13I was starting to get into The Velvet Underground at that stage.
0:42:13 > 0:42:16'I loved the slow songs, that juxtaposition,'
0:42:16 > 0:42:21of these experimental things with these lovely soft, beautiful songs.
0:42:21 > 0:42:22So, Wednesday Week was my attempt
0:42:22 > 0:42:24to write a slow, ballad-y type thing.
0:42:24 > 0:42:27# Wednesday week, she loved me... #
0:42:27 > 0:42:29'I remember thinking,'
0:42:29 > 0:42:32"We're going to be OK. We're going to last a few more years
0:42:32 > 0:42:35"if John's going to come up with songs like this."
0:42:41 > 0:42:42But the biggest song on the album,
0:42:42 > 0:42:46and The Undertones' biggest hit, wasn't from John O'Neill.
0:42:46 > 0:42:50It came courtesy of Michael, Damian and an unsuspecting relative..
0:42:52 > 0:42:54..by the name of Kevin.
0:42:54 > 0:42:56I was sitting in a pub in Derry having a quiet pint
0:42:56 > 0:43:00with some friends and another friend of mine came in
0:43:00 > 0:43:04and sniggered in my general direction
0:43:04 > 0:43:06and said my ears must be burning.
0:43:08 > 0:43:09'I hadn't a clue what he was talking about.'
0:43:09 > 0:43:12It was only later on in the evening that he said
0:43:12 > 0:43:15that I should go talk to my cousins in The Undertones.
0:43:15 > 0:43:18# I've got a cousin called Kevin
0:43:18 > 0:43:21# He's sure to go to Heaven
0:43:21 > 0:43:24# Always spotless, clean and neat
0:43:24 > 0:43:26# As smooth as you'll get 'em... #
0:43:26 > 0:43:29Myself and Damian were working on it for quite a while,
0:43:29 > 0:43:33and it was kind of based on a real-life cousin of Damian's.
0:43:33 > 0:43:36'Very unfairly, but, sure, life's not fair.'
0:43:36 > 0:43:39# My perfect cousin
0:43:39 > 0:43:41# What I like to do he doesn't
0:43:41 > 0:43:44# He's his family's pride and joy
0:43:44 > 0:43:49# His mother's little golden boy
0:43:49 > 0:43:51# He's got a degree in economics
0:43:51 > 0:43:54# Maths, physics and bionics... #
0:43:54 > 0:43:57I got a bit of stick. People would sing certain lines at me.
0:43:57 > 0:44:00# Cos I hate University Challenge... #
0:44:00 > 0:44:04I suppose at the time, I was probably a bit annoyed about it.
0:44:04 > 0:44:06Now, it doesn't cause me any difficulties at all.
0:44:06 > 0:44:07I can see the fun in it.
0:44:10 > 0:44:14My Perfect Cousin, a comic rant against swotty relatives,
0:44:14 > 0:44:16was The Undertones' only top-ten hit.
0:44:18 > 0:44:22Hip film director Julien Temple was hired to shoot the video.
0:44:23 > 0:44:27And the location for this domestic drama was...
0:44:27 > 0:44:31of course, the O'Neill's house in Derry, where the English film crew
0:44:31 > 0:44:34got their first taste of what it's like to live in a militarised town.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37# Now, I've got a cousin called Kevin... #
0:44:37 > 0:44:41We had a cable coming out of a house and we were lighting this thing,
0:44:41 > 0:44:43and the next thing I knew, I was slammed up against the wall
0:44:43 > 0:44:45with a machinegun against my head,
0:44:45 > 0:44:48with this 15-year-old Cockney skinhead saying,
0:44:48 > 0:44:49"What the fuck are you doing?"
0:44:49 > 0:44:51# He always beat me at Subbuteo... #
0:44:51 > 0:44:55'And it kind of made a lot of sense that despite the real,
0:44:55 > 0:44:58'hard facts of war and bullets flying around,'
0:44:58 > 0:44:59they were singing, you know,
0:44:59 > 0:45:02things about cousins who got on their nerves.
0:45:02 > 0:45:04# He's his family's pride and joy... #
0:45:04 > 0:45:08There was also an innocence there, compared with the London punk scene.
0:45:08 > 0:45:10So, when I got there, I thought,
0:45:10 > 0:45:15"This is amazing, cos it's a really, kind of different, family world."
0:45:15 > 0:45:19You know, like you imagine the 1940s or something like that.
0:45:19 > 0:45:22They were deeply entrenched in this culture of Catholic Derry
0:45:22 > 0:45:25and were able to find poetry in it.
0:45:25 > 0:45:28# Girls try to attract his attention
0:45:28 > 0:45:30# But what a shame, it's in vain... #
0:45:30 > 0:45:32It was a little bit like some kind of surreal soap.
0:45:32 > 0:45:35They were creating a landscape full of their chums
0:45:35 > 0:45:37and relatives and people they'd bumped into.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39# My perfect cousin... #
0:45:39 > 0:45:43Very mundane. Very domestic. And it seemed, oddly enough,
0:45:43 > 0:45:45quite punk, to talk about stuff that wasn't Americana.
0:45:45 > 0:45:49It actually seemed part of their down-to-Earth-ness,
0:45:49 > 0:45:50that was actually quite potent.
0:45:50 > 0:45:52Oh, yes, I like that one.
0:45:52 > 0:45:55My Perfect Cousin from The Undertones.
0:45:55 > 0:45:58And now, it's time for our perfect inflatable Scrabble...
0:46:03 > 0:46:04As well as chart success,
0:46:04 > 0:46:08The Undertones earned a reputation as a formidable live act.
0:46:09 > 0:46:15# Wake up screaming in the middle of something wrong... #
0:46:15 > 0:46:17They had this power live
0:46:17 > 0:46:20that a lot of bands never, ever get together.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24They became one of the best live bands that I've known.
0:46:24 > 0:46:26# So boys will be boys
0:46:26 > 0:46:30# When they haven't got nothing to do... #
0:46:30 > 0:46:33But whatever ambitions their record company and management team
0:46:33 > 0:46:34might have had for them,
0:46:34 > 0:46:39The Undertones were unusually indifferent to life on the road.
0:46:39 > 0:46:41We used to have a phone, right here.
0:46:41 > 0:46:45And many a time, me or John would be sitting on the stairs, going,
0:46:45 > 0:46:47"No, but it means leaving home for more than a week.
0:46:47 > 0:46:49"We don't want to do that."
0:46:49 > 0:46:53They would come away from Derry for three weeks and three weeks only.
0:46:53 > 0:46:55They would do a six week tour but they would need to have
0:46:55 > 0:46:57a week to ten days' break in the middle of it.
0:46:57 > 0:47:01Billy and myself were really bad in the sense that we really hated
0:47:01 > 0:47:05leaving our wives, or girlfriends that became our wives, or whatever.
0:47:05 > 0:47:08Myself and Caroline were just so madly in love
0:47:08 > 0:47:11that it took a shine off having to leave,
0:47:11 > 0:47:14because we were both in tears leaving the house.
0:47:14 > 0:47:17We just missed each other so much.
0:47:17 > 0:47:19It was that simple.
0:47:19 > 0:47:21We just yearned to be with each other.
0:47:24 > 0:47:27Getting a girlfriend was a big deal for boys
0:47:27 > 0:47:29whose music seeped teenage angst.
0:47:29 > 0:47:32But there was more to their attachment to home
0:47:32 > 0:47:35than the pull of young love.
0:47:35 > 0:47:37They seemed troubled by the fact that they had to enter
0:47:37 > 0:47:39what they deemed to be a kind of routine.
0:47:39 > 0:47:41They were already feeling that
0:47:41 > 0:47:44somehow they'd compromised themselves,
0:47:44 > 0:47:46because there was a very pure, punk spirit in the air back then
0:47:46 > 0:47:49that you didn't do certain things that looked like
0:47:49 > 0:47:50you were compromising yourself.
0:47:50 > 0:47:54And to some extent, with them, that even meant leaving their town,
0:47:54 > 0:47:56leaving their house, leaving their girlfriend.
0:47:56 > 0:47:58All of these strange things, to them, were a compromise.
0:47:58 > 0:48:01It meant they'd sold out, and they hadn't sold out. Not by any means.
0:48:01 > 0:48:03They'd just begun to have success.
0:48:03 > 0:48:06But they didn't know what to do, didn't know how to process it.
0:48:08 > 0:48:10In September 1979,
0:48:10 > 0:48:14The Undertones supported The Clash on an American tour.
0:48:15 > 0:48:18This was a chance to break America,
0:48:18 > 0:48:21and to party with perhaps the hippest band on the planet.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25I was on that tour, the Clash tour in America
0:48:25 > 0:48:29with The Undertones on support, and it was incredibly, unbelievably...
0:48:29 > 0:48:33Literally, you'd be walking into a room and Andy Warhol would be there.
0:48:33 > 0:48:36But my memory of it is that The Undertones were like shadows.
0:48:40 > 0:48:44It's almost like they felt they'd wanted to be this kind of group,
0:48:44 > 0:48:47full of integrity and suddenly they were in the equivalent
0:48:47 > 0:48:49of The Sound Of Music or something.
0:48:49 > 0:48:53The reason I wanted to be in the band is not to party or
0:48:53 > 0:48:57to take drugs or drink or whatever, I just wanted to play my drums
0:48:57 > 0:48:59and I wanted to play my drums with my mates.
0:48:59 > 0:49:04So I found it hard to cope with, to be honest.
0:49:04 > 0:49:06I was actually relieved to get back home.
0:49:09 > 0:49:12You know, I've worked with a lot of bands where they go out all night
0:49:12 > 0:49:17and experience the town, you know, Munich or Budapest or Barcelona.
0:49:17 > 0:49:21They stay up all night and experience what that is for.
0:49:21 > 0:49:24But, no. Fairly early to bed.
0:49:24 > 0:49:28We didn't play the game, and we didn't want to play the game.
0:49:28 > 0:49:31We hated that rock star crap that you were fed.
0:49:31 > 0:49:37Limousines and, you know, it was back to a punk rock street thing.
0:49:37 > 0:49:40We were part of the street. We didn't want to be rich and famous.
0:49:40 > 0:49:45# So sad to see you've got silver... #
0:49:45 > 0:49:47For many bands,
0:49:47 > 0:49:51success offered the chance to leave behind their normal, everyday lives.
0:49:51 > 0:49:54Not for The Undertones, despite the ongoing violence
0:49:54 > 0:49:57and conflict in their home town.
0:49:57 > 0:49:59# Julie Ocean
0:49:59 > 0:50:02# Always on fire... #
0:50:02 > 0:50:07The release of their third album in 1981 coincided
0:50:07 > 0:50:10with one of the darkest episodes of the Troubles.
0:50:11 > 0:50:14After a period of relative calm in Northern Ireland,
0:50:14 > 0:50:17a serious of hunger strikes by Catholic Republican prisoners
0:50:17 > 0:50:21brought violence back onto the streets of Derry.
0:50:21 > 0:50:24The hunger strikes were carried out by Republican prisoners,
0:50:24 > 0:50:27IRA prisoners, who were demanding political status.
0:50:27 > 0:50:30They were in prison, having been sentenced for bombing,
0:50:30 > 0:50:33shooting, possession of arms, murder, attempted murder, etc. So,
0:50:33 > 0:50:37as far as the state was concerned, they were serious criminals,
0:50:37 > 0:50:40To treat them as prisoners of war,
0:50:40 > 0:50:42or give them special, political status,
0:50:42 > 0:50:44is to give them a licence to kill.
0:50:44 > 0:50:47On the other hand, Republicans regarded themselves,
0:50:47 > 0:50:49and were seen by their community,
0:50:49 > 0:50:54sort of as having taken part in an uprising, if you like.
0:50:55 > 0:50:58Although The Undertones had previously avoided writing
0:50:58 > 0:51:03about the Troubles, they found the hunger strikes impossible to ignore.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07It was in streets everywhere in Derry, Belfast, Northern Ireland...
0:51:07 > 0:51:09You couldn't escape it or get away from it.
0:51:09 > 0:51:11It was a really, really grim time.
0:51:11 > 0:51:15So, I tried to write a song about it.
0:51:15 > 0:51:17It turned out to be It's Going To Happen.
0:51:17 > 0:51:20# Happens all the time It's gonna happen, happen... #
0:51:20 > 0:51:23"It's gonna happen all the time" is about hunger strikes,
0:51:23 > 0:51:27cos Ireland's got a history of hunger strikes, from way back.
0:51:27 > 0:51:31"Until you change your mind", till the Government changes their mind.
0:51:31 > 0:51:34# Best story I've ever heard... #
0:51:34 > 0:51:37Basically, it was quite crass, so I gave it to Mickey and said,
0:51:37 > 0:51:39"Can you rescue this song?"
0:51:39 > 0:51:42I can't remember if he said, "This is about the hunger strikes."
0:51:42 > 0:51:45But I decided it wasn't going to be about the hunger strikes,
0:51:45 > 0:51:48because I still hold to that it's very difficult to write
0:51:48 > 0:51:52something good and valuable about a situation like that.
0:51:52 > 0:51:55So I came up with verses which are vaguely alluding
0:51:55 > 0:51:56to someone in trouble.
0:51:56 > 0:51:58# Happens all the time... #
0:51:58 > 0:52:00Good evening from Belfast.
0:52:00 > 0:52:04The province is quiet after the early-morning rioting
0:52:04 > 0:52:05that marked the death of Bobby Sands.
0:52:05 > 0:52:08Coincidentally, the night we did Top Of The Pops
0:52:08 > 0:52:12was the same evening Bobby Sands had died.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15# Everything goes when you're dead... #
0:52:15 > 0:52:19As a sort of mark of respect, I thought it would be a good idea
0:52:19 > 0:52:22if we all wore black armbands.
0:52:22 > 0:52:26But when it came to doing it, they didn't refuse but they just...
0:52:26 > 0:52:29No... But I did anyway. Because I did feel that angry about it.
0:52:30 > 0:52:33I wasn't trying to make statements that I support the IRA,
0:52:33 > 0:52:36but I did sympathise with the aims of the hunger strikers.
0:52:36 > 0:52:40Millions of Top Of The Pops viewers were oblivious.
0:52:40 > 0:52:44But for the first time, The Undertones were attempting,
0:52:44 > 0:52:46with characteristic bashfulness,
0:52:46 > 0:52:48to reflect something of the momentous events
0:52:48 > 0:52:50they were living through.
0:52:51 > 0:52:55Strangely enough, although The Undertones were more affected,
0:52:55 > 0:52:57through their community, by the hunger strikes,
0:52:57 > 0:52:59than any other contemporary band,
0:52:59 > 0:53:03it was out of character for them to be commenting on those things.
0:53:03 > 0:53:05And once again, you see
0:53:05 > 0:53:09The Undertones are really a very complicated phenomenon,
0:53:09 > 0:53:11a complicated musical and cultural phenomenon.
0:53:11 > 0:53:13Very complicated political phenomenon.
0:53:14 > 0:53:18It's Going to Happen reached 18 in the charts in Spring 1981.
0:53:20 > 0:53:22It was to be The Undertones' last top-20 record.
0:53:24 > 0:53:27Good evening, good people of Hitchin.
0:53:27 > 0:53:29And anyone else who's just joined us.
0:53:29 > 0:53:32Once again, Sight and Sound comes from the Regal Theatre,
0:53:32 > 0:53:35and I'm sure you'll be only too glad to be reacquainted with a band
0:53:35 > 0:53:39who we haven't seen or heard very much of for the last year or so.
0:53:39 > 0:53:42So, please welcome, all the way from Derry, ladies and gentlemen,
0:53:42 > 0:53:46The Undertones. CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:53:46 > 0:53:49I always say we split up because we didn't sell records.
0:53:50 > 0:53:53If Sin Of Pride, which is a record I don't like,
0:53:53 > 0:53:55but if that had have been a success,
0:53:55 > 0:53:57we would probably have stayed together.
0:53:57 > 0:54:01# It makes me wonder how to read or understand you
0:54:01 > 0:54:04# Makes me wonder what's in your mind... #
0:54:04 > 0:54:09In March 1983, The Undertones released The Sin Of Pride,
0:54:09 > 0:54:12their fourth and, as it turned out, final album.
0:54:16 > 0:54:19We just knew we weren't going to have a hit single,
0:54:19 > 0:54:23and also we knew that Feargal was not happy in being in a band
0:54:23 > 0:54:27who maybe got good reviews, but were struggling financially.
0:54:31 > 0:54:34I remember saying, "Well, if you make good records
0:54:34 > 0:54:36"and you get a good review in the end, will that be enough?"
0:54:36 > 0:54:39And I said that to Feargal, I said, "Will you not be happy with that?"
0:54:39 > 0:54:41And he says, "Nope."
0:54:41 > 0:54:43And then I saw writing on the wall.
0:54:46 > 0:54:50None of the three singles from the album troubled the Top 40
0:54:50 > 0:54:52and, as record sales declined,
0:54:52 > 0:54:55the band and its lead singer began to drift apart,
0:54:55 > 0:55:00as differences that had lain dormant until now began to surface.
0:55:00 > 0:55:07# My heart's lost since you've been gone... #
0:55:07 > 0:55:10As the Rolling Stones say, it's the singer, not the song.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12You know, I knew that.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15The song's only as good as the singer.
0:55:15 > 0:55:17I was getting more and more frustrated
0:55:17 > 0:55:19at the way Feargal sang the songs.
0:55:23 > 0:55:27Feargal wasn't really into music, you know.
0:55:27 > 0:55:31As I listened to things, I had maybe a certain idea in my head,
0:55:31 > 0:55:32the way it should be sung.
0:55:32 > 0:55:37Trying to get Feargal then to listen to things, to give him an idea,
0:55:37 > 0:55:41"It's this kind of way that I'm thinking the song should be..."
0:55:41 > 0:55:43He was always dismissive.
0:55:43 > 0:55:48He'd go, "I'll sing the song the way I think it should be sung."
0:55:48 > 0:55:52John was very, very protective and very precious of his music.
0:55:52 > 0:55:55I don't mean that in a negative way, it's just the way he was.
0:55:55 > 0:55:58And there was maybe that kind of personality clash.
0:55:58 > 0:56:00Feargal probably had different aspirations,
0:56:00 > 0:56:02and all that was starting to come to the surface.
0:56:02 > 0:56:03So I think he had enough of that.
0:56:03 > 0:56:06And to be honest, if it was me, I'd think the same as well,
0:56:06 > 0:56:08I'd say, "Look, I've had enough of this. I'm a good singer.
0:56:08 > 0:56:11"I'm actually a better singer than what you are musicians.
0:56:11 > 0:56:13"I'm going to head off."
0:56:14 > 0:56:18Finally, in May 1983, The Undertones decided to call it a day.
0:56:18 > 0:56:22# Got to have you back... #
0:56:22 > 0:56:23We were in Sweden,
0:56:23 > 0:56:26and there was a photographer taking photographs of us.
0:56:26 > 0:56:29And, for some reason, we weren't playing ball with the photographer.
0:56:29 > 0:56:32Feargal knew this was happening and just says, "Right, boys, that's it."
0:56:32 > 0:56:34And before the sound check,
0:56:34 > 0:56:37we had a wee sit-down meeting.
0:56:37 > 0:56:39He was probably smoking, and he says,
0:56:39 > 0:56:43"That's it, I'm leaving the band." And no-one argued with him.
0:56:43 > 0:56:46No-one said, "Oh, why? What's happening?" We all kind of knew.
0:56:46 > 0:56:48There was no fun any more,
0:56:48 > 0:56:53and it was almost like someone's got the balls to do it and that was great.
0:56:53 > 0:56:54So let's just break up.
0:56:57 > 0:56:59Then again, that's what's good about being a band.
0:56:59 > 0:57:03You look at The Beatles, they fell apart spectacularly too.
0:57:07 > 0:57:10Five years, four albums and 13 singles
0:57:10 > 0:57:13after bursting onto the scene with Teenage Kicks,
0:57:13 > 0:57:16The Undertones' story was over.
0:57:18 > 0:57:21But coming from the darkest of places and situations,
0:57:21 > 0:57:25their enduring achievement is to have created timeless music
0:57:25 > 0:57:30of startling positivity that touched teenagers all over the globe
0:57:30 > 0:57:35while daring a generation at home to dream of a life more ordinary.
0:57:35 > 0:57:37MUSIC: "Get Over You" by The Undertones
0:57:37 > 0:57:42# Dressed like that you must be living in a different world
0:57:42 > 0:57:44# And your mother doesn't know
0:57:44 > 0:57:48# Why you can't look like all the other girls
0:57:48 > 0:57:51# Boys stop you on the street They wanna know your name
0:57:51 > 0:57:54# Try to reach you on the phone Cos they know your game
0:57:54 > 0:57:56# Always running up the alley trying to get home
0:57:56 > 0:58:01# Or standing on the corner never alone
0:58:01 > 0:58:04# And I don't wanna get over you
0:58:04 > 0:58:06# It doesn't matter what you do
0:58:06 > 0:58:12# I just can't get over you, over you
0:58:12 > 0:58:15# And I don't wanna get over you
0:58:15 > 0:58:18# It doesn't matter what you do
0:58:18 > 0:58:22# I just can't get over you Over you. #