Martin Cole
Martin Cole, who died last Friday May 21st, was our first proper tour manager. He’d been given the job of making sure we got to England in time for the start of our debut headlining tour, in March 1979.
We had a short experience of being on tour the previous November, supporting The Rezillos, which only lasted a week or so before we found ourselves back home and unimpressed with life ‘on the road’, as we say in showbiz.
Martin came to Derry to gather us into a Ford Transit minibus and for the next three years he was a friend, a foreman, a teacher and a source of wisdom and humour. And the driver of the Transit. And a diplomat who made sure any fallings out within the band never came to anything serious.
Martin was also the one who had a clicker in his pocket, to count the number of people coming in the front door and make sure it tallied with the promoter’s number. And Martin was the one that gathered the cash at the end of the night and put it into the zipped inside pocket of his black denim jacket, which was a present from the band for his thirtieth birthday. (My mother’s sewing skills provided the pocket.)
But he was even more than that. He was great company during his time working with us, and in the years following when he had gone on to bigger bands and bigger tours and bigger crews. He sometimes called in to see us in our ‘post reformation’ years and looked exactly the same as he did three decades earlier. With the same smile, same humour, same calm voice and , on one occasion, the same black denim jacket.
Our thoughts are with his wife, Jocelyn and all his many friends.
Live Shows 2021
Hi Everyone..
We are really saddened and disappointed to have to let you know that due to the many ongoing problems surrounding live events and touring, which are completely out of our control, our October dates in England (except Skegness 2.10.21)have been postponed….. We already have rescheduled dates in place and tickets for the original shows remain valid (* Reschedule date for Lincoln will be announced in due course)
September
25- Durham, Stone Valley Festival North, England - Tickets
October
01 - Bexhill, De La Warr Pavilion, England - POSTPONED - RESCHEDULED FOR 2022, SEE BELOW
Tickets for the original show remain valid
02 - Great British Alternative Music Festival, Butlins, Skegness, England - Tickets
03 - Norwich, Waterfront, England - POSTPONED - RESCHEDULED FOR 2022, SEE BELOW
Tickets for the original show remain valid
08 - Glasgow, O2 Academy, Scotland with Special Guests Neville Staples Band - Tickets
09 - Edinburgh, La Belle Angele, Scotland - Tickets
10 - Aberdeen. The Lemon Tree, Scotland - Tickets
21 - Southampton, 1865, England - POSTPONED - RESCHEDULED FOR 2022, SEE BELOW
22 - Bury St Edmunds, Apex ,England - POSTPONED - RESCHEDULED FOR 2022, SEE BELOW
23 - Oxford, Academy,England - POSTPONED - RESCHEDULED FOR 2022, SEE BELOW
28 - Holmfirth, Picturedrome, England - POSTPONED - RESCHEDULED FOR 2022, SEE BELOW
29 - Lincoln, Engine Shed, England - POSTPONED - RESCHEDULED DATE TO BE ANNOUNCED
30 - Birmingham, O2 Academy 2, England - POSTPONED - RESCHEDULED FOR 2022, SEE BELOW
Tickets for the original shows remain valid
November
06 - Rolling Stone Weekender, - Seestraße 1, 23758, Weissenhäuser Strand,Germany - Tickets
December
17 - Dublin, The Academy, Ireland - Tickets
18 - Belfast, Limelight, Northern Ireland - Tickets
Live Shows 2022
March
10 - Sheffield, Leadmill, England - Special guest Neville Staple Band-Tickets
11 - Northampton, Roadmender, England - Special guest Hugh Cornwell Electric-Tickets
12 - London, Electric Ballroom, England - Special guest Hugh Cornwell Electric-Tickets
17 - Brighton ,Chalk ,England - Special guest Hugh Cornwell Electric-Tickets
18 - Frome, Cheese & Grain, England - Special guest Hugh Cornwell Electric-Tickets
19 - Cardiff, Cardiff SU Great Hall, Wales - Special guest Hugh Cornwell Electric-Tickets
31- Newcastle, Boiler Shop, England - Special guest Hugh Cornwell Electric-Tickets
April
01 - Manchester, Academy, England - Special guest Hugh Cornwell Electric-Tickets
02 - Liverpool O2 Academy, England - Special guest Hugh Cornwell Electric-Tickets
09 - Munich, Feierwerk, Germany - Tickets
10 - Weinheim, Cafe Central, Germany - Tickets
May
13 - Bremen - Kulturzentrum Lagerhaus, Germany - Tickets
14 - Düsseldorf, Zakk, Germany - Tickets
15 - Hamburg - Markethalle, Germany - Tickets
17 - Malmo, Plan B, Sweden - Tickets
18 - Oslo, Vulkan Arena, Norway- Tickets
20 - Göteborg, Pustervik, Sweden - Tickets
21 - Stockholm, Slaktkykan, Sweden - Tickets
22 - Copenhagen, Pumpenhuset, Denmark - Tickets
September
29 - Birmingham, O2 Academy 2, England - Tickets
October
01- Holmfirth, Picturedrome, England - Tickets
06 - Southampton, 1865, England - Tickets
07 - Oxford, Academy,England - Tickets
20 - Norwich, Waterfront, England - Tickets
21 - Bury St Edmunds, Apex ,England- Tickets
22 - Bexhill, De La Warr Pavilion, England - Tickets
A MESSAGE FROM MICHAEL BRADLEY
Hello, Michael Bradley here.
I've written a book which is now available.
It's a dark thriller which exposes the corruption at the very heart of our society.
No it's not.
It's my account of being in The Undertones, from first hanging around in O'Neill's house to the break up with Feargal in 1983.
I've called it Teenage Kicks : My Life As An Undertone, getting in quick before anyone else uses that title. Like Stephen King.
My older brother Martin has read it and gives it his approval.
I hope you like it.
If you go to any of the forthcoming Undertones shows, you will not be asked questions about what was in it.
Cheerio
Michael
You can hear Michael talking about the book here.
Damian O'Neill released a solo single on 10th November 2014.
'Trapped in a cage' c/w 'Love Makes The World Go Round' on 7" vinyl only on Overground Records is a limited edition of 500 copies. (cat. no. Over 140).
Both songs are selected from 'Re-energize' a musical play written by renowned Belfast playwright Gary Mitchell. Music by Damian with lyrics by Gary.
'Re-energize' was commissioned by Derry’s Playhouse Theatre for Derry City of Culture 2013 and was performed there and at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast.
Damian: "Re-energize is a gritty play about 4 downtrodden individuals from Belfast who, now middle aged and on hard times, decide against all the odds to reform their old punk band and in effect get a 'second chance'. Initially John and I were commissioned to write 8 pieces of music to lyrics by Gary Mitchell to be performed by the actors live on stage. John wrote 3 songs, I wrote 4 and we co-wrote one. The songs went down really well so I decided to take things further and record 5 of the songs myself in a studio playing everything apart from the drums. I think the 2 songs on the single turned out best."
To receive irregular information send an e-mail to: news@theundertones.com
Guide To Derry
Michael Bradley’s guide to Derry for The Guardian website can be viewed here: The Guardian
The Mickey Bradley Record Show
Mickey presents a weekly two hour radio show every Friday evening between 7:30 and 9:30 pm on BBC Radio Ulster 94.5 FM or online at bbc.co.uk/radioulster.
More details here.
The video for the single Much Too Late can be seen here.
THE UNDERTONES MERCHANDISING
The Undertones merchandising store is now open: Click here to enter the store.
LET’S TALK ABOUT GIRLS
As the great F.R. David put it: 'Words Don't Come Easy' ...especially if you're relying on someone dropping the needle onto a copy of Nuggets .....
Read more here from the writer of “Let’s Talk About Girls”, the legendary Manny Freiser
On
The Wireless
Gobbins Path
Michael Bradley takes a walk along the newly reopened Gobbins Path in Antrim: The Guardian
DAMIAN O’NEILL AND THE MONOTONES
Refit Revise Reprise, the brand new album from Damian O'Neill, is now available from all good record shops, iTunes and Amazon
You can watch the Sweet ‘n Sour video here or listen on Spotify
Comprising of 12 tracks recorded at home and at Press Play Studios in South London. Co-produced, engineered and mixed by Damian, Andy Ramsay (ex Stereolab) and Paul Tipler with musical contributions from Sean O’Hagan (The High Llamas) amongst others. There’s some old, new, borrowed and blue on this record. You’ll hear new songs and instrumental tracks that are guaranteed to thrill and melt your heart plus Damian’s delved into his musical past and revamped selected self penned Undertones/That Petrol Emotion songs too. It’s Glam/Stomp/Dreamy Pop with a cascade of guitars, vibes, organ, bells and whistles.
Michael Bradley tells the story of the Derry Halloween.
The Undertones ‘You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It!)’ single celebrates its 40th Anniversary. Here is their Top of the Pops performance of the track from October 1979:
Listen here→
The Undertones ‘Teenage Kicks’ major label single release and first UK top 40 hit, came out 41 years ago on 13th October 1978. Check out the original promo video:
Listen here→
Unable to play any live live shows with The Undertones Damian and Billy have been busy working with US band Baby Shakes releasing a blistering ‘glam rock’ version of Damian O’Neill’s brilliant ‘Sweet 'n' Sour’. The B side is an Undertones track Really Really (see video here)and this has been given a similar treatment. The vinyl single comes in 4 colours, magenta, silver, crystal & black and is released on Damian’s own Dimple Discs label.
For more information visit: https://www.damian-oneill.com/
“It’s Going To Happen” was released 40 years ago (21/04/1981).
The video for this has now been upgraded to HD and is available to view here.
