I was so excited to get to interview Michael Bradley of The Undertones... After all The Undertones were responsible for one of the best pop songs ever... That being "TEENAGE KICKS" !!!!! I hope you dig my interview with Michael....

Thanks so much for doing the interview... The Undertones were base out of Ireland am I correct?

You are correct - Derry, a small to medium city up in the left hand corner. Three of us are still there, as we love the climate so much.


Michael gives a tour of Derry

How did you come up with The Undertones for a band name?

Drummer looking through a school history book, came upon the word Undertones and thought
a. It sounded like a 1960s band
b. It was different from mid 1970s band names, in that it had was a plural of a noun
c. It rhymed with The Ramones

Is it true that you had used two other band names The Hot Rods and Little Feat prior to coming up with The Undertones?

Yes, our singer at the time Feargal, was fed up with our lack of progress on a good name for the band. So he borrowed two good names from other bands. Neither Eddie & The Hot Rods nor Little Feat ever got round to suing us. Although as we didn't get paid for either of the shows , we may be safe from prosecution at the moment.

During that time had Eddie and The Hot Rods formed?

Yes but had never played in Derry, so there was no possibility of their fans (who were the five of us and one other person) would be confused. Hey , we were young and foolish and happy.

Who were some of your early inspirations?

We learned how to play songs from listening to a couple of LPs. Get Your Ya Yas Out was the source for three of the songs we played for our very first appearance. Jumping Jack Flash, Carol and Sympathy For The Devil. At that stage we only really knew the live versions of the songs and learnt them note for note. Good training. The other songs we learned were 'Back In The Night' by Dr Feelgood, "Shake Your Money Maker' by Fleetwood Mac (Peter Green lineup, of course) and 'Badge' by Cream. I still stand over all six choices. No poodle rock , heavy metal or cod-reggae. That was March 1976 and a few months later we learned from The Ramones first LP, Fun House and Nuggets. Great rock and roll education, courtesy of black vinyl records.

So it's true that you were big Ramones fans? I also heard you were into The Buzzcocks.

Of course we were. How could you be a punk rock band and not love both of them. Both were very influential in our song writing, which John O'Neill started seriously in 1977.

Did you ever play shows with either of them?

Not at the time, but since then we've done a festival in France with Buzzcocks. Feargal and I met The Ramones when we signed with Sire records in London in 1978. Too much of a fan to have a conversation, unfortunately. Although a couple of years ago, Tommy Ramone was in Derry with his bluegrass hat on in 'Uncle Monk'. He was gracious enough to let me interview him. What a gentleman, a scholar, what an acrobat! Oh hold on , that's the Pink Panther.

I understand that you were friends with another Irish band Radiators From Space.. And they helped you with shows.. I s this true?

It certainly is. In early 1977, we were put in contact with them through one of their fans in Derry. We got on the bus to Dublin , 150 miles, with our guitars and did a Sunday afternoon show with them. They allowed us to use their amps, drums, etc and even gave us some money. They were the first punk band we saw live , and returned to Dublin a few months later to take part in a punk festival which they organised. Very supportive, very kind, and a band who should have been much more known than they were.

We have interviewed Phil Chevron in the past.. He is a nice guy.. We have also interviewed Shanne Bradley.. Do you know Shanne?

Shanne Bradley, is she the bass player with The Nips ? Never met her.

John Peel was also an early supporter of The Undertones... Tell us about that?

We always listened to his show as it was the only way to hear punk records on the radio. We started to ring him asking him to mention our band on his radio show, This was before we made our first record so he was only doing this to be nice to a strange bunch of Irish people. Then when we released Teenage Kicks, a copy was sent to him and he loved it. He played it a lot , and that was how Sire records boss Seymour Stein heard it.

The Undertones... Here Comes The Summer BBC4 Documentary Video (Below)

I absolutely love "Teenage Kicks" who was involved with writing that?

John O Neill wrote it all by himself, not surprisingly as he is the main writer in the band. He says he started writing songs because he was tired of learning cover versions.

You signed with Sire Records. How was that relationship?

I thought it was great but then I didn't really mind the fact that we signed a very bad record contract. I loved the fact that we were on the same label as The Ramones. I liked Seymour although I wish I had asked him more about his time with Red Bird records in the 60s. In the end, we left Sire as they weren't really that good at promoting the records in America. Although I don't think anyone could have helped us sell records in the US at that time.

What are some of the highlights during that time?

Getting on Top Of THe Pops, going to festivals in France and Holland and Germany. Staying in a country hotel in Holland while recording LPs. The whole five years was a highlight. Well, apart from the last year when it began to get a bit depressing.

In what year did the band decide to call it quits?

1983.

You decided to reform but your singer Feargal Sharkey refused to re- join the band ... What was his reasons?

In 1994 we were offered some shows and Feargal said no, he was working for a record company and wanted to devote his time to that. So we didn't do it then. Five years later, a different opportunity arose so we didn't bother asking him. It wouldn't have been a good fit, as they say.

I saw a video with your new singer.. He sounds alot like Feargal.. I did not realize it was not him. I was impressed.. How has the reactions from the fans been?

Fans who see us say he's great. He was our only option when we decided not to ask Feargal. Paul McLoone is from Derry, he is a few years younger than us but has great taste in music. A massive David Bowie fan, he's very funny and likes attention on stage. Three good reasons for us to get him to sing.

Below is Paul singing Teenage Kicks:

Do you have any plans to tour in America?

We have been a couple of times but you must have been washing your hair that night. America is great, but its expensive for a band like us who only has a few weeks spare in the whole year. I have no idea when we will come back. Maybe we never will.

In your opinion who has covered "Teenage Kicks" best?

A Scottish band called Union Avenue, who decided to do it in the style of 'Ring of Fire' by Johnny Cash - complete with mariachi trumpets. Apart from that, there's Nouvelle Vague's version which is not too bad at all.

Do you have any Internet Addresses that you would like to share with Punk Globe readers?

Would they want to ? If so, I am on twitter at @mickeyundertone or something like that.

What is does 2013 hold in store for The Undertones?

We have a vinyl single coming out for Record Store Day in Ireland. Then a few shows in Europe. Then we'll think of something else. I am writing a book, which I should actually be writing now instead of this but I look for any excuse not to write. Oh look, someone's making tea.......

Any words of advice for Punk Globe readers?

Don't listen to anyone over thirty.

Punk Globe would like to thank Michael Bradley for the fun interview.....