August 03, 2007 11:05 PM
C&L's Late Nite Music Club with Feargal Sharkey
(Guest blogged by Howie Klein)
The first time I thought I heard Feargal Sharkey's unique, quavering vocals was in Istanbul, swimming in a pool on a rooftop in 1985. The song, "A Good Heart" really struck me and I couldn't wait to get a copy. What I didn't know at the time was that I had already been playing the guy's music on my radio show. He was leader of a Northern Ireland punk band called The Undertones. "Teenage Kicks" came out in 1978 and it was a staple of my radio show. And before the solo record I enjoyed hearing in Turkey, Sharkey hooked up with ex-Depeche Mode founder Vince Clarke for a one-shot project called The Assembly.
Here's "A Good Heart"*
*Corrected
As I'm sure you realize by now, you posted a link to "Good Heart," not "Teenage Kicks."
Wow, what a difference in the songs. The Undertones were a punk band in that they were original, defiant, amateur and brilliant. Maybe even aggressive.
I don't think any of those adjectives could be applied to this Feargal single.
The Undertones were a great band. Feargal Sharkey's psuedo white soul that he did later, not so much so. Although I'll admit, he does a good Irish tenor.
well that song was certainly a letdown when expecting the fast fun blast of 'Teenage Kicks'.
There is only one punk band from Northern island... Stiff Little Fingers.
The O'Neill brothers from The Undertones carried on and became That Petrol Emotion. A very under-appreciated band that had at least 2 great albums in the late 80s/early 90s: Chemicrazy and End of the Millenium Psychosis Blues. They may not have had some of the rawness of the Undertones, but their live shows were very intense.
Undertones were great!
I saw them open for The Clash in 1979.
Undertones, Teenage Kicks
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGu2lu5XWE8
(One of the favorite songs of the late, legendary BBC DJ, John Peel.)
A good friend of my dads passed away last Sunday of a heart attack; Art Davis was 73, a great bass player and psychologist. He is on bass in this video.
Elvin Jones Quintet - A Love Supreme Concert - part1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4DwkWEcN3c
Bush Bites @ 8:
Man, this is like a Bobby Rydell track from the 50's, only with louder guitars. What's the big deal? The punk version of "My Way" said something, but this is too clue less to even be a tribute.
I'll be the lone dissenter thus far. I dug the Feargal Sharkey track when it came out.
Uggh. And to think the guy was anything like alternative at some point. That song reminds me of Don Henley. Yucch!
Eddie & The Hot Rods
Teenage Depression
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyWJ-2dDsBQ
I think hes got a really good voice. He had fallen on some hard times after this period, but now I think hes doing well promoting bands and concerts and stuff in Ireland.
The Damned
Smash It Up
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/tag/punk/search/The+Damned/video/x2...
Prefab Sprout
Johnny, Johnny
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/Prefab+Sprout/video/x1clzi_p...
Hey Greg, that's cool that you dug it. There are tons of crappy recordings that I like (and I'm not trying to be snarky). It's just that I think marginal, weak performances done in historically significant styles that are not humorous, ironic, or intended to be relevant call ups of the past are not interesting here on the C&LLNMC. (In my mind, the jury's still out on the appropriateness of the 'Bridge Over Troubled Waters' post right after the twin cities disaster.) I preferred when the LNMC reminded me of true classics, and turned me on to new innovators. Let's have more of those!
Completely unrelated to the above mini-rant, I'm glad to see acknowledgement of the passing of Art Davis. I saw the obit in the paper and my heart sank.
John Wesley Harding
I'm Wrong About Everything
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GIVppIyGj4
Elvis Costello
Allison
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLesCQvXVUw
Squeeze
Tempted
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/Squeeze+Tempted/video/x1rfdw...
Wings
Silly Love Songs
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/Silly+Love+Songs/video/x1fq9...
The Beatles
The Ballad Of John And Yoko
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/Ballad+Of+John+and+Yoko/vide...
Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin
Je T'Aime...Moi Non Plus
http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/Serge+Gainsbourg/video/xoqk3...
Pfeh....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4XhMANcCbM
Israel Kamakawiwo'Ole
Over The Rainbow
This guy is sooooo gooooooood.
99 @ 23:
One good Arlen/Harburg tune leads to another:
Groucho Marx
Lydia The Tatooed Lady(from At The Circus)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4zRe_wvJw8&mode=related&search=
http://www.milkandcookies.com/link/65400/detail/
Disco inferno by a really bad German band. Jingis Kahn w/English subtitles.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wtc9a4TgRus
If your a Marx Brothers fan this is the best piece of music in the house... next to FZ of course...
Dang, Andy, YouTube just tanked. I love Lydia The Tattooed Lady... but Groucho wasn't as good as Braddah Iz.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFoIdxLBm_A
Smolik & Novika- T.time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOwPGv1pWYs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e98vNqJgjQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqiblXFlZuk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYrT4cxvlq4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONXx_YAy30Y
I was standing behind Feargul at airport checkin about 2 years after that hit song... It wasn 't the babbling yes man that'll I remember the most, although he was almost cartoonish in his slavvery, if was that both he and Feargul where only came up to my mid-chest in height. After seeing all those video clips, to realise how incredibly short he was...
Now I know why I've never heard of this guy guy or his band.......they suck.
Listening to "A Good Heart" is immensely enhanced by knowing the back story, and how it relates to the follow-up single "You Little Thief": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Good_Heart
You Little Thief: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tGp5AuSMhI
Vman @ 9:
Hey, when the airwaves were filled with crap like Steve Miller Band, Boston, Journey, Foreigner, Styx, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles, etc., Bobby Rydell sounded pretty good.
It's punk-pop. Back to three minute songs with driving guitars. The Buzzcocks started it and groups like this jumped on the bandwagon.
Yeah, it's been beaten to death by the Orange County groups and others now, but, back then, it was a breath of fresh air.
And I'll just add what Joe Strummer used to say:
"It ain't for those who don't understand."
Vman @ 15:
If you had selected Teenage Kicks, you would have had to remind us all to play it twice. (h/t John Peel)
More Love by Feargal Sharky made my lover stop his car on the bay bridge on the way to Oakland. He cried cause he fucked me over but I have to say it was the song that did the trick. Music, what a mind fuck, eh?
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