Teenage Kicks - The Undertones
Synopsis
Veteran BBC Radio DJ John Peel takes his first visit to Derry and discovers for himself the band that forged his favourite pop song 'Teenage Kicks'.
The film, through the use of archive footage, including previously unseen material of Derry and The Undertones, takes us back to 1975. To a time when it would have been normal, even expected, for five Derry teenagers to get together and have a riot. The Undertones got together, formed a band and created their own form of riot, bursting into a vigorous and joyous celebration of their own existence. The band was made up of former choirboy and distinctively voiced lead singer Feargal Sharkey, the O'Neil brothers, John and Damian, played guitars. Michael Bradley joined in with bass and Billy Doherty beat the drums.
Peel takes us on a journey of discovery in which he expresses his amazement at the band's innocence, the completely artless way in which they resisted all hype and packaging. The Undertones would play to packed houses of adoring fans and then go home to Derry, to parents who waited up for them. Reared in a town where the most abhorred social disgrace was to get above yourself, they refused to take it seriously.
Details
- Year
- 2002
- Type of film
- Features
- Running Time
- 72 mins
- Format
- 35mm Agfa
- Director
- Tom Collins
- Producer
- Vinny Cunningham
- Editor
- David Fox
- Screenwriter
- Tom Collins, Vinny Cunningham
- Director of Photography
- Mark McCauley, Vinny Cunningham
- Sound
- Billy Gallagher
- Music
- The Undertones, Ash, Ramones, That Petrol Emotion, Feargal Sharkey
- Principal Cast
- The Undertones, John Peel, Eamonn McCann
Genre
Production status
Complete
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Last updated 26th November 2005
