The Undertones are 50! And no-one’s more amazed than Damian O’Neill

Glorious news! The Undertones, dependable symbols of eternal youth, are setting out on a 50th anniversary tour in 2026, still playing Teenage Kicks and Here Comes the Summer in their mid-60s. Damian O’Neill joined when he was 14 and can’t believe it either. He looks back here at …

… their first gig in a scout hall - “Feargal was a Scout leader!” - and their second for 1,000 schoolkids at St Joseph’s in Derry

… the world-wide appeal of their Irish identity and why “America never got us”

… David’s memories of interviewing them for Smash Hits in 1979 the day they thought “we’re finished”

... “We were anti-pretension!”

… seeing Horslips, Rory Gallagher, the Blockheads, Eddie & the Hot Rods and the Lurkers

… joining the band at 14 and playing Beatles, Stones, Them, Cream and Dr Feelgood covers

… parkas, Millets jeans and the Derry boot-boy look. “If you dressed up in those days you ran the risk of getting your head kicked in”

 … being in the band’s HQ the night Peel played Teenage Kicks twice in a row

… songs about “love and lack of love” – and girls and chocolate

… how it feels to be on Top Of The Pops and then watch your single go down the charts

… their first visit to a studio (Wizard in Belfast) and self-producing Teenage Kicks with just an engineer – and still playing it in your mid-60s

… and a heartfelt apology to the people of Blackburn!

Order tickets for the Undertones 50th Anniversary tour here: https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/the-undertones-tickets/artist/959984

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