Current mood:	calm
Entry tags:	1978, 35 years, genre : punk, steve's 50p, undertones (the)

The Undertones - Teenage Kicks
Posted by Steve.

Getting back to the 35 years thingie and sticking to an Irish theme - all be it north of the border this time! From the year of the Horse is John Peel's favourite song ever and probably one of the few songs that I would ever attempt on karaoke if I ever plucked up the courage to attempt such a thing!

If you ever wanted to know what Feargal Sharkey was up to before he released "A Good Heart" in 1985 then look no further! Sharkey was the lead singer with Derry band The Undertones.

John Peel was an influential Radio 1 DJ in the Uk who made a habit of championing new wave, extreme grind bands and punk bands such as Napalm Death, Carcass, Exit Condition, Doom, The Fall and The Smiths. His Peel Sessions are legendary and go back to the late 60's. His first two from 1967 were a band called Tomorrow and Pink Floyd. When he received a copy of Teenage Kicks (the only promo single sent out by the band) Peel was so impressed with it he played it back to back. The song was played at his funeral in 2004 and "Teenage dreams, so hard to beat" is engraved on his tomb stone.

What else happened in 1978? Ted Bundy was captured in Pensacola, Fl. The Sex Pistols played their last show at San Fransisco's Winterland (until they ran out of money!) A 15 year old Rick Allen joins Def Leppard. Nancy Spungen and Keith Moon passed away. Dura Duran, Ratt, Dokken, Social Distortion and The Dead Kennedy's were all formed. Van Halen released "Van Halen"! "Hemispheres" by Rush, Judas Priest's "Stained Class" and "Outlandes d'Amour" by The Police were all released.

Grease and Superman were released and The Deerhunter won the years Oscar. Argentina won the World Cup. Ipswich Town won the FA Cup. The LA Dodgers were beaten by the Yankees in the World Series and the Stanley Cup remained in Montreal.