Search - Undertones :: Positive Touch

Another fine BBC/Peel Session collection

ChrisWN | Santa Cruz, CA | 05/25/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This CD (listed several times here on Amazon, but this one at the cheapest price as its the US pressing) compiles the studio sessions The Undertones did for the BBC from 1978 to 1981. Most studio sessions for the BBC are rough run throughs before a band records in the studio. While the cuts here might not be as heavily produced as their commercial releases (with the exception of the earliest session, which also sufferes from a just-adequate sound quality of the master) the tracks here have none of occassional weaknesses (the occasional odd lyric or off-key singing) found on some other artists BBC sessions. Maybe this is why The Undertones were John Peel's favorite band. The Undertones have some of the same instrumentation as The Stranglers, however Feargal Sharkey's voice is quite a departure from most of the other (soon to be) post punk groups, perhaps more akin to Pete Shelley's. And like Pete Shelley, Feargal would eventually delve into synthpop by the mid 80s.



The first 2 sessions features tracks recorded before their first album was released. The sound quality for these isn't great, but with each session the quality improves. The quality of the songs also improves over time on this release (which isn't true for their albums). Ironically, though John Peel's favorite song of all time is "Teenage Kicks" (the song that brought them to his attention & which he played incessantly on his show, giving them much more publicity than playing the Derry pub scene would) The Undertones never re-recorded it for Peel & hence isn't on this release. Some of the versions here are better than their commerical release, particularly "When Saturday Comes" (my personal fave). You can find the full tracklisting at their website or the 2 other listings for this release here."

Some more of that precious power pop punk perfection.

Chris bct | San Diego, CA USA | 03/05/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There's 12 songs on the Peel Sessions album which would be 3 Peel sessions of 4 songs each and there's 27 songs here from 6 Peel sessions, including those 3 and one from the Richard Skinner show. It was common for known UK and foreign touring bands then and today, to play various radio shows live in the studio. This deserves 5 stars given you get a combo of good recording and a chance to hear them live in the studio. 27 songs on one CD. Who could ask for more? chrisbct@hotmail.com



Peel 10-16-78

1. Get Over You

2. Top 20

3. She Can Only Say No

4. Male Model

Peel 2-5-79

5. Listening In

6. Family Entertainment

7. Billy's Third

8. Here Comes the Summer

Peel 5-7-79

9. Nine Times Out of Ten

10. Way Girls Talk

11. Whiz Kids

12. Top Twenty

Peel 1-23-80

13. Girls That Don't Talk

14. Tear Proof

15. What's With Terry

16. Rock N Roll

Peel 12-9-80

17. Positive Touch

18. You're Welcome

19. When Saturday Comes

Richard Skinner 8-26-81

20. Like That (Song No One)

21. Bye Bye Baby Blue

22. Beautiful Friend

23. (Just Like) Romeo and Juliet

Peel 12-7-81

24. Untouchable

25. Love Parade

26. Luxury

27. Sin of Pride



"

Growing up in public

John L Murphy | Los Angeles | 08/06/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This about doubles the amount of songs from the Peel Sessions CD released about 15 years ago by the British label Strange Fruit; in addition, this reissue contains informative liner notes. I had the original Peel Sessions CD, but decided to upgrade based on so many more sessions that had been resucitated. It sounds as good as you'd expect--assured as the tracks accumulate and the band learns its chops, but the earliest four songs are, well, punk. The pop, as this CD makes clear, comes on gradually to dominate.



Is it worth it? If you're happy with the four studio albums, then this is the logical purchase. If a casual fan, then this provides a livelier, necessarily more modest and even raw sound for the band live-in-studio than their last two albums, which relied on elaborate production that couldn't be replicated on the BBC. This may sound suited more to a transistor radio than pristine digital duplication, anyway! My favorite tracks are four from the first session, which shows a aggressive, tinny, but endearing sound already. I'd recommend taking the album in a couple of hearings in part, as the album tends to blur if heard non-stop. The band succeeded at the succinct delivery of catchy singles, rather than albums, in my opinion, and many of their best songs are here.



Hard to believe the trajectory travelled so rapidly by the band when you hear the later sessions, for this band grew up quickly in skill and ambition and lyrical content. This compilation charts the band's rise and fall well. Yes, no "Teenage Kicks" ironically, but typical perversity from the band, whose career is documented in entertaining and wry fashion by member Mickey Bradley on the band's site. These radio sessions provide a more vivid portrayal of the band than a best-of collection will, and make by its comparative simplicity some of the band's later more baroque (in studio) attempts more stripped down and probably the better for that spontaneity which hearkens back to their humble origins."