Artist · chart history
The Undertones
Band Derry United Kingdom Formed 1975 Northern Irish punk rock band
The Undertones formed in 1975 in Derry, United Kingdom. The Undertones has 27 chart appearances on 20 radio countdowns from 7 stations on RockLists, spanning 1978–2023. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Teenage Kicks”, which appears on 18 lists with a best position of #2. The station that charted The Undertones most often is John Peel (BBC Radio 1), with 14 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2003.
The Undertones came out of Derry, Northern Ireland, and made some of the purest adrenaline rushes in all of punk. Feargal Sharkey sang in a trembling, quavering voice, John O'Neill played rhythm guitar, Damian O'Neill played lead, Michael Bradley was on bass and Billy Doherty on drums, and from 1975 to 1983 that lineup never changed.
While the Troubles raged outside, they mostly wrote about what really mattered to the kids of Derry: growing up, teenage frustration and getting your heart broken. "Teenage Kicks" is the whole thing in miniature, a bolt of buzzing guitars and yearning that is over before you can catch your breath, and "Get Over You", "Jimmy Jimmy" and "You've Got My Number" kept the hooks coming. The self-titled debut arrived in 1979, running on punk and new wave energy with garage-rock hooks; after that, glam and post-punk crept in, and the final album turned to soul and Motown.
They made 4 studio albums between 1978 and 1983, until Sharkey announced in May 1983 that he was leaving over musical differences. The band reformed in 1999 with Paul McLoone singing, and Get What You Need, in 2003, brought "Thrill Me" and "Oh Please". They remain the most successful band ever to come out of Derry.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by The Undertones on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Teenage Kicks | 18 | #2 | – | – | |
| 2 | Get Over You | 4 | #12 | – | – | |
| 3 | Thrill Me | 1 | #4 | – | 2003 | |
| 4 | Oh Please | 1 | #22 | – | 2003 | |
| 5 | You've Got My Number (Why Don | 1 | #29 | – | – | |
| 6 | Jimmy Jimmy | 1 | #31 | – | – |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
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