Positive Touch
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |   [1] |
| Robert Christgau | (B+)[2] |
Positive Touch is a 1981 album by The Undertones. The album, the third to be released by the band and the last to be produced by Roger Bechirian, was recorded between January and February 1981 at Wisseloord studios in The Netherlands.[3] The LP was released in May that year, reaching number 17 in the UK album charts.[4]
The original LP release included the UK chart hits: "It's Going to Happen!", which reached number 18 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1981, and an album version of "Julie Ocean", which reached number 41 upon release in July the same year.
Although the majority of the songs contained upon this album were largely inspired by the same subjects as the songs upon the two previous albums released by the band at this stage in their career (both of which generally contained lyrical matter concerning teenage angst), Positive Touch was the first and only album released by The Undertones to contain songs which drew lyrical inspiration from the Troubles relating to the political and social background in which the members of the band had been born and raised. The single "It's Going to Happen!" was directly inspired by the 1981 hunger strikes in Northern Ireland and was performed on Top of the Pops on the day one of the participants in these hunger strikes, Bobby Sands, died.[5] Three further songs upon the LP ("You're Welcome", "Crisis of Mine" and "Sigh and Explode") were also lyrically inspired by the Troubles, although none of the material the band were to subsequently release drew influence from these sources.
In 1986, one album track on Positive Touch, "When Saturday Comes", became the inspiration for the title of the UK football fanzine of the same name.[6] This song was not released as a single in the United Kingdom, but was released as a single in the Netherlands.[7]
Positive Touch was voted number 28 in the 1981 NME 'Albums of the Year'.[8]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Written by | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fascination" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:19 |
| 2. | "Julie Ocean" | J. J. O'Neill | 1:45 |
| 3. | "Life's Too Easy" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 2:30 |
| 4. | "Crisis of Mine" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:23 |
| 5. | "You're Welcome" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:43 |
| 6. | "His Good Looking Girlfriend" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 2:35 |
| 7. | "The Positive Touch" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:16 |
| No. | Title | Written by | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "When Saturday Comes" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:49 |
| 2. | "It's Going to Happen!" | Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley | 3:34 |
| 3. | "Sigh And Explode" | Damian O'Neill | 2:44 |
| 4. | "I Don't Know" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 2:17 |
| 5. | "Hannah Doot" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:50 |
| 6. | "Boy Wonder" | Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley | 2:04 |
| 7. | "Forever Paradise" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:54 |
| No. | Title | Written by | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Fairly in the Money Now" | Tommy Tate and The Torpedoes* | 2:30 |
| 2. | "Beautiful Friend" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 3:27 |
| 3. | "Life's Too Easy (single version)" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill | 2:43 |
| 4. | "Julie Ocean (single version)" | J. J. O'Neill | 3:36 |
| 5. | "Kiss in the Dark" | J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, | 2:33 |
| 6. | "Untouchable (Peel session)" | Damian O'Neill | 3:19 |
| 7. | "The Love Parade (Peel session)" | Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley | 4:08 |
| 8. | "Luxury (Peel session)" | J. J. O'Neill | 2:28 |
| 9. | "The Sin of Pride (Peel session)" | Damian O' Neill, Michael Bradley | 3:44 |
- Tommy Tate and The Torpedoes was a pseudonym for Damian O' Neill.
Personnel
- Feargal Sharkey - lead vocals
- John O'Neill - guitar and vocals
- Damian O'Neill - guitar, keyboards and vocals
- Michael Bradley - bass and vocals
- Billy Doherty - drums
References
- ^ Allmusic review
- ^ Robert Christgau review
- ^ Teenage Kicks: My Life as an Undertone p. 185
- ^ "Positive Touch". Connollyco.com. 2006-02-27. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
- ^ Songfacts
- ^ When Saturday Comes magazine
- ^ "The Undertones – When Saturday Comes". discogs.com. 2014-05-15. Retrieved 2017-03-06.
- ^ 1981 NME Albums of the Year