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The Young'uns

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The Young'uns
Background information
OriginStockton-on-Tees, England
GenresFolk
Members
  • Sean Cooney
  • David Eagle
  • Michael Hughes
Websitewww.theyounguns.co.uk

The Young'uns are an English folk group from Stockton, County Durham, England, who won the BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards "Best Group" award in 2015 and 2016 and "Best Album" for Strangers in 2018.[1][2][3][4] They specialise in singing unaccompanied, performing traditional folk songs and sea shanties, contemporary folk songs such as Billy Bragg's 1985 song "Between the Wars" and Sydney Carter's 1981 song "Sing John Ball", and original works including "You Won’t Find Me on Benefits Street" (alluding to Stockton's reaction to a Benefits Street television crew) and "The Battle of Stockton" (on a 1933 clash with Oswald Mosley's blackshirts).[5][6][7] They champion the folk music of the Northeast of England, where they are from, celebrating local history and performing songs by local songwriters such as Graeme Miles.[8]

The members are Sean Cooney, David Eagle and Michael Hughes, who met as teenagers and encountered folk music as underage drinkers in a local pub. They enjoyed the music and returned to the Stockton Folk Club, where "One day someone said 'let's hear a song from the young'uns' and we sang this one verse we knew from a sea shanty", hence the band's name.[9]

2017 album Strangers includes nine new songs celebrating inspiring people 'A homage to the outsider; a eulogy for the wayfarer; a hymn for the migrant.' "These Hands" tells the life story of 1950s immigrant Sybil Phoenix while the story of the Battle of Cable Street is told through the words of Stockton teenager Johnny Longstaff.[10][11] In February 2020 the band debuted the stage production 'The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff' at Newcastle's Northern Stage theatre to rave reviews.[12][13][14]

The Young'uns released a book Bound Together in 2017, chronicling their history as a band and the stories behind some of the songwriting.[15][16]

In 2023 The Young'uns released their ninth album Tiny Notes, which consists entirely of original songs that "recall victims of war and terrorism and heroes of the hour, turning the spotlight on injustice and ultimately celebrating love, tolerance and the indomitable human spirit."[17]

Discography

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  • To Hell With Pirate John! (2007)[18]
  • Plastic Cod'e s (2008)
  • Man, I Feel Like A Young'un (2010)
  • When Our Grandfathers Said No (2012)[6]
  • Never Forget (2014)[19]
  • Another Man's Ground (2015)[7]
  • Strangers (2017)[20]
  • The Ballad Of Johnny Longstaff (2019)
  • Tiny Notes (2023)

Awards

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Young'uns.

References

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  1. ^ a b "Folk Awards 2015 - The Winners!". BBC Radio 2. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Folk Awards 2016 - The winners". BBC Radio 2. 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  3. ^ Irwin, Colin (28 May 2015). "The Young'uns review – an irresistible set from the folk group of the year". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  4. ^ Heath, Theresa (8 September 2012). "Interview: Introducing…The Young'uns". For Folk's Sake. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  5. ^ Crossley, James. "John Ball in Music". English Radical Tradition. Archived from the original on 9 June 2023.
  6. ^ a b "When Our grandfathers Said No". The Young'uns Shop. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  7. ^ a b "Another Man's Ground". The Young'uns Shop. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  8. ^ "BBC Radio 4 - My Muse, Series 2, The Young'uns on Graeme Miles". BBC. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  9. ^ "How a happy accident launched vocal trio into the inclusive world of folk". Western Morning News. 10 August 2012. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  10. ^ Cooney, Sean (4 February 2019). "A working-class hero: how a scruffy teenager fought fascism". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  11. ^ "Sheffield show depicts amazing life of 1930s fighter against fascism, Johnny Longstaff". Sheffieldtelegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  12. ^ Sinclair, Tracey. "The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff review at Northern Stage". The Stage. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  13. ^ Kelly, Mike (13 February 2020). "Theatre review: Folk stars The Young'uns captivate Newcastle audience". nechronicle. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  14. ^ Radcliffe, Allan. "The Ballad of Johnny Longstaff review — a paean to youthful idealism". ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 14 February 2020.
  15. ^ Bound Together (Promo). The Young'uns. 13 November 2017. Archived from the original on 25 August 2024 – via YouTube.
  16. ^ "FATEA - Home". www.fatea-records.co.uk. Retrieved 26 April 2019.
  17. ^ "Tiny Notes, by The Young'uns". The Young'uns. Retrieved 15 August 2023.
  18. ^ Kidman, David. "The Young'uns – Another Man's Ground". Folk Radio UK. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  19. ^ "Never Forget". The Young'uns Shop. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  20. ^ "Strangers by The Young'uns on Apple Music". iTunes Store (US). Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  21. ^ "The 2015 Spiral Earth Award Winners". Spiral Earth. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  22. ^ "Fatea Awards Winners And Runners Up 2014". FATEA. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
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