CITYWEB FEATURE

An Undertones Connection

During the "Wilderness Years for Senior Soccer in Derry" (WYSSD), the Undertones did their small bit in keeping the Derry City name alive. On the cover of their second single "Get Over You" the words "Derry City F.C." can be seen. It took a bit of persuading and explaining to Sire Records to get it kept in! The only problem was the single peaked at No. 57 in the charts. I was told by our manager that the reason for the flop was that it was released on the wrong day of the week for it to register on the chart! I'm still trying to work that one out!

But success was only a season away, and in May 1980 "My Perfect Cousin" got to Number 9. This time the message was clear. The cover featured a Subbuteo player wearing the CandyStripes! Not Stoke City or Sunderland, as we explained to English journalists, but the best team ever to grace a football pitch, the wizards of the Brandywell etc., etc. .........

The song's video featured the graceful Feargal Sharkey leaping to head a cross while wearing the red and white jersey. "My Perfect Cousin" was the pinnacle of the Undertones' success and the last time the band featured Derry City on a record sleeve.

With ten years worth of hindsight, I've come to realise that that was the missing ingerient from future releases. Not the musical changes, not the haircuts and not the clothes. Without the 'Midas Touch' of a Derry City FC reference, the hits dried up. By 1983 it was back to Derry, back to Radio Rentals, back to the Tech!

Not all gloom of course - within two seasons it would also be back to the Brandywell!