Hai Phil, nice to see you back. Hope you are doing fine! still listening to the Energy Orchard Stuff you sent me!

I had a dream last night about opening this site and reading an announcement on upcoming gigs, the summer is coming so some gigs in Ireland would be quite nice, it is been quite silent from the side of the Undertones recently...buyrecording? Or is that just an other dream???

Ofcourse I meant 'busy recording' instead of 'buyrecording' in my last message, sorry nasty typo!!!

Cliff - maybe this is a reflection of my aging process. 20 years ago it would be a long drawn out high. I would know a month or so before it was due out when a new album would hit the shops. As that date got closer I would check the racks in the shops just in case it came out early, until eventually it got to the point where I had to ask every sales assistant in every record shop in town when they were expecting the delivery, building up what I thought was a nice rapport with those assistants but what they probably thought was 'Oh know here comes that twat who keeps asking the same question every day'. Eventually it would be there - typically it had appeared the day earlier which was the only day I hadn't been able to get into town. Alternatively it was the sales assistants insisting on holding back the cd's just to spite me for pestering them so much.

Continued...Then pretty much like your scenario except there was no car - a trip home on the bus - bag tucked nicely on lap but opened once in a while to stare lovingly at the sleeve and maybe if the bus was empty a few sleeve notes - but a full bus is a dangerous place for a fragile but beautiful piece of 12' vinyl. Finally I would get safely home and make my way to my room - and play said record to death, sometimes 3, 4, 5 times in a row or in some cases many many more times for days and weeks and months boring the hell out of anyone who didn't share my enthusiasm for the band involved. Over such time every track title, words, music, odd scratching sound would be lovingly stored to memory. That was then - wonderful times.

But times have changed. No longer are there a weekly list of new albums to excite. No longer are there daily visits to record shops. And probably worse of all no longer are there beautiful black pieces of vinyl. The carefree years are gone. Now we have shiny overpriced cd's in little hard to open boxes. The majority of releases of interest are retrospective compilations of glorious days gone by. There's no-one slightly interested in your music taste any longer. And a wife and family suddenly have better things for you to spend your money on.

Where do we turn ? To a little box of gadgets that nobody understands but a small piece of cable links the box to the big wide world. And from there you find loads of people who share your passions. And you find that music is just given away for free. But now the drawn out high is an instant and infrequent high. Not expecting it to be there you find it almost by accident. Get home and start downloading - and some double glazing sales assistant 'phones while you're downloading so you only get half the file. Try again - and one of the wife's friends 'phones up. Eventually you get it - and then and only then can you sit back and take in the wonderful sounds and reflect on the way life used to be. A precious couple of minutes reminding you of the way it used to be. And then the wife reminds you of something you promised to do before you went on that bloody pc and you quickly come right back down to earth.

Wilke - don't know why the link didn't work. Try this one and the tracks are in the Sounds section.

Finally found the video Lindsay. It's on it's way to you if the offers still open.

Thanks for that Mrs Sharkey.......

Christine! Glad you made it onto the site! As you are RH member 0087 you should be upgraded to white background immediately! Do you get up to the north east much? We could have a reunion at the Newcastle showing then pop round to Georges for tea and videos like old times!!

Friend of mine is off to Dublin next week, I spent all day telling her about the trip last December. Don't think she was too keen on the Undertones bits! Though due to my influence she has booked 5 nights at The Townhouse.

Lee-less of the 'wife and kids' bit! :-))I nagged David to get himself to the shops on Monday to buy Gomez's new CD the day it was released. Christine, do you remember going up to HMV on the bus to get the Sin of Pride on release day and we were rewarded with the mispressed copy?

Jackie - funny as I read Lee's elegy to buying vinyl our pilgrimage to buy the Sin of Pride LP was the first thing that came to mind. A great moment enhanced by the Feargal's confusion at the Durham Uni gig when we told him our favourite songs from the LP and the gleeful moment when we realised that we had tracks that hardly anyone else had! Faberooni as we used to say (well sometimes!)

Jackie - returning to the 'do you get up north much' comment - sadly not enough but I am seriously tempted by the Newcastle showing. My life has improved significantly by finding this site - normally I would still be at work but I decided to skive off early and check out the site. So now rather than work-life balance I have work - Tones balance! And off to buy Gomez's new CD tomorrow - I couldn't persuade anyone to get shopping on my behalf.

Replace a GUITARIST?!!! No way, OOOPS. We've long debated that re-recording the old tunes without Feargal is not the way to go but any new Undertones material should rightly feature Paul on vocals. Nothing can ever be quite the same (eh Lee!) but I for one have no complaints about something that comes very close. (No problem with the video by the way Lee).

Welcome Christine, I'm sure Jackie's told you girls rule ok on here. Are you another Damian fan? PS. My house has never been as clean & tidy as it was before I discovered this site nearly TWO years ago (is it really that long?) but do I care? Do I not!

How do you think Pete Best felt when he was replaced by Ringo Starr - The Beatles managed without him!

whats up cmos i try to post a message and got [thank you will appear shortly

heres goes. lindsay i agree with you feargal sang the tones songs great his voice is and was out of this world but paul brings a new sound to them i like you cant wait to hear a cd full of new stuff

Just returned from Germany from a shopping trip and had a remarkable experience: The HMV-store had an in-store gig by The Sterne, which I think is a major Indie band in Germany. Of course I stayed to witness the fun and the band played a great set with full PA at good volume, but this great gig was only witnessed by 12 people....This included myself, my children and I think some of their roadcrew. HMW expected a lot more as the whole shop was filled with barriers(I couldn't even reach the punksection!). It was schoolholiday so you would expect a lot of youngsters (If i think back of my youth, I would have been there hours beforehand just as Lee describes). It really makes you think: a well-known band and only 12 people.....

Had some great additions to my recordcollection. Last tuesday i finally found this LP by Serious Drinking from 1984 (the one with the Undertones mention on one of the tracks), yesterday bought a double CD by the Cigarettes (30 euro, very expensive). The Cigarettes were a great band from Lincoln who released two singles in 1980(who now trade for 80 quid or so). Now Detour made a double-Cd from these singles, other recordings and their Peel sessions. It really is a stunning album, marvelous. What a great & forgotten band. Just downloaded the Moondogs-demo's and these are verrry good, ladies & gentlemen. So download them and enjoy them, if the Moondogs continue like this, the world soon will talk about them!!!if

Was pondering this afternoon as I do from time to time. Think of the 1st 20 years after the Beatles appeared and look at the changes that took place constantly in music during that period. Then consider the last 20 years. Someone needs to stir things up don't you think ?

Julius, I received that Pushtwangers CD 'Push that Twang into Motion' a couple of days ago and I love it! Many thanks! I was at the Post Office today and have sent a special Moondogs surprise to you and one for Lee also! I'll get that 'Hickeys' video to you also Lee (with Gerry & Jackie Moondog and Billy Doherty on drums!). Ernie Badness -did you get that tape of the Moondogs in Belfast I sent up to Omagh a while ago?

Luke, I must apologise for not having the manners to thank you - I received the tape and I really enjoyed it. Especially the demos.. thanks again!

'Ramones and Talking Heads became the first bands of the NYC punk era to be inducted into the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame.'