Music of the legendary punk/new wave band The Undertones will be honoured in a musical based around their songs that will illustrate the lives of teenage punks in late 70's Northern Ireland.
The Undertones will not be involved in the project and have distanced themselves from the entire idea. Colin Bateman who is writing the musical explains that the musical is not necessarily about The Undertones but about being a teenager in the late 70's, he states " It's a musical that uses the band's music (and a few other songs of that era as well) to help illustrate the story, which is still kind of vague at the moment, but will be about what it was like to be a teenager back in the late 70s "
Bateman has apparently wanted to write about the punk era in Northern Ireland all of his life, he told The Guardian "There were many novels started when I was a teenager and now finally, I've realised this is the best way to do it, with a musical. A huge help with this will be the fact that The Undertones didn't just write great tunes, their lyrics were very smart and told really great stories. It will be set in Derry, but it will tell a universal story – all the great musicals do."
Obviously a huge fan of The Undertones, Bateman reiterated that his musical is not about the way punk music united Catholic and Protestant teenagers for a short period during the TheTroubles, he wants the musical to have a more universal theme, stating " I'm interested in a show that will have universal appeal. The Undertones' songs aren't brilliant because they are from the punk era or from Derry, they would be classics in any era and can stand shoulder to shoulder with the best of Chuck Berry or The Beatles."
Any time is a good time to listen to The Undertones, checkout Teenage Kicks (which interestingly enough was legendary disc jockey John Peel's favourite song ever) and have a little party in your office chair.
