Sep 182013
Lame or are the kids alright? Has One Direction chosen an apropos gem to cover or is someone else behind the scenes sending a covert message to parents that these boys are cool enough to hang with your daughter?
Lame or are the kids alright? Has One Direction chosen an apropos gem to cover or is someone else behind the scenes sending a covert message to parents that these boys are cool enough to hang with your daughter?
We have to pray that if these kids decided to be singers at some time in their young lives, they were surrounded by some good music. Most likely from one of their parents. I bet one kid brought out the song and the other four were like “huh? oh, sure.”
Then again, they probably spend a shitload of time on the bus. Maybe some old bus driver threw this in the CD player when it was his turn to choose.
If it puts some money in the Undertones’ pockets, I’m all for it.
As machinery says, if this adds to the bank accounts of any members of the Undertones, more power to these clowns. This makes it clear how much bigger “Teenage Kicks” must be in the UK. I can’t imagine a US chicken-rancher act covering a punk song of this order unless it was one of the Ramones’ chants. I guess “Teenage Kicks” must be at that level over there, so hopefully the Undertones have already pocketed a little cash for that classic through the years.
Wow. Love the internet for interesting nuggets like this (from Wiki):
In a 2001 interview given to The Guardian, John Peel stated that apart from his name, the only words he wished to be engraved upon his gravestone were “Teenage dreams, so hard to beat.” In February 2008, a headstone engraved with these words was placed on his grave in the Suffolk village of Great Finborough.
I recently came across a clip of them singing “Teenage Dirtbag” by Wheatus, so clearly they are into picking some oddball covers. Props to ’em for it.
At first thought I was expecting something dreadful but they seemed to grasp that pop sensibility that ran through the first Undertones album. It was Sharkey’s voice that gave the original such angst and desperation even though the lyrics were everyday pop. One Direction seemed to have picked up on the simplicity or horniness of teenage lust and made a sanitized anthem for a new generation.
I’m guessing their manager suggested some songs about teenagers, so some poor lackey typed “teenage” into their iTunes search and came up with some possible ideas for covers.
I don’t think this version is that bad. At least they chose a good song to cover. I could have been worse…it could have been something by the Eagles. http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/118209/Niall-Horan-Converting-One-Direction-Into-Fans-Of-The-Best-Band-Ever-The-Eagles
I was at an event for my kids last night and they were cranking some pop tunes. One song started out with an extremely familiar riff – then veered off in an extremely sorry (and date-rapey) direction. One Direction.
Listen to the top of this tune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NgSxpvfuVaU
Wow, I wonder who their rancher – I mean their manager/producer – is.
To answer my own question, their producer is someone who goes by the name RedOne: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RedOne
He seems to have no UK punk rock roots, or punk roots of any nation. He has, however, produced Lady GaGa, who is extremely cutting edge, even PUNK!
The bios for the band’s management company also fail to show any punk rock roots. One of the managers started out with AC/DC.