Feargal Sharkey

Feargal Sharkey

Ministers in the UK Houses of Parliament were treated to a rare acoustic performance by Feargal Sharkey of his most famous song “Teenage Kicks,” which he recorded with The Undertones in 1978. The performance was part of Sharkey’s role as C.E.O. of UK Music, who are currently campaigning against legal restrictions which are imposed on the performance of live music in small venues. The legal tangle of the present system has seriously hampered opportunities for many young musicians to play ill-rehearsed tunes to miniscule audiences in assorted pubs across Britain; and it doesn’t help those rare well-rehearsed musicians either. Sharkey asserted that "It is vital that tomorrow's superstars and young musicians have somewhere to ply their craft, somewhere to play and that communities have a place to gather together." There’s no doubt that many bands that made it big would agree, having got their breaks in dingy pubs many years before, including The Kinks (The Clissold Arms in London), The Rolling Stones (The Bull Pub in Richmond), Bauhaus (The Cromwell pub in Wellingborough) and, of course, countless bands just like The Undertones from the punk heyday of the 1970s.