Positive Touch

Positive Touch
Studio album by The Undertones
Released 5 May 1981
Recorded Wisseloord Studios
January 1981
Genre Rock
Label Ardeck-EMI (UK)
Harvest (US)
Rykodisc (US CD reissue)
Dojo Records (UK CD reissue)
Sanctuary Records (UK CD reissue)
Producer Roger Bechirian
The Undertones chronology
Hypnotised
(1980)		 Positive Touch
(1981)		 The Sin of Pride
(1983)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Robert Christgau(B+)[2]

Positive Touch is a 1981 album by The Undertones. The album, the third to be released by the band and the last to be produced by Roger Bechirian, was recorded in January 1981 at Wisseloord studios in The Netherlands. The LP was released in May that year, reaching number 17 in the UK album charts.[3]

The original LP release included the UK chart hits: "It's Going to Happen!", which reached number 18 in the UK Singles Chart in May 1981, and an album version of "Julie Ocean", which reached number 41 upon release in July the same year.

Although the majority of the songs contained upon this album were largely inspired by the same subjects as the songs upon the two previous albums released by the band at this stage in their career (both of which generally contained lyrical matter concerning teenage angst), Positive Touch was the first and only album released by The Undertones to contain songs which drew lyrical inspiration from the Troubles relating to the political and social background in which the members of the band had been born and raised. "It's Going to Happen!" was directly inspired by the hunger strikes in Northern Ireland and was performed on Top of the Pops on the day one of the participants in the 1981 hunger strikes, Bobby Sands, died.[4] Three further songs upon the LP were also inspired by the Troubles, although none of the material the band were to subsequently release drew influence from these sources.

In 1986, one track on Positive Touch, "When Saturday Comes", became the inspiration for the title of the UK football fanzine of the same name.[5]

Positive Touch was voted number 28 in the 1981 NME 'Albums of the Year'.[6]

Track listing

Side one
No. TitleWritten by Length
1. "Fascination"  J. J. O'Neill 2:19
2. "Julie Ocean"  J. J. O'Neill 1:45
3. "Life's Too Easy"  J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill 2:30
4. "Crisis of Mine"  J. J. O'Neill 2:23
5. "You're Welcome"  J. J. O'Neill 2:43
6. "His Good Looking Girlfriend"  J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill 2:35
7. "The Positive Touch"  J. J. O'Neill 2:16
Side two
No. TitleWritten by Length
1. "When Saturday Comes"  J. J. O'Neill 2:49
2. "It's Going to Happen!"  Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley 3:34
3. "Sigh And Explode"  Damian O'Neill 2:44
4. "I Don't Know"  J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill 2:17
5. "Hannah Doot"  J. J. O'Neill 2:50
6. "Boy Wonder"  Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley 2:04
7. "Forever Paradise"  J. J. O'Neill 2:54
Bonus tracks (issued on CD releases only)
No. TitleWritten by Length
1. "Fairly in the Money Now"  Tommy Tate and The Torpedoes* 2:30
2. "Beautiful Friend"  J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill 3:27
3. "Life's Too Easy (single version)"  J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, Damian O'Neill 2:43
4. "Julie Ocean (single version)"  J. J. O'Neill 3:36
5. "Kiss in the Dark"  J. J. O'Neill, Michael Bradley, 2:33
6. "Untouchable (Peel session)"  Damian O'Neill 3:19
7. "The Love Parade (Peel session)"  Damian O'Neill, Michael Bradley 4:08
8. "Luxury (Peel session)"  J. J. O'Neill 2:28
9. "The Sin of Pride (Peel session)"  Damian O' Neill, Michael Bradley 3:44

Personnel

References

  1. ↑ Allmusic review
  2. ↑ Robert Christgau review
  3. ↑ "Positive Touch". Connollyco.com. 2006-02-27. Retrieved 2012-03-05.
  4. ↑ Songfacts
  5. ↑ When Saturday Comes magazine
  6. ↑ 1981 NME Albums of the Year
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