This Weeks Forgotten Gem of the 80s The Undertones There Goes Norman

In honor of St. Patrick's Day (even if a day late and - let's face it - probably more than a dollar short), I thought the time was right to seek out some Irish music of the '80s for this space. It didn't take me long (once I shook my usual weekend lack of focus) to settle on The Undertones, one of the punk rock era's finest examples of the earliest and purest melding of formative punk-pop and classic power pop. Led ably and appropriately frantically by the desperate vocal strains of the incomparable Feargal Sharkey, the band surged on into the early '80s before its almost inevitable premature break-up in 1983. The Undertones never received much attention in the U.S. despite major success on the British Isles. For the life of me, I can't imagine why - even given the notoriously lowbrow tastes many American music fans have long displayed.

"There Goes Norman" presents itself as a pure celebration of guitar pop, which would be more than enough alone to merit its high recommendation. But the tantalizingly quivering vocal delivery of Sharkey takes the work of The Undertones to its own singular level of immediacy that should have had a greater impact on the expansive post-punk movement. Irish rock music has long graced the world with valuable and understated artists, ranging from the phenomenal instrumental talent on display in late-'60s power trio Taste and the ongoing solo work of its leader, Rory Gallagher, to rootsy hard rock band Thin Lizzy and, ultimately, one of the biggest rock bands in the world, U2. Even so, people sometimes tend to focus mostly on the novelty of all things Irish and miss the point of just how great the music is. I hope I'm not contributing to that phenomenon here, of course.

• Sample or download "There Goes Norman" here.
• Compare prices on Undertones CDs here.
• Top Irish, Scots & Welsh Artists of the '80s
• Top U2 Songs of the '80s

Album Cover Image Courtesy of Union Square Music