Teenage Kicks

Michael Bradley joined his school friends group in Derry, Northern Ireland in

the summer of 1974. They had two guitars and no singer. Four years later the

Undertones recorded Teenage Kicks, John Peels favourite record, and became

one of the most fondly remembered UK bands of the post punk era. Sticking to

their punk rock principles, they signed terrible deals, made great records and had

a wonderful time. They broke up in 1983 when they realised there was no pot of

gold at the end of the rock and roll rainbow.

Bradleys story is a bitter-sweet, heart-warming and occasionally droll tale of

unlikely success, petty feuding and playful mischief during five years of growing

up in the music industry. Wiser but not much richer, Bradley became a bicycle

courier in Soho after the Undertones split. "Sixty miles a day, fresh air, no

responsibilities," he writes. "Sometimes I think it was the best job I ever had. It

wasnt, of course."