The Godfather of Ulster Punk

[john poole]

I'm so bored with .... documentaries about punk. But I did like this one, with only a very brief reference to the Sex Pistols & Bill Grundy - broadcast on Radio Four this morning (and available until 2098)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... ster_Punk/

[garth cartwright]

Thanks for listing this John - i would have missed otherwise.

As a wee teen in Auckland I befriended a Northern Ireland imigre who managed to get sent all the Belfast punk singles. I was so impressed by the likes of the Outcasts that I tried to order some singles from Good Vibrations - never received anything for my postal order so I should look that guy up and ask where my records are. Anyway, a good doc' that reminded me of why punk seemed so vital in the late 70s if you were under 20 and loved rocknroll.

[NickH]

I had better luck than Garth when I wrote to Terri Hooley requesting a copy of the debut 45 release by the Undertones in 1978. I still have the pre-Sire Good Vibrations pressing of Teenage Kicks somewhere. Look forward to listening to this doc a little later...

[uiwangmike]

Terri Hooley is now the subject of a feature film. Like any biopic, it's admittedly fictionalized. I can't say how much, but I suspect the truth was a bit less jolly than it was portrayed. Terry himself as shown as having the same kind of irritating non-stop cheerfulness as the heroine of Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky. Feargal Sharkey wasn't much like I remembered him (though John Peel, in a brief appearance, was a bit). At the Busan Film Festival the other night, the two directors made a brave go of explaining the origins of the Northern Ireland conflict to the young Korean audience, who seemed pretty well entertained by the story and the music.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1920945/