The Undertones — Derry, Northern Ireland

Derry — also known as Londonderry — is the second city of Northern Ireland and the birthplace of the Undertones, who released 'Teenage Kicks' in 1978 and produced one of the defining statements of the punk and post-punk era. The band — the Feargal Sharkey-fronted group of brothers Damian, John, and Vincent O'Neill, plus Mickey Bradley and Billy Doherty — formed in the Bogside area of Derry in 1975 and recorded a demo tape that was sent to almost every British record label without response before John Peel played 'Teenage Kicks' on his BBC Radio 1 show in October 1978. Peel liked the song so much that he played it twice in a row — a virtually unprecedented act — and declared it his favourite record of all time.

The Undertones formed against the backdrop of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, growing up in the Bogside at the time of Bloody Sunday (1972) and the ongoing conflict between republican communities and British security forces. Their music, however, was deliberately apolitical — a conscious decision to make songs about teenage experience, girls, and the banality of everyday life in defiance of the expectation that Northern Irish music should address the conflict. 'Teenage Kicks' and its successors — 'Jimmy Jimmy', 'Here Comes the Summer', 'You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It?)' — are among the most perfectly constructed pop-punk songs ever recorded.

Derry has embraced the Undertones as part of its cultural heritage. A mural of the band exists in the city, and various heritage markers acknowledge their significance. The Bogside neighbourhood, famous for its civil rights murals, is a major visitor destination in Derry. The city is accessible by bus from Belfast and by road from Dublin, and is also known for its remarkably well-preserved seventeenth-century city walls.