Six Kicks
The Undertones’ ‘Teenage Kicks’ was the all-time favourite song of the great John Peel, a radio DJ whose shows I listened to religiously when I was younger, and whose captivating, unpredictable playlists I greatly miss. Its brash, sinewy youthfulness, and the fact that John Peel carried it with him to his grave (literally so: a line from the lyrics are on his headstone), reassure me that I need never be old.
Below the cut are six videos of ‘Teenage Kicks’ from, the first five, cover versions of the track by Ash, Green Day, Razorlight, KT Kunstall (the version that prompted my curiosity, and thus this post), and Snow Patrol, respectively; the sixth, a 1978 promotional video for the single by The Undertones themselves.