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Feargal Sharkey

From: Derry

Active: 1983-91

Style: Pop

Bio:

Feargal Sharkey was lead singer with the mighty Undertones from their inception in 1975 until the split in 1983. This is probably heresy to some, but I always found Sharkey's vibrato the least essential element of The Undertones sound.

Sharkey next teamed up with Vince Clarke (ex Depeche Mode, Yazoo, pre Erasure) for a one-off collaboration as The Assembly in 1983, an unexpected move which resulted in the UK chart hit 'Never Never' during what were still the glory days of synthpop. He signed a solo deal with Virgin Records in 1984 and followed this with an equally unexpected (let's be honest!) batch of hit singles during 1985, all firmly within the pop realm, including the UK #1 'A Good Heart' in November. His self-titled debut album emerged the same month, produced by major yawnmeister of the day Dave Stewart (Eurthymics, etc), which peaked at #12 in the UK album charts. He toured the world on the back of this success, something The Undertones never achieved, but he was unable to repeat this success.

The second album was recorded in Los Angeles in 1987 with Danny Kortchmar but proved to be much less successful and his career lost momentum. Work on the third album began in 1989 but it went unnoticed at the time of its release in 1991. By 1993 he'd moved into A&R, entering the dark side of the music business, "...a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason. There is also a down side".

Sharkey was not involved in the Undertones reunion.

The was an extensive dutch fan site in the early days of the internet (mid 90s) which seems to have disappeared.



Discography

The Assembly - Never Never / Stop/Start
7" - Mute Records - 7 TINY 1 - UK - May 1983 - PS
12" - Mute Records - 12 TINY 1 - UK - May 1983 - PS, with extended versions
Reached #4 in the UK charts.


• Listen To Your Father / Can I Say I Love You?
7" - Zarjazz/Virgin Records - JAZZ1 - UK - 1 October 1984 - PS
7" - Zarjazz/Virgin Records - JAZZ1 - UK - 1 October 1984 - picture disc
12" - Zarjazz/Virgin Records - JAZZ1-12 - UK - 1 October 1984 - PS, extended mix on A-side
Reached #23 in the UK charts


• Loving You / Is This An Explanation?
7" - Virgin Records - VS 770 - UK - June 1985 - PS
7" - Virgin Records - VSS 770 - UK - June 1985 - PS, white vinyl
7" - Virgin Records - VSY 770 - UK - June 1985 - picture disc
12" - Virgin Records - VS 770-12 - UK - June 1985 - extended mix on A-side
Reached #26 in the UK charts


• A Good Heart / Anger Is Holy
7" - Virgin Records - VS 808 - UK - 12 November 1985 - PS
7" - Virgin Records - VSS 808 - UK - 12 November 1985 - picture disc
• A Good Heart // Ghost Train Blues / Anger Is Holy
7" - Virgin Records - VS 808-12 - UK - 12 November 1985 - PS
Reached #1 in the UK charts


• s/t
LP - Virgin Records - V 2360 - UK - November 1985
LP - A&M Records - SP65108 - USA - November 1985


• Someone To Somebody / Coldwater
7" - Virgin Records - VS 828 - UK - 1985 - PS
7" - Virgin Records - VSP 828 - UK - 1985 - poster PS
12" - Virgin Records - VS 828-12 - UK - 1985 - PS


• You Little Thief / The Living Actor
7" - Virgin Records - VS 840 - UK - 25 December 1985 - PS
• You Little Thief (remix) // You Little Thief / The Living Actor
7" - Virgin Records - VS 840-12 - UK - 25 December 1985 - PS
Reached #5 in the UK charts


• A It's All Over Now / Don't Leave It To Nature
7" - Virgin Records - VS 879 - Australia - 1985 - PS


• s/t (Video collection)
VHS - Virgin Video - VVC118 - UK - 1987


• More Love / A Breath Of Scandal
7" - Virgin Records - VS 992 - UK - January 1988 - PS
also issued in 12inch and CDsingle formats with extra mixes


• Out Of My System / A Touch Of Blue
7" - Virgin Records - VS 1051 - UK - 1988 - PS
also issued in 12inch and CDsingle formats with extra mixes


• Wish
LP/CD - Virgin Records - V 2500 - UK - 1988
LP - Virgin Records - 90895 - USA - 1988 - different cover, side two resequenced
LP - Virgin Records - VJL-28034 - Japan - 1988 - obi


• I've Got News For You / I Can't Begin To Stop
7" - Virgin Records - VS 1294 - UK - February 1991 - PS
also issued in 12inch and two different CD single formats with various B-sides


• Women & I / I'll Take It Back (live)
7" - Virgin Records - VS 1349 - UK - 1991 - PS
also issued in 12inch and two different CD single formats with various B-sides


• To Miss Someone / I'll Take It Back (live)
7" - Virgin Records - VS 1367 - UK - 1991 - PS
also issued in CD single and cassingle formats with various B-sides


• Songs from the Mardi Gras
LP/CD - Virgin Records - V 2642 - 1991



Help!

We need your help to correct and/or complete this entry. If you can provide more information about this band, have scans, photos or any other memorabilia we can use, or spare copies of any releases, then please get in touch.




See Also: The Undertones

External Links: http://www.youlittlethief.com/



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