TheUndertones.net Dave Richings Meets Feargal Sharkey(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-12)
Apparently, Feargal has only ever forgiven Stiff for rejecting them as their rebuffing was done with the type of humour Stiff were renowned for.
Feargal didn't linger on the demise of The Undertones in any great depth but moved on to discuss his involvement with the one-off single by The Assembly and his solo material which followed.
Feargal responded by assuring the chap in question that he was sure his band where "very good", but he would only sign a band/artist that his company would profit from.
Sharkey's first solo hit was a song he recorded with Vince Clark, who had also split from a pop outfit that seemed poised on the edge of stardom.
In 1985Sharkey had a number one hit in the UK with "A Good Heart," a simple, somewhat sappy pop song that confirmed his complete departure from his punk roots with the Undertones.
Sharkey's last recording effort came in 1991, but he was back in the news in 1998 when he was appointed to Britain's Radio Authority, where he will be overseeing independent radio outlets in the UK.
FeargalSharkey (born Sean FeargalSharkey on August 13, 1958, in Derry) is a Northern Irish singer, who first found fame as the lead vocalist of pop punk band The Undertones, famous for the hit single "Teenage Kicks".
Before his actual solo career took off, he was also the singer of the one-shot group The Assembly, with the ex-Yazoo supremo Vince Clarke in 1983 (with their UK singles chart number 4 hit, "Never Never").
Starting in the early 1990sSharkey moved into the business side of the music industry, initially as an AandR manager for Polydor Records and then as Managing Director of EXP Ltd. He was appointed a Member of the Radio Authority for five years from December 1998 to December 2003.
FeargalSharkey considers his sudden reappearance in the media and emits a wheezy chuckle.
Sharkey has been appointed chairman of the Live Music Forum, a government task force formed to promote live music and monitor the introduction of the controversial new Licensing Act, which threatens to prevent small venues from putting on live music through sheer bureaucracy.
Sharkey is big on a kind of Geldof-style belligerence ("I warn people in advance, if you don't want an opinion don't ask for one"), which is probably just as well: for all its noble intentions, the Live Music Forum is something of a sticky wicket.
Feargal Sharkey - Member of the Radio Authority(Site not responding. Last check: 2007-09-12)
Feargal was appointed a Member of the Radio Authority for five years from December 1998.
Feargal also acts as a consultant to the Music Industry.
The early nineties saw a change of direction and a move into the administration side of the industry, initially as AandR Manager for Polydor Records and latterly as Managing Director of EXP Ltd a post he held until the end of 1996.
FeargalSharkey's career has seen him start out as a punk and finish up on a government task force whose aim is to promote live music.
Critics say they find it somewhat incongruous that that a government funded body is being led by a former punk - and that much of the underlying basis of the punk scene was founded on anti capitalism.
Sharkey is known to have a sharp brain when it comes to business - he arranged the Undertones' five year record deal.
Collectively they were an assault on the self-consciousness of the pop audience by dint of trousers which halted between knee and ankle.
Furthermore, Feargal has been the recipient of tapes mailed from bands ("none of which sound like the Undertones, mercifully") keen to have him produce them.
A singer with an instantly recognizable voice, he broke through to a wider audience with an inspired cover of Maria McKee's "A Good Heart" from his solo debut, reaching the top of the U.K. charts.
He sang on the 1983 EP Never Never by the Assembly, a short-lived band formed by former Yaz member Vince Clarke.
Sharkey released Wish in 1988, but his recording career was essentially done.
FeargalSharkey, Chairman of the Government's Live Music Forum, today challenged every local council in England and Wales to transform at least one disused property in their area into a rehearsal studio for local musicians.
The Live Music Forum, chaired by FeargalSharkey, was set up in January 2004.
As well as working with partners across the live music world to ensure they make the most of the opportunities offered by the Licensing Act 2003, the Forum is also looking at a range of ways to promote live music and foster grass roots talent.