The film critic, Mark Kermode, is so devoted to his favourite film, The Exorcist, that he will watch any film or episode of a TV series which contains an Exorcist reference in it. In a similar vein, John Peel could usually be relied upon to play any cover version of his favourite song, Teenage Kicks. The second Peel show I made my own mixtape selections from on 4 June 2002 featured a lullaby version of it.
No such novelty with this cover by The Undertones fellow Ulstermen, Therapy? who chocked out a 94 second version of the tune, backed it with a disembowelment of With or Without You by U2 and distributed it as a limited edition 7-inch single called Have A Merry Fucking Christmas to the first 500 punters through the doors at their pre-Christmas gigs in Belfast and Dublin. Peel had not been to either gig but had managed to wangle a copy. Therapy? could afford to be generous given that they were awash with major label cash after signing to A&M Records and were a few weeks away from releasing the Shortsharpshock EP which contained Screamager, a song that would give them a Top 10 hit and make them into pop stars.
As for their take on Peel’s favourite song, well, it recognises the sexual subtext that underpins the track but in place of the original’s orgasmically joyful release, Therapy? play the track with an overpowering sense of sexual frustration. Where Feargal Sharkey sang with the excited confidence of someone who knew he’d be getting his rocks off sooner or later, Andy Cairns sings with the uptight stress of someone who doesn’t know where their next shag is coming from, despite the fact that he’s overwhelmed with desire for the subject of the song. The girl doesn’t belong to the singer, but whereas Sharkey felt that this would change soon enough, Cairns is tortured by kindness that he was once shown, but which is now withheld. It may only be a brief performance, but Therapy? succeed in fitting Teenage Kicks to their style and worldview.
Peel couldn’t let a play of Teenage Kicks go by without briefly slipping into fanboy mode, albeit as one appalled at the music one of his heroes was currently making. He had no issues with Feargal Sharkey having gone from poacher to gamekeeper by working as an A & R man for Polydor Records, but was in a state of quiet despair at the type of music that Sharkey was recording himself, believing that he was trying to model himself on John Cougar Mellencamp. However, Peel confessed that he was guilty of a certain degree of projection here as he hadn’t listened to any of Mellencamp’s records for years.
Video courtesy of Therapy?
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