UDA Letter

[Hammy]

Exactly when was Joe threatened (in letter)
by the UDA?

[matedog]

You referring to the death threat? Sounds like sometime between May and August 1979.

[Hammy]

isn't it earlier...and what exactly does it relate to?
Joe listing his 'manifesto' in the NME and mentioning 'troops out'
or his 'H Block' T-shirt, in Tommy Gun vid?

[JohnS]

Yeah, I'm sure it predates 1979. I think the account with the most detail is in Johnny Green's book. Which I don't have to hand right now...

[Low Down Low]

The accounts I've read of this put it in 79. The Clash were due to play an open air festival in derry along with the Undertones and the Damned but withdrew because Joe got a death threat from a loyalist terror group. Think they'd seen an interview Joe did where he was pictured wearing a h block tee shirt and so made himself a "target".

[Chairman Ralph]

The accounts I've read of this put it in 79. The Clash were due to play an open air festival in derry along with the Undertones and the Damned but withdrew because Joe got a death threat from a loyalist terror group. Think they'd seen an interview Joe did where he was pictured wearing a h block tee shirt and so made himself a "target".

Based on a glance at the Undertones website, I think the date in question has to be 7/14/79 -- May was pretty busy, as you'll see, though it looks they had a summer off to do various one-off gigs, including this one:
http://theundertones.com/_/Shows_1976-1983.html

The accounts I've read of this put it in 79. The Clash were due to play an open air festival in derry along with the Undertones and the Damned but withdrew because Joe got a death threat from a loyalist terror group. Think they'd seen an interview Joe did where he was pictured wearing a h block tee shirt and so made himself a "target".

Essentially, what Johnny Green told me, too, when I interviewed him in '84. He said that the SAS, I believe, actually sent somebody to talk to the band, and confirm that the letter came from the UDA, which they did. The band was then advised to drop out, which was fine by all, except Joe, who initially resisted the idea -- saying, "No, we've already agreed, we've promised."

However, Joe soon came around, and the discussion shifted to what reason would be given for dropping out. According to Johnny, it was eventually put down to "recording commitments with the Clash," and that was the end of it.

[Low Down Low]

That's not too far off. There's a detailed description of the incident in this article, including the death threat itself which came from the so called Red Hand Commandos, an offshoot of the UVF.

https://www.derryjournal.com/news/sigh- ... les-706305

The four gigs the Undertones did in the Marquee earlier that month were fundraisers to pay for the festival. While there they visited Wessex during the LC recording sessions and did a photo shoot with the band. There was obviously a very good rapport there and no hard feelings as they all soon headed stateside for the Clash's US tour.

[AudioAmmunition]

Just found the relevant section in Johnny Green's book. The band received the letter via the NME whilst they were in the studio recording London Calling, so summer 79.

'Dear NME... if he sets foot on the free soil of loyal Ulster the scum Strummer will be shot dead and left like a rat in the gutter'

It was signed 'Red Hand Commando'

They called a guy from the security services to Wessex who confirmed 'these guys don't make idle threats'.

They looked into various ways of getting Joe in and out of the gig safely (helicopter etc) but eventually reluctantly agreed the only thing was to pull the gig.

[Silent Majority]

You gotta wonder how popular the NME was amongst loyalist paramilitaries.

[Marky Dread]

You gotta wonder how popular the NME was amongst loyalist paramilitaries.

Surely it's one of the more obvious ways to get in touch with a band. I would love to know if it wasn't some fucker from the NME on a wind up. Joe was taking a lot of stick in the press for his interests in terrorism.

[Low Down Low]

I'd say the chances are the letter was a fake, the guys in the Undertones certainly thought so anyway and tried to convince the band to travel. Guess you couldn't take the risk, though, however small. Imagine there would have been a security cost involved too.

[Marky Dread]

I'd say the chances are the letter was a fake, the guys in the Undertones certainly thought so anyway and tried to convince the band to travel. Guess you couldn't take the risk, though, however small. Imagine there would have been a security cost involved too.

Yep I'm almost as sure as can be it was fake. Let's face it we didn't hear about any other threats. They could've got to Joe any time they wanted to. Plenty of people were hurt and killed in the UK back then. It always felt like someone was trying to teach Joe a lesson. The Undertones also got political a bit later with the "Its Going to Happen" single about Bobby Sands.

[Low Down Low]

I'd say the chances are the letter was a fake, the guys in the Undertones certainly thought so anyway and tried to convince the band to travel. Guess you couldn't take the risk, though, however small. Imagine there would have been a security cost involved too.

Yep I'm almost as sure as can be it was fake. Let's face it we didn't hear about any other threats. They could've got to Joe any time they wanted to. Plenty of people were hurt and killed in the UK back then. It always felt like someone was trying to teach Joe a lesson. The Undertones also got political a bit later with the "Its Going to Happen" single about Bobby Sands.

Yeah, i love the song but always found it curious the undertones suddenly came out with this pretty direct political message, given how doggedly they'd avoided the whole troubles situation previously. I think it was Damien O'Neill who wore the black armband on top of the pops which was a quite provocative statement to make, though i don't remember if it really registered at the time. They definitely suffered some backlash for it back home at least.

[Chairman Ralph]

You gotta wonder how popular the NME was amongst loyalist paramilitaries.

I'm sure they had younger fans in their ranks, too, like any organized entity does -- it's just, "that other thing" they were about politically came before everything else, including the music, unfortunately.

Yeah, i love the song but always found it curious the undertones suddenly came out with this pretty direct political message, given how doggedly they'd avoided the whole troubles situation previously. I think it was Damien O'Neill who wore the black armband on top of the pops which was a quite provocative statement to make, though i don't remember if it really registered at the time. They definitely suffered some backlash for it back home at least.

I can shed a bit of light there, as I did a story about them, too. Both Damian and John said that It's Gonna Happen reflected a feeling within the the band that it was time to acknowledge that they'd grown up a bit -- which made the song feel like a natural step, one that also reflected their growth as musicians and songwriters. They were keen to move on from the slam-bang hookiness of the earlier era, where they did avoid anything political-oriented. Both said that they never cared for Stiff Little Fingers, whom they saw as a more contrived take on the situation. I remember Damian telling me, "They always promoted The Troubles, whereas, we always promoted the music."

Ironically, It's Gonna Happen marked the peak, at least of terms in their chart performance -- whereas, the next single (Julie Ocean) was a flop, and as they've all stated, signaling an era where everything was about to turn south for them, with the Undertones being no more for a good 16 years.

Though it's interesting to see that the O'Neills' next band, That Petrol Emotion, was everything that the Undertones hadn't been -- more abrasive and more intense, with a decided emphasis on highly-charged commentary. (Which reminds me of a fun fact: Damian turned down offer to join Dexy's Midnight Runners, so he could join TPE. The mind boggles, as they say. )

[Marky Dread]

I'd say the chances are the letter was a fake, the guys in the Undertones certainly thought so anyway and tried to convince the band to travel. Guess you couldn't take the risk, though, however small. Imagine there would have been a security cost involved too.

Yep I'm almost as sure as can be it was fake. Let's face it we didn't hear about any other threats. They could've got to Joe any time they wanted to. Plenty of people were hurt and killed in the UK back then. It always felt like someone was trying to teach Joe a lesson. The Undertones also got political a bit later with the "Its Going to Happen" single about Bobby Sands.

Yeah, i love the song but always found it curious the undertones suddenly came out with this pretty direct political message, given how doggedly they'd avoided the whole troubles situation previously. I think it was Damien O'Neill who wore the black armband on top of the pops which was a quite provocative statement to make, though i don't remember if it really registered at the time. They definitely suffered some backlash for it back home at least.

Really great song. I always understood both stances of The Undertones and Stiff Little Fingers. One was saying we see this shit every day and we want some escapism while the other was saying this is on our doorstep deal with it. Music being both entertainment and informative.