"Alternative Ulster" is the second single by the

Northern Irish Northern Irish people is a demonym for all people born in Northern Ireland or people who are entitled to reside in Northern Ireland without any restriction on their period of residence. Most Northern Irish people either identify as Northern ...

punk Punk or punks may refer to: Genres, subculture, and related aspects * Punk rock, a music genre originating in the 1970s associated with various subgenres * Punk subculture, a subculture associated with punk rock, or aspects of the subculture s ...

band

Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers are a punk rock band from Belfast, Northern Ireland. They formed in 1977 at the height of the Troubles, which informed much of their songwriting. They started out as a schoolboy band called Highway Star (named after the De ...

. Originally released as a single on October 17, 1978, the song later appeared on the band's 1979 debut studio album, ''

Inflammable Material ''Inflammable Material'' is the debut album by the Northern Irish punk band Stiff Little Fingers, released in 1979. Most of the album's tracks are about the "Troubles" and the grim reality of life in Northern Ireland with the songs containing t ...

''.

Background and creation

Jake Burns John "Jake" Burns (born 21 February 1958) is a singer and guitarist, and is best known as the frontman of Stiff Little Fingers, although he has also recorded with Jake Burns and the Big Wheel, 3 Men + Black, and as a solo artist. Early life ...

, the lead singer of Stiff Little Fingers, was asked to record "Suspect Device" for a

Flexi disc The flexi disc (also known as a phonosheet, Sonosheet or Soundsheet, a trademark) is a phonograph record made of a thin, flexible vinyl sheet with a molded-in spiral stylus groove, and is designed to be playable on a normal phonograph turntable. ...

to be included in a Northern Irish

fanzine A fanzine (blend word, blend of ''fan (person), fan'' and ''magazine'' or ''-zine'') is a non-professional and non-official publication produced by fan (person), enthusiasts of a particular cultural phenomenon (such as a literary or musical genre) ...

called ''Alternative Ulster''. As " Suspect Device" had already been recorded for release as the band's first single, Burns offered to write another track. Burns described the song as "written in the classic punk mode of having nothing to do," describing the main frustration of

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdo ...

youth of the time as "the sheer tedium of having nowhere to go and nothing to do when you got there." Working with Eddie and the Hot Rods manager Ed Hollis, the band cut a series of

demos Demos may refer to: Computing * DEMOS, a Soviet Unix-like operating system * DEMOS (ISP), the first internet service provider in the USSR * Demos Commander, an Orthodox File Manager for Unix-like systems * plural for Demo (computer programming) ...

for "Alternative Ulster" at

Island Studios An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in London in May 1978. When

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

turned the group down, they signed with

Rough Trade Records Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London, England. It was formed in 1976 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove. Having successfully promoted and sold records by punk rock and early post-pun ...

. Originally, "Alternative Ulster" was meant to serve as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

to "78 RPM," but when the songs were released as a single in October 1978, Stiff Little Fingers decided to make "Alternative Ulster" the A-side.

Release and reception

"Alternative Ulster" was released as a

7-inch single In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separate ...

on October 17, 1978 via Rough Trade and Rigid Digits. Shortly following the single release, Stiff Little Fingers went on tour, opening for the

Tom Robinson Band Tom Robinson Band (TRB) are a British rock band, established in 1976 by singer, songwriter and bassist Tom Robinson. The band's debut single "2-4-6-8 Motorway" was a top five hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1977, and their third single, "Up A ...

, and working on their debut album, ''

''. Burns intended for "Alternative Ulster" to be the closing track on the album, an honor which instead went to "Closed Groove."

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

-based punk band

The Undertones The Undertones are a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. From 1975 to 1983, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill (rhythm guitar, vocals), Damian O'Neill (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Bradle ...

released their debut single, "

Teenage Kicks "Teenage Kicks" is the debut single by Northern Irish punk rock band the Undertones. Written in the summer of 1977 by the band's principal songwriter, the song was recorded on 15 June 1978 and initially released that September on independent Be ...

", the same week as Stiff Little Fingers released "Alternative Ulster," starting a rivalry between the two bands within the Northern Irish punk scene. While the Undertones were accused of ignoring the events of

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

in their music, the overtly political lyrics of "Alternative Ulster" and " Suspect Device" drew criticism from the other side. When asked in 2007 if "Teenage Kicks" was the best song about being a teenager,

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended M ...

responded, "My soundtrack was more Alternative Ulster by Stiff Little Fingers."

In modern culture

"Alternative Ulster" has appeared in the films ''

Fifty Dead Men Walking ''Fifty Dead Men Walking'' is a 2008 English-language crime thriller film written and directed by Kari Skogland. It is a loose adaptation of Martin McGartland's 1997 autobiography of the same name. It premiered in September 2008, and stars Jim St ...

'', ''

Good Vibrations "Good Vibrations" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys that was composed by Brian Wilson with lyrics by Mike Love. It was released as a single on October 10, 1966 and was an immediate critical and commercial hit, topping record ...

'', '' Everybody Wants Some!!'', and '' The House of Tomorrow'', as well as in the soundtrack for the

Xbox 360 The Xbox 360 is a home video game console developed by Microsoft. As the successor to the original Xbox, it is the second console in the Xbox series. It competed with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation ...

and

PlayStation 3 The PlayStation 3 (PS3) is a home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment, Sony Computer Entertainment. The successor to the PlayStation 2, it is part of the PlayStation brand of consoles. It was first released on Novemb ...

game ''

Skate 2 ''Skate 2'' is a skateboarding video game developed by EA Black Box and published by Electronic Arts. The game was released worldwide in January 2009 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 after the spin-off title ''Skate It''. It is the sequel to 2007's ...

''. In 2022, the song appeared in the soundtrack of the movie,

Jackass Forever ''Jackass Forever'' (stylized as ''jackass fore♥er'') is a 2022 American reality comedy film directed and produced by Jeff Tremaine, along with producers Spike Jonze and Johnny Knoxville, and was released by Paramount Pictures. It is the fo ...

and Season 3 Episode 5 of Derry Girls on Netflix.

References

{{Stiff Little Fingers Stiff Little Fingers songs 1978 singles 1978 songs Rough Trade Records singles