"My Perfect Cousin" is a song by Northern Irish punk rock 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 Bradley ...

. The song – inspired by an actual cousin of one of the band members – was written during the summer of 1979 and recorded at

Wisseloord Studios The Wisseloord Studio is a recording studio in Hilversum, Netherlands. It was officially opened on 19 January 1978 by Prince Claus of the Netherlands, Prince Claus. The studios were founded by electronics company Philips, to enable their PolyGram ...

Hilversum Hilversum () is a city and municipality in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is the largest urban centre in that area. It is surrounded by heathland, woods, meadows, lakes, and smaller towns. Hilvers ...

in December 1979. "My Perfect Cousin" was the first of two singles to be released from the band's '' Hypnotised'' LP (the second being "

Wednesday Week "Wednesday Week" is the seventh single released by the Undertones. The song was written in December 1979 by the band's rhythm guitarist and principal songwriter, John O' Neill, during a Christmas break the band had taken while recording their ...

"), and was released on 28 March 1980. The single reached number 9 in both the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

and

Irish Singles Chart The Irish Singles Chart is the Republic of Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) and compiled on their behalf by the Official Charts Company. Chart rankings are bas ...

, making the song the band's only top 10 single. "My Perfect Cousin" was voted number 30 in the 1980 ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' ''singles of the year'' poll.

Background

The song was the sixth single released by the Undertones, and the first single to be written by

Damian O'Neill Stephen Damian O'Neill (born 15 January 1961) is the lead guitarist in the pop-punk band, The Undertones. He joined the band following the departure of his older brother, Vincent, in 1976, and remained with the band until their break up in 1983 ...

and Michael Bradley. The music video to the song was largely filmed at the home of the O'Neill brothers, and was directed by

Julien Temple Julien Temple (born 26 November 1953) is a British film, documentary and music video director. He began his career with short films featuring the Sex Pistols, and has continued with various off-beat projects, including ''The Great Rock 'n' Roll ...

. The song was performed on ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

'' on two occasions: 10 April and 24 April 1980.

Sleeve artwork

The artwork for the single sleeve depicts a

Subbuteo Subbuteo ( ) is a tabletop football game in which players simulate association football by flicking miniature players with their fingers. The name is derived from the neo-Latin scientific name '' Falco subbuteo'' (a bird of prey commonly known a ...

figure in the colours of the band's local football club,

Derry City 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 ...

. The lyrics to the song are printed on the rear cover of the sleeve.

Track listing

References

External links

* The Undertone
official website
{{authority control 1979 songs 1980 singles 1980 songs Music videos directed by Julien Temple Sire Records singles The Undertones songs Works about cousins