"You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It?)" is a 1979

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

song originally written and recorded by

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

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 ...

. Written in the summer of 1979 by the band's main songwriter, John O'Neill, the single was released on 9 October that year and reached number 32 in the UK charts. The song was performed live on ''

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

'' on 15 November 1979. "You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It?)" was one of only two singles released by the Undertones not to be included on any of their albums at the time of their original release (the other single being " Beautiful Friend"). However, the song was included as a

bonus track An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

on the 1994 CD version of the band's second album, '' Hypnotised'', and the 2000

Castle Music Castle Communications, also known as Castle Music, was a British independent record label and home video distributor founded in 1983 by Terry Shand, Cliff Dane, and Jon Beecher. Its video imprint was called Castle Vision. The label's producti ...

re-release of their eponymous debut LP. In addition, the song has been included on several 'Best Of' Undertones compilation albums.

Background

The song was the fifth single released by the Undertones. According to bassist Michael Bradley, when John O'Neill first demonstrated this song to his bandmates, "our jaws dropped to the ground. It was brilliant". The band first played the song live at Oscar's Disco in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

in the late summer of 1979, prior to its release as a single.''Teenage Kicks: My Life as an Undertone'' p. 151

Sleeve artwork

The artwork for the single sleeve depicts the record's

Sire Sire is an archaic respectful form of address to reigning kings in Europe. In French and other languages it is less archaic and relatively more current. In Belgium, the king is addressed as "Sire..." in both Dutch and French. The words "sire" an ...

catalogue number (4024) in

sans-serif In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif (), gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than ...

font upon the front sleeve. The rear of the sleeve is plain white with a die-cut centre displaying the label of the vinyl single. No text is displayed upon the

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

of the label, which instead depicts a combination of an image of the band members taken by photographer

Jill Furmanovsky Jill Furmanovsky (born 1953) is a British photographer who has specialised in documenting rock musicians. Life and work Born in Southern Rhodesia, Furmanovsky emigrated with her parents - her father subsequently worked at an architecture prac ...

earlier in 1979.

Track listing

* "Let's Talk About Girls" is a cover of a 1967 song by

The Chocolate Watch Band The Chocolate Watchband is an American garage rock band that formed in 1965 in Los Altos, California. The band went through several lineup changes during its existence. Combining psychedelic and garage rock components, their sound was marked by D ...

, taken from the 1972 ''Nuggets'' compilation LP.

References

External links

* You've Got My Number (Why Don't You Use It?
lyrics
* The Undertone
official website
{{The Undertones 1979 singles 1979 songs Sire Records singles Songs written by John O'Neill (guitarist) The Undertones songs