Ken Schafer

A Young Person's Guide To Punk Rock - The Undertones

Punk for me (I was a teen when it all started) was always very much about my generation. At the time I don't think I noticed how incredibly young we all were.

Behold the zit-filled faces of The Undertones, looking like they had to ask their mums if it was okay to go out on a school night to shoot this video for Teenage Kicks:

And because the Internet is making everything instantly available, here's footage of the band actually recording the song:

It's quite incredible that what is arguably one of the best pop songs ever just happened to be used as an example of how records are made!

Yes, I do mean it when I say I think Teenage Kicks is one of the "best pop songs ever". Who can argue with lyrics as unpretentious as this:

Are teenage dreams so hard to beat Everytime she walks down the street Another girl in the neighbourhood Wish she was mine, she looks so good

I wanna hold her wanna hold her tight
Get teenage kicks right through the night

I'm gonna call her on the telephone
Have her over 'cos I'm all alone
I need excitement oh I need it bad
And its the best, I've ever had

I wanna hold her wanna hold her tight
Get teenage kicks right through the night

I wanna hold her wanna hold her tight
Get teenage kicks right through the night

I only saw The Undertones once, opening for The Clash but I've always had a soft spot for them.

Did I Really Say "Good Vibes"?

Nestor E. Arellano (the "E" is to avoid him getting confused with all the other Nestor Arellanos out there - sorry Nestor I couldn't resist) interviewed me on Thursday for an ITBusiness.ca article called "Good Vibes Stem The Tide Of Talent Turnover".

One of the things I've learned as a manager is that my team has to understand why they are doing what they are doing, see challenge in the work, and enjoy the physical act of working (i.e. like the people and environment the work gets done in). If you don't get those right, it's very tough to keep anyone engaged. If they're not engaged, they might stick around if times are tough but given options (as people most definitely are being given right now), they won't stick around for long.