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On this day, 17 June 1981, , The Undertones from Derry, Northern Ireland, played Cardiff’s Top Rank on their Positive Touch tour.
On 4 January 1981, the band began recording their third album, Positive Touch, again at Wisseloord Studios, with Roger Bechirian as producer.
The band recorded a total of eight songs in five days before returning to Derry. Later the same month, the band returned to Wisseloord Studios to complete the recording of the LP.
The songs on this album indicated a change in both musical and lyrical influences: although the songs remained largely guitar-oriented, the band had written songs which focused upon the Troubles in Northern Ireland such as "Crisis of Mine", "You're Welcome" and the single "It's Going To Happen!", which preceded the release of the LP and was inspired by the 1980–81 Hunger Strikes.
Positive Touch was released in May 1981. This third album peaked at number 17 in the UK charts—remaining in the Top 40 for a total of four weeks.
The album also received favourable reviews from several music critics and was listed by NME as one of the best albums to be released in 1981, although neither the album nor either of the singles released were as successful as any of the material released the previous year.
