CALIFORNIA GIRL, ULSTER BOY: When Lone Justice...

CALIFORNIA GIRL, ULSTER BOY: When Lone Justice released its first album early this year, many observers predicted a big future for the band and especially its young lead singer, Maria McKee. And sure enough: McKee has a No. 1 single. The surprise is the record hasn’t been released in the United States and it’s not Maria singing. McKee’s “A Good Heart” is a British smash for Feargal Sharkey, former lead singer for the late, lamented Irish band the Undertones.

The song, which McKee, 21, wrote two years ago, was on demos she played for Lone Justice producer Jimmy Iovine. He didn’t think it belonged on the record but played it for Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart, who loved the song and brought it to Sharkey. And while Sharkey is a veritable veteran compared to McKee, his high, tremulous voice has just the right touch of yearning for a charming tune about an inexperienced teen-ager looking forward to love: “My expectations may be high / I blame it on my youth / Soon enough I’ll learn the bitter truth.” A&M; Records plans to release the Sharkey album in late January. There’s no word whether “Heart” will also appear on the next Lone Justice album.