Suzanne Rhatigan (born 1963 in Dublin) is an Irish singer, songwriter, and musician.

Career

Born and raised in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Suzanne Rhatigan", in ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, where she learned to sing and play the guitar. Rhatigan began her career as a teenager playing with several Irish bands before moving to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in the early 1980s where she found steady work as a session singer with Stock, Aitken and Waterman Records, learned the piano, and began working on her own material. In 1990, she began dating

Craig Charles Craig Joseph Charles (born 11 July 1964) is an English actor, comedian, television and radio presenter. He is best known for his roles as Dave Lister in the science fiction sitcom ''Red Dwarf'' and Lloyd Mullaney in the soap opera ''Coronation ...

and had a guest appearance alongside him in a Series Four episode of the sci-fi TV series ''

Red Dwarf ''Red Dwarf'' is a British science fiction comedy franchise created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, which primarily consists of a television sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999, and on Dave since 2009, gaining a cult following. T ...

'' ( Season 4, Episode 1: "Camille") which was first broadcast in February 1991.

Solo album

Later in 1991, she signed a contract with Imago records to record a solo album. Entitled ''To Hell With Love'', the album consisted of twelve tracks, mostly written by Rhatigan and Charles with some contribution from other writers. The album was produced by

Fred Maher Frederick J. Maher is an American drummer, music programmer and record producer. He was a member of the bands Massacre (1980–81), the Dance, Material, Scritti Politti, and has recorded and toured with Lou Reed. In 1984 he released ''Basic'', ...

, who also played percussion, and the backing band included

Matthew Sweet Sidney Matthew Sweet (born October 6, 1964) is an American alternative rock/power pop singer-songwriter and musician who was part of the burgeoning music scene in Athens, Georgia, during the 1980s before gaining commercial success in the 1990 ...

(bass),

Robert Quine Robert Wolfe Quine (December 30, 1942 – May 31, 2004) was an American guitarist. A native of Akron, Ohio, Quine worked with a wide range of musicians, though he himself remained relatively unknown. Critic Mark Deming wrote that "Quine's eclect ...

(guitar),

Bernie Worrell George Bernard Worrell, Jr. (April 19, 1944 – June 24, 2016) was an American keyboardist and record producer best known as a founding member of Parliament-Funkadelic and for his work with Talking Heads. He is a member of the Rock and Roll ...

(keyboards), Matt Backer (guitar), and Drew Vogelman (drums), among others. The title track was released as a single, complete with music video, early in 1992 and Rhatigan performed it live on an episode of '' Later... With Jools Holland''. The full album was released later that year, followed by a second single, ''Open Up''. In 1993 a third single ''Indian Summer'' was released, but Imago records ceased trading shortly afterwards, stalling her career. Her relationship with Charles ended soon after.

Rhatigan

She re-emerged in 1995 as the lead singer and guitarist of the punk pop trio ''Rhatigan'', alongside John Morrison (who also played in Hefner) on

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

and Brynn Burrows (later replaced by Paul Murphy) on

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

. The band had a four-year residency at London's

12 Bar Club The 12 Bar Club was a music venue in London that opened in 1994 on Denmark Street – known as Great Britain's "Tin Pan Alley" – just off Charing Cross Road and close to Soho. Some of the most famous musicians and groups to play at the ...

Denmark Street Denmark Street is a street on the edge of London's West End running from Charing Cross Road to St Giles High Street. It is near St Giles in the Fields Church and Tottenham Court Road station. The street was developed in the late 17th centu ...

, and Suzanne Rhatigan's night attracted many small bands early in their development, such as

Kings of Convenience Kings of Convenience is an indie folk-pop duo from Bergen, Norway, consisting of Erlend Øye and Eirik Glambek Bøe. History Øye and Bøe were both born in 1975 (Øye on 21 November and Bøe on 25 October) and have known each other since they ...

the Clientele The Clientele is a London-based indie pop band, formed in 1991. The band is currently composed of lead singer/guitarist Alasdair MacLean, drummer Mark Keen and bassist James Hornsey. Since its inception, the Clientele has released eight full-l ...

, Hefner, and

Turin Brakes Turin Brakes are an English band, comprising original duo of Olly Knights and Gale Paridjanian, and long-term collaborators Rob Allum and Eddie Myer. They had a UK top 5 hit in 2003 with their song "Painkiller (Summer Rain)". Since starting ou ...

. In 1996, the band released a twelve track album entitled ''Late Developer''. In 1998, the band recorded a seven track mini-album entitled ''Big Stick'' which had no commercial release and was sold directly to fans at performances. In 2012, their song ''Me'' was covered by former collaborator

Antony Harding Antony Harding is an English singer, songwriter and musician from New Mexico. He grew up on the Isle of Wight. He is best known as the drummer in London band Hefner, and has also played independently as ANT and now performs solo as Antony Har ...

for the

Audio Antihero Audio Antihero is a British independent record label formed in October 2009 and based in South East London. They have been the centerpiece of several radio BBC, PRI and international radio stories. History The label's first two releases, Nos ...

charity album "Some.Alternate.Universe. for

FSID The Lullaby Trust (formerly FSID) is a British charitable organisation aiming to prevent unexpected deaths in infancy and promote infant health. The Lullaby Trust funds research, supports families whose babies have died suddenly and unexpectedly, di ...

Albums

* ''Late Developer'' (1996) Org * ''Big Stick'' mini-album (1998) Cushy Productions

Singles, EPs

* Split EP with Pura Vida (1996) Org * "Happy" (1996) Org * ''DIY CD'' EP (1999) Cushy Productions

2010s

In early 2013, Suzanne guested on the "Sisters of St. Anthony" single by

Jack Hayter Jack Hayter is a British musician. He is best known as a multi instrumentalist with Hefner but is also an acclaimed folk singer-songwriter in his own right.

(ex- Hefner), released on

. Between 2012 and 2014, she uploaded much of her work to music sharing site bandcamp.

Solo discography

* "To Hell With Love" Imago (1992, MC single) * "Open Up" Imago (1992, CD single) ("Open Up"/"Daddy"/"Finally Come Around") * ''To Hell With Love'' Imago (1992, CD album) * "Indian Summer" Imago (1993, CD single) ("Indian Summer" ''(Radio Edit)''/"Learning to Cry"/"Crosstown Traffic" ''(J.Hendrix) (2 meter session)'') * "Sisters of St. Anthony" with

Jack Hayter Jack Hayter is a British musician. He is best known as a multi instrumentalist with Hefner but is also an acclaimed folk singer-songwriter in his own right.

(2013, Digital Single) *"Before and After* Bandcamp (2013 CD single) (2 track Christmas Single) ("Time To Put Things Right"/"Spinner Of Years Acoustic Version")

References

Bibliography

* * Reviews a performance by Rhatigan in New York City at Tilt. *

External links

*
Official website of Cushy Productions

Bandcamp page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhatigan, Suzanne Living people Irish pop singers Irish women singer-songwriters Irish singer-songwriters 1963 births