Bagatelle were an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

rock band that first formed in August 1978. They are known for their popular

pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop!, a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Albums * ''Pop'' ( ...

hits such as "Second Violin", "Leeson Street Lady" and "Summer in Dublin", their best known song.

Career

The band formed in Bray,

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered by ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. Fellow Irish musician

Bono Paul David Hewson (born 10 May 1960), known by his stage name Bono (), is an Irish singer-songwriter, activist, and philanthropist. He is the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band U2. Born and raised in Dublin, he attended ...

commented on the impact that Bagatelle had on U2 in the early days of their career. Larry Mullen, of the same band, once famously said that he used to call them "Baga-Money", in reference to their fame, and that he wished that his band could be as successful as Bagatelle. Bagatelle shared stages with artists such as

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements ...

Don McLean Donald McLean III (born October 2, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is best known for his 1971 hit song " American Pie", an eight-and-a-half-minute folk rock "cultural touchstone" about the loss of innocence of the early ...

and

Jose Feliciano Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. *Jose ben Abin *Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galilean ...

. Their albums were produced by

Phil Coulter Philip Coulter (born 19 February 1942) is an Irish musician, songwriter and record producer from Derry, Northern Ireland. He was awarded the Gold Badge from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors in October 2009. Coulter ha ...

and the late

Gus Dudgeon Angus Boyd "Gus" Dudgeon (30 September 1942 – 21 July 2002) was an English record producer, who oversaw many of Elton John's most acclaimed recordings, including his commercial breakthrough, " Your Song". Their collaboration led to seven US N ...

, who also produced for

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

and

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

. Bagatelle appeared on the "Self Aid" concert in the mid-1980s with U2 and

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards. As a teenager in t ...

. When the original Bagatelle re-formed the band in 1992,

Polygram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

(now

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), their record label, decided to release ''The Best of Bagatelle and Liam Reilly'', and followed this with Bagatelle Gold. The band returned to touring in 2010 and released an album of cover versions entitled ''Under The Covers''. Although the band never attained international acclaim, they remain a hugely popular band in their home nation of Ireland. However, the hit "Second Violin" was such a success in

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

that still today remains popular. The group's lead singer and principal songwriter Liam Reilly died unexpectedly on 1 January 2021, aged 65.

Discography

Albums

* ''Bagatelle'' (1980) ("Boat") * ''Bagatelle'' (1981) ("Waterfall") * ''Are We Keeping You Up?'' (1982) * ''Gold: The Best of Bagatelle'' (1985) * ''Cry Away the Night'' (1987) * ''Under the Covers'' (2010) Recorded and released on Irish record labe
Celtic Collections

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bagatelle (Band) Musical groups from County Wicklow Musical groups established in 1978 Irish rock music groups Bray, County Wicklow 1978 establishments in Ireland