The Fatima Mansions were an Irish rock band formed in 1988 by

Cork Cork or CORK may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Cork (plug), a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container ***Wine cork Places Ireland * Cork (city) ** Metropolitan Cork, also known as G ...

singer/keyboardist Cathal Coughlan, formerly of

Microdisney Microdisney were an Irish rock band formed in Cork in 1980. They were founded and led by songwriters Cathal Coughlan (keyboards, vocals) and Sean O'Hagan (guitar). Originally typeset as Micro Disney, the band had become Microdisney by the ti ...

Career

The original line-up consisted of Coughlan, Nick Allum, Jonathan Fell, Zac Woolhouse and Aindrias O'Gruama. They took their name from the Fatima Mansions corporation flats in

Rialto, Dublin Rialto () is an inner suburb of Dublin, situated on the city's southside. The area takes its name from the Harcourt Bridge, which was commonly known as the Rialto Bridge due to its resemblance to the shape of the bridge of that name in Venice ...

.Strong, Martin C. (2003) ''The Great Indie Discography'', Canongate, , p. 281-282 The Fatima Mansions were a popular live band, and gained indie chart success with their albums ''

Viva Dead Ponies ''Viva Dead Ponies'' (originally titled "Bugs Fucking Bunny" Larkin, Colin. "The Encyclopedia of Popular Music". Omnibus Press, 2011. p. 1092. ASIN: B0052Z80QO) is the second album by The Fatima Mansions, and features elements of both their orig ...

'', ''

Bertie's Brochures Recorded and released between ''Viva Dead Ponies'' and ''Valhalla Avenue'', the ''Bertie's Brochures'' mini-album found The Fatima Mansions displaying their more subtle side, with the record being dominated with slower, piano-led ballads such as ...

'', ''

Valhalla Avenue ''Valhalla Avenue'' is an album by Irish alternative rock act The Fatima Mansions. Released in 1992 by Kitchenware Records, the album included the singles "Evil Man" and "1000%". Frontman Cathal Coughlan wrote, and with the assistance of Ralph ...

'' and ''

Lost in the Former West ''Lost in the Former West'' was the final album released by The Fatima Mansions. Writing for '' Hot Press'', Liam Fay said that it is "both Fatima Mansions’ most accessible and most ambitious release yet. It revisits virtually all the bases tha ...

''. They entered the Top 10 of the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in 1992 with a heavily reworked version of

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

' song "

(Everything I Do) I Do It for You "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Bryan Adams. Written by Adams, Michael Kamen, and Robert John "Mutt" Lange, the power ballad was the lead single for both the soundtrack album from the 1991 film '' Rob ...

", taken from an '' NME''

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

in aid of the

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

, the

Spastics Society Scope (previously known as the National Spastics Society) is a disability charity in England and Wales that campaigns to change negative attitudes about disability, provides direct services, and educates the public. The organisation was found ...

. The single was a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

; the flip-track,

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh Rock music, rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (musician ...

' version of "

Suicide Is Painless "Suicide Is Painless" (or "Song from M*A*S*H") is a song written by Johnny Mandel (music) and Michael Altman (lyrics) for the 1970 film ''M*A*S*H''. In addition to being performed by characters in the film, it plays during the title sequence as ...

" received most of the

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

. They also gained mainstream exposure by opening a European leg of U2's

Zoo TV Tour The Zoo TV Tour (also written as ZooTV, ZOO TV or ZOOTV) was a worldwide concert tour by rock band U2. Staged in support of their 1991 album '' Achtung Baby'', the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 1992 to 1993. It was intended to mirror ...

in 1992, although they were nearly booed off the stage and almost started a riot when front man Coughlan swore at a Milan audience and insulted the Pope.Stephenson, Campbell (2004)
The 10: Campbell Stevenson on stage disasters
, ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the ...

'', 15 August 2004, retrieved 10 January 2010 The band often courted controversy with religion, dictators, empires and general authority being targets for Coughlan's vitriol. Despite this, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' newspaper described him as "the most underrated lyricist in pop today", and DJ

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

said he could "listen to Cathal Coughlan sing the phone book". The album and singles campaign for 1994's ''Lost in the Former West'' was styled on the glamour of

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...

, and featured a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

The Walker Brothers The Walker Brothers were an American pop group of the 1960s and 1970s which included Noel Scott Engel (eventually known professionally as Scott Walker), John Walker (born John Joseph Maus, but using the name Walker since his teens) and Gary Le ...

's "Nite Flights".

Discography

Singles

* "Only Losers Take the Bus" (1989),

Kitchenware :'' For a record label, see Kitchenware Records'' Kitchenware are the tools, utensils, appliances, dishes, and cookware used in food preparation, or the serving of food. Kitchenware can also be used in order to hold or store food before or af ...

* "Blues for Ceausescu" (1990), Kitchenware * "Hive" E.P. (1991), Kitchenware * "The Only Solution: Another Revolution" (1991), Radioactive * "You're a Rose" (1991), Kitchenware/Radioactive * " Everything I Do (I Do It For You)" (1992), Columbia – UK No. 7, IRE No. 12 * "Evil Man" (1992), Kitchenware/Radioactive – UK No. 59 * "1000%" (1992), Kitchenware/Radioactive – UK No. 61 * "Tíma Mansió Dumps the Dead" (1992), Radioactive * "The Loyaliser" (1994), Kitchenware/Radioactive – UK No. 58 * " Nite Flights" (1994), Kitchenware/Radioactive

Albums

* '' Against Nature'' – (1989) – UK Indie No. 12Lazell, Barry (1998) ''Indie Hits 1980-1989'', Cherry Red Books, , p. 85 * ''

'' – (1990) * ''

'' – (1991) * ''

'' – (1992) – UK No. 52 * '' Come Back My Children'' – (1992) * ''

'' – (1994) * '' Western Union Steakout'' – (1994)

References

Sources

* McDermott, Paul.
Iron Fist in Velvet Glove — the story of Microdisney
. Audio documentary,

Newstalk Newstalk (formerly NewsTalk 106) is a national independent radio station in Ireland. It is operated by News 106 Limited, a subsidiary of Bauer Media Audio Ireland, and broadcasts under a sound broadcasting contract with the Broadcasting Aut ...

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one o ...

, 2018

External Links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fatima Mansions, The 1988 establishments in Ireland 1995 disestablishments in Ireland Cathal Coughlan Irish rock music groups Musical groups from Cork (city) Musical groups established in 1988 Musical groups disestablished in 1995