Microdisney
This incendiary pop/folk group were formed in Cork, Eire, in 1980. There was little cohesion in their early formations; ‘We used to be much more frenzied in those days, a Fall-type mess, and our line-up was always changing. Originally Sean (O'Hagan) was going to play guitar and I (Cathal Coughlan) was going to recite poetry, then one week it was guitar, bass, drums, then guitar keyboard and violin, then we had a drum machine. . .’ After settling on the more traditional formation of drums, guitars, bass and keyboards, the band began releasing singles which eventually were collected together on WE HATE YOU WHITE SOUTH AFRICAN BASTARDS. The title was typically inflammatory, and in direct opposition to that of their long-playing debut, EVERYBODY IS FANTASTIC. An early clue to their subversive nature, on the surface Microdisney were purveyors of accessible and restrained pop music. This attracted Virgin Records, but the band had a dark edge in Coughlan's bitter lyricism. Their Virgin debut, Town To Town, dented the lower regions of the charts and was quickly followed by CROOKED MILE. However, Microdisney elected to bite the hand that fed them with the near hit Singer's Hampstead Home, which thinly masked an attack on Virgin's fallen idol, Boy George. They bowed out with 39 MINUTES, by which time the vitriol was really flowing, counter-balanced as ever by O'Hagan's delicate country guitar. Despite critical acclaim, Microdisney's sales had remained disappointingly in the cult bracket. O'Hagan went on to release a solo album in 1990 ( HIGH LLAMAS), while Coughlan's Fatima Mansions has done much to spice up the late '80s and early '90s.