The Fatima Mansions were an Irish rock band formed in 1988 by songwriter and vocalist Cathal Coughlan, formerly of Microdisney.
Career The band's first recording and tour line-up consisted of Coughlan (songwriter/producer/arranger/keyboards/vocals), Aindrias O'Gruama (guitar), Nick Allum (drums), Jonathan Fell (bass), Zac Woolhouse (keyboards). Bassist Nick Bunker joined before the recording of their second album. They took their name from the Fatima Mansions corporation flats in Rialto, Dublin."History of Fatima Mansions ", Fatima Groups Unlimited, retrieved 10 January 2010Strong, 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, Bertie's Brochures, Valhalla Avenue and Lost in the Former West.
They entered the Top 10 of the UK singles chart in 1992 with a heavily reworked version of Bryan Adams' song "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You", taken from an NME tribute album in aid of the charity, the Spastics Society. The single was a double A-side; the flip-track, Manic Street Preachers' version of "Suicide Is Painless" received most of the radio airplay. They also gained mainstream exposure by opening a European leg of U2's Zoo TV Tour 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, 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 newspaper described him as "the most underrated lyricist in pop today", and DJ John Peel 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, and featured a cover version of The Walker Brothers's "Nite Flights".
Discography Singles "Only Losers Take the Bus" (1989), Kitchenware "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 Viva Dead Ponies – (1990) Bertie's Brochures – (1991) Valhalla Avenue – (1992) – UK No. 52 Come Back My Children – (1992) Lost in the Former West – (1994)
References
Sources McDermott, Paul. "Iron Fist in Velvet Glove — the story of Microdisney". Audio documentary, Newstalk / University College Cork, 2018
External links