IN THE BEGINNING......

....before the fabulous Fatima Mansions who I've featured a few times at TVV, there was Microdisney.

Formed in the early 1980s in Cork, Ireland by Cathal Coughlan and Sean O'Hagan, my first memory of the band is the fact that released a record called We Hate You South African Bastards which, at the height of the anti-apartheid movement, had the best title ever. No contest.

I also recall them seeing them on Whistle Test on a night when James made one of their first ever TV appearances.

Microdisney moved to London not long after forming and were soon signed to Rough Trade before they were enticed by an offer from Virgin Records in 1987. This was their first single for the Branson empire:-

mp3 : Microdisney - Town To Town
mp3 : Microdisney - Little Town In Ireland

As you can deduce from the sleeve pictured above, it was released as a double pack, with the second bit of plastic containing three tracks recorded in 1984 and 1985 for the John Peel Show.
mp3 : Microdisney - Begging Bowl (Peel Session)
mp3 : Microdisney - Horse Overboard (Peel Session)
mp3 : Microdisney - Loftholdingswood (Peel Session)

Scouting round the internet, I found this truly outstanding fan site devoted to the band and discovered that the tracks on the 12" and cassette versions contained live versions of other older Microdisney material and this very astute review of the material:-

'Town To Town' is a fine start to their Virgin career and contains all the crucial Microdisney elements. Despite the myriad of songs contained on the three versions of the single, this was the only new Microdisney song on the record- unless you include 'Little Town In Ireland'. 'Little Town In Ireland' is simply the worst thing they ever did, an Irish Country song (vaguely wimpish Pogues in nature) which is neither ironic, funny or filled with hidden meaning.

The remainder of the tracks on the various formats (8 of their best songs) were a good introduction to Microdisney for any new followers. The recordings consisted of five live tracks and three from Peel sessions, which also made it a necessary purchase for die hard fans. Promotional tools they may have been, but each version was value for money and made me happy that Virgin were on board.

Probably at any other time, Microdisney would have been very succesful, but at a time when similar sorts of bands such as Aztec Camera, Prefab Sprout, James and the Go-Betweens (to name but four) were competing in a market that was never entirely about mass consumption, it was a tough ask.

Or again to crib from the fanzone:-

When Microdisney was born, chart music had just discovered synthesizers. No-one needed to write songs anymore which left bands to concentrate on their make up. Fashion became everything and, as an added bonus, no-one was interested in hearing about what social security budget their tax cuts had come out of. On both counts of style and content Microdisney had missed the boat (if there ever was a boat for them to sail in). While the independent labels were still producing some good stuff, they too were being consumed by trends. Lazy journalists needed an easy angle and unless you were a part of a scene you were nothing. Microdisney just didn't fit in. Too cynical and worldly to be the bright pop act that Sean O'Hagan's music could have made them, not hardcore or experimental enough for the 'alternatives'. Even so, they made it onto Virgin. Gigs attended by the same 50 people turned into fair-sized gatherings and their mums got to see them on Tom O'Connor. In the end though it wasn't enough- they got more and more pissed off with the world, with the way they were being treated and probably with each other. They burned out after 5 years. Sean continued making pop songs with the High Llamas, Cathal Coughlan turned hardcore with the Fatima Mansions. Others may say different but neither on their own came anywhere near producing what they had done with Microdisney. They should have been massive.

Too right they should have been massive, but as it is, Town To Town was the nearest thing they got to a hit, reaching #55 in the UK charts.

Happy Listening.