Somebody Is Dead

[Plato Shrimp]

On holiday in Ireland two weeks ago I was really shocked to find out that Cathal Coughlan died in May this year. He was 61.
Had a look on here but couldn't see a thread about him (apologies if I've missed it).

I never saw him with Microdisney, but saw a couple of Fatima Mansions gigs in Dublin in the 80s - 90s. Fantastically intense gigs - a great band with a brilliant furious frontman - at The Baggot Inn he put his fist through the low flimsy stage ceiling at one point.

And about 10 years ago saw him performing the Grand Necropolitan stuff in Shepherds Bush - a stage set like a decadent nightclub, melodic songs mostly. He could write and sing a great ballad.

One of Ireland's best singers and songwriters of the last 40 years.

A terrible loss. RIP.

The Fatima Mansions-Only Losers Take The Bus - YouTube

The Fatima Mansions - Blues For Ceauşescu - YouTube

Behind The Moon - YouTube

Cathal Coughlan, 'Bertie's Brochures' @ Cleere's Theatre, Kilkenny 12.8.19 - YouTube

[ad hoc]

Welcome

I'm sure we discussed him at the time, but like you I can't find any evidence of that

[imp]

I saw Microdisney in Birmingham in 1986 or 87, they were one of my favourite bands at the time. I bought their second LP during my year abroad in Germany because I loved their name and loved the cover (the empty railway tracks), though I'd never heard anything by them, and it took me a while to get into the record. I think on their third LP, their record company was trying to make them into pop stars by pushing the single Town to Town, and they weren't really that kind of band and clearly not into the idea. When they played Town To Town, I remember Coughlan growling something like 'Here's the song that every fucker knows'.

I lost track of him after the first couple of Fatima Mansions LPs, though years later I bought a really dreadful solo album. I tried to persevere with it, but it wasn't working. Must have a Microdisney listening session again, though I've a feeling my ex may have nicked the first two LPs when we broke up 28 years ago. Can't recall having seem them lately.

[Felicity, I guess so]

Shit. I missed this, too.

I was introduced to Microdisney by Imp's and my mutual acquaintance Ivan. Living in a house in Handsworth. Ivan's Microdisney/Sugarcubes C90 was always in the tape player.

Saw them at Wolverhampton Poly SU (green 'canadian' flag backdrop, Birthday Girl and Horse Overboard the standouts which showcased what a strong live voice he had.

Then I moved to Newcastle and saw him in the Free Trade and other 'Ouseburn' pubs (before that barrio was invented) cos Fatima Mansions were on Kitchenware records. Often thought it'd be nice to say hello, see what he was like in person...

[Plato Shrimp]

I lost track of him after the first couple of Fatima Mansions LPs, though years later I bought a really dreadful solo album.

Yeah I haven't heard much of his output since Fatima Mansions split up. My friends in Dublin recommended his last work under the name 'Telefis' a collaboration with Jacknife Lee. I've found a few tracks on you tube that I really like - the videos all seem to be spliced together from the RTE archives - the one for 'We Need' is very clever.

Telefís 'We Need' - YouTube

Telefís "The Carthaginians" - YouTube

[G-Man]

You do know that you never need to miss a music death, right? All in one place, month by month.

[Sits]

Welcome Plato Shrimp.

[Sporting]

Welcome Plato Shrimp.

They've been here for three years, but yes.

[Antepli Ejderha]

Welcome to Plate'o Shrimp

[Antepli Ejderha]

You do know that you never need to miss a music death, right? All in one place, month by month.

That's a wormhole there. Thanks for sharing that G-Man

[Plato Shrimp]

You do know that you never need to miss a music death, right? All in one place, month by month.

That's your website isn't it G-man ? That must take a lot of work. Very Impressive. It would get me down though, checking up to see whose gone every month.

[Plato Shrimp]

They've been here for three years, but yes.

Thanks for the welcome(s).

I was a very-low-posting member about fifteen years ago (under a different username, started one thread about Mark E. Smith reading the football results). I tried logging in under the old name, kept getting errors and giving up. I didn't realise it was that long ago that I joined up under the new name. Must do better.

[G-Man]

That's your website isn't it G-man ? That must take a lot of work. Very Impressive. It would get me down though, checking up to see whose gone every month.

I'm a morbid motherfucker. Doing these In Memoriams is time-consuming work, but it's an opportunity to celebrate the life of people who often have been forgotten. The November one, which will be up on Tuesday, will include stories about the singer who discovered Frank Sinatra, another one who was considered the "Black Marilyn Monroe", the guy who founded the studio where most of the Philly Soul records were created... And sometimes I discover great music (sadly it usually means that there won't be any new music by that person).

[Nocturnal Submission]

Thanks for the welcome(s).

I was a very-low-posting member about fifteen years ago (under a different username, started one thread about Mark E. Smith reading the football results). I tried logging in under the old name, kept getting errors and giving up. I didn't realise it was that long ago that I joined up under the new name. Must do better.

Yes, a big welcome to a fellow-Blue.

Your old username wasn't Antelope Somethingorother was it, or possibly Somethingorother Antelope? I remember a conversation with that poster about an old film I was trying to identify which was very useful.

[Stumpy Pepys]

Could we put all musical deaths in this thread? Unless the poster wants to write a heartfelt tribute.

[Plato Shrimp]

Yes, a big welcome to a fellow-Blue.

Your old username wasn't Antelope Somethingorother was it, or possibly Somethingorother Antelope? I remember a conversation with that poster about an old film I was trying to identify which was very useful.

Yes 'Antelope Cobbler'. I don't remember that conversation or the film. I remember being pilloried by Wyatt Earp for some late night drunken contribution to some thread about evolution.

[Plato Shrimp]

Could we put all musical deaths in this thread? Unless the poster wants to write a heartfelt tribute.

The thread title is a play on the Microdisney song title 'Everybody Is Dead' so I think I'd prefer it not to be. Not that its up to me.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Yes 'Antelope Cobbler'. I don't remember that conversation or the film. I remember being pilloried by Wyatt Earp for some late night drunken contribution to some thread about evolution.

I'd seen a clip from a film, set around the time of La Belle Epoque possibly, in which a "young" man dances wildly but then collapses to the floor and we discover that he's actually an old man wearing a china mask that has shattered, revealing his true identity.

I thought it was a French film, late-40s or early-50s maybe, and I thought that you identified it. If I remember correctly, there were three interconnected or sequential stories in the film.

Ring any bells?

Maybe one for Felicity, I guess so or diggedy derek

[Nocturnal Submission]

A-ha!

After trawling through a Time Out list of 100 best French films, I've managed to identify it: Max Ophuls' Le Plaisir.

[caja-dglh]

So you could have solved it yourself NS. That is a proper TonTon. A true Sporting.

[G-Man]

A lot of people were dead in November. So many stories. But what stuck me most was that one music death was 104 years old, helped discover Frank Sinatra and has her first hit in 1939. The Another was 24 and had his first hit in 2017. And they died within days of one another.

http://halfhearteddude.com/2022/12/i...november-2022/

[Felicity, I guess so]

So you could have solved it yourself NS. That is a proper TonTon. A true Sporting.

And asking me that question late night and answering it in the wee small hours denied me le plaisir

[Jah Womble]

Could we put all musical deaths in this thread? Unless the poster wants to write a heartfelt tribute.

Any OTF Facebookers can of course join my group here:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/6303858244

[Nocturnal Submission]

So you could have solved it yourself NS. That is a proper TonTon. A true Sporting.

Ouch!

I think that asking the question was one of my first acts on OTF, which would date it to 2005. Less material on the Net then, matey!

[Nocturnal Submission]

And asking me that question late night and answering it in the wee small hours denied me le plaisir

Heh!

Did you recognise the film from my description?