I got this from Forever Changes on Ecclesall Road on the same day I got Voyage to the Bottom of the Road. I can't really remember why. It was £3 and the sticker says "sleeve waterdamaged" — a fairly superfluous comment since the cardboard it's stuck to has the kind of ripples you might find in the bedclothes of an incontinent insomniac.
It was probably nostalgia for the mid-'80s when Microdisney were regulars on Peel's programmes. Never the stars of the show, but always indentifiable — mainly for Cathal Coughlan's lugubrious voice and oblique lyrics. Loftholdingswood was always a favourite. It's a shame Helicopter of the Holy Ghost isn't included here. You feel that these songs opened a door for the likes of Tindersticks to slip through in their brothel-creepers later.
Apart from Coughlan, the mainstay of Microdisney was Sean O'Hagan. O'Hagan went on to form The High Llamas and work with Stereolab. Not only that, but I also come across a lot of great features and interviews in The Guardian and The Observer by Sean O'Hagan (example). I'm reassured to find from the Wikipedia entry that these are two different Sean O'Hagans. That was a relief, because it would be sickening for one man to be so talented and prolific. "The musician O'Hagan confirmed the name confusion and added, 'This has plagued me for years'."
Fifteen years ago there was journalist writing for Melody Maker with the same name as me (except he was a Dave, not a David). I can't say that ever plagued me. In fact my friends Guy and Annie were the first people, earlier this year, who ever asked me whether Dave and I were one and the same. Secretly I hoped that one of my old schoolteachers would stumble across a Melody Maker in those days. Mr Bishop once wrote in my end of term report that "there are times when music and modern-day lifestyles seem to dominate his attention". So perhaps he would see my name in Melody Maker, and tut to himself: "I always said he'd come to no good." The fact is, I was never good enough at writing reviews to come to no good.
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