![[b&w live]](coughlan2.jpg)
Photo by Angus Deuchar [source] ditto,
another pic, nice color pix [pic][Up: Favorite authors] [Robot Wisdom home page]
Photo by Angus Deuchar [source] ditto,
another pic, nice color pix [pic]
New: album covers, track listings, credits [one-page]
New: reads poetry about homelessness
NEW: short bio; long profile and short review and passim
New: July dates in Germany
NEW: demonstrates for trees
1956: born in Galway 5 May, eldest of five kids
1969: cut convent school, drugs and drink, depression
1972: suicide attempt, committed to mental hospital
dropped out of one school, entered another, graduated
moved out of her home in search of freedom
"It wasn't that I had a horrible family," Mary explains. "There was just a lack of communication and trust."
waitress, nude model, sweeping streets
c1974: moved to England, lived in a hippie squat
c1975: bride
1976: daughter
1978: daughter Claire
c1981: took three kids and walked out of marriage
1984: back in Galway in another squat
made a demo, meets Dutch musician Erik Visser
talent contest in Galway came in second
1985: hit appearance on Ireland's Late Late Show
sold out concerts throughout Ireland
debut album, "Tired And Emotional" sells 100,000
into macrobiotic food, breastfeeding and natural childbirth (ran clinics)
"I had a bad manager and I got ripped off. I lost the house, the car, the record deal... I never seriously drank before the age of 29. It went against all my ideas, of child-rearing and so on. But I was in hospital 32 times and nearly died at one stage." [source]"Jaysus, I was a compete alcoholic; for most of my 30s I was drinking three or four bottles of vodka a day. And tequila as well." Why? "I just was; there's the music and the business, people making a fuss over you, people dropping you, that's what happens. You just want to drink, it seems easier at the time. I just couldn't handle any of it. I was angry at everyone, angry at myself. Above all, I was angry, ready to blame everyone. I didn't take responsibility and a lot of people fucked me over. But it could have been worse. If I was dead you wouldn't be writing about me now. It's all okay and I've the builders in and all." [cite]
![[High Spirits]](maryc.jpg)
began drinking again and battled depression
1988: supporting part in Neil Jordan's "High Spirits" (incl song) [IMDb]
1989: living in sin with American man (Frank Bonadio?)
1991: bit part in Neil Jordan's "The Miracle" [IMDb]
1992: 4th child
1992: portrait by Declan Holloway wins Nat'l Portrait Award [info, no pic]
1993: rehab, sober since
1996: gave Julia Roberts singing lessons for "Michael Collins" [IMDb]
1996: "Live In Galway" album
1997: 5th child Donal; "After the Fall"
1997: concert rave, pan, dates
1999: Fleadh lineup
"I was never on my own. I've had a fair few relationships. I've been with Frank for what, 10 years; he's wonderful, he's American." They have two children, of eight and three. "My other three are grown up. Yes, it's like having two families. And I can tell you, it's a lot harder now. I've less energy." [cite]
bio, mirror, mirror, bio, bio, interview, Finnish bio, comments; IMDb
BBS: iMusic
A different, political Mary Coughlan: bio
incl Mischievous Ghost (Elvis Costello with Mary Coughlan) [liner notes]
lyrics to 'Seduced'
Amazon; tracks, ditto, ditto w/MP3 samples; RealAudio
"I was a part of the A Woman's Heart thing, a woman's arse, that whole thing that had lonely women in bedsit-land all over Ireland singing along with it. Sitting in and singing these sad songs about women's lives, all to themselves, on their own. But that's all over now. No one sits alone in bedsit-land anymore. They've all bought houses and fancy apartments. The Celtic Tiger, don't you know?" [cite]
Amazon; CDDB; tracks w/samples, info
lyrics to 'My Land Is Too Green'
Amazon; tracks w/samples; tracks w/samples (56k only)
RealAudio interview bits (56k only)
Dorothy Parker page w/RealAudio clips
Most of the songs on the album were written especially for Mary by some of Ireland's most acclaimed writers, such as Jimmy McCarthy, Johnny Mullen and Paul Doran. Also contributing songs are Thom Moore (who co-wrote the haunting "Woman Undone") Marc Almond ("Saint Judy"), long time collaborator Erik Visser, who also produced and arranged the album and Mary herself, who co-wrote three cuts including the elegant "Still In Love." With jazz- blues shadings, and as much catharsis as confessional, "After The Fall" tackles the unlikely pop subjects of divorce, alcoholism, abuse, self-loathing and, ultimately, redemption.
review, review, review, review, review
MC covers "Upon a Veil of Midnight Blue" rave
Book w/profile
Songwriter Jimmy MacCarthy; anthology CD w/MC
Complaint that her label V2 uses digital copy protection
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