Bagatelle Photos (1978-2019)
Photo Gallery -
Band Lineups -
Discography
- Audio samples -
Where Are They Now?
The Story
The first reference we can find to Bagatelle is an advert in October
1978 for "Bagatelle - ex-Boulder Band." This caused us to look
further back as the Boulder Band were popular in Dublin night spots.
The Boulder Band first got
mentioned in the papers a year earlier in July, 1977 as they were
about to appear in RTE's summer show, "Hello Summer." The show would
end up being panned by critics, but the band were given a favourable
review.
The line-up at the time included ex-members of the Elastic Band,
John O'Brien (guitar), Paul Fairclough (drums), Ken Doyle (bass),
and Marion Byrne (vocals and sister of folk singer Anne Byrne); and
with them was Breda Maher (wife of songwriter Mick Maher).
In October, 1977 the band were
signed to Hawk Records and by December they were being hailed as a
new band to watch on the Irish scene. The band were being managed by
Brian Molloy and in early 1978 they were being compared to Chips as
the next pop band who might make the grade on the Irish ballroom
scene after spending all their time on the Dublin scene. By March it
was reported that the band had signed a deal with London based State
Records and would soon be off to London to record their first
single. Around this same time Hawk had signed Sandy Duskey (Kelly),
Tony Stevens from Cork and the Gibney and Donovan Band. At this
time, the band was still playing almost exclusively in and around
Dublin.
On October 20th, an advert
appeared in the The Nationalist and Leinster Times for "Bagatelle"
who were playing in the El Ruedo club Carlow with the tagline "ex
Boulder Band featuring Marian Byrne. Weeks earlier an advert had
featured the "New Boulder Band." Out of this split came Bagatelle
which featured three members of the Boulder Band: John, Ken and
Marian. They were joined by new members Liam Reilly (keyboards) and
Wally McConville (drums).
In early 1979, an article appeared
in the Sunday Independent reporting on the band's rise in popularity
in Dublin. They had won the Harp Lager Songwriting competition the
previous year with their song, Summer In Dublin, but had
still yet been able to finalize a recording deal. An advert in the
Evening Herald on July 20th, 1979 said the band was looking to add a
second girl singer "into R&B, soul, etc. harmonies essential."
Throughout this period the band
was still playing regularly in places like the Crofton Hotel,
Mississippi Rooms and Toners. In October, 1979, the band released
its first single, the Reilly-penned Trump Card. By this time
Marian had been replaced by Maggie Coady from Monkstown. The band
had also formed its own publishing company, Bagamusic, which was
highly unusual back in those days. Unfortunately the record failed
to chart, but was a great freshman offering and definitely a great
precursor to Reilly's songwriting talent.
Undaunted the band kept moving
forward and six months later, they had just returned from a month
long stay in England (minus girl singer Maggie) and were now down to
a four piece band. Along with playing some gigs, they had spent time
in the studio laying down tracks for their much awaited debut album.
In May, 1980 their album, simply
called Bagatelle and the single "Summer In Dublin"
were released to less than ecstatic reviews as the LP was described
as "a very enjoyable album and a credit to the band" in the Irish
Press newspaper. Meanwhile, the single Summer in Dublin
had started to received heavy airplay. A western newspaper wondered
"Are Irish Songwriters Alive At All?" and lamented that "the lyrics
in almost all of their recorded work are shoddy compared to their
arrangement and production." In the meantime, the single entered the
Irish charts where it stayed for sixteen weeks, finally peaking at
number four in the Irish charts. Bagatelle was a hit!
Within a month, Bagatelle were
being heralded as "the most talented band to arrive on the rock
scene in a decade" being compared to Thin Lizzy and the Boomtown
Rats. The band was now being managed by Oliver Barry. By the end of
July, their album was reported as being number one in the Hot Press
charts and although the single didn't get to number one, it was in
the charts so long, it didn't really matter.
Almost immediately, the band were
appearing in the biggest ballrooms around the country and packing
them in despite only being a four piece band (their first appearance
in Mayo was at a "cabaret night"). By September the band embarked on
a "nationwide tour" which I guess was the rock band equivalent of
playing the ballroom circuit. In August, 1980, the band re-released
Trump Card, however this time the record reached number 17 spending
six weeks in the Irish charts.
On the home front, although many
expected the band to do what so many successful Irish groups had
done before (head to London to find their fortunes), the band was
adamant that they were staying in Ireland. Their follow-up to the
re-released Trump Card was Second Violin, which also
went to number 4 in the Irish charts.
Following their initial success in
the early 1980's the band had a somewhat inconsistent history,
breaking up in 1983 only to reunite many times over the following
decades. Throughout the 1980's they continued to produced chart
bound records (see discography below), although none ever cracked
the Irish top ten again. Liam Reilly would eventually go solo, but
never reached the commercial success he had achieved while fronting
the band.
Sadly John O'Brien and Liam Reilly
would pass away within 20 months of each other in 2019 and 2021.
More to come.....
click on thumbnails for full image
Discography
Singles
Trump Card / Can't
Get Over Losing You
Polydor Records - 2078 108 - October, 1979
Summer In Dublin / Highway Blues -
#4 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 2078-111 - May, 1980,
Trump Card / Turn The Heat On -
#17 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 2121-436 - August 1980
Second Violin / Getting What's Mine -
#4 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 2121-442 - March, 1981
Love Is The Reason / Always On My Mind
Polydor Records - 2078 131 - 1981
Outrageous / Going Back to Ireland
Polydor Records - POSP 389 - 1981
Old Soldiers / Overture -
#22 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 2078 145 - June, 1982
Jersey Girl / I Knew It All The Time -
#17 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 810 732-7 - January, 1983
Can't Get You Out of My Mind / Counting The Days -
#28 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 821 383-7 - February, 1984
All Fall Down Philadelphia / Rough Fight -
#21 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 881 213-7 - July, 1984
Hurting Inside / Getting What's Mine -
#25 Irish Charts
Polydor Records - 883 231-7 - June, 1985
Don't Say No / Golden Days -
#20 Irish Charts
Ritz Records - TEASE 3 - May, 1986
Chained To You / Hurting Inside
Ritz Records - RITZ 164 - December, 1986
If Paradise Is Half As Nice / -
#25 Irish Charts
Zero Records - Unknown - March, 1987
Just Another Lover / -
#15 Irish Charts
MOB Records - Unknown - July, 1988
Albums
Bagatelle
Polydor Records - 2904-015 - June, 1980
Waterfall
Polydor Records - 2904-023 - 1981
Are We Keeping You Up
Polydor Records - 2904-024 - 1982
Audio Clips
