Music from various records and theatre productions 1981-86.
Double CD / 27 Tracks.
This collection has been released to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding, by composer Roger Doyle and performer Olwen Fouere, of the music-theatre company Operating Theatre. Operating Theatre has been active in two phases: the first from 1981 to 1988, and the second from 1998 to 2008.
This double album celebrates the first phase, during which the company operated as both a theatre company, integrating music as an equal partner in the theatrical environment, and as a band releasing records.
Includes unlimited streaming of Miss Mauger
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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Streaming + Download
Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
Purchasable with gift card
€7.99EUR or more
Miss Mauger LP FOR STORE COLLECTION (NO POSTAL CHARGES)
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
This is the option for people who wish to collect the LP from All City in Temple Bar, Dublin.
Includes unlimited streaming of Miss Mauger
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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Miss Mauger LP + Delivery
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
This is for customers who wish us to send the record out!
Includes unlimited streaming of Miss Mauger
via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
A lost gem from 1983 'Miss Mauger' is the debut LP of Operating Theatre, a little known proto synth-pop act and experimental theatre group led by avant garde composer Roger Doyle.
Featuring the vocals of future Hollywood actress Olwen Fouéré alongside pulsing synths, brass, a vocoder and the electro acoustic production talents of Doyle himself, it's the first time a Fairlight sampler was used in an Irish studio setting and gives a prescient but alternative take on the new wave sound that came to dominate the charts soon after.
Not quite pop nor full-blown electronica, the 'Miss Mauger' album is a rare creature in the pantheon of Irish experimental music, largely ignored and misunderstood when it was first released, it's now getting the full reissue treatment it deserves – with two extra tracks thrown in for good measure. 'Austrian', which was originally release as an A-side by CBS records in 1981 and 'Sir Geoffrey', another recording from that era.
The next release after Operating Theatre's short stint on U2's embroyinic Mother records ended was the double CD Operating Theatre - The Early Years, released in collaboration with the Dublin Electronic Arts festival in 2006, and now re-packaged and re-released here. As a theatre company they continued producing experimental work until 2006. Doyle, the musical maverick at the heart of the act, continues to produce to this day and has released 30 albums Fouéré, who provided the vocals and a theatric element to the group (an almost essential part of any early 80s synth act) went on to a successful movie career that has recently seen her appear in major box office productions like Mandy and Fantastic Beasts.
This album is a heady snapshot of some early pop explorations by one of the great modern composers and a rare insight into an underground new wave sound that was bubbling up through the Irish capital during the late 70s and early 80s.
Cut from the same DIY or almost post punk cloth as our recent reissues of Stano and Michael O'Shea, this is another example of a maverick artist producing largely instrumental work far removed from the mainstream pop industry or what little of it existed in the country at the time. Defiant outsiders following their own distinct paths but Doyle's work especially acts as a precursor to the new wave and synth inspired movement that's starting to gain traction around him.
The very roots of contemporary/alternative Irish music are to be found here, as live music moved from cabaret entertainment to an extension of burgeoning self-expression, and intrepid labels helped forge a new way for Irish artists.
There's a lot to be thankful for among these tunes, and in the work of Olan, Peter and crew in putting independent Irish music's growth and development in context. Mike McGrath-Bryan
I've been a fan of 5GDTTS from over the other side of the world ever since those original EPs came out, so this release really made my week. In particular, Blue Moon is just superb.
Now, another release featuring the rest of the Fanning sessions and some live tracks would really help cement their legacy. :-) Steve Evans