The Fatima Mansions

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The Fatima Mansions were an art rock group formed in 1988 by Cork singer/keyboardist Cathal Coughlan. They took their name from a downmarket housing estate in Dublin.

Fiercer than Coughlan's former outfit Microdisney, The Fatima Mansions had some indie chart success with albums such as Viva Dead Ponies, Bertie's Brochures, Valhalla Avenue and Lost in the Former West.

Their first offering Against Nature fused sean nos singing("wilderness on time" with synth(against nature) with a healthy portion of cynicism and misanthropy. This winning blend attracted Mr Coughlan many followers over the following years.

They technically entered the Top 10 of the UK Singles Chart in 1992, with a heavily reworked version of Bryan Adams' song "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You", taken from an NME tribute album in aid of the charity Scope. However, although this single was technically a double A-side, the flip-track, Manic Street Preachers' version of "Suicide Is Painless" received most of the radio play and is by far the better-known track. They also gained mainstream exposure by opening a European leg of U2's famed Zoo TV Tour in 1992.

The album and singles campaign for 1995's Lost in the Former West was styled on the glamour of Liberace, and featured a cover of Scott Walker's "Nite Flights".