Mary Margaret O'Hara
| Mary Margaret O'Hara | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation(s) | |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1984–present |
| Labels | Virgin |
Mary Margaret O'Hara is a Canadian singer-songwriter and actress. She is best known for the album Miss America, released in 1988. Although she has only ever released two albums and an EP under her own name, she remains active as a live performer, as a contributor to compilation albums and as a guest collaborator on other artists' albums.
O'Hara was born in Toronto, Ontario to a large family of Irish Catholic descent. She is the sister of comedic actress Catherine O'Hara. Her early musical tastes included Van Morrison, Dinah Washington, and her father's jazz records. She was a student at the Ontario College of Art and Design in the 1970s and was involved in the music scene as a member of Toronto bands Dollars, Songship and Go Deo Chorus.
In 1983, O'Hara left Go Deo and was signed by Virgin Records. Andy Partridge of XTC was scheduled as her producer but was fired after his first day due to his reported difficulties with O'Hara's musical approach. Her contract with Virgin continued and eventually led to the 1988 release of Miss America. O'Hara later reflected on the production experience, noting "I loved the Celtic crosses and the sheep rolling around the hills by the studio in Wales. But for Virgin to go from, 'You can do whatever you want', to 'What have you done?'—that was tough."
In addition, she did some work as a graphic artist, including lettering for the cover of Dalbello's album whomanfoursays.
In 1987, Michael Brook saw O'Hara in performance and was captivated by her unique style and soon took on the job of producing O'Hara's attempts at an album. He ultimately added new vocals to and remixed material that was originally recorded by Joe Boyd in 1984. At least one of the songs, "To Cry About", had been written as early as 1980. According to the liner notes of a later reissue, six of the tracks were recorded in 1984, four in 1988, and one in 1983 and mixed later.
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