Taking a deep-dive into the 80s this morning with a concert by Hazel O’Connor – recorded on September 26, 1981 for BBC Radio 1’s In Concert Series.
Hazel O’Connor is a singer-songwriter/actor who made a big splash right in the middle of the Punk era, starring in the movie “Breaking Glass”, which was a pivotal and popular film on both sides of the Atlantic. She had a string of albums and singles, primarily maintaining a strong fanbase in the UK and the rest of Europe while not making much dent in the American market.
However, she has gone on to a pretty full career in Europe, encompassing an acting career and still singing and performing.
In 1997 she recorded the studio album Five in the Morning with record producer, co-writer and guitarist, Gerard Kiely. The album included the song “Na Na Na”. A live album, Live in Berlin, followed.
The turn of the century saw O’Connor tell her life story in a touring show entitled Beyond Breaking Glass, with harpist Cormac de Barra. The show was a hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1998 and toured Ireland and the UK, the Netherlands (twice), Australia and Canada.
She signed to Invisible Hands Music in 2002; this triggered a run of new releases and of deluxe re-issues of her 1990s work. A commercially available reincarnation of the previously mail-order Beyond the Breaking Glass was followed by a previously unreleased acoustic concert, Acoustically Yours.
In 2003, Invisible Hands Music released O’Connor’s first-ever official best of compilation, A Singular Collection, which brought together her early hits from the Albion days, mid career work at RCA, and the best of the latter, DIY era. To add something new to the best of compilation, O’Connor recorded a cover of her friend George Michael’s hit “One More Try”, with a band that included drummer Carlos Hercules, who at the time was playing for Annie Lennox and Beverley Knight. Hercules joined George Michael’s band in 2006. The track was released as a single, and generated extensive airplay and renewed interest in O’Connor—the following year saw her perform at the Glastonbury Festival.
Hidden Heart, produced by Martin Rushent and including duets with Maire Brennan and Rob Reynolds, was released in the UK in 2006, and her 1984 album Smile was reissued on CD in 2008.
In 2008, O’Connor performed for the second time at the Glastonbury Festival, playing an acoustic set on the Avalon stage.
In 2009, O’Connor performed as part of the ‘1980s Here and Now’ tour at many venues including Wembley Arena. She continued to tour extensively with her own solo projects, ‘Beyond the Breaking Glass’ and ‘Bluja Project’. In 2009 she was awarded her own star on Coventry’s ‘Walk of Fame’.
In September 2010, O’Connor performed in France with The Bluja Project featuring Clare Hirst and Sarah Fisher, and in Ireland in October with Cormac de Barra. She then performed ‘Breaking Glass Live’ throughout England, culminating in a show at the Leicester Square Theatre in London on 5 December 2010.
Just getting acquainted, press Play and go back to 1981 – acquainted and a fan? Press Play and dive in.
