b. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. O'Hara's meagre recorded output is the source of much dismay among fans of her mesmerising songs and astonishing soprano voice. After graduating from Ontario Art College in the mid-70s, she began singing with the rock bands Dollars and Songship. The latter renamed themselves Go Deo Chorus on O'Hara's suggestion, and soon developed a reputation as a powerful live act. O'Hara was the band's focal point as both chief songwriter and a highly eccentric lead singer. Although she left the band in 1983, a demo tape featuring several of her songs came to the attention of Virgin Records. The following year they signed O'Hara as a solo artist. Things soon began to go awry after such an auspicious start, however, as fraught sessions for her debut album saw O'Hara falling out with producers and her record company owing to her highly unconventional approach to recording. The situation was rescued by the intervention of composer Michael Brook, who stepped in and mixed the songs to both artist and record company's satisfaction. Miss America was finally released in 1988. The album's stunning fusion of jazz, soul and pop earned O'Hara widespread acclaim, with critics comparing her unconventional song structures and swooping vocals to the work of singers such as Tim Buckley and Van Morrison. Although there was not a bad track on the album, "Keeping You In Mind" and the hypnotic closer "You Will Be Loved Again" stood out in particular.

Listen to Mary Margaret O'Hara at Finetune.

• (1988)  Miss America

• Body's In Trouble
• Anew Day
• You Will Be Loved Again
• Keeping You In Mind
• Dear Darling

• The Strokes
• The Postal Service
• Mercury Rev
• Stereolab
• Ladytron
• The Shins
• The Ladybug Transistor
• Saturday Looks Good To Me
• The Magnetic Fields
• Annuals
• Beat Happening
• Black Box Recorder
• Divine Comedy
• Hellogoodbye
• Ivy
• Kaiser Chiefs
• Looper
• Mates of State
• Mohair
• Of Montreal

• BlueGirl
• seductress
• louiseleborgne80
• mjander
• PatM