Kaught at the Kampus

Kaught at the Kampus, released in 1981, is a live EP recorded on August 30, 1980 at Cork’s Downtown Kampus, the name for the Arcadia ballroom when it hosted live shows organised by Elvera Butler, sometimes with up to 1000 people in attendance. Butler could no longer afford to run the Downtown Kampus by the end of 1981, and the Arcadia has since been demolished and replaced by student apartments.
All of the bands on Kaught at the Kampus were local Cork acts – Nun Attax, Mean Features, Urban Blitz and Microdisney (then written as Micro Disney).

Half the EP’s songs were by Nun Attax, who were regarded as the main attraction in the Cork alternative music scene at the time – Reekus Records, founded by Butler to release Kaught at the Kampus, even took its name from their song Reekus Sunfare. Nun Attax renamed themselves Five Go Down to the Sea? a year later, then later became Beethoven, a project that was cut short by the tragic and unexpected death of singer Finbarr Donnelly in 1989.
Mean Features and Urban Blitz would not release any further material after this EP, though Mean Features vocalist Mick Lynch would go on to form Stump.
Microdisney were ultimately the longest-lasting and most successful band on the EP, with a #1 album on the UK Indie Chart and two singles reaching the top 100 of the UK Singles Chart before splitting up in 1988. Singer Cathal Coughlan and guitarist Sean O'Hagan found further acclaim in their respective post-Microdisney bands, The Fatima Mansions and The High Llamas.