Ireland in 50 Albums, No 15: Tatitum, by Auto Da Fé (1985) 

Gay Woods and Trevor Knight got plenty of radio play and a helping hand from Phil Lynott in the lead-up to their only studio album 

Auto da Fé: a defining synth-pop duo of 1980s Ireland

Auto Da Fé’s only studio album - Tatitum, released in 1985 - was both blessed and cursed by featuring the slew of classic singles that had brought them to public notice over the previous three years. ‘November November’. ‘Bad Experience’. ‘Man of Mine’. ‘All Is Yellow Hot Hot Hot’. All had been mainstream radio hits, helping to establish the band as one of the hardest-working live outfits in the country.

Auto Da Fé were formed in 1980 around the personal and professional partnership of Gay Woods and Trevor Knight. Both had considerable form as musicians: Woods was a founder member of the folk-rock outfit Steeleye Span, and had toured with Dr Strangely Strange and the Woods Band, while Knight had performed with jazz-rock outfits such as Naima and Metropolis. The classic Auto Da Fé line-up of the early 1980s was completed by Mark Megaray on bass and Robbie Brennan on drums.