Information/Write-up
Born in Toronto and shaped by the city’s late-1970s art-school and club circuits, Mary Margaret O’Hara emerged as a performer whose work resisted conventional song form from the outset. After studying at the Ontario College of Art, she began singing and acting locally, first with the soul-pop group Dollars and later as a central member of Songship, soon renamed Go Deo Chorus. Within that band she developed the improvisational vocal style and elastic approach to structure that would become her signature, writing much of the group’s material before leaving in 1983 to pursue her own work.
Signed to Virgin Records on the strength of demo recordings made with Go Deo Chorus, O’Hara entered a prolonged and often frustrating recording process that spanned several years. Label expectations collided with an artist unwilling to simplify or formalize her instincts, and sessions were repeatedly stalled or abandoned. When Miss America finally appeared in 1988, co-produced with guitarist Michael Brook, its title was chosen in deliberate contrast to the music it contained—an album that sounded nothing like the assumptions bound up in those two words. Built from slow-burn ballads, jazz-inflected rhythms, country-tinged harmonies, and abrupt shifts in tone and pacing, the record presented a voice that could move from tenderness to abrasion within a single phrase, often sounding as if it were being discovered in real time.
Although Miss America did not conform to mainstream commercial logic, it was received with near-immediate reverence in Canada and Europe and gradually took on the status of a cult classic. Over time it has been cited by artists across genres and generations, praised for its emotional directness and refusal to settle into fixed form. Polls and retrospective lists would later rank it among the most important Canadian albums ever released, while O’Hara herself became a touchstone figure for musicians drawn to risk, improvisation, and unfiltered expression.
Rather than follow the expected arc of a recording career, O’Hara moved selectively and laterally. Her only release under her own name in the years following Miss America was the Christmas EP, and she appeared sparingly on record, contributing vocals to projects by artists such as Morrissey, This Mortal Coil, Gary Lucas, and others. She also continued acting, with roles in films including Candy Mountain, and remained a compelling live performer, known for concerts that blurred the line between composition and spontaneous invention. In 2000 she composed and recorded the music for the feature film Apartment Hunting; although released as a soundtrack, the work is often regarded as her second major recorded statement.
Famously resistant to the pressures of the music industry, O’Hara has never been prolific, but her influence has far outweighed the size of her discography. Public admirers have ranged from Michael Stipe, who once introduced her onstage as a national treasure, to countless musicians who have cited Miss America as a formative record. The sister of actor Catherine O’Hara, she has nonetheless carved out a reputation entirely her own—an artist whose legacy rests not on output or visibility, but on the enduring power of a singular voice and a body of work that continues to resonate.
-Robert Williston
Musicians
Mary Margaret O'Hara: vocals
David Piltch: bass, double bass
Hendrik Riik: bass
Michael Sloski: drums
Bruce Moffet: drums
Rusty McCarthy: guitar, acoustic guitar
Michael Brook: guitar, infinite guitar
Don Rooke: lap steel guitar, rhythm guitar, acoustic guitar
Bill Whelan: piano
John Sheard: piano
Hugh Marsh: violin, keyboards
Tracks
‘To Cry About’
David Piltch: bass (Elias 5-string)
Rusty McCarthy: guitar
Michael Brook: infinite guitar
‘The Year In Song’
Hendrik Riik: bass
Michael Sloski: drums
Rusty McCarthy: guitar
‘Body’s In Trouble’
Hendrik Riik: bass
Bruce Moffet: drums
Rusty McCarthy: guitar
Bill Whelan: piano
Hugh Marsh: violin
‘Dear Darling’
Rusty McCarthy: acoustic guitar
Hendrik Riik: bass
Michael Sloski: drums
Don Rooke: lap steel guitar
‘A New Day’
David Piltch: bass (Elias 5-string)
Michael Sloski: drums
Michael Brook: guitar
John Sheard: piano
Don Rooke: rhythm guitar
Hugh Marsh: violin
‘When You Know Why You’re Happy’
David Piltch: bass (Elias 5-string)
Michael Sloski: drums
Michael Brook: guitar
Rusty McCarthy: guitar
Don Rooke: lap steel guitar
‘My Friends Have’
Hendrik Riik: bass
Michael Sloski: drums
Rusty McCarthy: guitar
‘Help Me Lift You Up’
Don Rooke: acoustic guitar, lap steel guitar
Hendrik Riik: bass
Rusty McCarthy: electric guitar
‘Keeping You In Mind’
David Piltch: bass
Michael Sloski: drums
Rusty McCarthy: guitar
John Sheard: piano
Hugh Marsh: violin
‘Not Be Alright’
David Piltch: bass (Elias 5-string)
Michael Sloski: drums
Rusty McCarthy: guitar
Hugh Marsh: keyboards (DX-7 log rhythm)
‘You Will Be Loved Again’
David Piltch: double bass (string bass)
Songwriting
All songs written and arranged by Mary Margaret O’Hara
Production
Produced by Mary Margaret O’Hara and Michael Brook
Engineered by:
Paul Cobbold at Rockfield Studios
Joe Primeau at Phase One Studios
Paul Gross (track ‘Body’s in Trouble’)
Stephen Traub at Comfort Sound
Additional engineering by:
Bill Kennedy
Garth Richardson
Mick Walsh
Randy Staub
Assistant engineers:
Evan Caulford
Kevin Markland
Rhonda Bruce
Richard Schiller
Mixed by:
Mary Margaret O’Hara and Michael Brook (all tracks except ‘Body’s in Trouble’)
Kevin Killen (‘Body’s in Trouble’)
Mastered at The Town House, London, England
Recorded at Rockfield Studios, Monmouthshire, Wales; Phase One Studios, Toronto, Ontario; and Comfort Sound, Toronto, Ontario
Mixed at Comfort Sound, Toronto, Ontario; and Windmill Lane Studios, Dublin, Ireland
Executive producer: Jody Colero
Artwork
Album artwork by M²O’H
Photography and art direction by Don Rooke and Heather Cameron
Notes
Manufactured and distributed by Virgin Records Canada Inc.
Pressed by Cinram
Printed by Ever Reddy
Published by Yet Courier
℗ © Virgin Records Ltd. and Yet Courier
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