Kaught at the Kampus


Kaught at the Kampus is a live compilation 12 inch EP released in 1981 by Reekus Records, featuring tracks from the punk and post-punk bands Nun Attax, Mean Features, Urban Blitz and Microdisney, The album was recorded live at the Arcadia Ballroom, Cork, on 30 August 1980.
The Arcadia was run by Thurles native Elvera Butler and Andy Foster, and was one of the few places in Cork city that would host punk bands. Butler had been the entertainments officer at University College Cork, and so the venue, which did not serve alcohol, became known as the 'Downtown Kampus'.
Nun Attax drummer Keith "Smelly" O'Connell recalls the mid 1970s Cork scene being "very tame. When we came first, there was nothing like us around. It was all rock 'n' roll really, and Hot Guitars and band's like that. It was all just rock 'n' roll and the long hair and the beards." The punk scene that developed in the late at the Arc was an important turning point for emerging Cork punk music; until then live music in the city had consisted mostly of Blues and pub rock bands. According to Mean Features guitarist Liam Heffernan, "the scene was amazing....there was nothing else really in late Seventies and early Eighties Cork. Heavy industry was whacked. Elvera Butler brought some fantastic music to Cork. That woke us all up."
Nun Attax were at the time scene leaders, and given three tracks on side one. Microdisney went on to international recognition with their 1985 album The Clock Comes Down The Stairs.

Track listing

Side one

  1. Nun Attax - White Cortina
  2. Nun Attax - Reekus Sunfare
  3. Nun Attax - Eyeballs

    Side two

  4. Mean Features - Summer Holidays
  5. Urban Blitz - Breakaway
  6. Microdisney - National Anthem