 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
The Firm | |
|---|---|
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | Novelty |
| Years active | 1982–1987 |
| Labels | Bark |
| Past members |
|
The Firm was a British music act, formed by guitarist, session musician and music producer John O'Connor, which had hits in the 1980s with novelty songs.
John O'Connor, primarily an acoustic guitarist, ran his own recording studio (Bark Studios in Walthamstow, London) specialising in songwriters' demos, for some ten years. [1] In the early 1980s, he decided to concentrate more on playing and writing music, working as a session musician with artists in a variety of genres, from Maddy Prior and Isla St Clair to the more commercial pop of Bucks Fizz.
In 1982, he and fellow guitarist Grahame Lister wrote a novelty song, "Arthur Daley 'E's Alright", [2] based on the Arthur Daley character from the British TV series Minder , and including many catchphrases from the show. Unable to find an artist willing to release the song, O'Connor and Lister did it themselves, under the name of 'The Firm'. It spent seven weeks in the UK top 40, peaking at No. 14, [3] and was performed on the TV chart show Top of the Pops on 29 July 1982 featuring former Rubettes guitarist Tony Thorpe on lead vocals. [4]
The song also peaked at number 78 in Australia. [5]
In 1983, with the future of the Grand National horse race in doubt, The Firm released the song "Long Live the National" as a single in support of the campaign to keep the race alive. The single did not chart. The following year they released "Superheroes" written by Lister.
In 1987, the group recorded another novelty song, this time based on catchphrases from the Star Trek TV series set to a catchy, childlike tune with an increasingly frantic arrangement. Group member Tony Thorpe, formerly of the Rubettes, adopted the stage name 'Ron Spock' in homage to Star Trek character Spock. It was rejected by all the record labels which O'Connor approached with it. Believing it to be worth releasing, O'Connor pressed an initial 500 copies on his own label, Bark Music. [6] The record, "Star Trekkin' ", spent two weeks at number one in the UK and a total of nine weeks in the UK top 40, [7] and reached No. 3 in Australia, [5] with comparable success in Japan and Europe and worldwide sales of over a million copies. [1]
Though it received substantial airplay on various radio stations throughout the US, the song did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100. (One of the song's phrases, "It's life, Jim, but not as we know it", became so popular that it has often been misattributed to the TV series, but actually originated with "Star Trekkin'".)
On the back of their success with "Star Trekkin'", The Firm released an album, Serious Fun, in 1987, through K-Tel in the UK and Dino Music in Australia. [8] [9] As well as "Star Trekkin'", it included previous singles "Arthur Daley ('E's All Right)", "Superheroes" and "Cash in Hand", plus eight new tracks. In the US, "Star Trekkin'" was released on the Dr. Demento albums Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty CD of All Time in 1988, Dr. Demento: 20th Anniversary Collection in 1991, and Dr. Demento: Hits from Outer Space in 2006.
Leonard Simon Nimoy was an American actor, famed for playing Spock in the Star Trek franchise for almost 50 years. This includes originating Spock in the original Star Trek series in 1966, then Star Trek: The Animated Series, the first six Star Trek films, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. Nimoy also directed films, including Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984) and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), and appeared in several films, television shows, and voice acted in several video games. Outside of acting, Nimoy was a film director, photographer, author, singer, and songwriter.
A firm is a commercial partnership of two or more people.
Barret Eugene Hansen, known professionally as Dr. Demento, is an American radio broadcaster and record collector specializing in novelty songs, comedy, and strange or unusual recordings dating from the early days of phonograph records to the present. Hansen created the Demento persona in 1970 while working at Pasadena, California, station KPPC-FM. He played "Transfusion" by Nervous Norvus on the radio, and DJ "The Obscene" Steven Clean said that Hansen had to be "demented" to play it, and the name stuck. His weekly show went into syndication in 1974 and was syndicated by the Westwood One Radio Network from 1978 to 1992. Broadcast syndication of the show ended on June 6, 2010, but the show continues to be produced weekly in an online version.
Grace Lee Whitney was an American actress and singer. She played Janice Rand on the original Star Trek television series and subsequent Star Trek films.
Ookla the Mok is a filk band fronted by Rand Bellavia and Adam English (b.1970). The two met as undergraduates while attending Houghton College in 1988, and the majority of their performances have been at science-fiction conventions or in their hometown of Buffalo, New York. The band is named after a character from the Ruby-Spears Productions cartoon Thundarr the Barbarian, created by Steve Gerber.
"The Homecoming Queen's Got a Gun" is a song by American singer–comedian Julie Brown. It appeared as the B-side to her 1983 single "I Like 'em Big and Stupid". Brown's satire of valley girl culture also parodies 1950s-1960s "teen tragedy" songs.
"Deteriorata" is a comedy record released as a single in 1972. It is a parody of Les Crane's 1971 spoken word recording of "Desiderata", the early 20th-century poem by Max Ehrmann.
Robert George Pickett, also known by the name Bobby "Boris" Pickett, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, and comedian known for co-writing and performing the 1962 hit novelty song "Monster Mash". Born in Somerville, Massachusetts, Pickett watched many horror films as a result of his father's position as a local movie theater manager. He started improvising impressions of Hollywood film stars at a young age. At a turning point in his career, Pickett was a vocalist for local swing band Darren Bailes and the Wolf Eaters. He would later serve from 1956 to 1959 in the United States Army, stationed in Korea for a period of time.
Shadows of the Bunghole is the second studio album released by The great Luke Ski under the name "Luke Ski's Psycho Potpourri" in 1997. This album has been out of print since 2003, and many tracks have since been re-released on later compilation collections. Some tracks were re-recorded for later studio albums, as some of the original recordings used karaoke tracks of the songs parodied as backing music, and backing vocals of the original lyrics were sometimes audible through the parody vocals.
"They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa!" is a 1966 novelty record written and performed by Jerry Samuels, and released on Warner Bros. Records. The song became an instant success in the United States, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100 popular music singles chart on August 13, No. 1 on the Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles charts, No. 2 in Canada, and No. 4 on the UK Singles Chart.
"Star Trekkin' " is a song by British novelty band the Firm. It parodies the first television series of Star Trek, and prominently features comical voice caricatures of the original Trek characters, provided by members of the band, a studio technician, and the wife of one of the songwriters. One of the song's phrases, "It's life, Jim, but not as we know it", originated with "Star Trekkin'", but has been subsequently misattributed to the TV series.
"Banned From Argo" is a filk song written and originally recorded by Leslie Fish, released in 1977 on the album Solar Sailors, and later as part of various compilations It won the 2003 Pegasus Award for Best Classic Filk Song.
"Sugar Baby Love", recorded in autumn 1973 and released in January 1974, is a bubblegum pop song, and the debut single of The Rubettes. Written by Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington and produced by Bickerton, engineered by John Mackswith at Lansdowne Recording Studios, and with lead vocals by Paul Da Vinci, "Sugar Baby Love" was the band's one and only number one single in the UK Singles Chart, spending four weeks at the top of the chart in May 1974.
Carla Ulbrich is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, author, and self-described "professional smart aleck" from Clemson, South Carolina.
"Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour " is a novelty song by Lonnie Donegan. Released as a single in 1959, it entered the UK Singles Chart on 6 February 1959 and peaked at number three. It was also Donegan's greatest chart success in the United States, reaching number five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1961.
"Fish Heads" is a novelty song by comedy rock duo Barnes & Barnes, released as a single in 1978 and later featured on their 1980 album Voobaha. It is the most requested song on the Dr. Demento radio show, and a music video for the song made in 1980 was in regular rotation on MTV. The song was featured on Barnes & Barnes' 1982 Fish Heads 12-inch on Rhino Records.
Leonard Nimoy Presents Mr. Spock's Music from Outer Space is the debut album of Leonard Nimoy, recorded in character as Mr. Spock from the NBC TV series Star Trek. It was released in April 1967 by Dot Records and reached number 83 on the Billboard 200.
John O'Connor is a British guitarist, songwriter, and composer. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.
"My Baby Left Me" is a rhythm and blues song written by blues singer Arthur Crudup.
Wear It's 'At is the debut album by English pop band The Rubettes assembled in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, then the head of A&R at Polydor Records, and his co-songwriter, Tony Waddington, after their doo-wop and 1950s American pop-influenced songs had been rejected by a number of existing acts. Tracks from this album also exhibited the doo-wop style. The album title was a reference to the group's wearing trademark white suits and white cloth caps on stage, a white cap being shown on the album front cover.
| International | |
|---|---|
| Artists | |
