The Firm (Star Trekkin')

Infobox musical artist
Name = The Firm
Background = group_or_band
Origin = London, UK
Genre = Novelty songs
Years_active = 1982–1987
Label = Bark
Past_members = John O'Connor, Grahame Lister

The Firm is a British music act, formed by guitarist, session musician and music producer John O'Connor, which had hits in the 1980s with novelty songs.

Arthur Daley E's Alright

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. cite web
last = Tingen
first = Paul
title = John O'Connor From 'Star Treking' To King Of The Hill
work = Sound On Sound
month = Dec
year = 1998
url = http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/dec98/articles/joconer.258.htm
accessdate = 2007-04-25 ] 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", [ cite web
title = Firm, The - Arthur Daley 'E's Alright
work = Discogs
url = http://pop.discogs.com/release/846679
accessdate = 2007-04-25 ] based around 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 & Lister did it themselves, under the name of "The Firm". It spent seven weeks in the UK Top 40, peaking at No. 14, cite web
title = Arthur Daley (E's Alright)
work = Chart Stats
url = http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=10048
accessdate = 2007-04-25 ] and was performed on TV chart show "Top of the Pops" on 29 July1982. [ cite web
title = The Minder songs
work = The unofficial fans of Minder website
url = http://www.minder.org/
accessdate = 2007-04-25 ]

tar Trekkin'

In 1987 O'Connor and Lister co-wrote another novelty song, this time based around catchphrases from the" " TV series set to a catchy, childlike tune with an increasingly frantic arrangement. It was rejected by all the labels he approached with it. Believing it to be worth releasing, O'Connor pressed an initial 500 copies on his own label, "Bark Music". cite web
title = Firm, The - Star Trekkin'
work = Discogs
url = http://pop.discogs.com/release/846468
accessdate = 2007-04-25 ] The record - Star Trekkin' - spent two weeks at number one in the UK and a total of nine weeks in the UK Top 40, cite web
title = Star Trekkin'
work = Chart Stats
url = http://www.chartstats.com/songinfo.php?id=14395
accessdate = 2007-04-25 ] reached No.3 in Australia, with comparable success in Japan and Europe and worldwide sales of over a million copies.

It 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.

Afterwards

O'Connor moved to California, where he went on to record several New Age music albums on the Higher Octave label as part of the band Eko, and won the BMI TV Music award (1998) [ cite web
title = BMI Film/TV Awards: 1998
work = Broadcast Music, Inc.
date = 1998-01-01
url = http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/533562
accessdate = 2007-04-25 ] for his work as composer on the King of the Hill cartoon series. Star Trekkin' is still played on shows like Dr. Demento and regularly resurfaces on compilation albums to this day. [ cite web
title = Dr. Demento Discography
work = DMDB
url = http://dmdb.org/discographies/demento.disco.html
accessdate = 2007-04-25 ] Lister still writes in The Jailhouse Studio in Essex but mainly records in Nashville. He also plays in his band, Roots Revue every Thursday in Brentwood Essex. Apart from music he also coaches tennis in Billericay, England at the Billericay Lawn Tennis Club.

References