Mick Gallagher | |
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 Gallagher on tour with Animals and Friends, France 2008 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Michael William Gallagher |
| Also known as | Mickey Gallagher |
| Born | (1945-10-29)29 October 1945 (age 79) Fenham,Newcastle upon Tyne, England |
| Origin | London, England |
| Genres | |
| Occupations |
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| Instrument | Keyboards |
| Years active | 1965–present |
| Member of | The Blockheads |
| Formerly of |
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Michael William Gallagher (born 29 October 1945) is an EnglishHammond organ player best known as a member ofIan Dury and theBlockheads[1] and for his contributions to albums bythe Clash. He has also written music for films such asExtremes (1971) andAfter Midnight (1990), and theBroadway playSerious Money (1987).
Mick Gallagher started his musical career in Newcastle with The Unknowns in the early 1960s. He played withthe Animals during 1965, replacing their founding memberAlan Price. He moved on to formThe Chosen Few, where he played alongsideAlan Hull,[2] who later formedLindisfarne. Other associations includeSkip Bifferty,Peter Frampton'sCamel andCochise.[3]
In 1977 Gallagher was playing in a band called Loving Awareness, includingJohn Turnbull, Charley Charles andNorman Watt-Roy. Charles and Watt-Roy worked as session musicians withIan Dury, and when the group went on tour, Gallagher and Turnbull were invited along. This band became the Blockheads.[4]
Under the management ofAndrew King andPeter Jenner, the original managers ofPink Floyd, Ian Dury and the Blockheads quickly gained a reputation as one of the top live acts ofnew wave music.[5] The Blockheads' sound drew from its members' diverse musical influences, which includedjazz, rock and roll,funk,reggae and Dury's love ofmusic hall. Gallagher's Hammond sound was a major contribution to the band.
The single "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll", released 26 August 1977, marked Blockheads'Stiff debut. Although it was banned by theBBC, it was named Single of the Week byNME on its release.[6] The single issue was soon followed at the end of September by the albumNew Boots and Panties!!, which, although it did not include the single, achieved platinum status.
In October 1977 Gallagher and the band started performing as Ian Dury & the Blockheads,[4] when the band signed on for the Stiff "Live Stiffs Tour" alongsideElvis Costello &the Attractions,Nick Lowe,Wreckless Eric andLarry Wallis. The tour was a success, and Stiff launched a concerted Ian Dury marketing campaign, resulting in the Top Ten hit "What a Waste", and the hit single "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick", which reached No. 1 in the UK at the beginning of 1979, selling just short of a million copies. Again, "Hit Me" was not included on the original release of the subsequent albumDo It Yourself. Both the single and its accompanying music video featured Davey Payne playing two saxophones simultaneously during his solo, in evident homage to jazz saxophonistRahsaan Roland Kirk, whose "trademark" technique this was. With their hit singles, the band built up a dedicated following in the UK and other countries, and their next single "Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3" made number three in the UK.
The band's second album,Do It Yourself, was released in June 1979 in aBarney Bubbles-designed sleeve of which there were over a dozen variations, all based on samples from theCrownwallpaper catalogue. Bubbles also designed the Blockhead logo.[7]
Jankel left the band temporarily and relocated to the U.S. after the release of "What a Waste" (his organ part on that single was overdubbed later) but he subsequently returned to the UK and began touring sporadically with the Blockheads, eventually returning to the group full-time for the recording of "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick"; according to Gallagher, the band recorded 28 takes of the song, but eventually settled on the second take for the single release. Partly due to personality clashes with Dury,[6] Jankel left the group again in 1980 after the recording of theDo It Yourself LP, and he returned to the US to concentrate on his solo career.
The group worked solidly over the eighteen months between the release of "Rhythm Stick" and their next single, "Reasons to Be Cheerful", which returned them to the charts, making the UK Top 10. Jankel was replaced by formerDr. Feelgood guitaristWilko Johnson, who also contributed to the next albumLaughter (1980) and its two hit singles, although Gallagher recalls that the recording of theLaughter album was difficult and that Dury was drinking heavily in this period.[6]
The Blockheads briefly reformed in June 1987 to play a short tour of Japan, and then disbanded again. In September 1990, following the death from cancer of drummer Charley Charles, they reunited for two benefit concerts in aid of Charles' family, held atThe Forum,Camden Town, with Steven Monti on drums.[8] In December 1990, augmented by Merlin Rhys-Jones on guitar and Will Parnell on percussion, they recorded the live albumWarts & Audience at theBrixton Academy.
The Blockheads (minus Jankel, who returned to California) toured Spain in January 1991, then disbanded again until August 1994 when, following Jankel's return to England, they were invited to reform for theMadstock! Festival inFinsbury Park;[8] this was followed by sporadic gigs in Europe, Ireland, the UK and Japan through late 1994 and 1995.
In March 1996 Dury was diagnosed with cancer and, after recovering from an operation, he set about writing another album. In early 1998 he reunited with the Blockheads to record the albumMr Love-Pants. In May, Ian Dury & the Blockheads hit the road again, with Dylan Howe replacing Steven Monti on drums. Davey Payne left the group permanently in August and was replaced byGilad Atzmon; this line-up gigged throughout 1999, culminating in their last performance with Dury on 6 February 2000 at theLondon Palladium. Dury died six weeks later on 27 March 2000.[9]
Gallagher continued with the Blockheads after Dury's death, contributing to the tribute albumBrand New Boots And Panties, thenWhere's The Party. The Blockheads still tour, and in 2009 releasedStaring Down the Barrel.[10] They currently comprise Watt-Roy, Jankel, Gallagher, Turnbull, John Roberts on drums, Gilad Atzmon and Dave Lewis on saxes. Derek "The Draw" Hussey (who was Dury's friend and minder) is now writing songs with Jankel as well as singing. They are aided and abetted by Lee Harris, who is their "aide de camp".
Gallagher played on two of the most influential Clash albums,London Calling (1979) andSandinista! (1980),[11] and made live appearances with the band, also playing on their last albumCut the Crap (1985), for which he never received a credit.
Gallagher worked with the Clash's drummerTopper Headon again in a short-lived band called Samurai, and again when they recorded Headon'sWaking Up (1986), appearing withBobby Tench andJimmy Helms. Samurai guitaristHenry Padovani briefly described Gallagher in hismemoir: "He had a family, was the serious one of the group, never snorted anycoke and managed to somehow control Topper [Headon] a little. Playing with this talented musician was a pleasure."[12] Gallagher has also performed and recorded withPaul McCartney,Roger Daltrey,Robbie Williams,Dave Stewart andAnnie Lennox.[13] More recently he returned to perform with The Blockheads andJohn Steel's The Animals and Friends.
Gallagher has also written music for films such asExtremes (1971) andAfter Midnight (1990), and theBroadway playSerious Money (1987).[citation needed]
Gallagher has three children, Luke, Ben and Maria. In 1980, the three children sang on the Clash's fourth studio album,Sandinista!. Luke and Ben sang on "Career Opportunities"[14] while Maria sang on "The Guns of Brixton" which was featured at the end of the song "Broadway".[15]
Media related toMick Gallagher at Wikimedia Commons
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