Christopher Mark "CM" Murphy (9 November 1954 – 16 January 2021) was an Australian music and

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradition ...

entrepreneur. He was the

band manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-day ...

for

INXS INXS (a word play, phonetic play on "in excess") were an Australian Rock music, rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. The band's founding members were bassist Garry Gary Beers, main composer and keyboar ...

(late 1979 to June 1995, December 2008 to November 2012) and

Models A model is an informative representation of an object, person or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via French and Italian ultimately from Latin ''modulus'', a measure. Models c ...

(from late 1984 to mid-1987). He died on 16 January 2021, aged 66, following a battle with

Mantle Cell Lymphoma Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a type of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), comprising about 6% of NHL cases. There are only about 15,000 patients presently in the United States with mantle cell lymphoma. It is named for the mantle zone of the lymph n ...

Early life

Christopher Mark Murphy was born on 9 November 1954 and grew up in

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. I ...

. His father, Mark Murphy, had run a theatrical booking agency, Mark Murphy & Associates, in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ), colloquially referred to as The Gong, is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near wate ...

since 1960. A year after Mark died in 1969, Murphy, at the age of 16, joined his mother in running the agency but shifted its focus to rock music acts. Initially called Solo Management Agency, it became part of Murphy Media Academy (MMA) which eventually had offices in Australia and internationally.

Manager of INXS (1979–1995)

Murphy continued as a booking agent until late in 1979 when he met with Gary Morris, then-manager of Australian rock groups

Midnight Oil Midnight Oil (known informally as "The Oils") are an Australian rock band composed of Peter Garrett (vocals, harmonica), Rob Hirst (drums), Jim Moginie (guitar, keyboard) and Martin Rotsey (guitar). The group was formed in Sydney in 1972 by ...

and

. Morris wanted to focus on Midnight Oil and asked Murphy to look after INXS, Murphy recalled: Nevertheless, by 1980 Murphy had "dissolved his rock agency and became manager of the band". He subsequently hired Gary Grant as the group's touring manager and by 1982 Grant was his business partner at MMA Management. In July that year Murphy had brokered a deal with

Atco Records ATCO Records is an American record label founded in 1955. It is owned by Warner Music Group and operates as an imprint of Atlantic Records. After several decades of dormancy and infrequent activity under alternating Warner Music labels, the comp ...

for INXS after " ehad made numerous overseas trips setting up contacts". Grant declared that the "direct signing to a US label was one of the crucial elements in INXS's success". In 1983 MMA set up an office in New York and during the next three years either Murphy or Grant spent "10, 11 months of each year there". In late 1984 Melbourne-based alternative rock group,

, were considering breaking up, their label

Mushroom Records Mushroom Records was an Australian flagship record label, founded in 1972 in Melbourne. It published and distributed many successful Australian artists and expanded internationally, until it was merged with Festival Records in 1998. Festival Mu ...

tempted them with an offer of recording with US producer

Reggie Lucas Reginald Grant Lucas (February 25, 1953 – May 19, 2018) INXS encouraged Murphy to sign the group to MMA: under his influence Models pursued a more commercial sound to a radio-friendly format. Models relocated to Sydney and long-term member,

Andrew Duffield Andrew Peter Duffield (born 9 February 1958) is an Australian musician, producer and teacher. He has been a member, on keyboards, synthesisers or electronics, for various groups, including Whirlywirld, Models and Absent Friends. Duffield has a ...

, was forced out of the group by Murphy under "controversial circumstances". According to ''

The Canberra Times ''The Canberra Times'' is a daily newspaper in Canberra, Australia, which is published by Australian Community Media. It was founded in 1926, and has changed ownership and format several times. History ''The Canberra Times'' was launched in ...

'' Tony Sarno "in the industry

rant A diatribe (from the Greek ''διατριβή''), also known less formally as rant, is a lengthy oration, though often reduced to writing, made in criticism of someone or something, often employing humor, sarcasm, and appeals to emotion. His ...

and his partner urphyare seen as good operators". By April 1986 INXS were "selling records overseas. Lots of them.

delights in telling how INXS, no, MMA Management as well have calculated success in America. He talks quickly, with an authority bordering on aggression". Jenny Morris (ex-

The Crocodiles The Crocodiles was a New Zealand pop/ new wave band formed in 1979 with lead singer Jenny Morris, who went on to commercial success as a solo artist in Australia; and later included drummer Barton Price, who subsequently joined Sardine v and t ...

, QED) told Stuart Coupe of ''The Canberra Times'' that back in 1985 Murphy "rang up and said, 'Why don't you come on the road with INXS for a couple of weeks and fill in a bit of time' ... I thought I might as well, and that turned into a two years thing that meant I did two world tours with the band". Morris had supplied backing vocals on their April 1984 album, '' The Swing'', she performed a duet with INXS' lead singer,

Michael Hutchence Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian musician, singer-songwriter and actor. Hutchence co-founded the rock band INXS, which sold over 75 million records worldwide and was inducted into th ...

on their cover version of "

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

" (also in April on ''

Dekadance ''Dekadance'' is the title of two different collections of remixes by Australian rock band INXS: a 1983 four-track 12" and cassette EP released in the United States of songs from ''Shabooh Shoobah''; and a 1985 seven-track cassette released ...

''), and toured with them from 1985. Under the management of Murphy and Grant, INXS went from a Sydney pub band to playing international venues including headlining a show at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

in July 1991 with 74,000 in attendance. INXS sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Murphy also assisted in the commercial success of Models, which achieved two hits on the

Kent Music Report The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July ...

Singles Chart in 1985, "

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

" (March, No. 2) and " Out of Mind, Out of Sight" (July, No. 1). During October 1986 Murphy and Grant teamed with fellow managers Jeremy Fabinyi (

Mental as Anything Mental As Anything are an Australian New wave music, new wave and pop rock musical ensemble, band that formed in Sydney in 1976. Its most popular line-up (which lasted from 1977 to 1999, and recorded all of their charting singles and albums) w ...

), Mark Pope (

Jimmy Barnes James Dixon "Jimmy" Barnes (née Swan; born 28 April 1956) is a Scottish-born Australian rock singer. His career, both as a solo performer and as the lead vocalist with the rock band Cold Chisel, has made him one of the most popular and best-s ...

Divinyls Divinyls () were an Australian rock band that were formed in Sydney in 1980. The band primarily consisted of vocalist Chrissy Amphlett and guitarist Mark McEntee. Amphlett garnered widespread attention for performing on stage in a school unifo ...

), and Ken West (

I'm Talking I'm Talking are an Australian funk-pop music, pop rock band, which featured vocalists Kate Ceberano and Zan Abeyratne. They formed in 1983 in Melbourne and provided top ten hit singles "Trust Me (I'm Talking song), Trust Me", "Do You Wanna Be?" ...

) to stage the

Australian Made Australian Made was a festival concert series held during 1986–1987 in the six state capitals of Australia and featured local rock acts Mental as Anything, I'm Talking, The Triffids, The Saints, Divinyls, Models, INXS and even Jimmy Barnes. ...

series of concerts. The tour performance order was Mental as Anything, I'm Talking,

The Triffids The Triffids were an Australian alternative rock and pop band, formed in Perth in Western Australia in May 1978 with David McComb as singer-songwriter, guitarist, bass guitarist and keyboardist.McFarlane (1999). Encyclopedia entry fo"The Triff ...

, The Saints, Divinyls, Models, Barnes and INXS. It began in Hobart in December and visited all state capitals ending in Sydney in late January the following year. Although the tour had been announced with claims of Australian mateship and cooperation, arguments ensued between various band managers over the proposed concert series film. Some bands felt they had been coerced into unfavourable tour contracts. The tour ended in a fracas when Murphy and Fabinyi argued backstage in Sydney and came to blows. In the 1980s Murphy invested in

digital broadcasting Digital broadcasting is the practice of using digital signals rather than analogue signals for broadcasting over radio frequency bands. Digital television broadcasting (especially satellite television) is widespread. Digital audio broadcasting is ...

and music sales but also

organic farming Organic farming, also known as ecological farming or biological farming,Labelling, article 30 o''Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and re ...

. He created a large-scale

free range Free range denotes a method of farming husbandry where the animals, for at least part of the day, can roam freely outdoors, rather than being confined in an enclosure for 24 hours each day. On many farms, the outdoors ranging area is fenced, ...

/ organic chicken operation and ran a business for daily delivery of organic lamb to restaurants around the world. In 1987 Murphy was rated by '' BRW'' magazine as Australian Entrepreneur of the Year. In 1988 he established an independent record label,

rooART rooArt was an Australian independent record label, founded in 1988 by INXS's then-manager, Chris Murphy. The label's roster included several well-known Australian bands and artists such as Crow, Ratcat, Screaming Jets, You Am I, Wendy Matthews ...

, initially distributed by

PolyGram PolyGram N.V. was a multinational entertainment company and major music record label formerly based in the Netherlands. It was founded in 1962 as the Grammophon-Philips Group by Dutch corporation Philips and German corporation Siemens, to be a ...

. Murphy signed Australian acts to rooArt including Crash Politics,

The Hummingbirds The Hummingbirds were an Australian indie pop and jangle pop band from Sydney, who formed in 1986 from Bug Eyed Monsters. They were one of the most highly regarded outfits to emerge from Sydney's inner-city scene during the late 1980s and were ...

Ratcat Ratcat are an Australian indie rock band from Sydney who formed in 1985. The band is fronted by mainstay vocalist and guitarist, Simon Day. Their combination of indie pop song writing and energetic punk-style guitar rock won them fans from bo ...

and

You Am I You Am I are an Australian alternative rock band, fronted by its lead singer-songwriter and guitarist, Tim Rogers. They formed in December 1989 and are the first Australian band to have released three successive albums that have each debuted ...

. In June 1991 Ratcat had simultaneous number-one single, "Don't Go Now", and album, ''Blind Love'', on the

ARIA charts The ARIA Charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling songs and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA became the offici ...

. In 1992 Murphy signed a deal with

Time Warner Inc. Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by S ...

for international distribution. In February 1995 You Am I had a number-one album with ''

Hi Fi Way ''Hi Fi Way'' is the second album by Australian rock band You Am I, released in 1995. ''Hi Fi Way'' was You Am I's first release with new drummer Rusty Hopkinson (formerly of Nursery Crimes) after the departure of former drummer Mark Tunaley. ...

''. Later rooArt acts included

Wendy Matthews Wendy Joan Matthews (born 13 January 1960) is a Canadian-born Australian singer-songwriter who has been a member of Models and Absent Friends and is a solo artist. She released Top 20 hit singles in the 1990s including "Token Angels", "Le ...

(ex-Models) and

The Screaming Jets The Screaming Jets are an Australian hard rock band formed in Newcastle, Australia, in 1989 by frontman Dave Gleeson (vocals), Paul Woseen (bass guitar), Grant Walmsley (guitar)Richard Lara(guitar), and Brad Heaney (drums). The band has three al ...

which also helped the label become more commercially popular in Australia. In the 1990s, he sold his publishing company, MMA Music, to PolyGram Music Publishing.

rooART and Petrol Records

By June 1995, Murphy resigned his position with INXS to spend more time with his children.

Ed Nimmervoll Edward Charles Nimmervoll (21 September 1947 – 10 October 2014) was an Australian music journalist, author and historian. He worked on rock and pop magazines ''Go-Set'' (1966–1974) and ''Juke Magazine'' (1975–92) both as a journalist a ...

, a music journalist, observed that by the mid-1990s INXS' popularity had started to wane whereas "during NXS'rise urphyhad used strongarm tactics on the band's behalf, and now when the band needed moral support, maybe because of ispast efforts that support was less inclined to be offered. eand the band decided to part ways". Initially Murphy focussed on rooART, which was sold to BMG by October in the following year. He had purchased a 50% stake in ''Australian Style'' magazine and invested in Sydney radio station,

2SM 2SM is an Australian radio station, licensed to and serving Sydney, broadcasting on 1269 kilohertz on the AM band. It is owned and operated by Broadcast Operations Group. The SM call sign is taken from the initials of Saint Mary's. 2SM's progra ...

. Over the next four years, 2SM's earnings doubled and ''Australian Style'' magazine's increased by 40%. Murphy was attracted to digital technology and formed one of Australia's first digital music broadcasting companies, Digital One, in 1999. Petrol Records Pty Ltd emerged in 2001. Murphy curated a number of world music compilation albums under the banner of Seriously Good Music. The series sold in large numbers and produced over 500 Top 20 hits. This led to deals with Time Warner LIFE and

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

, and receiving a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nomination. Each of the eleven albums in Petrol's ''Seriously Good Music'' series focused on a specific genre or subgenre, such as ''

Burlesque A burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects.

''. Another of his ventures was the Not Lost in Translation series, accessing foreign language for youth culture

zeitgeist In 18th- and 19th-century German philosophy, a ''Zeitgeist'' () ("spirit of the age") is an invisible agent, force or Daemon dominating the characteristics of a given epoch in world history. Now, the term is usually associated with Georg W. F. ...

s. In 2008 Murphy rejoined forces with INXS signing them to Petrol Electric and after two years they issued an album, ''

Original Sin Original sin is the Christian doctrine that holds that humans, through the fact of birth, inherit a tainted nature in need of regeneration and a proclivity to sinful conduct. The biblical basis for the belief is generally found in Genesis 3 (t ...

'' (November 2010). The album has guest vocalists re-recording earlier material by the band. In 2016, Murphy sold a 50% stake of Petrol to UMG (Universal Music Group), which went on to sign a number of new bands such as the self-styled Australian 'Hippie Country' trio The Buckleys (siblings Sarah, Lachlan and Molly Buckley)

Murphy Rights Management (2014–2021)

In April 2014, Murphy created Murphy Rights Management, a music entertainment company.

References

General * Note: Archived n-linecopy has limited functionality. Specific

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Chris 1954 births 2021 deaths Businesspeople in mass media Australian company founders Talent managers INXS