Sean O'Mahony (1932 – 21 July 2020) was a British music writer and magazine editor. He worked as a music journalist in the 1960s under the name Johnny Dean, and was the founder and editor of ''

Beat Instrumental ''Beat Instrumental'' was a UK monthly pop and rock magazine. Founded by Sean O'Mahony (aka Johnny Dean) and first published in May 1963 as ''Beat Monthly'', it became ''Beat Instrumental Monthly'' with issue 18 and ''Beat Instrumental'' from ...

'', ''

The Beatles Book ''The Beatles Book'' (also known as ''Beatles Monthly'') was a fan magazine dedicated to the English rock band the Beatles, founded in 1963. It was first published in August 1963 and continued for 77 editions until it stopped publication after the ...

'', and ''

Record Collector ''Record Collector'' is a British monthly music magazine. It was founded in 1980 and distributes worldwide. History The early years The first standalone issue of ''Record Collector'' was published in March 1980, though its history stretches ba ...

'' magazines.

Biography

Born in London, he ran a

coffee bar A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...

before starting work in the

music business The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

in the mid-1950s. He wrote songs and contacted music publishers, while working at the same time for

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

. In the early 1960s he became the advertising manager of ''Pop Weekly'', a magazine published by

Robert Stigwood Robert Colin Stigwood (16 April 1934 – 4 January 2016) was an Australian-born British-resident music entrepreneur, film producer and impresario, best known for managing Cream, Andy Gibb and the Bee Gees, theatrical productions like ''Hair'' ...

, through which he first came into contact with

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...

. In late 1962, he established his own magazine, ''Beat Monthly'' (later ''Beat Instrumental''), which started featuring

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

as cover stars early in 1963. As the Beatles' popularity in the UK grew, O'Mahony approached Epstein with the suggestion that he produce a monthly magazine devoted to the band. This was ''The Beatles Book'', first published in August 1963, with an initial print run of 40,000, which quickly sold out. At its peak, the magazine went on to sell some 300,000 copies each month. As Johnny Dean, O'Mahony continued to edit and write for the magazine with the full support of Epstein and the band, and also launched the parallel ''Monkees Monthly'' in early 1967. The final edition of the original ''Beatles Book'' was published in late 1969, but in 1976 O'Mahony began to republish the original issues alongside new content. The revived ''Beatles Book'' continued to be published until early 2003. Andy Neill, Introduction, in Tom Adams, ''Looking Through You: The Beatles Book Monthly Photo Archive'', Omnibus Press, 2015
/ref>Peter Doggett, "Not Forgotten: Sean O'Mahony", ''Record Collector'', No.510, October 2020, p.30 O'Mahony launched several new magazines in the 1970s, including those devoted to

The Police The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. For most of their history the line-up consisted of primary songwriter Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussion). The Police ...

and ''

Starsky and Hutch ''Starsky & Hutch'' is an American action television series, which consisted of a 72-minute pilot movie (originally aired as a ''Movie of the Week'' entry) and 92 episodes of 50 minutes each. The show was created by William Blinn (inspired by th ...

'', and in 1979 launched ''Record Collector'' magazine which (as at 2020) continues to be published each month. He also continued to write, and as John Dean wrote the songs and script for the 1999 musical film '' Julie and the Cadillacs''. He retired from his editing responsibilities in 2003. He died on 21 July 2020, aged 88.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:OMahony, Sean 1932 births 2020 deaths English music journalists English magazine editors