The Firm was a British music act, formed by guitarist, session musician and

music producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

John O'Connor, which had hits in the 1980s with

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...

"Arthur Daley E's Alright"

John O'Connor, primarily an acoustic guitarist, ran his own recording studio (Bark Studios in Walthamstow,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) specialising in

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music ...

s' demos, for some ten years. 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 Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

, from

Maddy Prior Madelaine Edith Prior MBE (born 14 August 1947) is an English folk singer, best known as the lead vocalist of Steeleye Span. She was born in Blackpool and moved to St Albans in her teens. Her father, Allan Prior, was co-creator of the police ...

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", based on the

Arthur Daley ''Minder'' is a British comedy-drama series about the London Organized crime, criminal underworld. Initially produced by Verity Lambert, it was made by Euston Films, a subsidiary of Thames Television, and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV for ten ...

character from the British TV series ''

Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

'', and including many

catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...

s 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 The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, peaking at No. 14, and was performed on the TV chart show ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most o ...

'' on 29 July 1982 featuring former Rubettes guitarist Tony Thorpe on lead vocals. The song also peaked at number 78 in Australia.

"Long Live the National"

In 1983, with the future of the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...

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.

"Star Trekkin' "

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. The record, " Star Trekkin' ", spent two weeks at

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

in the UK and a total of nine weeks in the UK top 40, and reached No. 3 in Australia, with comparable success in Japan and Europe and worldwide sales of over a million copies. 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 K-tel International Ltd is a Canadian company which formerly specialized in selling consumer products through infomercials and live demonstration. Its products include compilation music albums, including ''The Super Hits'' series, ''The Dynamic ...

in the UK and Dino Music in Australia. 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 Barret Eugene Hansen (born April 2, 1941), 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 phonograp ...

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Firm (novelty band), The Musical groups established in 1982 Musical groups disestablished in 1987 English pop music groups British comedy musical groups British novelty song performers 1982 establishments in England