FRANK Murray — music manager, film actor and producer, concert promoter — died suddenly on December 22, aged 66.
Murray, who was from Drimnagh, Dublin, is best remembered as being manager of acts such as Thin Lizzy and The Pogues.
But he also had spells looking after acts ranging from Elton John to Dublin rapper Temper Mental Misselayneous, and from Kirsty McColl to The Frames.
More recently he was working with folk and blues duo The Lost Brothers and Dublin rock & roll band The Mighty Stef.
Murray's time with Thin Lizzy dates back to when Phil Lynnot was appearing with Skid Row in Dublin in the late 1960s.
Chancers they may have been, but Frank helped Phil Lynnot, a black man born in Birmingham to become Ireland's first true rock star.
But it was during his time with The Pogues that, arguably, Murray was at his most influential.
Aside from booking the band into London's great Irish pub venues such as The Mean Fiddler and The Robey and kick-starting their career, he played a pivotal role in the making of A Fairytale of New York.
His suggestion to bring in Kirsty McColl (whom he was also managing at the time) to sing the Fairytale duet with Shane MacGowan after Cait O'Riordan had departed, proved to be a masterly stroke — the duet had been written for Shane MacGowan and Cait O'Riordan.
But O'Riordan had departed with Elvis Costello who had just produced The Pogues' Rum Sodomy and the Lash. Kirsty McColl was thus launched into musical history.
Frank Murray also claimed that Fairytale was his idea, saying that he suggested the band should try and write a Christmas song as he thought it would be "interesting".
There is some dispute over the origins of the song, as Shane MacGowan insists that it arose as a result of a wager made with Elvis Costello, who said that the band wouldn’t be able to write a Christmas hit single.
Whatever its origins, Murray was convinced that it was going to be the Christmas no. 1 in Britain in 1987.
He placed several thousand pounds on his hunch at a Finsbury Park bookies. He never collected — The Pet Shop Boys topped the pops.
Murray remained a hugely influential figure in The Pogues’ career, and in the London music scene during the 1980s and 1990s.
He was also an immensely likeable character — in the hours after his death, members of The Pogues past and present tweeted their condolences.
Cait O'Riordan said: “Please light a candle, say a little prayer for Frank Murray who left us today. RIP that wicked gleam in his eye, that kind heart.”
Fiachna Ó Braonain, of Hothouse Flowers tweeted: “Very sad to hear this news. I really liked Frank Murray. Many great chats were had. He'll be missed.”
Murray, as well as being a major figure in the Irish music scene was also immersed in the film industry.
He spent over five years in the US, where he worked in theatre and film, acting as executive producer on the film Come On Eileen, which starred Noel Fielding, Mercedes Grower, Julia Davis and Keith Allen.
He was co-founder of The Mavericks Film Festival in London in the late 1990s.
Fellow co-founder Gerry O’Boyle – owner of The Boogaloo pub in north London — told The Irish Post: “I spent a lot of time with Frank. He was a great man to travel with.
"With Maverick we went all over the place; we even went together to the Sundance Festival in Utah.
"Great times altogether. He had a huge knowledge of music, but I think he loved acting as much if not more.
"He did a couple of soaps back in Dublin, and had a few parts in films like I Could Read the Sky. I know he was hoping to do more acting. And he was a terrific raconteur.
"Altogether he was a charming man, and a real sad loss. I have to say he's a man I learnt a lot from.”
