Saturday, October 17, 2015

RIP John Murphy

I didn't know John Murphy personally, but I know people who did. The words that have been written about him since his death are eloquent of a warm and generous man. (This notwithstanding an outward appearance that you might think would send small children running crying across the road to the other side if they saw him headed in their direction.) But I will have to leave personal eulogies to others.

His music, it's probably fair to say, ranged far and wide, and frequently in directions that many listeners would choose not to follow. But he was true to his own vision, and it can never be said that he did not at all times maintain his integrity as a musician.


One of the many records that Murphy appears on, and one which forms a large part of my own DNA, is the self-titled EP by Whirlywirld, which was one of the first seven-inch records I bought upon graduating from children's records. I don't know now what possessed me. (Maybe it was the jetsetting glamour portrayed on the front cover.) It has, though, stayed with me, like Old Faithful, protecting the back end of my shoebox of (alphabetical) seven-inches ever since, getting dusted off every so often for a rewarding spin. "Window To The World" is the A side.



Bonus beats: if you only know one thing about Whirlywirld it will probably be "Win/Lose", which was a staple of 3RRR in the Good Old Days.