John O'Connor (musician)
John O'Connor [1] is a British guitarist, songwriter and composer. He lives in Santa Barbara, California.
Biography
Bark Studio
Studied guitar at the London College of Music. Started Bark recording studio in the 1980s in North London.[2] Produced, engineered and played guitar on hundreds of records for singers, bands, TV and radio commercials. Played in bands and toured with Maddy Prior, Rick Kemp, Isla St Clair and Bucks Fizz.[3]
The Firm
In 1982 he and songwriting partner Grahame Lister wrote and recorded "Arthur Daley he's Alright". Released under the name The Firm by Stiff Records and reached the Top Ten in the UK charts.
In 1987, along with co-writers Graham Lister and Rory Kehoe, O'Connor wrote and recorded Star Trekkin' . The single spent two weeks at number one on the UK Singles Chart,[4] and became the tenth best-selling single of 1987[5] in the UK, selling more than a million copies worldwide.[3]
All singles and more songs were later released on an album called Serious Fun released by K-Tel.[6]
Eko
Moved to California in the late 80's, writing and recording instrumental new age/world music under the name Eko [3] He made five CDs for Higher Octave Music. Future Primitive (1989), reached the Billboard Top Ten New Age Albums.
King of the Hill
In 1997 20th Century Fox and Judgmental Films invited him to create the music for the first episode of a new animated television series, King of the Hill for the Fox tv network. He became one of three regular composers for the Emmy award-winning show. The show ran for 13 seasons, ending in 2010. It remains in syndication.[3] In 1998 he won the BMI TV Music Award.[7]
Current Projects
Recently produced a guitar CD "It's Like This", with pedal steel guitarist Greg Leisz, produced by Gabe Moffat. Currently performing in the Santa Barbara area, both solo and with bands.
References
- ↑ Tingen, Paul (December 1998). "John O'Connor: From 'Star Treking' to King of the Hill". Sound on Sound. SOS Publications Group. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
Here I am at 49...
- ↑ Bark Studio continues to operate, now as base for producer Brian O'Shaughnessy. See www.barkstudio.co.uk. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
- 1 2 3 4 Tingen, Paul (December 1998). "John O'Connor: From 'Star Treking' to King of the Hill". Sound on Sound. SOS Publications Group. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
- ↑ "Chart Stats – The Firm – Star Trekkin'". chartstats.com. Retrieved October 17, 2009. External link in
|publisher=(help) - ↑ "Top Ten Best Selling UK Singles of 1987". Popreport.co.uk. Retrieved January 2, 2013.
- ↑ "Firm, The – Serious Fun (master release)". Discogs. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
- ↑ "BMI Film/TV Awards: 1998". BMI.com. 1998. Retrieved October 17, 2009.