TONY O'MALLEY
THE DEFENDERS
By the age of twelve, Tony had formed his first band, the Defenders, with his brother, Kevin, Julian Harris and Terry Horn from his hometown, Harrow-on-the-Hill in north London. They played the local youth clubs and dances until he was fifteen, when he joined an Irish showband, the Skyliners from Enniskillen. Life on the road had begun…
THE SKYLINERS
The Skyliners worked the Irish clubs up and down the country until Tony was spotted at an audition by Ian Samwell, writer of Cliff Richard's first hit "Move It". Ian was then managing soul band Malcolm McGarren and the Blueshealers which Tony eventually joined at the age of 16.
RONNIE JONES & THE Q SET
The band was later to become Ronnie Jones and the Q Set and played a long residency at the Bag O’Nails club in Soho, where such luminaries as Jimi Hendrix would often pop down to jam with the band. The Q Set then toured the U.K., France, Italy and Greece before Tony moved on to join the Counts, featuring his long time friend, bassist extra-ordinaire Philip Chen. (Rod Stuart, Jerry Lewis, Linda Lewis, Jeff Beck, the Doors, plus many more).
ARRIVAL
In January 1969 the Gunnells Booking Agency asked Tony to play piano for a group from Liverpool called Arrival, who had travelled to London to seek a recording contract. The band featured four amazingly irresistible singers, Frank Collins, Dyan Birch, Paddie McHugh and Carol Carter, and went on to have two top ten hits throughout Europe with "Friends" and "I Will Survive" in 1970. Arrival toured the world, including a stint at Expo ’70 in Osaka, Japan, scoring more hits in several countries around the globe, playing the now infamous Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 and the Royal Command Performance for Queen Elizabeth ll.
THE MICK COX BAND
After record company problems, Tony decided to go his own way, briefly joining the Mick Cox Band, with whom he recorded the lead vocals on Mick’s debut double album, imaginatively entitled "The Mick Cox Band", which made the U.S. album charts in 1972.
KOKOMO
However, boredom had set in, so along with his friend, drummer Terry Stannard, Tony put his mind to forming a band which would make the kind of music he was itching to play. This was the birth of Kokomo, a ten-piece supergroup, featuring Frank, Paddie & Dy of the Arrival singers, Neil Hubbard and Alan Spenner from Joe Cocker’s Grease Band, Jim Mullen, who is now regarded as being the one of the best jazz guitarists in the world; from King Crimson, the much-travelled and great Mel Collins on saxes, plus Jody Linscott on Congas, who has since played with everybody from Elton John to Tom Jones, and is now currently working with Dido.
Kokomo was to take London by storm in 1973, culminating in a debut album, Kokomo 1, which has since become a classic among collectors. The band was later managed by Steve O’Rourke, the brains behind Pink Floyd’s success, who sadly passed away on October 30th 2003, aged only 63. R.I.P. Steve.
The band went on to make three albums, touring the U.K., Europe and States plus supporting their old friends, the Average White Band, on several tours and recording an album ("Desire") in New York with Bob Dylan.
10CC
Surprise, surpise, financial problems then forced the band members to seek work with other artists, i.e. Bryan Ferry, Alvin Lee, Joe Cocker, the Rolling Stones and many more. Tony joined 10CC in 1977 and toured the U.K., Europe, Japan and Australia, recording one album, "Live and Let Live" until he became disillusioned with the music industry. In 1978 Tony left 10CC to pursue a solo career.
SOLO
Throughout the eighties Tony never stopped playing gigs in the wilderness of small clubs and bars in London and around the UK, Germany, Austria, France & Switzerland, either solo or with fellow musicians, scraping together a living, building a following of small but loyal fans, and constantly updating his repertoire of songs.
THE 606 CLUB
By 1992, Tony was playing monthly at the great 606 Club in Chelsea, working with the cream of British musicians – Pino Palladino, Ian Thomas, Mark Smith, Laurence Cottle, Jeremy Stacey, Andy Newmark (resident in U.K.) Mel Collins, Mornington Lockett and Neil Hubbard, to name but a few.
NAKED FLAME
Between ’93 and ’96 Tony performed many times at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, until Ronnie passed away, culminating in "Naked Flame", Tony’s first solo album, recorded live at Ronnie’s in July ’94 and released on Ronnie's Jazzhouse label in ’95.
SUNSHINE EVERYDAY
By ’94 Tony had joined the digital age and, financed by long trips to Switzerland, Austria and Germany playing in hotels and small venues, he invested in his first digital studio equipment, tearing his hair out for a year getting to grips with the new technology before making his second album "Sunshine Everyday", most of which was recorded in his tiny apartment in Hackney in East London. The album was eventually released on the Millennium label in ’97.
FREEDOM ROAD
His third album was recorded after moving the equipment to small premises in Kentish Town, where "Freedom Road" was written and performed in ’98, with the help of great musicians Pino Palladino, Hamish Stuart, Ash Soan, Adam Phillips, Mel Collins, Neil Hubbard and Mark Smith. A labour of love and an album that grows with each listening, mysteriously "Freedom Road" has yet to be officially released.....
OH!
In 1999 Tony and his wife Femke moved to Brussels for the birth of their twins, Joseph & Patrick. The studio was set up in the garage and between changing nappies and trying to find decent work, Tony set about recording his fourth album "Oh!" which was three years in the making. By 2000 Tony had been introduced to Marty Townsend, a wonderful musician with a great ear. Together they began their frutiful writing partnership which has heralded more than twenty songs.
In May 2000 Tony played with his band to thousands of people on Place St Catherine at the Brussels Jazz Marathon. It was a hugely successful concert, with the side-roads to the square blocked up with spectators. During the finale, you could have heard a pin drop as Tony gave a heartfelt rendition of the classic song "My Foolish Heart".
"Oh!" was released in England in August 2003 on the Delicious label, but has yet to find distribution in Europe and the rest of the world.
MY FOOLISH HEART
A fifth album, "My Foolish Heart", a selection of great standards featuring Marty Townsend, Pino Palladino and Ian Thomas on the drums, was recorded in London in April 2003 and then re-mixed and mastered in Brussels.
THE MANSARDE SESSIONS
By May 2004, Tony had moved with Femke and the boys to Tbilisi in the ex-Soviet Republic of Georgia, where he has recorded his sixth album, "The Mansarde Sessions" in 2005, featuring the beautiful playing of Paata Andriadze on grand piano with Tony singing - just the two of them....due for release soon....!
Watch this space....