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The Firm (novelty band)

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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.
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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
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TV series set to a catchy, childlike tune with an increasingly frantic arrangement. Group member Tony Thorpe, formerly of the
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Though it received substantial airplay on various radio stations throughout the US, the song did not chart on the
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In 1982, he and fellow guitarist Grahame Lister wrote a novelty song, "Arthur Daley 'E's Alright", based on the
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In 1987, the group recorded another novelty song, this time based on catchphrases from the
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in the UK and a total of nine weeks in the UK top 40, and reached
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in the UK and Dino Music in Australia. As well as "Star Trekkin
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For other uses, including other groups called The Firm, see
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Dr. Demento Presents the Greatest Novelty CD of All Time
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Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. 426:The song also peaked at number 78 in Australia. 501:On the back of their success with "Star Trekkin 8: 62:Learn how and when to remove these messages 235: 224:Learn how and when to remove this message 206:Learn how and when to remove this message 531:Dr. Demento: 20th Anniversary Collection 99:of all important aspects of the article. 584:"Firm, The - Arthur Daley 'E's Alright" 546: 423:guitarist Tony Thorpe on lead vocals. 95:Please consider expanding the lead to 806:Musical groups disestablished in 1987 656: 654: 638:The unofficial fans of Minder website 552: 550: 399:character from the British TV series 7: 144:adding citations to reliable sources 336:, which had hits in the 1980s with 321:was a British music act, formed by 801:Musical groups established in 1982 690:"Firm, The - Star Trekkin' " 535:Dr. Demento: Hits from Outer Space 14: 419:on 29 July 1982 featuring former 43:This article has multiple issues. 434:In 1983, with the future of the 120: 73: 32: 821:British novelty song performers 666:Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 505:", The Firm released an album, 131:needs additional citations for 87:may be too short to adequately 51:or discuss these issues on the 826:1982 establishments in England 557:Tingen, Paul (December 1998). 97:provide an accessible overview 1: 816:British comedy musical groups 343: 609:"Arthur Daley (E's Alright)" 348:John O'Connor, primarily an 155:"The Firm" novelty band 842: 450: 344:"Arthur Daley E's Alright" 18: 770:"Firm, The - Serious Fun" 745:"Firm, The - Serious Fun" 811:English pop music groups 430:"Long Live the National" 384:to the more commercial 720:"Star Trekkin' " 521:" was released on the 478:, spent two weeks at 405:, and including many 21:Firm (disambiguation) 442: 140:improve this article 16:British novelty band 509:, in 1987, through 634:"The Minder songs" 484:No. 3 in Australia 364:) specialising in 350:acoustic guitarist 356:(Bark Studios in 316: 315: 234: 233: 226: 216: 215: 208: 190: 114: 113: 66: 833: 785: 784: 782: 780: 766: 760: 759: 757: 755: 741: 735: 734: 732: 730: 716: 710: 709: 707: 705: 696:. 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Retrieved 562: 534: 530: 526: 506: 500: 490: 488: 458: 456: 433: 425: 414: 407:catchphrases 400: 397:Arthur Daley 394: 347: 318: 317: 290:Past members 268:Years active 220: 202: 193: 183: 176: 169: 162: 150: 138:Please help 133:verification 130: 102: 86: 84:lead section 59: 52: 46: 45:Please help 42: 25: 662:Kent, David 523:Dr. Demento 507:Serious Fun 378:Maddy Prior 366:songwriters 358:Walthamstow 310:Gary Wilson 307:Dev Douglas 304:Tony Thorpe 795:Categories 541:References 480:number one 390:Bucks Fizz 166:newspapers 105:March 2011 48:improve it 729:9 January 618:9 January 537:in 2006. 529:in 1988, 492:Billboard 460:Star Trek 411:UK top 40 323:guitarist 272:1982–1987 252:, England 89:summarize 54:talk page 704:25 April 664:(1993). 643:25 April 568:25 April 465:Rubettes 421:Rubettes 319:The Firm 240:The Firm 779:14 July 774:Discogs 754:14 July 749:Discogs 694:Discogs 593:14 July 588:Discogs 525:albums 496:Hot 100 376:, from 261:Novelty 180:scholar 672:  402:Minder 374:genres 362:London 277:Labels 257:Genres 250:London 246:Origin 182:  175:  168:  161:  153:  511:K-Tel 469:Spock 370:demos 187:JSTOR 173:books 781:2021 756:2021 731:2019 706:2007 670:ISBN 645:2007 620:2019 595:2021 570:2007 380:and 329:and 280:Bark 159:news 388:of 386:pop 142:by 797:: 772:. 747:. 722:. 692:. 653:^ 636:. 611:. 586:. 561:. 549:^ 392:. 368:' 360:, 340:. 325:, 57:. 783:. 758:. 733:. 708:. 678:. 647:. 622:. 597:. 572:. 519:' 515:' 503:' 476:" 447:" 445:' 227:) 221:( 209:) 203:( 198:) 194:( 184:· 177:· 170:· 163:· 136:. 107:) 103:( 93:. 64:) 60:( 23:.

Index

Firm (disambiguation)
improve it
talk page
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lead section
summarize
provide an accessible overview

verification
improve this article
adding citations to reliable sources
"The Firm" novelty band
news
newspapers
books
scholar
JSTOR
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London
Novelty
John O'Connor
guitarist
session musician
music producer
John O'Connor
novelty songs
acoustic guitarist
recording studio

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