Mick Gallagher

Mick Gallagher started his musical career in Newcastle with The Unknowns in the early 1960s. He played with the Animals during 1965, replacing their founding member Alan Price. He moved on to form The Chosen Few, where he played alongside Alan Hull, who later formed Lindisfarne. Other associations include Skip Bifferty, Peter Frampton's Camel and Cochise. In 1977 Gallagher was playing in a band called Loving Awareness, including John Turnbull, Charley Charles and Norman Watt-Roy. Charles and Watt-Roy worked as session musicians with Ian Dury, and when the group went on tour, Gallagher and Turnbull were invited along. This band became the Blockheads. ==Ian Dury and the Blockheads==

with the Blockheads in 2011 Under the management of Andrew King and Peter Jenner, the original managers of Pink Floyd, Ian Dury and the Blockheads quickly gained a reputation as one of the top live acts of new wave music. The Blockheads' sound drew from its members' diverse musical influences, which included jazz, rock and roll, funk, reggae and Dury's love of music hall. Gallagher's Hammond sound was a major contribution to the band. The single "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll", released 26 August 1977, marked Blockheads' Stiff debut. Although it was banned by the BBC, it was named Single of the Week by NME on its release. The single issue was soon followed at the end of September by the album New Boots and Panties!!, which, although it did not include the single, achieved platinum status. In October 1977 Gallagher and the band started performing as Ian Dury & the Blockheads, Chas Jankel left the band temporarily and relocated to the U.S. after the release of "What a Waste" (his organ part on that single was overdubbed later) but he subsequently returned to the UK and began touring sporadically with the Blockheads, eventually returning to the group full-time for the recording of "Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick"; according to Gallagher, the band recorded 28 takes of the song, but eventually settled on the second take for the single release. Partly due to personality clashes with Dury, In December 1990, augmented by Merlin Rhys-Jones on guitar and Will Parnell on percussion, they recorded the live album Warts & Audience at the Brixton Academy. The Blockheads (minus Jankel, who returned to California) toured Spain in January 1991, then disbanded again until August 1994 when, following Jankel's return to England, they were invited to reform for the Madstock! Festival in Finsbury Park; Gallagher continued with the Blockheads after Dury's death, contributing to the tribute album Brand New Boots And Panties, then ''Where's The Party. The Blockheads still tour, and in 2009 released Staring Down the Barrel''. They currently comprise Watt-Roy, Jankel, Gallagher, Turnbull, John Roberts on drums, Gilad Atzmon and Dave Lewis on saxes. Derek "The Draw" Hussey (who was Dury's friend and minder) is now writing songs with Jankel as well as singing. They are aided and abetted by Lee Harris, who is their "aide de camp". ==Other work==

Gallagher played on two of the most influential Clash albums, London Calling (1979) and Sandinista! (1980), and made live appearances with the band, also playing on their last album Cut the Crap (1985), for which he never received a credit. Gallagher worked with the Clash's drummer Topper Headon again in a short-lived band called Samurai, and again when they recorded Headon's Waking Up (1986), appearing with Bobby Tench and Jimmy Helms. Samurai guitarist Henry Padovani briefly described Gallagher in his memoir: "He had a family, was the serious one of the group, never snorted any coke and managed to somehow control Topper [Headon] a little. Playing with this talented musician was a pleasure." Gallagher has also performed and recorded with Paul McCartney, Roger Daltrey, Robbie Williams, Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox. More recently he returned to perform with The Blockheads and John Steel's The Animals and Friends. Gallagher has also written music for films such as Extremes (1971) and After Midnight (1990), and the Broadway play Serious Money (1987). ==Personal life==

Gallagher has three children, Luke, Ben and Maria. In 1980, the three children sang on the Clash's fourth studio album, Sandinista!. Luke and Ben sang on "Career Opportunities" while Maria sang on "The Guns of Brixton" which was featured at the end of the song "Broadway". ==References==