Tom Murphy was born in Paddington in the early 60s. A child of one of the many Irish families who populated the area and the public houses of the Portobello / Westbourne Grove vicinity at that time.
A passport to Pimlico was afforded at the beginning of the 70s whereupon Tom arrived barefoot to Lillington Gardens to become a fully fledged Burgundian.
A sound musical foundation was initially laid through a combination of traditional Irish music played on a portable record player with a high tec arm mechanism for magically allowed drunk people to play more than one record at a time without scratching them, to the swinging sounds of the sixties on the radio. This was further expanded in his early teens via the joys of sharing a bedroom with a brother with a penchant for a strange combination of prog rock and soul, the latter courtesy of friends from the Lillington Gardens black community.
Early teenage exposure to punk whilst still at school further expanded Tom’s musical appetite and love of live performances. The jumping up and down style of dancing also played to his strengths on the dance floor.
For Tom, like many of his generation, Punk, New Wave and ‘Indie’ served as bridge between the foundations of early influences and an increasing appetite to explore new music and in turn the innumerable influences and connections between bands and musicians happened upon along the way. An appetite fuelled by consuming the weekly content of the NME for news of new music and gigs, listening to John Peel and absorbing the lates release from the Bunnymen, Teardrop Explodes, the Jam or the Clash by being perpetually connected to the new-fangled and incredible devise that was the Sony Walkman.
This exploration has also included working with like-minded friends to establish the legendary local band the Gay Students. Heavily influenced by the genius of Morrisey and the Smiths, Paddy MacAloon from Prefab Sprout and other early 80s artists and bands, the almost mythical Gay Students will have a place alongside the material shared by Tom and his associates via Radio Free Pimlico.
So, when you tune in to a show from or involving Tom you can expect to hear a delightful muddle of material ranging from well and lesser known gems from the past to present day content, music from artists as diverse as the Pogues to Scott Walker, to content which celebrates the work of personal heroes such as Michael Head and Martin Stephenson…so listen in, there’ll be something for everyone and everything in between.