The Firm

The Firm was a British music act, formed by guitarist, session musician and music producer John O'Connor, which had hits in the 1980s with novelty songs. "Arthur Daley E's Alright" John O'Connor, primarily an acoustic guitarist, ran his own recording studio (Bark Studios in Walthamstow, London) specialising in songwriters' demos, for some ten years. In the early 1980s, he decided to concentrate more on playing and writing music, working as a session musician with artists in a variety of genres, from Maddy Prior and Isla St Clair to the more commercial pop of Bucks Fizz. In 1982, he and fellow guitarist Grahame Lister wrote a novelty song, "Arthur Daley 'E's Alright", based on the Arthur Daley character from the British TV series Minder, and including many catchphrases 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 UK top 40, peaking at No. 14, and was performed on the TV chart show Top of the Pops on 29 July 1982 featuring former Rubettes guitarist Tony Thorpe on lead vocals. The song also peaked at number 78 in Australia.