It was with tremendous sadness that we read Steve Morse's notice of the death of Mickey O'Halloran in the March 30, 2001, issue of the Boston Globe.
Mickey O may still be best known for his tours of duty managing the old nightclub, Bunratty's. He was involved, too, in the operations of a number of other Boston-area night spots. He published Beat! magazine, managed Charlie Farren, and issued some wonderful albums on Bo-Town Records. Mickey was a workaholic, evidently of mythic proportions, and it would not be possible, here and now, to chronicle all his accomplishments.
At one point in the 1980s, Mickey started work on a Boston rock and roll music display in the basement of Bunratty's. It didn't work out. But for a dreamer like Mickey, the dream doesn't die easily. When traffic on the Internet started picking up, Mickey, along with long-time associate Chuck White, founded the Boston Rock and Roll Museum.
It's not always easy to break into the writing field. Publishers like to publish authors whose work has already been published by other publishers. It's hard to find an editor who'll give you that first break. It had been nearly two decades since I had last written for publication when I contacted the Boston Rock and Roll Museum, proposing to write for them, and including a sample of my work--a little piece about the Swinging Steaks. Mickey read my submission, but he agreed to let me write for the Museum anyway. As the author of articles, reviews, and artist profiles, a lot of good things have happened to me since that first e-mail encounter. But I could have never gotten started again if I hadn't found someone to give me a chance; and the great Mickey O'Halloran was that person.
Right by me is a stack of clippings about Mickey that I've been gathering over the past year, intending to profile him for this site, the New England Music Scrapbook. Yet words are weak at a time like this, and the facts of Mickey's life are minor when compared to the worth of the man, himself. Steve Morse called Mickey "the rough-and-tumble, leather-voiced nightclub manager, booking agent, and journalist with a heart of gold." Former Aerosmith manager Tim Collins joined Morse in calling Mickey a legend. Collins said, "He was so into local music and did so much to nurture it."
Mickey O'Halloran was a larger-than-life character and anyone who cares about New England's popular-music scene and the artists who make it possible has lost a dear friend. May Mickey O rest in peace. -- Alan Lewis, 3/31/2001
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