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(Murph's Note) This will probably be the longest biography of all
because I was there when it happened (well.....most of the time).
Jim "Murph the Surf" Murphy was born in Beeville, Texas on Easter Sunday, March
24, 1940. He grew up in Tuleta, Texas, a small town between San Antonio and Corpus
Christi, Texas. His graduating high school class had only 33 students.(Note:
The following is text from the Cossack Vodka editorial advertisement in the Sunday London
Times. For the time being I'll use this while I research and write the biographies
of the other dj's. Murph)
He's a 6- foot - 5 Texan. He wears dark glasses because his eyes are "sensitive to
light". His accent is so thick that he's difficult to understand. And every night,
thousands of fans tune into his Midnight Surf Party on Radio Caroline.
Big Jim Murphy is an important part of the new Britain. The britain that is no longer
insular. The britain that impresses even a texan. "Everything is happening here.
People are alive. Anybody under 35 has more opportunity to make it here than anywhere
else. It's a young man's country and i want to be part of it."
Like many Americans, he'd never given much thought to Britain. For him it was "funny
cops, pubs and squares". He stopped off in London on his way to Spain, took a quick
look around and decided to stay.For good.
He first took up residence atop a flagpole. He was determined to stay up there until his
private record got into the top ten. It took 6 days.. Then Big Jim came down and went off
to the Isle of Man and Radio Caroline.
Being a disc jockey "satisfies every desire a person has for glamour" and and
working for a pirate radio station is "adventure on the high seas". The high
seas are 3 miles or so off the Manx coastline, but its far enough away. "We all stay
aboard for two weeks at a time. It's two weeks on, one week off. Then we do shows on land
or go up to London to dig the scene." He already feels British. Says it's because the
young are so important here. They set the pace, make the changes, call the tune. He says
"it's like Texas must have been when my grand daddy was a boy- full of
straight-shooters." Being a straightforward individual does count here. It shows up
in everything people do, think, wear, listen to. Big Jim Murphy knows what he's talking
about. He says Britain belongs to the young, it certainly does.
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