OK, i want to do this right because it`s my first time dedicating a post to a person, especially a person i`ve never had the pleasure of meeting. So first i`m going to stick to the facts!
Mic Christopher was born in the Bronx, New York City on September 21st 1969. He only spent 3 years living in America. Mic`s parents are Irish so a move back to Ireland seemed like the right thing to do. They moved to Dublin and Mic was sent to an all Irish school " Colaiste Chilliain Clondalkin" where after a few years Mic`s interest in music took off. He started playing traditional Irish music with the school group and kept that up until he was about 15 years old, and then he started busking. Mic was busking in Dublin for about 5 years where he met a variety of talented musicians and artists that were also out busking on Grafton street and it was there where he met Karl Odlum and Glen Hansard who he became friends with.
In 1990 Mic formed the band "The Mary Janes" with former Kila bass player and fellow busker, Karl Odlum, with Simon Goode on guitar and also Steve Hogan on drums. Over the next 9 years the band played together a number of guises. Firstly with Hogan on drums and, after Hogan left the band, as a 3 piece without drums. It was at this time that the band recorded their first album " Bored Of Their Laughing".
In 1994 the Mary Janes signed a publishing deal with Warner Chappell and in ’96 the band acquired the drumming talents of Mark Stanley from Australia and went on to record their second album Sham in ’98. Over the years The Mary Janes played everywhere from Feile and the Fleadh in Ireland, to Glastonbury festival in England, to the CMJ in New York. Ultimately finishing with a six week stint in Bosnia with the WarChild charity organization. The Mary Janes finally split in 1999 after Mic realised the band went off the path he wanted to be on. So Mic deciced to embark on a 3 month solo tour in Victoria, Australia.
After Mic returned he decided to settle for a 9 to 5 job as a delivery man, a job that he almost died doing. Mic decided he would make more money in the job if he had a motorbike, so off he went and got himself a scooter. One day while Mic was out delivering, a car pulled out in front of him and sent him and the bike flying breaking his neck in the proccess. He was rushed to hospital and spent weeks unable to move, but Mic being Mic joked about it saying "Ahh sure look how straight my posture will be".
In the Autumn of 2001 Mic, having fully recovered from the motorcycle accident that could have killed him, wrote and realeased his first real big hit "Heyday", and it was the realease of this song that got the ball rolling. Mic got an email from the lead singer of a band he admired for a long time (The Waterboys) asking him to support them on their next tour. This was it.... this would of being the way Mic`s music would of went global....this would have being what he deserved because of his immense talent.
But, tragically on 18 November 2001 in Groningen, the Netherlands, after he had finished his set, Mic was found on conscious, having struck his head on some steps following a fall. On arrival at a local hospital, he was found to have lapsed into a coma as a result of severe swelling to the brain. He never regained consciousness and died on 29 November 2001, aged 32.
Mic Christopher had been working on a solo album entitled Skylarkin' prior to his death. The album was incomplete but Mic had left instructions as to how the recordings could be improved. During November 2002, work from many of his friends and family resulted in the posthumous release of Mic`s first and only solo album. Skylarkin' later won Best Album at the 2003 Meteor Irish Music Awards. His family were present to collect the award on his behalf.
Since Mic Christopher's death, The Frames' frontman Glen Hansard has dedicated every one of their albums to him. They also dedicate their cover version of his hit Heyday to him when played live. The Damien Rice album, O, is also dedicated to Mic Christopher.
With Heyday being featured in an ad for Guinness in Ireland, and subsequently gaining considerable radio play, Christopher has gained a new generation of fans.
OK, so they are the facts but, i have to give a mention to Glen Hansard because he and Mic were best friends since they were kids, they done everything together. They went busking as a team and if you type Mic Christopher into youtube, almost every video that comes up is of Mic & Glen busking all over the world (seriously). I also want to say how much Mic`s music has being a huge part of my life since i first heard it, i love all sorts of music, Dylan, Marley, etc... but if i was offered a chance to listen to any album to ever make the shops shelves i`d choose Skylarkin` every single time. His album Skylarkin is the best album i have ever heard and i wish i had got to see himself and glen busking away on Grafton street in Dublin. I also think its so sad that he never got to see how well his music has done, and how much of an effect its had on so many people.
Mic Christopher is without a doubt one of the best singer songwriters to come from this counry.
And i suppose i will have to admit that even the fact that i`m a 26 year old male, i get pretty emotional when i hear that album!!
So the reason i am dedcating a post to a person is, myself and all of Mic`s fans will know that on the 29th Mic will be gone 7 years, and i`m hoping that if someone sees this post, and this person never heard any of his music before, they will decide to look it up and become a fan and go out and buy his one and only album Skylarkin, and maybe some day love it as much as i do!
I also want to say that anyone thats a fan of Mic should on the 29 November take out your Skylarkin and play it loud! Because Mic Christopher`s spirit is still alive and well in the music he made.
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