Biography
Formed in Eire in 1961, the Miami originally included Jimmy Harte on vocals alongside Murty Quinn on trombone, Clem Quinn on lead guitar, Martin Phelan on saxophone, Tommy O’Rourke on trumpet, Denis Murray on bass guitar and Tony Bogan on drums. Harte departed for America after the group spent a year touring, at which point Dickie Rock stepped in as his successor. The arrival of Rock’s velvet tenor propelled the Miami to a series of number 1 positions on the Irish pop charts, where tracks such as ‘There’s Always Me’, ‘From The Candy Store On The Corner’ and ‘Every Step Of The Way’ became enduring Rock classics in Eire. Although Rock supplied the principal voice, other band members also took lead vocals on occasion; Clem Quinn, inspired by the Royal Showband’s ‘hucklebuck’ trend, released ‘Buck’s Polka’ and reached Eire’s Top 10, while Murty Quinn secured a comparable placing early the next year with ‘One Kiss For Old Time’s Sake’. A financial dispute with Rock led Phelan, O’Rourke and the two Quinns to launch the splinter group Sands in 1967. A reconstituted Miami continued alongside Rock until 1972, when he chose to pursue a solo career. Fran O’Toole then moved to the forefront as vocalist, guiding the band through scattered chart entries in the 1970s that included ‘Clap Hands Stamp Your Feet’. In the early hours of 31 July 1975, while returning from a performance in Banbridge, several Ulster Volunteer Force members halted the Miami’s van and placed a bomb inside it that detonated prematurely. The captive musicians tried to escape and were shot in the back; Fran O’Toole, Des Lee (Desmond McAlea) and Tony Geraghty died, and Stephen Travers suffered serious wounds. These killings inflicted lasting harm on the showband circuit in the north of Ireland and effectively ended an age of musical innocence and non-sectarianism.