Mickey O’Halloran

Michael James O’ Quilty O’Halloran was born at the end of World War II into a dysfunctional household in a rough, low-income neighborhood in Charlestown, Massachusetts. The charismatic O’Halloran used his wit and wisdom to survive being an Green Beret during the Vietnam War and later used his street smarts to become one of the driving forces on the Boston music scene in the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

Club management, The Beat

Soon after being discharged, he landed a job as a bouncer at K-K-K-Katy’s in Kenmore Square, working security at the door with Jimmy Harold, the future owner of the club across the street, The Rathskeller. Over the next 20 years, he managed Jasper’s and Jumbo’s in Somerville, Bunratty’s, Harper’s Ferry and Molly’s in Allston and Sir Morgan’s Cove in Worcester. He also guided the careers of local legends The Stompers and Charlie Farren and in 1984 he founded a fanzine called The Beat, doing interviews and writing reviews and the gossip column “Insignifica” for it and other local publications during the decade.

Record labels, Boston Rock & Roll Museum, Death, Legacy

As part of his constant presence on the Boston music scene, O’ Halloran was the owner of Fast Track Records and Bo Town Records, which released many albums including my own compilation discs Boston Does The Beatles (1988),  Bo-Town Does Mo-Town (1990), Boston Gets Stoned (1996, produced by Jimmy Miller) and Boston Gets A Grip (2008, released seven years after O’Halloran’s death). He also worked with Chuck White on Dirty Water, an online catalog about Boston’s rock history, and was the co-founder of the Boston Rock & Roll Museum.

When he died in 2001, he left behind two daughters and a son. At his burial, three uniformed Green Berets fired their weapons three times each into the air to give him a nine-gun salute, the highest honor. His life and legacy may not have been long and exactly “legendary” by most people’s standard, but it was certainly monumental, meteoric, mythical and magnificent. Over 20 years after his death, the Boston entertainment universe still shows signs of his impressive entrepreneurial existence.

(by A.J. Wachtel)