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Michael Austin "Mic" Murphy (born January 9, 1958) is an American musician, lead singer of the successful 1980s synth R&B duo the System. He is well known for singing the group's biggest hit, "Don't Disturb This Groove," a 1987 US #4 Pop and #1 R&B hit.

Career

Murphy was born in Raleigh, North Carolina, but he moved to Queens, New York at an early age. As a young musician, he was an early advocate of MIDI music technology. Murphy was road manager for the band Kleeer in the early 1980s, and through them he met his future System bandmate, David Frank. The two joined forces and made an immediate impact with their first album as the System. The single "You Are in My System," helped to usher in a new era of electronically based pop music. In 1987, the group scored its major breakthrough with "Don't Disturb this Groove."

Solo career and beyond

After The System went on hiatus at the end of the 1980s, Murphy briefly pursued a solo career. In 1991, he released his debut solo album, Touch, which featured a minor R&B hit, "Fit to Be Tied." His 2004 remix with writing partner Tim K (of Lucy Woodward's "Blindsided"), reached #1 on the Billboard Club Play Chart. He was a featured vocalist on Home & Garden's 2007 album Domesticated, which was released on Om Records and produced by Tim K and Timothy Shumaker.

Discography

Solo albums

• Touch (1991)

with The System

• Sweat (1983)
• X-Periment (1984)
• The Pleasure Seekers (1985)
• Don't Disturb This Groove (1987)
• Rhythm & Romance (1989)
• ESP (2000)
• System Overload (2013)

References

1. Interview with Mic Murphy
2. All Music Guide – Mic Murphy, Ed Hogan
3. Dance Club; Billboard on line;
4. no title Archived 2014-06-07 at the Wayback Machine; OM-Records on-line

External links

• Interview
• Mic Murphy at AllMusic
• Soul Music
• Billboard bio; Billboard on-line
• MTV Biography; MTV on-line
• The System (David Frank) – 2012 Audio Interview Soul Interviews

• The System (band)
• Living people
• Musicians from Raleigh, North Carolina
• American contemporary R&B singers
• 1958 births
• African-American guitarists
• American rhythm and blues guitarists
• American soul guitarists
• American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
• American soul musicians
• African-American songwriters
• Singer-songwriters from North Carolina