Hello and Happy Friday!
For this week’s post I’d like to share with you some info on our song, “Mike Malloy”. We recorded the original version in 2014–it was the first time Pete joined us on a recording (Holy Moly…10 years!). I came across these notes in my Google folder and thought you might enjoy the backstory on the song. The audio here was recorded at rehearsal on Wed. 3/27/24 in Chesterfield, NJ…especially for me to share with you today.
Mike Malloy is an unlikely protagonist for a song, even by my questionable standards. Little is known about who he really was. Approximately 60 years old and of Irish descent, Mike was a career drinker. Occasionally he would work an odd job and was more than happy to be paid in alcohol rather than cash. His legacy can be attributed to staying alive like a drunken Mr. Magoo while a team of "friends" repeatedly tried to murder him.
For seven long months, spanning from July 1932 to February 1933, a team of conspirators attempted to kill Mr. Malloy in order to cash in on a fraudulent life insurance policy they took out in his name. The song lyrics pretty much stick to the facts. The team started with a plan to just let Mike drink himself to death by providing him an open tab at the speakeasy they operated. However, Mike was up to the challenge and soon the group began slipping him pure wood alcohol to expedite his demise. "He didn't know he was drinking wood alcohol, "said one conspirator, "and what he didn't know didn't seem to hurt him. He drank all the wood alcohol we gave him and came back for more" (Abbot).
Eventually other concoctions (rotten seafood and other poisons) were ingested by Mike to no avail. The team had him run over by a taxi cab. When that didn't work they doused him with ice water and left him unclothed on a park bench. Mike was a survivor and like the fabled cat he too always came back. Finally though, poor Mike was killed via carbon monoxide poisoning.
The murderers collected $800.00 in insurance money. Soon thereafter the plot was uncovered and four of the conspirators were convicted for murder and sent to Sing Sing where they were executed by the electric chair. The case is historically important because it is the first time forensic evidence was used in a trial.
Thanks for reading. Thanks for listening…now go take a walk. - Mick Chorba
MIKE MALLOY Made a drink with turpentine Gave it to a friend of mine Ooh Ah Ooh Aye Mike Malloy wouldn't die Gave him whiskey not half bad Filled it up with carpet tacks Ooh Ah Ooh Aye Mike Malloy wouldn't die Oh how we tried (3x) Mike Malloy would not die Old sardines were well supplied Anti-freeze instead of wine Ooh Ah Ooh Aye Mike Malloy wouldn't die Oysters in wood alcohol Down the steps he took a fall Ooh Ah Ooh Aye Mike Malloy wouldn't die Oh how we tried (3x) Mike Malloy would not die Hit him with a taxi cab Broke his neck broke his back Ooh Ah Ooh Aye Mike Malloy wouldn't die Locked him in a garage room filled it up with toxic fumes Ooh Ah Ooh Aye Mike Malloy... he died
Work Cited
Abbot, Karen. "The Man Who Wouldn't Die" The Smithsonian.com. February 7, 2012.
Sources
"The Poisoners Handbook". American Experience. PBS. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/poisoners/player>
Mike Malloy Revisited