Maria McCormack obituary

Rock music enthusiast who befriended many musicians during the 1970s

My friend Maria McCormack, who has died of pneumonia aged 61, spent much of her life as a dedicated companion of rock musicians. Her outgoing character and hedonistic lifestyle led her to befriend musicians such as Wilko Johnson (Dr Feelgood), Phil Lynott (Thin Lizzy), Lemmy (Motorhead) and Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols) as well as the painter Edward Bell, who was known for his David Bowie album covers.

In the early 1970s in London, at the Speakeasy and the newly opened Dingwalls Dancehall, Maria – frequently in cahoots with her brother Michael – got to know many key figures from the worlds of music and the underground press, including the publisher, poet and philanthropist Felix Dennis. Felix was quick to spot the commercial potential of Kung Fu, and Maria joined him in late-night drives around London, selling his new Bruce Lee magazine to people in cinema queues.

At one point she was simultaneously working as a librarian in High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire and as a dancer at the Windmill Theatre in Soho. She also played bass in an all-female rock band, Sleek. Her fellow dancer and Sleek founder, Voyna Crofts, once said of Maria: “She was so lovely, talented and gorgeous, she could do anything she wanted.”

Maria was born in Sydney in Australia, where her parents, John, a Geordie career soldier, and Sarah (nee Hone), a housewife from Northern Ireland, had emigrated from the UK. The family soon returned home and Maria spent most of her early years in Newcastle, County Down, where, as a natural tomboy, she happily wandered the Mourne Mountains. When the Troubles began to take hold in Northern Ireland (her uncle was John Hume, leader of the SDLP), the family moved to England, settling in Wembley in north-west London.

After attending Sacred Heart school in Wealdstone, Maria worked in town planning, but by 1973 the lure of music and musicians had proved irresistible. Spinal Tap’s dictum of “have a good time, all the time” certainly applied to Maria, and over the next decade she immersed herself in the world of rock’n’roll. By 1987, however, she had met John Perry, guitarist in the band the Only Ones, and they became long-term partners. Having met John, Maria went into higher education and gained a degree in social sciences from Royal Holloway and Bedford New College, University of London (now Royal Holloway, London). She then became a medical secretary at St Charles hospital in Ladbroke Grove, west London.

In recent years, however, the after-effects of her earlier wild lifestyle, coupled with undiagnosed coeliac disease, meant that Maria was unwell for much of the time, and dependent on John’s steadfast support. On the rare occasions she could be persuaded out she was still good company – entertaining, generous and kind-hearted.

She is survived by John and by her three brothers, Gerard, John and Michael.

Simon Wright

The GuardianTramp

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