Alan Murphy (18 November 1953 – 19 October 1989) was a British rock session guitarist, best remembered for his collaborations with Kate Bush and Go West. In 1988, he joined the jazz-funk band Level 42 as a full-time band member, and played with them until his death from pneumonia, resulting from AIDS, in 1989. He also played lead guitar on select recordings by Mike and the Mechanics, including the hit single "Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)". Biography Murphy's first musical group was called Blackmass and consisted of Murphy, Roy Phillips, James Hedges, Terry Eden, Steve Paget, and Vincent Duffy. Blackmass were named in tribute to Deep Purple guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, an early influence of Murphy's, and existed for about two years until some of the band's equipment was stolen and the group disbanded. SFX was an instrumental jazz-rock fusion band featuring Murphy and fellow luminaries of the session world, Felix Krish on bass, Tony Beard on drums and Richard Cottle on keyboards. SFX originated from the covers band "The Stapleton Allstars", morphing into SFX after creating a set of original instrumental fusion tunes. They played the occasional interrupted residency at the Cricketers pub, near The Oval cricket ground. The band recorded an album which was subsequently released after Murphy's death. Murphy performed with Fusion Orchestra for the better part of 1975. In 1982, he handled on-stage guitar duties for London-based new wave vocalist Zaine Griff (originally from New Zealand), performing music that was in many ways a stylistic precursor to the sound of Go West that he would help forge several years later. In 1984, Murphy worked on the album Cold in a Warm Climate with the band Paparazzi, becoming a member in preparation for a major European tour. When Paparazzi unexpectedly dissolved over internal disagreements and managerial problems, Murphy was recruited to play on the debut album of Go West in 1985, shortly thereafter becoming an official member and a key component in their sound. Murphy was enlisted to support Kate Bush on The Tour of Life, which took in Europe and the UK in 1979. Both a live video and EP were released with material taken from this tour. He also contributed to her albums Never for Ever (1980), The Dreaming (1982), Hounds of Love (1985), The Sensual World (1989), and the single "Rocket Man". In 1988, Murphy was asked to replace Level 42 guitarist Boon Gould, and