Mickey Finn

Who was Mickey Finn?

Mickey Finn or occasionally Micky Finn was the percussionist and sideman to Marc Bolan in his band Tyrannosaurus Rex, and later, the 1970s glam rock group, T.Rex. Often confused with other musicians by the same name, Michael Norman Finn only toured as a sideman in the 1960s with Hapshash and the Coloured Coat. After Bolan and T.Rex's demise, he worked as a session musician for The Blow Monkeys and The Soup Dragons.

Finn was born in Thornton Heath, Surrey, England. After he joined T.Rex in late 1969, it was rumoured that Bolan had hired Finn for his good looks, and because he admired his motorcycle, rather than for his musical ability. Finn was unable to recreate the complex rhythmical patterns of his predecessor, Steve Peregrin Took, and was effectively hired as much for a visual foil for Bolan as for his drumming. The BBC news commented on this, saying "Marc Bolan was supposed to have said of Finn: 'He can't sing... but he looks superb.'"

Mickey Finn stated, on a Radio show in Denmark that he and Marc Bolan were appearing on as guest DJs, that his big influence in percussion was the prolific Master Henry Gibson from Curtis Mayfield's band.