Eric Wrixon

Who is Eric Wrixon?

Eric Wrixon is a musician from Northern Ireland. He was a founder member of both Them and Thin Lizzy. It was Wrixon who came up with the enigmatic band name 'Them', but as he was a minor his parents declined to sign a recording contract on his behalf and he was replaced in July 1964 prior to recording with the band. By August 1965, he had completed his studies and very briefly returned to Them.

Wrixon was next a member of Belfast R&B group The People and probably played on the two tracks they contributed to the February 1966 compilation album Ireland's Greatest Sounds: Five Top Groups From Belfast's Maritime Club. While the People were based in Blackpool, Wrixon left in mid-1966 to join another Belfast band, the Wheels, with whom he recorded the single 'Kicks' in August 1966. In 1967, he moved to Germany with The Never Never Band and subsequently joined Irish midlands-based pop group The Trixons, who also released a number of singles in the late '60s. Wrixon quit in 1969, when he and fellow-Belfast exile Eric Bell began recruiting a new band from among the Dublin musical scene. The result in early 1970 was Thin Lizzy, but Wrixon left in July of that year due to lack of finances and returned to Germany.