Singer, guitarist and songwriter Sean O'Connor was one of the founding members of The Lookalikes, undoubtedly the most popular Irish band playing around Dublin and the rest of Ireland during the early eighties. Along with drummer Mike Mesbur, bass player Eamonn Doyle and keyboard player Peter Keenan, The Lookalikes had a massive loyal following and broke attendance records in every major music venue in Dublin. On the strength of some early demo recordings written by Sean, it wasn't long before a steady stream of A&R personnel were making their way from London to Dublin to get the Lookalikes' signature for their respective labels. In all, the band were offered a staggering total of thirteen recording contracts.
Eventually they signed to Riva Records, who also had Rod Stewart and John Cougar on their books, and the band were offered the opportunity to tour the UK with Thin Lizzy, which they did with great success. The band released three singles on the Riva label but - due to "differences of musical opinion" - eventually parted ways, and released the album "Daydreamin at Night" for Warner Brothers in Ireland - the final recording by the band. After another tour with Thin Lizzy throughout Europe, the band eventually broke up shortly after their return to Ireland.
Sean O'Connor moved to New York in the late eighties and formed a new band and soon began building a large following in the bars and clubs along the east coast of America, from Key West to Boston. Sean was gaining quite a reputation as a guitarist by this time, and was soon being asked to play on a variety of recordings by various artists in the New York area. This led to him playing on and producing a number of records, which culminated with Hit Factory owner Eddie Germano signing Sean directly to the studio's own label, Panama Records.
Sadly, due to family problems, Sean had to return to Ireland at the end of the nineties, although he still makes regular trips back and forth to New York for various session work, be it vocals, guitar, bass or all three. Since returning to Ireland, Sean has been busy playing as a solo artist and as part of the duo ONE 2 ONE; he also teaches guitar and does session work.
Audiences still ask for some of Sean's songs from the early days, so when he was asked to do an album of the early material - which incredibly still gets played on the radio today - he readily agreed. During his career to date, Sean has been privileged to play with some of the "greats" of the music business, including Thin Lizzy, Les Paul, Clarence Clemons, Roger Daltrey, Phil Lynott (RIP), Brian Downey, John Entwistle (RIP), Gil Parris, Kip Sophos, Tommy "pipes" MacDonnell, The Original Skid Row, Andrew and Rob Strong, "Brush" Shiels, Noel Bridgeman, Members Of Clannad, Snowy White, Scott Gorham, Lou Marini, Members of The Blues Brothers, Mark Breziki, Big Country, Eric Bell, Dick Farrelly and various others.... so far....